The woman, Cleo, grinned brightly. Charlotte made a concentrated effort to not purse her lips in disappointment and annoyance at the interruption.
“Oh! You’re Charlotte Thompson,” Cleo stated, eyebrows lifting. “That’s—wow, it’s nice to meet you. Cleo Myers. I work with Sutton.”
Charlotte fixed a smile onto her lips. “Very nice to meet you as well.”
If she knew anything, it was how to make a graceful exit, and, unfortunately, she knew that time was now.
She extended a hand, wanting far too much to feel Sutton’s hand in hers for the first time in thirteen years. She wondered, almost desperately, if it would still feel like that… have that spark. That certainsomething.
Sutton slid her hand, skin so soft, into Charlotte’s, and yes. It was still there. Miraculously, somehow, there it was.
Charlotte smiled softly in wonder, and it turned into the slightest smirk when she saw Sutton look down at their hands, wide-eyed. Yeah, she felt it, too.
“It really was lovely to see you, Sutton.” She meant every word, and she stroked her thumb over the inside of Sutton’s wrist.
“It was… you, too,” Sutton managed to get out, clearing her throat as she withdrew her hand from Charlotte’s and pressed it against her thigh.
Charlotte let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding as she watched Sutton walk away.
Thirteen years.
Sutton Spencer.
Who was divorced and living in the same place as Charlotte.
It was all so very interesting.
CHAPTER TWO
Sutton layin bed after having woken with the sunrise that morning, almost an hour ago.
Waking early wasn’t abnormal for her. But lounging for so long in bed? That was.
She just couldn’t help it today. Whatwaslast night? Obviously, it had been the event launch for the Zones, and she’d been ready for that. Sutton had prepared her speech, she’d assisted in getting the event off the ground. But…
Charlotte.
It wasn’t as though Sutton hadn’t seen Charlotte Thompson at all in the last thirteen years; that would have been impossible, given how Charlotte’s celebrity had steadily risen with every election. She was a liberal politician who stuck to her guns and had drawn in a younger audience of voters while her charisma and family name continued to win over older Democrats. It wouldn’t be reaching to say that Charlotte’s name was a party unifier.
It would be a lie if Sutton ever tried to say she hadn’t followed Charlotte’s career deliberately. Not in the beginning; no, back then, it was far, far easier for her to disappear to Rome and then bury herself in academics, trying to ignore everything related to politics.
But as much as her heart twinged years after their breakup when she saw Charlotte on CNN or in a debate, she rooted for her.
This was all Charlotte had ever wanted, and she deserved to have it.
Had Sutton quite literally dropped the dish she’d been washing last year, when she’d heard on the news that Charlotte had publicly come out?
Yes.
Had she paid special attention to the mentions of Charlotte’s personal life for the months following that, attempting to spot a special woman in her life who may have inspired that coming-out?
Also yes.
But, then again, so had Regan. That was human nature.
Speaking of her best friend…
Regan—1:04 a.m.
