Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
Jax
I’ve never attended a political fundraising dinner before, but it didn’t surprise me to find few differences than standing on a press line. Well, less shouting and more drinking than most press lines, but still. The schmoozing skills I picked up over the years working for different news outlets transferred directly. Preston found himself pulled away from the table several times to talk to this person or that, once by the senator to go over something else in the speech.
“Oh, he’s not finished,” I said, stopping the waiter from taking away Preston’s plate. His food had probably grown cold by now, but I wanted to be sure he had a chance to eat more.
“Sorry about that,” Preston said, sitting back down at the table. “Oh, my food’s still here?” He looked surprised.
“Oh yeah... I wasn’t sure if you were done or not, so I asked them not to take it when they came back around the last time.” I started to fidget with my napkin, worried I committed some sort of faux pas.
A wide grin split Preston’s face. “Thank you. I never get to eat at these things. They always take my plate because no one’s here to stop them.”
I returned his smile, the knots in my stomach untwisting.
“Fiancée perks,” I said, raising my glass in a toast.
“Fiancée perks,” he responded, clinking his glass with mine.
The rest of the seated portion of the dinner went smoothly. While the senator gave his speech, everyone’s eyes were glued on him, but I couldn’t stop watching Preston. He mouthed the words along with his boss at certain parts. I could picture him up on the stage, being the center of it all. A shame I wouldn’t be around to see it.
Applause broke me out of my reverie, and I saw the senator walking away from the lectern on the stage, shaking hands with those seated at the tables closest to him.
“So now what?” I asked Preston, leaning close to murmur in his ear.
“Now, we shake more hands, drink more drinks, and try to avoid the dance floor.”
“Not a big dancer, Brandt? Things went okay this afternoon.”
Preston’s cheeks turned pink.
“I can manage turning in a slow circle, you’re right. It’s more out of habit than anything.”
I leaned on his shoulder with my elbow, bringing my face next to his. I had no real reason to be this close to him. Simply sitting together and talking was pulling off the facade just fine, but it felt right.
“Well, I think your fiancée might like it if you spun in slow circles outside of your living room.”
“Well then, we might just need to make that happen,” Preston responded, his eyes locked on mine. From this close, I could see the speckles of caramel and gold in his eyes.
A throat cleared behind us, causing us to jump apart.
I turned around to see a blond woman and a man who bore more than a passing resemblance to Preston standing there.
“Well, hi there, big brother. How great to see you here. Anyone you want to introduce us to?” his brother asked, the look on his face accusatory.
Preston sighed the heavy sigh of a put-upon older brother, standing up to shake hands and give the woman a hug.
“Hayden, Charlotte, I’d like to introduce you to Jax.”
I stood, offering my hand out to shake. “It’s really nice to meet you both.” Hayden took my extended hand, shaking it, but looked distracted. He continued to eye Preston, expecting more explanation. Charlotte rolled her eyes and took my hand after Hayden dropped it.
“You’ll have to excuse Hayden. Sometimes he’s incapable of keeping up basic social norms.”
“Well, you would be too if you saw your workaholic brother with a date in public for the first time in years. I don’t think I’ve heard of you with anyone at an event like this since?—”
“Hayden, Charlotte, it’s good to see you. Thanks for joining us tonight.” A new voice joined the conversation.
Preston seemed saved from the trip down memory lane by the appearance of the senator, having finally made his way through the crowd to where we sat.
Hayden managed to shake the senator’s hand with more grace than he had mine. “That was a great speech, sir. It’s great to hear about your plans for education and literacy in your next term. You know that’s a cause important to us.” Hayden slipped his arm around Charlotte’s waist, who in turn placed her hand on Hayden’s chest. They moved with the familiarity of two people who had found their match. Preston and I should take notes.
“Well, thank you. I can only take credit for the delivery. You know how lucky I am to have your brother putting words into the best order possible for me.” The senator turned his eyes to Preston and me.
“Jax, it’s great to see you. I’m so glad you convinced your fiancé to bring you out of hiding and join us this evening.”
I felt Preston wince as Hayden choked on the sip of whiskey he took before the senator started talking.
“Yes, I’m glad things are all out in the open. Can you excuse us for a minute, sir? I’ll catch up with you later to debrief?”
The senator nodded, unaware of the grenade he just tossed, his eyes already searching for the next person to glad-hand.
“I’m sorry, what ?” Hayden started his questioning a bit louder than socially acceptable.
“Not here,” Preston gritted out, smiling at everyone who looked over at us, grabbing Hayden’s arm and steering him to the back of the room.
I fell in step with Charlotte as we followed them through the space.
“So, Preston mentioned you worked for a non-profit?”
Charlotte smiled at me as we dodged other guests. “Yes, I work for the Independent Bookstore Alliance as a Development Associate. We have resources that help keep independent bookstores afloat when they run into troubled times.” As a reader and an author, there was nothing I loved more than a good bookstore, especially an independent one with booksellers championing their favorite novels. I had a good feeling Charlotte and I would get along, while I was around at least.
“Oh, that’s great. I love a good bookstore, especially one with a good romance section,” I said, practiced in hiding my writing identity under the guise of a bibliophile.
“A girl after my own heart. We’ll have to talk more about that when we have more time and my boyfriend’s head isn’t close to exploding,” Charlotte said as we exited the ballroom and turned left.
I let out a surprised laugh. “You seem to handle the unexpected well.”
“I haven’t been around the Brandt brothers all that long, but one thing I know for sure is they’re full of surprises.”
“I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
“Besides, right now, I’m the only non-Brandt at family dinners other than their stepmom, Margaret. As long as you love each other, I’m not too pressed about how this all came to be. I’ll just be glad to have someone to share incredulous looks with.”
Keeping the same smile on my face suddenly took more effort. Not having any living immediate family meant you didn’t have to deal with familial expectations. It surprised me to find myself susceptible to the ones Charlotte was leveraging at me, all in good faith, since she thought Preston and I were really engaged.
Preston and Hayden came to a dead stop at the end of a corridor around the corner from the ballroom.
“Springing a fucking fiancée on us, Preston? Are you kidding me?”
“Hey now,” Preston said. “Watch yourself.”
Hayden took a deep breath, his eyes turning to me.
“I’m sorry, Jax. I didn’t mean any offense. I’m sure you’re wonderful if my brother loves you. I’m just extremely caught off guard.”
I put my hands up in a conciliatory gesture. “No offense taken here. I understand it being a surprise.”
“How long have you been dating? Have you been lying to us when we asked you if you were seeing anyone? Pardon the phrasing, but seriously, bro, what the fuck?”
“We’ve been in each other’s orbits for a while now with her former job as a reporter and my job with the senator. We finally went out for the first time a few months ago, and I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure where things were going. I didn’t want to introduce her to the whole Brandt circus unnecessarily. Then suddenly, earlier this week, things weren’t so casual anymore, and now here we are.”
Hayden took a step closer to Preston and lowered his voice, trying to make sure Charlotte and I couldn’t hear, but he wasn’t nearly far enough away.
“But, are you sure? I mean, this isn’t like?—”
“Enough,” Preston said, his tone so forceful Hayden stepped back. “I understand where you’re coming from, but I’m going to need you to trust me when I say that what Jax and I have is nothing like any relationship I’ve had before. I’d appreciate it if you could keep this news to yourself for a little while, so I can be the one to let everyone else know.”
Hayden nodded, struck silent. Charlotte’s eyes were wide, darting back and forth between all of us, but she kept quiet as well.
“Now, if you’ll excuse us, I promised my fiancée a dance at our first public event together. Maybe we can all get dinner sometime soon?”
Silence hung in the air for a beat more before Charlotte ended it. “We’d love that. Just name the time and place. We’ll be there.”
Preston nodded, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder briefly before holding that same arm out to me and escorting me back to the ballroom. Preston’s eyes stayed resolutely on the hallway in front of us, but I snuck a peek over my shoulder, where Hayden watched us leave as Charlotte wrapped her arm around his back.
Preston stayed silent as we reentered the ballroom, working our way toward the dance floor. We stopped in the middle of the crowd, blending in with the rest of the couples moving to the slow melody coming from the speakers. Preston put his arm on my shoulder and took my hand in his, duplicating our dance posture from earlier today.
We swayed in a slow circle for a bit before I found myself unable to take the silence any longer.
“So, that went well . . .”
Preston bent his head so it was resting on my shoulder, and I felt his shoulders start to shake.
“Hey, it’s okay. It seemed like he started to come around to things...”
I trailed off as Preston brought his head back up, and I saw laughter on his face, not tears.
“I can’t believe the senator outed us like that, so casually. I think maybe he thought we were lying and wanted to see if calling us out in front of my brother would call my bluff. What a mess.”
His shoulders stopped moving, and he let out a huge sigh.
“Well, now Hayden knows, so hopefully the senator’s doubts are assuaged. Will Hayden really not tell the rest of your family? Or can we expect more confused phone calls? Assuming you still want to tell them? That did seem a little rough.”
Preston’s hand started to draw small circles on my back.
“I didn’t like lying to him. But he’ll give me a few days to tell them, even if it kills him to do so. My brothers are terrible gossips. And I’ve ripped the Band-Aid off now. One brother down, three to go. As long as you’re still okay with this. I don’t want you to feel like collateral damage to my family’s dynamics.”
I shook my head.
“I’m good if you’re good.”
Preston nodded and his eyes roved around the room as we continued to spin in place on the dance floor.
“You know what would really convince the senator if he did still have doubts,” I said slowly.
Preston’s eyes returned to mine. “What’s that?”
“A public display of affection.”
Preston’s eyes widened. I should stop this train of thought, even though I’m the one who launched it from the station. That interaction with his brother mixed things up inside me enough.
“More than slow dancing in a crowded room, you mean?”
I nodded, not able to stop my gaze straying to his lips.
“Oh,” Preston said, his shoulders rising with a big breath in. “You’re not wrong. A kiss would certainly help with the legitimacy of our relationship.”
“I’m up for it if you are.” At this point, I wanted to feel his lips on mine more than I wanted to protect my boundaries. Seeing him grapple with hurting Hayden made me want to reassure him, to comfort him. Apparently, through his mouth.
Preston laughed. “What every guy wants to hear.”
Nonetheless, Preston’s face moved incrementally closer to mine, my eyes fluttering closed, waiting and anticipating...
“Sorry to interrupt, but Preston, I need to speak with you.”
Preston and I jerked apart.
“N-Now?” Preston stuttered.
“Yes, now,” the senator said, his tone indicating his displeasure with Preston’s question, but at least he realized he couldn’t go full asshole mode with so many people around. “Raymond Olson is here and just had a cancellation for tomorrow morning on Political Pulse . We need to shorten tonight’s speech to fit the talking head format.”
“Got it,” Preston said. “I’ll be right with you. I want to get Jax situated to get home first.”
The senator’s mouth formed a thin line as he looked over at me, seeming displeased he no longer had immediate and unfettered access to my fiancé. “Fine, I’ll see you in five minutes.”
Without a parting word, the senator turned and walked away, directing his attention toward a group gathered on the side of the dance floor.
“I’m not sure your boss likes me too much...” I said, fidgeting, not meeting Preston’s eyes after our almost kiss.
“Nah. Well, that might be true, but honestly, he doesn’t like anyone, so try not to take it personally.”
I laughed. “Good, I’d be worried about securing a job with him otherwise.”
Preston pushed his glasses back up on his nose. “I’ll take care of it. I’ll lay the groundwork tonight as we’re talking. That we’re having to work tonight for a TV spot opens the door for needing a Comms Director person nicely. Now, let’s get you a car home.”
“I can handle it,” I said, pulling my phone out of my purse and starting to call up a ride share app.
Preston’s hand landed on my arm. “I know you can, but what kind of fiancé would I be if I just let you wait outside on your own?”
“You don’t have time for that.”
Preston put light pressure on my lower back to get me moving. “Maybe I’ll make the senator wait for me for just a bit longer. Might give him a complex. Could be fun.”
I laughed. The more I learned about Preston’s personality, the more the layers I discovered surprised me. He was more than an uptight, perfectionist I discounted him for when we met. Learning more felt dangerous.
We walked to the front of the hotel and waited in comfortable silence, me watching the car’s progress on my app, Preston looking around, taking in the bustle around us.
Finally, my car pulled into the drive.
“Well, this is me. I guess I’ll see you later tonight?”
Preston nodded, looking conflicted at sending me back by myself.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve been putting myself to bed for years now,” I teased.
Preston smiled. “I suppose that’s true. Don’t feel like you need to wait up. I have no idea how long this’ll be.”
It all felt so domestic, like Preston and I had parted ways knowing we’d return to the same place many nights before. I reached up on tiptoes to press a chaste kiss on his cheek.
“Bye, fiancé,” I said, sliding into the car and shutting the door behind me.
Preston lifted his hand in a wave as the car started to move, a stunned look still on his face.