Page 36 of Powerless

Dad is already waiting for us in the foyer, and I hand Mom off to him as I stand behind my parents. This is all fake bullshit, but it’s what has to be done.

“Bennett,” Senator Samuel says as he approaches.

“Mr. Samuel, how are you?” I extend my arm for a handshake. The senator is short, fat, and has a receding hairline. His wife is taller than he is, so she often wears flat shoes so as not to accentuate the height difference.

“Good, my boy. How are you?”

“Very well, thank you.”

“When you want to work for a real politician, I have a spot open for you.” He releases a hearty laugh before looking over at Dad.

“Bennett here has a bright future in politics,” Dad replies as he claps a hand to my shoulder. “As long as he keeps his nose clean, I’m sure I can mold him into the perfect candidate.” I hate how Dad’s talking about me like I’m a lump of clay, not even a person.

“How do you feel about Bennett going to Yale?” Senator Lyons asks my parents, pushing into the conversation.

“It’s no secret that Yale’s a family tradition. I’d be disappointed if he wasn’t accepted,” Dad says. The three of them chuckle but what none of them know is I’m busting my ass to get to Stanford.

“The Marshalls are here,” Mom whispers.

I step forward and shift on the spot as I wait for my fake future wife and her parents to come to the door. The bell rings, and Dad opens the door. The other senators have now drifted away, leaving just us in the foyer.

Mr. and Mrs. Marshall waltz in, followed by Jen. “May I?” I ask as I step forward to take Jen’s thick winter coat.

“Thank you.” Jen allows me to assist her in shrugging out of her coat, and once I’ve handed the coat to the housekeeper, I link our fingers and lead her away from prying eyes, and big ears.

“Are you okay?” I ask in a hushed voice when I have her alone.

She shakes her head and lowers her chin. “I’m so grateful I have you.” Jen leans against the wall and releases a caught breath. “This is horrible for everyone involved.”

“I know. Kathryn will be here soon with Liam, and she has to watch us together.” I gesture between us. “I hate that for her. But we all know this is only until we can move to LA.”

“She’s good people, Bennett.”

“So are you,” I say. Jen pushes off the wall and advances toward me, wrapping her arms around my middle. “Stolen moments and lots of secrets, that’s what we have to deal with. Are you sure you’re still okay with this?”

“You’re doing it for me, so yeah, I’m okay with our secret.” Jen pulls back and stands taller. “We need to get back out there and pretend we’re the happy couple.”

I run my hands down her arms, and give her a kiss on the forehead. “It’ll all be over soon.”

“I know.” Jen offers me a strained smile. We link fingers and head back out to join the party.

It doesn’t take long for the house to be full of donors and the other politicians my father is associated with. I look around for Liam and Kathryn, but I can’t see either of them. “Do you want a drink?”

“Sure,” Jen replies. I catch a server walking around and hand Jen a soda and grab one for myself.

“Aren’t you two an adorable couple?” Senator Samuel’s wife says.

Jen sidles into me and leans her head on my shoulder. “Thank you,” she says and offers a tight smile.

I drape my arm around Jen and bring her in closer to give her temple a kiss. “Thank you, ma’am,” I say.

“An Adams and a Marshall. That’ll make for a good political pairing,” the senator’s wife says with an arched brow.

In other words, she can see straight through this. Jen looks up to me and smiles with all her heart. If I was looking at us from across the room, I’d think we were madly, deeply in love. “The heart wants what the heart wants.”

The senator’s wife grins awkwardly, then turns to look at her husband who is speaking with one of the donors. “I think I heard my husband call.”

“Of course,” I reply. She hightails it out of here, and I look to Jen and roll my eyes.

---