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Francis spit into the sink, placing his toothbrush back on the vanity, before walking into his and Claire's bedroom. "Do you think that James is together with Meechum?"

"How so?" Claire asked, not bothering to look up from her laptop.

"It's our daughter. Don't make me say the actual words." Francis retorted before dropping down onto their bed.

Claire glanced over at him, trying to hide the smile that was forming at the corners of her mouth. "I don't think James has had sex with Meechum if that's what you're referring to."

Francis covered his ears. "No father ever wants to hear his child's name in the same sentence as sex." He sighed before looking over at Claire, seeing her fingers bounce of the keyboard as she typed. "Do you know why her plan was to get Meechum out of the house tonight?"

"No," Claire said. "But, I'm pretty sure his insinuation about their future together probably freaked out her. He's a glorified bodyguard. She's been picturing her life with someone who is going to support her the way we have for each other." She closed her laptop, setting it on her nightstand. "I don't see any romance between them lasting more than a month."

"Why's that?" Francis asked, wrapping his arm around her when she laid down.

Claire sighed contently, resting her head on his chest. "He'll coddle her. She doesn't want to be adored and put on a pedestal. She wants to be with somebody who will treat her as a partner, as an equal. She grew up with that. She'll want that. Meechum will hold her back trying to protect her. If she's anything like us, she won't even consider him moving forward."

"Poor man." Francis grinned. "His heart will be crushed."

Claire looked up at him. "And, he'll become a liability."

Francis met her eyes, all humor gone. "We'll have to take care of him. He already knows too much." He looked up at the ceiling. "But, James would've planned for that in the beginning. She wouldn't create a liability unless she could control it."

"It's her first crush. Maybe she got her head caught in the clouds on this one." Claire concluded.

"That could very well be." Francis agreed. "Hopefully, we'll learn more in the morning. Doug said he would talk to her tonight about what was going on."

James quietly closed her door before tip toeing back to her bed, climbing under the covers with Doug. "You can still back out you know."

"I don't want to." Doug replied before taking her hand into his. "Unless you don't want this anymore."

"I want this." James smiled before kissing him slowly. She let Doug grab her waist and lower her onto her back.

Doug slipped his hand underneath her night shirt, his fingers dancing across her inner thighs before moving further. He smiled, catching her gasp in his mouth. He felt her muscles tense as he continued to curl his fingers inside of her. "Just relax." He whispered, feeling her quick exhales on his chest. "You're doing just fine, baby."

James pressed her lips together in an effort to muffle her moan. Reaching down, she snuck her hand into Doug's boxers, wrapping her hand around him. "You're not doing too bad yourself." She whimpered when his thumb pressed against a particularly sensitive spot.

"Take off the shirt." Doug breathed before removing his hand from between her legs and lowering his boxers. As she lifted up her shirt, he leaned down and licked folds once, enjoying the way her body reacted. "Are you ready?"

James spread her legs wider, pushing her heels into his calves to pull him closer. "Don't hold back."

Francis jogged down the steps, buttoning up his jacket, when he saw Doug standing at the bottom of the staircase. He was already slapping his fingertips against his phone, his glasses sitting on his nose. "Good morning, Doug. Did you even sleep last night? You are in the same position you were in when I went to bed last night."

Doug smiled. "I was working on our path to the White House, but, yes, I did get some sleep." He glanced up the stairs to the closed door to James' room. "I talked to James about her relationship with Meechum."

"What did she say?" Francis asked, adjusting his cuff links.

"She's got a plan." Doug stated simply. "He won't be a liability when this is all over. He will actually be a great asset to our plan." He smiled at Claire when she came down the steps and stood beside Francis. "Good morning, Ma'am."

Claire smiled. "You can call me Claire when you are here, Doug."

"Well, I will be going home tonight. I appreciate the hospitality, but there's nothing like sleeping in your own bed," Doug said. "But, thank you, Claire."

Claire kissed his cheek. "You are welcome here anytime." She turned to Francis. "Did you say goodbye to James yet?"

Francis shook his head. "No, her door was locked."

"I'll go check on her." Claire said, heading for the kitchen.

Doug frowned. "Uh, she's in her room."

Claire came back, holding up a key in her hand. "Yes, but I can't get in there without a key. We don't have time to negotiate when she'll unlock her door right now." She started up the stares, but glanced over her shoulder to look at Francis. "What time is Meechum getting here?"

"He'll probably be here any minute. We'll keep him down here to give you two privacy." Francis replied before pulling out his own phone. "Lord knows he'll sit outside her door until she opens it."

Claire smiled shaking her head as she continued up to her daughter's room. She knocked on the door twice. "James, honey, we're leaving. Can you let me in?" When she didn't hear anything, she unlocked the door, entering the room before closing the door behind here. She froze when she saw her bed stripped, the bedding laying on the floor beside the bed. Walking over to the pile, she moved the comforter with her foot to find blood on James' sheets. "Fuck." She breathed before the bathroom door opened on the other side of the room.

James jumped when she saw her mother standing in the middle of her room. She tightened the towel around her small frame. "Mom, what are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Claire questioned. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It's not what you think." James stated, taking a step back when Claire hurried over to her.

Claire ripped the towel away from her daughter, seeing the hickeys and small bruises that covered her body. She groaned when she saw the darker bruises on her inner thighs. "James, what were you thinking?"

James grabbed the towel back, wrapping it around herself. "I was thinking that I wanted to get into the White House faster."

"So, you slept with Meechum to do that." Claire concluded, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"No," James said. "He's the next part of the plan. I didn't want him to be my first." She took a deep breath, waiting for Claire to connect the dots. "It's not everything you believe it is."

Claire pinched the bridge of her nose. "Are you telling me that you slept with Doug?" She sat down when James didn't make a move to deny the accusation. "Oh my God. Why Doug?"

James bit her lip. "We've kind of been seeing each other." Moving to sit down in the chair beside her, she grimaced. "We were hanging out together on my birthday. Daddy was working late, getting his Secretary of State campaign plan started. You had a charity event emergency. Dad told Doug to keep me company until you two go home. We were hanging out. Before I knew it, we were kissing." She twisted the corner of the towel in her hands. "We both immediately agreed that it was a mistake, but it kept happening. Waiting in his office after school for Dad, helping out at your charity events, hanging out together when there was a special dinner you two had to go to, we ended up in the same situation."

"How long have you two been together?" Claire asked.

"It's been about eight months since we decided it was better we act on our feelings than get caught up in them every time we were alone." James sighed. She watched as Claire buried her face in her hands. "Last night was the first time we did anything."

Claire stood up and pointed to the sheets. "Obviously." She put her hands on her hips. "Honestly, James, this was stupid. Eight months of stupidity. Do you know how old he is?"

James rolled her eyes. "Of course, I do. That doesn't matter to me."

"Wait," Claire held up her hand. "Why did you go on a date with Gordon if you were dating Doug?"

James leaned back in the chair, wrapping the towel tighter around herself. "Gordon asked me out. I turned him down. That night when I was talking with Doug, I brought it up as a joke, and he went completely nuts. He got super possessive and asked me if I was looking for a younger guy to replace him. The argument got so heated that I told Doug I was going to go out with Gordon just because he was being an ass about it."

"Of course, you did." Claire huffed, half smiling at the fact her daughter was too much like herself for her own good. "Can I ask you something and get an honest answer?" James nodded. "Why are you with Doug?"

James shrugged. "It's a bunch of little things. He likes to keep me guarded, but he'll let me stand and face the music on my own when I need to. He never lets a day go by without checking in on me, even if it's just to say good morning or goodnight or an 'I love you'." She looked at the bed. "He wants the same things I do out of life. And, he hasn't held me back from my goals in order to accomplish his. He keeps me grounded." She looked back to her mother, still seeing the curious gaze. "I love him, Mom."

Claire inhaled sharply. "I pictured this moment a little bit differently. I want to be happy for you; I really do. But, there's a lot of things that are upsetting me right now."

"I understand." James nodded, running a hand through her hair. "I know that I usually tell you and Dad everything, but you two are with Doug all day. We didn't want you to treat him differently because he was with me."

"Okay," Claire said. "I can get that." She tucked her hair behind her ear before squatting down in front of her daughter, placing her hands on both arms of the chair. "Now, I want to hear every detail of this plan from now until the end. The real plan."

James nodded her head. "I figured." She bit her lip. "You'll hate it though."

Claire brushed back James' hair. "I'm sure I will." She smiled slightly. "Who knew you would turn out exactly like your father and I?"

"I guess you raised me right." James chuckled before dropping her forehead to Claire's. "Thanks Mom."

"I love you too." Claire smiled before pecking her lips.

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