Running Mate

by Katie Ashley

  Since I had never been good with expressing myself tactfully, I blurted out, “Man, you look like hell.”

  Ty smacked me in the back of the head. “Idiot,” he mumbled.

  Addison scowled at me. “For your information, I couldn’t care less how I look at the moment.” She swiped a tissue under her runny nose. “I can assure you I feel much worse than I look.”

  Rubbing the back of my neck, I sheepishly said, “I’m sorry. That didn’t come out right at all.”

  “I promise Saundra will make me camera-ready for tomorrow’s rally, and I won’t shame you.” Shame me? She’s worried about shaming me?

  When she suddenly swayed on her feet, I bolted out of my chair and placed my arms on

  her shoulders to steady her. Her glassy-eyed gaze met mine. “Thanks.”

  “Look, I don’t give two shits about the rally. I’m worried about you.” When her brows shot up into her hairline, I replied, “Yeah, I am. You’ve been sick for a week now, and you’re not getting any better.”

  “It’s just a cold.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Maybe we should stop and take you to an urgent care or something.”

  “No, no. We don’t have time for that.”

  “We can make time.”

  “I’m fine. I’ll grab some cold medicine at the next stop.”

  “That’s a start, but why don’t you go lie down for a little while?”

  Addison glanced over her shoulder at her laptop. “But I need to go over the notes my replacement sent.”

  “Theo will manage just fine without you. You need to get in bed.” Before she could protest any more, I wrapped one of my arms around her waist and started leading her down the aisle to the bedroom. After opening the door, I shooed her inside and ushered her over to the bed. “Do you want anything to eat or drink?”

  Addison paused in taking off her shoes, peering at me curiously. “Are you being real?”

  “Huh?”

  “I mean, is this all part of the”—she made air quotes with her fingers—“fake fiancé act, or are you actually offering to take care of me?”

  Damn if her words didn’t sting a bit, like I was such a heartless bastard I couldn’t possibly care about the wellbeing of another individual. “Since everyone on the bus is in on the engagement ruse, I really don’t have a reason to pretend, do I?”

  “What about Sutton?” she countered.

  Oh for fuck’s sake. I hadn’t stopped to consider the one outsider we had picked up in Georgia. Every family has a rogue member, and Sutton Callahan was mine. Although he had a genius IQ, he lacked basic common sense. If he hadn’t been one of the best political strategists in the business, I didn’t think Dad would have admitted he knew him, least of all that he was his cousin. Although he had an Ivy League education, he was rough around the edges from never abandoning the backwoods where he had grown up after his father, my grandfather’s brother, had married “beneath him”, as Grandmother Callahan called it, which basically meant he married a girl who was far outside the society realm.

  “Okay, fine, there’s one person not in on the jig, but trust me when I say, that has nothing to do with how I’m treating you.”

  Addison stared me down with such intensity that it felt like at any moment, she was going to shine a light bulb in my face and interrogate me to get to the truth. Finally, a look of acceptance came over her face, and she went back to taking off her shoes. I walked past her to turn down the sheets and duvet. When I finished with that, I fluffed the two pillows, wanting to make sure it was as comfortable as possible. Once I finished, I stepped back to make way for Addison, and when I looked at her, I found her staring wide-eyed at me. “What?”

  She blinked a few times. “You’re so…domestic.”

  I laughed. “You should know by now that I’m a man of many talents.”

  Addison snorted. “Always the egomaniac.”

  “I am consistent.”

  “Consistently bigheaded.”

  I glanced down at my crotch before meeting her gaze again. “That too.”

  Instead of yelling at me to stick my innuendo up my ass, she laughed. “As my

  granddaddy would say, you’re a mess, Barrett.”

  “That I am. Now come get in bed.”

  As her knees dipped down onto the mattress, she glanced back at me over her shoulder. “You’re not going to try to make something out of getting me into bed?”

  Now it was my turn to laugh. “Nope. You beat me to it.”

  “How disappointing.”

  I busied myself with tucking her in. Just when I thought I couldn’t shock her more, the expression on Addison’s face told me otherwise. “Now, I’ll ask you once again: do you want anything to eat or drink?”

  She shook her head. “No thanks. I just want to sleep.”

  “Good.” I handed her the TV remote. “I think it’s best you stay in bed until we get to the hotel.” Wagging a finger at her, I added, “Don’t put your feet on the floor except to go to the bathroom. If you wake up and decide you need something, just text me, okay?”

  Addison smiled. “Okay.”

  Satisfied that I had done all I could do for her, I decided it was best to go. When I started toward the door, Addison called, “Barrett?”

  “Yeah?” I replied, glancing over my shoulder.

  She smiled. “Thanks for taking care of me…for caring.”

  “No problem.”

  After closing the door, I started back to my seat. When I reached for my beer, I felt Ty’s curious gaze searing into my back. Turning around, I questioned, “What?”

  “You put Addison to bed.”

  “Yes, Captain Obvious, I did.”

  Ty shook his head slowly back and forth. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do something so giving for a woman without expecting something in return, especially one that was sick and out of sexual commission.” What the fuck? Even Ty?

  “You know, I’m really starting to get tired of the ‘Barrett the Bastard’ theme that seems to be running rampant tonight. First, Addison questioned my motives about caring for her, and now you’re floored that I showed an ounce of compassion outside of sex.”

  With an apologetic look, Ty said, “I’m sorry man, I didn’t mean it to come out like that. More than anything, I don’t want to give you shit for it. I want you to know I’m proud of you.”

  “Get real.”

  “I am,” he argued. When I turned to stare incredulously at him, Ty smiled. “Whether or not you want to admit it, you have always been a fucker when it comes to women.”

  I scowled at him. “I’m mature enough to admit I’ve been an asshole to the opposite sex.”

  “You know, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.”

  “Thanks, Dr. Phil. I didn’t realize you were staging an intervention.”

  “I’m not. Addison is.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “She’s changing you.”

  I snorted. “Whatever.”

  “It’s not a bad thing, Barrett.”

  “I didn’t say it was.”

  “You didn’t have to say anything. Your body language says it all.”

  “Give me a break,” I huffed. Since I didn’t want to hear any more bullshit theories from Ty, I pulled my computer back into my lap. Thankfully, he got the message and took out his iPad. Within a few minutes, I tuned out the world around me and became engrossed in the world of The Callahan Corporation. I didn’t know how much time passed, but it was probably close to an hour or two.

  All of a sudden, the bedroom door flung open, banging against the back table. A few seconds passed before Addison came staggering out. “Oh my God! Why is it so hot on this bus?” she screeched as she weaved up the aisle. Hiking one of her legs up on one of the seats, she began stripping off her leggings. She balled them up and through them in a guy named Ed’s face. “There you go, sweetie.”

  Ed’s cheeks turned several shades of red as he scr
ambled to push the leggings off his lap and into the empty seat next to him. Thank God she was wearing a tunic top that covered her ass—not that they hadn’t seen it before on television. Even so, I knew Addison would be even more mortified when she came to if she had flashed most of the aides on the bus.

  Ty and I exchanged a look. “Is she drunk?” Ty questioned.

  “Considering she just took her pants off, I’d say completely wasted. A better question would be where the hell she got the booze.”

  “It’s not booze. I gave her a little medicine about an hour ago,” Sutton piped up.

  I sighed and glared at him. “What medicine?”

  “Just some of my cough syrup.”

  I widened my eyes in horror. “You’re fucking with me, right?”

  “She’s sick as a dog and needed to kill off whatever heinous bug she has,” Sutton argued.

  “What’s wrong with some cough syrup?” Ty asked.

  “Maybe the fact that it’s made with moonshine?”

  “You’re shitting me.”

  “Sadly, no.”

  “It is a tried-and-true mountain recipe,” Sutton countered.

  “She’s totally plastered!”

  “Hey man, that’s not my fault. I told her just to do a tablespoon or two.”

  “How much did she have?”

  “Half the jar.”

  “Oh fuck,” I muttered as I jerked my hand through my hair.

  “Do you think she needs her stomach pumped?” Ty asked.

  “Hey, I always buy from a reputable source with a clean still,” Sutton said.

  “How comforting,” I bit back sarcastically. As I was contemplating what we needed to do, Addison lumbered up to my seat. She flashed me a wicked grin while wriggling her fingers in greeting.

  “Hey Bare, how’s the Bear?” Her voice had taken on a husky tone, which I wanted to believe was from the all the coughing she’d been doing and not from coming on to me.

  “Addison, I think you need to sit down.”

  With a wink, she replied, “If you insist.”

  Instead of taking a seat across from me, she straddled my lap. The heat emanating from her bare thighs scorched the skin beneath my pants, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized the temperature was too intense; it wasn’t normal. I brought a hand to her forehead. “Jesus, Addison, you’re burning up.”

  A sexy grin spread across her face. “It’s cause I’m so hot for you.”

  “No, you have a fever—a high one.” Turning to Ty, I asked, “We don’t have a thermometer in the first aid kit, do we?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Pete, start mapping to the closest urgent care or hospital.”

  “I’m on it,” he replied.

  Addison slid her arms around my neck, drawing me closer to her. At the same time, her hips began to rise and fall, rubbing her pussy against my crotch. “Wanna initiate me into the mile-high club? I hear you’re a frequent flyer.” Oh hell.

  “We’re on a bus.”

  “Oops!” she cried before collapsing onto my chest into a fit of giggles. When she raised her head, she tilted it at me. “How about the if the bus is a-rockin’, don’t come a-knockin’ club?” When Ty laughed, I glared at him.

  “No. No clubs.”

  “Fine then.” One of her hands dropped from my neck and gripped my swelling cock. At the touch, I shrieked like a prepubescent boy whose balls hadn’t dropped yet. “Does the Bear want to come out to play?” she purred.

  Oh yeah. He was more than ready to come out of hibernation. Just as he started poking his head out of the cave, I shoved Addison’s hand away. “Don’t do that.”

  “Why not?”

  Because if you do, I’m going to rip your panties off and pound you until you scream my name right in front of everyone. “For starters, you’re sick.”

  Her mouth curved into a wicked grin. “I’m not too sick to fuck your brains out.”

  I pinched my eyes shut and tried thinking non-sexual thoughts. It didn’t help that the Bear was practically roaring behind my zipper. Regular Addison with the sassy mouth was hot, but inebriated Addison with the dirty mouth was fucking combustible.

  “No. It’s wrong on so many levels.”

  Her lips turned down in a pout. “Don’t you find me desirable?”

  How the hell could I not? She was five-foot-seven of pure, sinfully sexy woman. Yes, the Bear was very, very interested. I swallowed hard. “Of course I do, but that’s not the point.”

  She flashed her diamond in front of my face. “As my future husband, you have a duty to satisfy me.”

  Lowering my voice to make sure Sutton couldn’t hear, I replied, “Addison, you need to stop. We’re not really engaged, remember?”

  “Come on, do your duty, Barrett—do me.” She ground her hot core against my crotch and I groaned in agony. It had been too long, and she was too tempting.

  Addison’s hands came to my cup face. “It’s okay, Barrett. Don’t cry.”

  “I’m not crying.”

  Nuzzling her head to my chest, Addison said, “I don’t ever want you to cry for me.” Suddenly, her head whipped up. “Don’t cry for me Argentina. The truth is I never left you.”

  “She’s good,” Pete mused beside me.

  “Oh shut up.”

  After executing the one line, Addison scrambled off my lap and made her way to

  the front of the bus. Considering how plastered she was, she lunged and dipped more than she actually walked. Once she stood by the stairs, she turned around to face the door. “Oh Jesus,” I muttered as Addison raised her arms and began to recreate the balcony scene from Evita, which my mother had forced me to see on Broadway many years ago.

  “It won’t be easy. You’ll think it strange,” she began singing.

  With a grunt, I rose out of my seat to go get Addison. She needed to be lying down instead of belting show tunes. Suddenly, she stopped singing. She shook her head as if disoriented, then swayed again. Her glazed eyes sought me. Shit.

  Before I could reach her, she collapsed to the floor. “Addison!” I cried as I dove down beside her. I pulled her into my arms. “Addison?” As I gently patted her cheek, her eyes rolled back in her head, and my heart jolted to a stop in fear. “Call an ambulance!” I barked at Pete.

  “There’s a hospital off an exit two miles up the road. We can get to it before an ambulance can get to us.”

  “Floor it, Carl,” I ordered.

  At my command, the bus lurched forward with rising speed. Ty bent down beside me and placed two fingers on Addison’s wrist. At that moment, I was thankful that part of his many skills was having taken a medic course. After a few moments went by, he said, “Her pulse is little slow.”

  “Jesus,” I muttered.

  “Normally, I might entertain the thought of it merely being alcohol poisoning, but I don’t like it combined with her high fever,” Ty said.

  “Are we getting closer?” I demanded.

  Carl nodded. “We’re just about to take the exit.”

  “GPS says the hospital is just a half a mile to the right,” Pete added.

  We wheeled into the hospital parking lot before screeching to a halt outside of the ER. Once we came to a stop, I strengthened my hold on Addison before rising to my feet. Ty had the presence of mind to throw a blanket over Addison’s lower half, covering her bare legs and thong-clad ass.

  I carried her down the bus stairs. As soon as I felt the pavement beneath me, I began to run. Damn, she felt so light. Addison moaned at being jostled around. “I’m sorry. I’m getting you help, I promise.”

  Ty caught up with me as I barreled through the ER doors. “Help! I need help!” I cried as I skidded to a stop at the registration desk.

  The receptionist rose out of her chair. “Sir, I need you to calm down and answer a few questions.”

  “She’s unconscious with a high fever. She needs help. Now!”

  I was fully aware I was making a scene, but I di
dn’t give a shit. I was going to do everything within my power to get Addison taken care of, even if I got thrown out in the process. Thankfully, for my sake, more level heads prevailed. Ty flashed his badge, and Pete informed the receptionist who we were. Recognition filled her face. “Yes sir, we’ll take you right on back.”

  The mechanized doors leading into the heart of the ER opened, and I rushed through them. We were met in the hallway by a nurse and she escorted us into an empty room. “You can put her down now, sir,” the nurse said as she motioned to the stretcher.

  I hated the moment I eased Addison down onto the crackling paper sheet. I knew it was necessary for me to step away for the nurse to be able to work on her, but it went against every instinct I had, which were all telling me not to. She looked so small lying there, so fragile. She’d felt so right in my arms, so protected. Pain like I’d never known crisscrossed through my chest. I’d spent more time with Addison than I had with any other woman, had given more of my emotional self to her than anyone outside my close circle. Inexplicably, I didn’t see her as the bane of my existence anymore, my ball and chain. I also didn’t see her as an off-limits piece of ass, either. She’d become more than I’d ever imagined she could, and if I was completely honest with myself, she’d become more to me. Much more.

  I didn’t have a clue how sick she really was, but I knew I couldn’t bear losing Addison. Not now. Not now that I’d actually found someone I wanted to be with.

  If I was really honest with myself, I didn’t think I would be ready come November either.

  ADDISON

  “BP is 110 over 60. Pulse rate 58,” a voice called from above me.

  As I drifted in that shadowy state between sleep and consciousness, the medical jargon being spouted made me think I was in a Grey’s Anatomy episode. Did I forget to turn the TV off before I went to sleep? The more I thought about it, I realized I couldn’t remember even turning it on. If I really thought about it, none of the voices sounded like the cast.

  When my eyes fluttered open, I stared up at a blinding fluorescent light. My body felt weightless, as if it were floating along on the surface of water. It took a few moments to process that I wasn’t outside or in a pool. Instead, I was riding along on a gurney through the halls of a hospital.