Running Mate

by Katie Ashley

  Whoa. How did I get here? The last thing I remembered was being on the bus. After succumbing to a coughing fit, a knock had come at the bedroom door, and Barrett’s weird cousin offered me some medicine. He swore it would stop my coughing and help me sleep, and against my better judgment, I took some. After taking the dose he recommended, I still kept coughing. I desperately wanted sleep, so I ended up chugging a bit more of it. And then some more. Then I went to sleep…or maybe I passed out. I wasn’t sure.

  “Is she going to be okay?” a voice vibrating with emotion asked. When I eased my head to the side, I saw Barrett. He wore an ashen expression, and the fear in his eyes was palpable. Instantly, my heart beat a little faster. Did he care that much for me?

  “We just need to get her temperature down and some fluids in her. She’ll be fine.”

  I wanted to tell Barrett not to be so scared, that I was okay, maybe a little hungover, but my tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of my mouth. The light bearing down on me became too intense, so I closed my eyes. Within a few seconds, I floated away into the darkness.

  The next time I woke, it was to my bladder screaming in agony. When I reached down to toss off the covers, I caught a glimpse of the IV tubing attached to my hand. “What the…” Oh right, I was in the hospital.

  A gentle snore drew my attention to the left side of the bed. “Oh my,” I murmured at the sight of Barrett sleeping in an uncomfortable-looking chair. With his head lolled over like that, he was going to wake up with an awful crick in his neck. I marveled not only at the fact that he had stayed with me, but that Mr. VIP wasn’t stretched out in a cot. Although I couldn’t see him, I imagined that Ty was somewhere outside the door.

  At the sound of my name, my gaze snapped from Barrett to the television on the wall across from me. “Holy shit,” I muttered at the sight of my face plastered across the screen.

  “Yes, Harry, we’re live outside McKinley Hospital in Farmington where Addison Monroe has been admitted. Earlier this morning, Pete Chandler came out to speak to us. He assured us that Miss Monroe’s condition was not critical, and said she was kept overnight merely for observation after being diagnosed with pneumonia. She is expected to be released later today with strict R&R orders. Back to you.”

  I gasped at the scene that played on the television. It seriously looked like something out of a romance movie. Barrett appeared every bit a larger-than-life superhero as he swept through the hospital doors with me cradled in his arms. His frantic gaze spun around the ER as he desperately pleaded for someone to help me, the fear in his eyes achingly authentic. The panic in his voice wasn’t exaggerated. He wasn’t trying to keep up the façade for the people in the waiting room. Then I remembered waking up in the ER and how he’d looked then. He wasn’t acting then either.

  He cared about me.

  A lot.

  I would have to say it was quite surreal hearing your medical diagnosis on the news rather than from a doctor or nurse, but it was even more earthshattering that your fake fiancé exhibited such feeling for you—especially when you weren’t sure you felt the same. As I watched him sleep, I couldn’t help noticing how sweet and innocent he looked. Sure, he was still hot as hell, but there was something endearing about him when he was at rest. The cockiness and arrogance he normally wore were washed from his expression.

  After a loud snore erupted from Barrett’s lips, he jolted awake, and his brows furrowed as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings of the room. Once he realized where he was, he whipped his gaze over to me. Relief instantly replaced the tension in his face.

  “Hey,” I said with a smile.

  “Hey,” he croaked. As he ground his fists into his eyes, he asked, “How long have you been awake?”

  “Not long.”

  “You’ve been unconscious since last night.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded as his mouth gaped open in a yawn. “Of course, I shouldn’t be surprised considering the amount of alcohol a lightweight like you had.”

  “Whoa, wait a minute—I wasn’t drinking last night.”

  “Oh yeah you were. That cough syrup Sutton gave you has a moonshine base.”

  I widened my eyes. “You’re joking.”

  “Sadly not.”

  After sweeping a hand over my mouth, I muttered, “Oh God.”

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t paying better attention. If I’d seen Sutton offering you any of that garbage, I would have tossed it out the window, and maybe him along with it.”

  I laughed. “It’s okay. I should have known better than to take unmarked ‘medicine’ from someone I don’t know.”

  “When I talked to Dad last night, I insisted he find somewhere else for Sutton.”

  “Was that really necessary? I mean, it wasn’t like he was plying me with alcohol to try to take advantage of me or something.”

  Barrett gave an angry shake of his head. “He should’ve been more cautious. With your fever, your body could have gone into shock with the alcohol. It could’ve been a lot worse.”

  While I didn’t think my condition would have been that serious, I decided it was best not

  to argue with Barrett considering how adamant he was. After shifting in bed to see him better, my bladder demanded immediate relief, causing me to wince in pain. Barrett’s brows creased. “What’s wrong?”

  “Um, I, uh…” God, this was mortifying. Sure, I’d shared close quarters with Barrett in hotel rooms and on the bus, but I’d always been able to be discreet about Mother Nature calling.

  At my hesitation, Barrett rose out of his chair. “Are you in pain? Do you need the nurse?”

  Refusing to look at him, I replied, “Actually, I need to pee.”

  The concern in his face evaporated and amusement danced in his eyes. “You got that worked up over having to take a piss?”

  I wrinkled my nose. “Ugh, do you have to say it like that?”

  “Would you prefer me to say urinate?”

  “While I prefer not hearing any of the names for it, at this moment I’m much more concerned with the act itself.”

  “You have two choices: you can ring for the nurse to come help you and probably piss yourself before one makes it here, or you can let me help you.”

  I sighed. Barrett had a point about it taking forever for a nurse come. “Okay. You can help me.”

  After easing the bed up, I swung my feet over the edge. When I started to stand, my rubbery-feeling legs caused me to wobble. Before I could fall back in the bed, one of Barrett’s arms slid around my waist. “Easy there, Miss Independent. I’m here to help you, remember?”

  “I thought you meant just guiding the IV pole.”

  “I can do both.”

  Since I was too weak to argue, I leaned against Barrett and let him steer me and the IV pole across the room. Silently, I lamented the draft I felt behind me where my hospital gown gaped open. When we got to the bathroom door, it was a tight squeeze for us to make it through. As I hovered beside the toilet seat, Barrett remained glued to my side.

  “Um, a little privacy please.”

  He shook his head. “With you so weak, I’m not taking a chance of you falling.”

  Oh God. The situation grew more and more mortifying by the second. “Could you at least turn around once I’m sitting down?”

  Even though I could tell he didn’t like the idea, he nodded. Once his back was facing me, I tugged at the hem of my gown and eased down on the toilet seat, groaning in ecstasy as a steady stream began to flow. When Barrett snickered at my response, I groaned again, but this time out of embarrassment.

  “I can’t believe you have to see me like this.”

  “Trust me, this is a cakewalk after what happened on the bus.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Barrett’s shoulders tensed. “Nothing.”

  “No, tell me what you meant.”

  “Let’s just say the cough syrup coupled with your fever made you act out of your head.”

&nb
sp; A reel of images from the previous night on the bus charged through my mind, causing me to shudder. “I sang, didn’t I?”

  “Yep.” Oh—oh shit. I gave Barrett a lap dance. When I shrieked in horror, he whirled around at my reaction. “What? What’s wrong?”

  I buried my head in my hands. “I just remembered coming on to you.”

  Barrett sucked in a breath. “I was hoping you would have blacked all that out.”

  “Why? Why do I have to remember? There are entire nights of partying I can’t recall from back when I was in college, but no, I have to have to the image of straddling your lap burned into my memory.”

  He chuckled. “You were pretty disappointed I wouldn’t initiate you into the mile-high club.”

  Peeking at him through my fingers, I said, “But we were on a bus.”

  “Yes, I did explain that to you.”

  “I didn’t try to come on to anyone else, did I?” The thought of me grinding against Pete or Ed was even more horrifying than Barrett.

  “Thankfully, it was just me.” He winked at me. “Even in your inebriated state, you were true to me.”

  A relieved breath whooshed out of me. “I’m a woman of my word. I might be high as a kite on moonshine cough syrup, but I still keep my promises.” I shuddered. “Ugh, moonshine.”

  “It’ll knock you on your ass for sure.”

  “You’ve had some before?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. Once was more than enough.”

  I laughed. “I second that.”

  After flushing the toilet, I rose to my feet. Once I adjusted my gown, I said, “Okay.”

  Barrett turned around. “Now was that so bad?”

  “Yes. It took me almost a year to be comfortable enough to pee in front of my ex-fiancé.”

  “It’s never been an issue with me.”

  “Have you ever spent enough time with a woman for them to actually have to pee?”

  With a chuckle, Barrett said, “Yes, smartass, I have.”

  “Hey, it was just an honest assumption.”

  “You know the adage about making assumptions right?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m an ass, whatever,” I replied as I started shuffling out of the bathroom.

  Barrett had just escorted me back to bed when a knock sounded at the door. “Come in,” Barrett called.

  A dozen or so helium balloons bobbed into the room followed by Ty. “Good morning,” he called.

  “Good morning.”

  After he placed the balloons on one of the bedside tables, he placed a bag on my tray.

  “I’m not sure if they’ve brought breakfast around yet, but here’s your favorite French toast.”

  “Oh Ty, that’s so sweet of you.”

  He jerked his chin at Barrett. “I’m not the one who thought of it, I’m just the one who picked it up.”

  When I met Barrett’s eyes, he shrugged. “I used to hate hospital breakfasts when I was a kid.”

  “Then it was awful sweet of you. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  With my stomach rumbling, I reached for the bag. Like a mother hen, Barrett hovered over me, helping me get my plate in order. This was the man few in the public knew him to be. If only they knew how compassionate and caring he was deep down, it would change their perception of him. It certainly had for me.

  “Did you get everything taken care of?” Barrett asked Ty.

  He nodded. “I’ve spoken with your parents, and everything is in order for when Addison is discharged.”

  “Wait, what’s in order?” I questioned through a mouthful of French toast.

  “Your R&R.”

  I swallowed. “My what?”

  “The doctor has insisted you take it easy and recuperate for at least the next week to ten days.”

  Widening my eyes in horror, I shrieked, “A week? I can’t be gone from the campaign that long, not now.”

  “Yes, you can be gone that long, and yes, you will. Besides the pneumonia, you also were dehydrated and a little anemic, not to mention the ridiculous amount of alcohol in your system,” Barrett replied.

  I wasn’t too surprised about the dehydration thing; I hadn’t been drinking water like I should—finding a bathroom in the middle of a campaign stop was not the easiest thing in the world. “I’m being sent home?”

  Barrett shook his head. “I’m sending you to our house on Martha’s Vineyard.” When I started to protest, he held up a hand to silence me. “You don’t need to go back to your apartment all alone. You need to be somewhere you can be looked after.”

  “Evan can do that back in Arlington.”

  “Not full-time.”

  “You’re hiring someone to stay with me?”

  “Nope. Ty and I will be staying with you.”

  My mouth gaped open. “You’re joking.”

  “No, we’re not.” He grinned at Ty. “Are we?”

  Ty laughed. “Nope.”

  I shook my head. “It’s one thing for me to be off the trail for a week, but your dad can’t afford to lose you, too, not when we’re so close to getting enough votes for the nomination.”

  “Look at it this way: I’ll appear far more sympathetic to the media if I stay with you while you recuperate.” Well that’s true. So he was doing it for sympathy and image, not because he really wanted to be with me.

  Having seen true concern in his eyes, I couldn’t help wondering if that was his only motivation behind staying with me. In the end, I really didn’t have a good reason to argue against staying at a house on the beach with two hot men looking after me. “Okay, fine.”

  With a chuckle, Barrett said, “I’m glad you could finally see things my way.”

  “I’m only agreeing to it because I can’t pass up the opportunity to have you cooking and cleaning for me.”

  Barrett snorted. “Like I would actually do either of those things. I’ll be hiring someone to come in and do all that.”

  “Bummer. I really wanted to see you wearing an apron.”

  “I’ll be happy to put one on if it fulfills a fantasy of yours,” Barrett replied teasingly.

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  Barrett motioned to my plate. “Hurry up and finish your breakfast so we can bust you out of here.”

  “I thought we had to wait for a doctor to discharge me?”

  He winked. “Addie, you should know by now, I’m not one to follow the rules.”

  BARRETT

  After a week of sunshine and relaxation at Martha’s Vineyard, a doctor cleared Addison to return to the campaign trail. Although it felt great being back on the Niña, I kind of missed having time with just Addison. Although the weather had been chilly, we’d had several days of bright sunshine. We took a few short walks on the beach every day with Ty giving us plenty of distance, but mainly we just holed up in the house, watching movies or Addison reading while I worked. All too soon, it was time to get back to reality.

  Dad still had a few votes to gain before clinching the nomination. He was unstoppable in the following weeks, crushing primary after primary. Finally, he amassed enough votes to secure the nomination, and it was one of the best nights of my life—well, at least the best night outside of a sexual escapade.

  We celebrated by taking over a Mexican restaurant. The margaritas flowed like water, and it wasn’t long before we were all shit-faced, Dad and Mom included. Somehow we all kept it together as we boarded the bus in front of the press. Thankfully, the bodyguards along with the newly allocated Secret Service kept them from getting too close to us, or they would have been able to smell all the liquor.

  Now that Dad had the nomination, we had a brief moment to breathe. It meant the campaign would be heading back to DC for a weekend to strategize for the upcoming months, and Dad and Mom would also be getting time to go back home to Alexandria.

  Addison and I were also off the hook, at least when it came to working on the campaign. We obviously would still need to spend some time together to keep up the
front of our engagement, but we could go our separate ways. Although we probably could have used some time apart, I secretly hoped Addison wouldn’t insist on it.

  The truth was, I liked spending time with her. I especially enjoyed just hanging out and watching movies on the bus or in the hotel. That’s when Addison and I got to just be ourselves without having to worry if a camera lens was pointed at us or if someone was analyzing our conversation. We talked about anything and everything. One moment we might be engaged in a very intellectual conversation, and the next we would be laughing over a funny meme we saw on Instagram.

  Although I was still too stubborn to admit it to Ty, he had been right when he said Addison was changing me. Since I’d become fake engaged to her, I no longer cared about jet-setting or staying out all night partying. I also began to appreciate the hidden allure of being with just one woman—and more specifically, being with just Addison, and that was even without sex involved.

  A wiser man in the ways of the heart might’ve realized where this was headed. Alas, I was fucking clueless to the subterfuge I was being swept up in, and I remained that way until it was far too late.

  We landed at Dulles at a little after five. Addison and I exited the jet and hopped into the back seat of the waiting car while Ty slid into the front seat. As we began the drive back into the city, I turned to Addison. “Wanna grab something to eat before we go home?”

  She quickly shook her head. “Actually, I need the driver to let me out at my apartment.”

  “Okay. Ty and I can grab some dinner and then swing back by and pick you up.”

  “No!” Addison exclaimed. Her cheeks flushed at her outburst. “I mean, thank you, but that won’t be necessary. I have a million things I need to get done before the movers come in two weeks. I’ll probably crash there after I get everything done.” She yawned exaggeratedly. “I’m pretty tired already.”

  “You don’t need to worry about any of that. I told you before we can have some people come pack you up.”

  “No, no, I’d rather do most of it myself.”

  “If you’re sure. I mean, you’re going to need your stamina for next week.”