Running Mate

“You were fantastic!” Barrett exclaimed.

I pulled away to stare into his face. “Really?”

He grinned. “Quit fishing for compliments. You know you rocked the house.”

I laughed. “I sorta did, didn’t I?”

“You sure as hell did.”

Gazing into his eyes, I realized I’d gained more than a friend during the last few months. I’d learned that leaning on someone wasn’t such a bad thing, that leaning on Barrett wasn’t such a bad thing. I liked being a recipient of his caring side. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Oh please, you could’ve given that speech blindfolded.”

“No, I mean it. You coming back here and saying you believe in me gave me the confidence I needed.” Acting on impulse, I reached up and pecked him on the lips.

Barrett stared wide-eyed at me. “What did you do that for?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. As a way to say thank you.” That was the honest-to-God truth; I hadn’t had any ulterior motives. I certainly hadn’t thought about how Barrett might take it for something else, but his expression told me he did.

“I’m sorry if you don’t want me kissing you.”

With a scowl, he replied, “That’s not it.” Right, why else would you suddenly be acting all weird?

“Considering how pissed you look, that must be it.”

“You just took me off guard, that’s all.” He took my hand. “Come on, we better get back to the family box.”

Any elation I’d felt over my speech was suddenly dampened by Barrett’s obvious loathing of my lip-lock. I hadn’t even considered that the idea of kissing me could be repulsive to him. Tuck away your heart, Ads. You know the sort of woman Barrett truly likes, and even after all this time, it isn’t going to be you.

BARRETT

As Everett fussed around me trying to get the tie on my tux just right, I felt like I was being choked, but it wasn’t the tie that was leaving me suffocating—it was my growing feelings for Addison. When she kissed me out of the blue, it had knocked me emotionally on my ass. Sure, we’d kissed a ton of times before, but they had all been orchestrated for the media’s benefit. This one was different. It had been off the cuff and driven by her emotion. Sure, it hadn’t been a passionate I wanna rip your clothes off kinda kiss.

It was an even more dangerous one.

The night after Dad had stood on stage and officially accepted the party’s nomination, we were ditching the business attire for evening wear to attend the Cattleman’s Ball. It was the first time Addison and I had attended anything black tie for the campaign, and tonight we would be hobnobbing with campaign donors. That fact coupled with a large media presence meant Addison and I would be on constant display as the happy couple. I hadn’t dreaded having to pretend in a long a time, and I thought maybe I was doing so now because the lines between pretending and what I truly felt were blurring.

“There, got it!” Everett exclaimed, drawing me out of my thoughts.

“Thanks man.”

Everett handed me my cufflinks, the heirloom ones that traveled in the safe with the other family jewels. As I started putting them on, Everett said, “Oh hell, I forgot to get Addison’s necklace to her.”

“I’ll take it to her.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m heading that way now to pick her up to head downstairs to the car.”

Everett nodded before handing me a small velvet box. Addison had been corralled into my parents’ suite about an hour ago so Saundra could work on her and Mom simultaneously. After bypassing the Secret Service outside the door, I entered the main room. “Addison, we need to go.”

“Coming!” she called.

I walked in a smile. At the sight of Addison bedecked in a red strapless gown with her long hair swept back in a loose knot, my smile slowly faded. I blinked several times at the breathtaking image before me. Fuck. Me. It’d been several long months since I’d had sex, and seeing her in that dress was not helping my very blue-balled situation. “Wow,” I murmured.

“Does that warrant a ‘thank you’ or a ‘what’s wrong with me?’ response from me?” she teasingly asked.

“You look beautiful.”

A pleased expression came over her face. “Thanks. What’s in the box?”

“Huh?”

“The box in your hands.”

“Oh yeah.” I walked over to stand before her. “Everett forgot to give this to you.”

When Addison opened it, she gasped at the sight of the necklace. After she stood there just silently staring for a few moments, I jumped at the sound of her sudden laughter. Furrowing my brows at her, I asked, “What’s so funny?”

“These feels like a scene out of a movie—Pretty Woman to be more exact, like you’re going to snap the box on my fingers like Richard Gere did to Julia Roberts.”

“I’ve never seen it.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Is it a chick flick?”

“I suppose you could call it that.”

“Then trust me, I’ve never seen it.”

“We’re just going to have to remedy that ASAP.”

“On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You watch a macho movie.”

Wrinkling her nose, Addison asked, “Like one with The Rock or Vin Diesel?”