A somewhat maniacal laugh escaped my lips. “Trust me. I don’t know anything anymore either.” I shook my head. I didn’t really owe him the truth, because obviously the night we’d shared meant more to me than him, but I think I needed to vent. Or needed to explain my crazy behavior. You pick. “You were just supposed to be a night of sexual healing. But I can’t stop thinking about you. I’ve been a fucking wreck, thinking about seeing you again and how I was going to pretend that I didn’t have feelings for you.” Exhaling a sad sigh, I leaned back against the marble banister. “And then I saw your name with a plus-one, and then I really freaked out, because it’s obvious you’ve moved on and I haven’t.” I hated feeling this vulnerable. This exposed.
Stuart stared at me, positively dumbfounded. And then he did something that shocked the hell out of me. He started to laugh. Like bent over, belly-rolling laughs.
“I’m glad one of us finds this funny,” I huffed.
Swiping his eyes, Stuart shook his head at me. “Selah, I didn’t bring a date with me.”
“But the card—”
“Is for my grandmother.”
“Your grandmother,” I repeated dumbly.
Stuart nodded. “My parents were invited together, and then I decided to use my other ticket to bring my grandmother. This is a big night for her. Something she’s never experienced.”
I swept my hands over my mouth. And if she was standing in the dining room earlier, she knows he fucked a crazy woman. “Oh, my God.” As a reel of the night’s events flashed through my mind, I groaned. “I’m such an idiot.”
“It was an honest mistake.”
“Trust me, there was nothing remotely sane about any of my behavior after I saw that card.”
“They’re in the Yellow Room with Ty’s family.” With a hesitant smile, he added, “I’d like to introduce you to them.”
“You would?” They didn’t hear me? Praise God!
“Of course I would.” He smiled down at me. “Because if there’s anything the last few weeks has taught me, it’s that life shouldn’t be taken for granted. I haven’t stopped thinking about you either. That night between us wasn’t enough. I want you in my life, Selah.”
My heart thrummed so wildly in my chest. “I do, too. I mean, I want you in my life.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
When I thought my chest might explode with emotion, Stuart placed his hands on the sides of my neck. He then dipped his head and brought his lips to mine. And just like that, Stuart had saved my life once more.
Oh, and my vagina’s as well.
Just like that, he became more than just my tequila mate. He became my more.
ALSO IN THE RUNNING MATE SERIES
ROOM MATE
Ty
From the time I was a kid, I knew I wanted a job helping people. After serving in the Rifles regiment of the British Army, I focused my civilian career on becoming a bodyguard to the rich and famous. For a Cockney Brit, I never imagined a twist of fate landing me a position in the United States Secret Service and protecting the President’s son. But then my boss made an unexpected request: leave my current placement to move in with his only daughter to give an added layer of protection against the threats she had been receiving. I’d never lived with a woman who was off-limits to me. It wasn’t just that Caroline had a boyfriend. She was my best friend’s sister, and my boss’s daughter. But the longer we’re in such close quarters together, the greater the temptation grows, but I know I’ll lose everything if I pursue her.
Caroline
Growing up as the only girl with two overbearing older brothers, I’m no stranger to being overprotected. Just as I finished up college and prepared to truly dip my toes into the adult world, my father was elected President of the United States, which added a whole new level of protection with the Secret Service team attached to me. Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly be more smothered, I began receiving threats, and my family decided it wasn’t enough to just have an agent living down the hall from me. Nope, I was to have one move in with me, and not just any agent, but Ty Frasier—my brother, Barrett’s best friend, and my brother, Ty’s, head agent. While most women would enjoy living with a sexy, buff Brit, having a roommate threw a wrench into all my plans. Especially when I began noticing Ty was so much more than a hot guy—he was someone I could fall for.
OFFICE MATE
Thorn
From the first time I played army as a kid, the military has been my life. As an Airborne Major, I’d led my men through two tours in Afghanistan. But when my father was elected president, I became an even greater target for the enemy—a prize for someone to take out. To ensure not only the safety of myself, but of my men, I got stripped of my cammies, shoved into an Armani suit, and placed into a management position at my father’s company. After years of trekking through the desert with an assault rifle, I was way out of my area of expertise, which my transition coordinator was more than happy to let me know on a daily, if not hourly basis. The brunette bombshell would be the death of me in more ways than one, especially since I hadn’t been with a woman since my last deployment. She’s turning out to be one of the greatest foes I’ve ever done battle with.
Isabel
In the backwoods Georgia town I was born in, you either married right out of high school or got the hell out of town. I chose the second and never looked back. After graduating top in my class, I started working for The Callahan Corporation. Fast forward five years and I was about to become the youngest female manager in the history of my department. And then all the blood, sweat, and tears I’d put into my career were for nothing when the boss’s billionaire son was handed my position on a silver platter. Not only that, I was expected to help transition him into the job that was supposed to be mine. Sure, he’s easy on the eyes with his chiseled good-looks and impossibly built physique, but I’m not going to let that distract me. I hope soldier boy is good at military strategy because sabotage is the name of the game I’ll be playing.
RUNNING MATE
Barrett
The name’s Barrett Callahan. Yeah, that Barrett Callahan—the one the press dubbed “Bare” after those naked sexting pictures surfaced. At twenty-five, I was armed with an MBA from Harvard, an executive position at my father’s Fortune 500 company, a penthouse, and a different piece of delectable eye candy in my bed every weekend. I had a life most men dreamed of. But then my father decided to run for president, and my playboy lifestyle became a liability to his campaign that was built on family values. My “makeover” comes in the form of a fake fiancée who I don’t even get to choose--one who is an uptight, choirgirl acting priss but also sexy-as-hell.
Addison
My latest relationship had gone down in flames, and I was drowning in a sea of student loans when in true Godfather status, James Callahan made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Seven figures for seven months on the campaign trail pretending to be the adoring fiancée of his son, Barrett. As soon as he won the election, our engagement would be dissolved amicably for the press, I was free to ride off into the sunset a million dollars richer, and because of the NDA, no one would be the wiser. Sure, I’d never met the guy, but I’d been a theater nerd in high school. I could pull off any role from Lady Macbeth to Maria Von Trapp. But that was before I met my fake fiancé—the infuriating, self-absorbed, egotistical, drop-dead-sexy King of the Manwhores.