Page 2 of Shotgun Spouse

Teddy's fingers stilled as his mind wandered to the cautionary tale that haunted him every time he thought about asking Bunny out. Deirdre Caldwell. The name alone sent a shiver of unease down his spine. She’d been the mayor before him, the town's first female mayor. Her tenure hadn't ended in literal flames. But there had been a pitchfork involved in the efforts to boost her out of office.

Deirdre had a habit of hiring fresh-faced college grads—young men with wide-eyed ambition and not much else. At first, the town had chalked it up to her maternal ways and her desire to help the young. But then the rumors started. Meetings behind locked doors. Lingering hands on shoulders. And then one day,a group of furious mothers had stormed town hall, a pitchfork in one mama's hand—or maybe it had been a broom—demanding justice for their “impressionable young men.”

Teddy had been one of those impressionable young men. But he hadn't succumbed to Deirdre's charms, likely because the first time he'd seen Bunny Chou, he hadn't had eyes for anyone else.

The imagery of Deirdre being chased out of town by a mob wielding farm equipment still made Teddy cringe. He'd planned to ask Bunny out, but that was before she'd joined his campaign to fill Deirdre's seat. He hadn't thought about the repercussions of hiring the brilliant communications director, though. It wasn't until after she was on his staff that he realized asking her out meant a repeat of the previous mayor's downfall. If Teddy so much as suggested dinner, he could already picture the townsfolk assembling outside his office.

As Teddy watched Grant lean closer to Bunny, a slick grin plastered across his face, the pitchforks felt like a small price to pay. But before he could stand, his phone buzzed on the desk. He glanced down, the screen lighting up with a name that sent a different kind of exasperation rolling through him.

He groaned under his breath. Ignoring her wasn’t an option. Not unless he wanted her showing up unannounced, wielding guilt like a finely sharpened blade. He snatched up the phone and pressed it to his ear.

“Hey, Mama.”

“Theodore James Carter, were you planning to call me back any time this century?”

His mother had called an hour ago when the meeting began. He didn't bother to tell her that. It would go in one ear and out the other.

“I’m a little busy. You know, running a town.”

“Does that include eating a proper meal? Because I saw on the app you haven’t touched the meals I shipped this week.”

Of course, she was tracking his deliveries.

“Do you need me to send another shipment? Or maybe I should drive up and cook for you myself. You remember what happened the last time you tried to live off granola bars, don’t you?”

“The meal service is great. You don’t need to come out here.”

His mother's voice went in one ear and out the other as Teddy made the appropriate sounds into the phone. Meanwhile, his eyes were on Bunny's desk. She wasn't there. She wasn't at the coffee station either.

“Because I don’t want to have to send you care packages to the middle of nowhere.”

"Yes, ma'am. That sounds great. I gotta go, Mama. Love you."

“Love you too, soldier. And remember—granola bars are not a meal.”

The call ended, and Teddy let out a long breath, leaning his head back. Sometimes he wondered if his mother missed her days of commanding troops or if micromanaging him was her new full-time mission.

It didn't matter. Teddy had a different mission. His reelection campaign was starting today. He decided that if he started dating Bunny during the lull between this campaign and the next, the town just might accept it. But first, he'd have to get the woman in question to consent to a courtship.

She'd said she had some paperwork for him to sign. Teddy had been pushing it off because each time she asked him to sign the paperwork, he was surrounded by other staff members. He wanted to get her alone so he could finally seal another deal. But to do that, he first had to find her.

CHAPTER TWO

"Ithink he's seeing someone else."

"Of course he is. All men cheat. It's what keeps me in business."

Bunny sat in the empty conference room of the town hall, sipping her tea as she listened to her sisters spill their tea. Her nose wrinkled, not at her sisters' banter, but at the citrus tang of the lemon she’d added to her brew. She gripped the warm mug tightly, staring at the wall lined with portraits of the town’s past mayors.

There they were: one solemn-faced white man after another, each with varying degrees of outdated hairstyles and mustaches, gazing out from the frames with an air of authority. Then came the lone woman—Deirdre Caldwell. Her portrait was hung reluctantly, slightly smaller than the others, as if the town wanted to minimize her tenure and the scandal that had ended it.

Finally, there was Teddy. His portrait stood out, not just because of his warm brown skin or his effortless charm captured in that megawatt smile, but because he looked less like a politician and more like someone you’d trust to coach your kid’s soccer team.

Bunny's eyes shifted to the blank space next to his portrait—the spot reserved for the next mayor. She traced its edges with her gaze, imagining her own face there. Not smiling, though. She’d look serious, professional. The kind of leader this town needed.

The thought sent a strange thrill through her, followed immediately by a pang of guilt. Teddy was a good mayor. People loved him. But did that make him the best mayor?

"There's no reason to stay married to him, Kitten. You both got what you wanted. Now get out."

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