By the time we reach the door, the man behind the cash register is practically drooling. I shoot him a wink before escaping into the parking lot.
“That was some show,” Calder muses when we’re in the parking lot.
“I thought I might as well have a little fun with it,” I say.
Calder grabs me and presses me up against the side of the car. In this position, my near-nakedness is hidden from anyone traveling along the road behind us.
“You’re enjoying this,” he says, his eyes darkening. “You blush whenever I pay you a compliment, but secretly you love showing off that sweet little body of yours.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing,” he murmurs, moving closer. “Nothing at all.” I feel his arousal pressing against my thigh.
“We’re in a parking lot,” I remind him.
“I don’t see how that’s a problem.” He begins to suck on my neck while his hands creep up to cup my essentially-bare breasts. “Think I could get you off right here?”
Oh, I have no doubt he could get me off anywhere.
One of his hands slips between my legs.
“Still eager, I see.” He slides his finger across my wetness. He loops his thumb around the strap that crosses my folds, tugging making up for lost time.to10it aside to gain better access.
Meanwhile, his mouth continues to attack my flesh. He nips at my skin, working his way down across my breast, and when he reaches the heart applique he uses his teeth to pull it away from my nipple. I clutch his shoulders and moan, throwing my head back against the car.
It shouldn’t excite me this much.
“People are going to think I’m a hooker,” I say. “We’re going to get arrested.”
He’s already undoing his belt. The madness has come over him again, that feral passion that I fear will tear us both apart. He pushes down his pants and slides his hard length between my legs, pressing it against my trembling body.
I ache for him. I want him so badly, but I’m scared. Scared of the pent-up emotion in his eyes, scared of the strength of my own reaction to him. If I’m not careful, it will consume everything.
Calder has grabbed my thigh. He’s lifting my leg, shifting my body to give him easier access. But I place my hand on his chest.
“Stop. Calder, please stop.”
He freezes. His body quivers with restraint.
“No one will see,” he says softly. “We’re hidden from the road.”
I shake my head and push him back another step. “I just don’t want to do this here. Please.”
Hurt floods his eyes, but he nods and releases me.
“Wait.” I grab the collar of his shirt and pull his face to mine. I kiss him softly, but in a way I hope conveys the confusion of emotions rushing through me right now. When we break away from each other, I see the battle waging in his eyes, his lust and pride warring with the pain. He steps back and clears his throat.
“Come on,” he says softly, readjusting the straps on my lingerie to cover me again. “Let’s keep going.”
Back on the road, things are quiet again. Calder’s lost the high spirits he had at the adult store, and though I know it’s my fault, I don’t know what to do with all of these feelings surging through my chest.
In the end, s much as I hate to admit it’s the lingerie that breaks the tension.
As promised, I’m wearing nothing but that strappy torture device as I sit in the passenger’s seat. It took me a while to figure out how to sit comfortably, but I’ve finally managed to find a position where the straps aren’t digging into me. I’m leaning my head against the window, watching the traffic move past, when a semi-truck pulls up beside us. I glance up. The truck driver is staring down at me, jaw agape. When he catches my eye, he breaks into a smile and tugs on his horn.
I squeak and jerk away from the window.
Calder looks over and glances up out of the windshield at the truck. I watch the realization dawn on him, and then suddenly he’s laughing.
I cross my arms across my breasts. “You think this is funny?”
He’s laughing so hard he can’t even answer.
I try to stay pissed, but I can’t help it. The humor is infectious. Soon I’m giggling right along with him, and when a few minutes later another trucker sends a complimentary honk my way, I lose it again.
That’s only the beginning. Every semi that passes pulls its horn at us, something Calder seems to find increasingly amusing. The worst, though, is when he pulls into a gas station to fill up and grab us some snacks for lunch. I curl up and keep my arms crossed while I wait, but that does little to prevent the stares.
“I hope you’re happy,” I say when he slides back into the car. “Now half the state has seen me practically naked.”
He grins as he passes over a bag of trail mix. “Don’t tell me you’re not enjoying this even a little.”
If I’m being honest… then yes. It’s insane, but I’m getting some twisted, naughty pleasure out of this. But I won’t tell him that.
“It’s your turn again,” I say as he pulls back onto the highway. “Truth or dare?”
He smiles. “Truth.”
Damn. I was hoping I’d have the chance to get him back for this.
“Afraid of a little revenge after the last round?” I tease.
“Choosing ‘truth’ isn’t a cop-out,” he replies, looking pointedly at me. “Not if you play it right.”
He’s right, of course. I can think of ways to make this side of the game fun, too. I lean back against my seat and just watch him for a minute. It’s early afternoon, and the light coming in through the windows brings out the chestnut tones in his dark hair and casts a warm, golden glow on his skin. My belly warms just looking at him.
I can hardly believe that here, in this moment, he’s mine.
I’ve been trying to think of a question that will make him squirm, but suddenly I don’t care about turning him on. I want to know more about his heart.
“All those girls you dated,” I hear myself saying. “All those models and actresses. Did you ever love any of them?”
He turns his head, looking at me briefly before turning his eyes back to the road. The corner of his mouth turns up. “Jealous, are we?”
“That’s not what I meant.” Great, now he thinks I’m insecure.
But I stand by my question.
“I loved Garrett,” I tell him. “For better or for worse, there was a time when he was… everything to me. I want to know if there was someone for you, someone who was important once. I’ve never heard you mention anyone specific.”