by Noelle Adams
And between the two of them, Ashley and Ethan had no luggage, no toiletries, no change of clothes, no car, no phones they could use, no usable credit cards, and only a thousand dollars in cash.
If she didn’t know better, Ashley would have thought she was a victim of some cruel reality show. And the entire country would later watch her misery and laugh.
Ashley might still trust Ethan, but her resentment was still firmly in place.
Lying in bed, she tried to breathe deeply, clear her mind, and think of pleasant things—like blank computer screens waiting to be filled up with words, fresh pots of coffee, the smell of newsprint, the first page of a new book, Ethan’s eyes when he smiled, his warm hand over hers…
And it was the end of the first day.
Day Two
Dublin, Virginia
Ashley was awakened by the phone ringing.
She sat up in bed with a jerk, trying to orient herself, wondering where the hell she was. She looked around at the neat, impersonal motel room.
Then everything that had happened yesterday came back in rush, leaving her feeling kind of shaky and nauseous. And the damned phone was still ringing.
“What!” she barked, grabbing the phone on the ninth or tenth ring.
Ethan’s dry tone was the last sound she wanted to hear right now. “Good morning to you too. It’s time to get up. We’ve got a long trip.”
Ashley growled out an impassioned and creative string of obscenities, feeling an inexplicable delight at voicing her temper in such a tangible way.
“Someone should wash your mouth out with soap. And then put you over his knee and spank you,” Ethan said, after her inspiration had run dry. “Where did you learn that kind of language?”
It was too early in the morning and Ashley was too outraged to construct an appropriate response to such a patronizing, superior attitude. She choked out an inarticulate sound of rage.
“Exactly,” Ethan replied. “I’m glad we agree on that. No more dirty words from you. Be ready in twenty minutes, or I’m coming in to dress you myself.”
Then he hung up the phone.
Ashley released a very loud howl of fury—she was pretty sure Ethan could hear it in the next room.
But she wouldn’t put it past Ethan to follow up on his threat, so she stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom. As she turned the shower on, she started chanting out her morning mantra, “Coffee, coffee. I need coffee.”
The low-budget establishment they were staying in didn’t even have one of those pitiful two-cup contraptions. Even the watery, lukewarm stuff that was brewed by those little complimentary coffeemakers was better than nothing.
The hot water woke her up a little as she stepped under the spray, but it wasn’t going to do the trick for long. Their first stop—even before they went to hunt for a car—would have to be for coffee.
She took a quick shower and then dried off in a rush. She had nothing she normally used to get dressed in the morning—couldn’t brush her teeth, comb her hair, cleanse her face, apply makeup, use deodorant, anything. So it didn’t take her very long to get dressed.
She combed her fingers through her wet hair, pulling out as many tangles as she could. She peered into the mirror and noticed the dark circles under her eyes that couldn’t be covered with makeup today. Her shirt was okay, but her skirt was wrinkled, and the edges were a little dirty—from all the times she’d been thrown to the ground the day before. And her hands and knees were skinned.
Oh well. This wouldn’t be one of her pretty days. The only person to see her would be Ethan, and she was sure he thought about her appearance so little that he wouldn’t notice if she opened the door stark naked.
Not that she’d do anything like that. Her parents were old-fashioned and had raised her that way. She wasn’t inclined to greet guys, even those she liked, at the door without any clothes on.
She was just towel-drying her hair some more—no handy hairdryers attached to the wall in these rooms—when there was a knock at the door.
It had only been fifteen minutes.
“I have five minutes left,” she called through the closed door.
He replied in his most infuriating voice, “If you aren’t nicer to me, I’ll drink your coffee myself.”
Ashley swung open the door and nearly attacked him to get the large cup of coffee he’d apparently bought from the fast food restaurant across the street. “I love you,” she groaned huskily, as she lifted the cup to her lips and took her first swallow.
Ethan chuckled. “Well, that’s a shocking shift in attitude. I thought you couldn’t stand me.”
She glared at him malevolently over her fragrant, steaming cup. “I was talking to the coffee.”
Then she ignored him and concentrated on drinking. It wasn’t the best brew she’d ever tasted, but it felt a lot like heaven this morning. As she sipped, she made some involuntary moans and sighs of sensual pleasure.
When she glanced over at Ethan, she caught a peculiar expression on his face as he watched her. She wasn’t sure how to interpret it, but it made her feel kind of hot and unsettled. “What?” she demanded, to hide her confused reaction.
“Nothing,” Ethan replied crisply, the strange expression immediately replaced by his no-nonsense one. “We need to get going. You can make love to your coffee on the way to get transportation.”
She ignored his last snide comment and focused on essentials. “How are we going to get a car? Will we try to buy one with some of your thousand dollars?”
Ethan shook his head, pulling her by the arm out of her room. “That would take too long, and we wouldn’t be likely to get a car in good enough condition to make the trip. I’ve got a better plan.”
They’d made their way over to the lobby, and Ashley waited as he went to check out of the rooms. When he rejoined her, she prompted, “Well? What’s your plan?”
“I’ll explain later.” Seeing that Ashley was about to vent some more frustration, he hurried on. “What we need is a large parking lot where cars are parked for most of the day—so not a restaurant or store or anything.”
Ashley wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that, but she was desperate enough to accept anything at the moment. Forgetting her resentment at Ethan’s high-handed ways, she put her mind to the problem. “There’s nothing around here but fast-foods and gas stations. But there was some kind of college further up the road. I saw a sign for it.”
Ethan put a hand on her back and propelled her forward, toward the main street. “That will have to do. It’s already almost eight—we need to get going. I hope you don’t mind a walk. I don’t think we should waste any money trying to call a taxi or something.”
“Of course I don’t mind walking,” Ashley said, although she had a sinking feeling that her strappy sandals weren’t up to the task.
She was right. Her sandals were definitely not made for walking. By the time they reached the entrance to the community college, she had about eight throbbing blisters on her feet.
Each step was painful, but she would sooner walk twenty more miles than admit it to Ethan.
“Now, what exactly is your plan?” Ashley asked, as they approached the half-empty parking lot. It was still early in the morning and during the summer-school session, so there weren’t as many cars as there otherwise would have been.
“Help me find a car with a staff sticker, not a student sticker,” Ethan instructed.
Ashley peered around dutifully and shortly said, “Here’s one. I’ve always liked this pretty blue color.”
Ethan shook his head. “Your pretty blue car is too new. We need an older model.
She rolled her eyes and gestured toward a much older four-door Ford with an impressive cowboy hat under the back windshield. “What about this one? Please don’t tell me we’re doing what I think we’re doing.”
Ethan walked around the car, eyeing it in a professional manner. He tried the door handle. It was unlocked. “We’re requisitioning this vehicle.”
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Ashley groaned, thinking that if they got arrested she would blame it all on Ethan, say he bullied her or something, so she wouldn’t have it on her very clean record. But she got into the passenger side because it was an emergency and her getting killed would upset her parents a lot more than her getting arrested. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. How are you going to start the engine?”
He fiddled a bit under the dashboard, doing something Ashley couldn’t quite see. “This doesn’t work on newer model cars,” he muttered. Very soon, the engine was rolling.
Ashley sighed. Of course Ethan would be able to hot-wire a car. Why had she even doubted?
Ethan looked inordinately pleased with himself and backed the car out of the parking space.
“What will we do when the cops come after us?” Ashley asked as they pulled out of the parking lot, turning right onto the main street.
“With any luck, the owner won’t even know it’s missing until five o’clock this afternoon. We’ll be in the middle of Iowa by then. I’ll make it up to the owner, as soon as we get this mess straightened out.”
Ashley wasn’t quite as confident as Ethan was, but she kept her mouth shut. They were going to be stuck in this car for a long time together.
***
They rode in peaceful silence for a while. The morning was clear and warm, and the mountain landscape was lovely.
As they’d turned back onto I-81 from Dublin, Ashley had questioned Ethan as to why they were going south. Even she knew that South Dakota was to the north of Virginia.
Ethan’s reply had been snotty. “We have to go south in order to meet up with I-77. Then we go north.”
Ashley hadn’t deigned to reply to that remark, mostly because she couldn’t think of anything to say. She didn’t think she’d been on I-77 before. She hadn’t really been anywhere in her life except Virginia—and Myrtle Beach for vacations.
In less than a half-hour, they got on I-77, and the gentle scenic mountains suddenly got harsher and steeper—making the highway much more winding.
In Ashley’s estimation, Ethan was taking the mountain curves at far too high a speed. She made sure her seatbelt was fastened and clutched at the door and the center console.
For the last year, she’d made a point of always going the speed limit so she wouldn’t get a ticket. She hadn’t wanted even the smallest brush with the police, since it made her think of the trouble Mark had gotten into.
“What’s your problem?” Ethan asked irritably, looking over at her.
Ashley would have preferred that he look at the road. “Nothing,” she mumbled, cringing a little as they reached the top of a mountain, and Ethan accelerated down the winding descent, steering with one hand and edging closer to what looked like a thousand-foot drop.
“Don’t lie to me,” he said, still peering at her. “You’re all tense and nervous. I don’t think anyone is following us now.”
Ethan darted in between a tractor-trailer and a minivan that was starting to pass it. The driver of the minivan honked his horn several times in outrage. Ethan, of course, ignored this.
“Do you think you could slow down a little?” Ashley asked through her teeth, as politely as she could manage. “These are mountains, if you hadn’t noticed.”
Wrinkling his brow, Ethan asked, “Do you get car sick?”
“No,” Ashley gulped as they headed for the sheer edge of a cliff before Ethan casually turned the steering wheel. “But I don’t want to plummet into a ravine.”
He eased up on the gas slightly and grumbled, “I didn’t know you were so uptight.”
She was being smart and sensible, given her particular situation. It didn’t mean she was uptight. She absolutely didn’t think she was uptight, and she hated when people said she was.
Especially Ethan.
She almost shrieked when Ethan slammed on the brakes.
“What are you doing?” she gasped as her head snapped back jarringly against her seat.
“Look ahead of you. This is a damned toll road. We need two-dollars for the toll.”
***
Their stolen car was low on gas, so they had to stop at a travel plaza off the interstate in Beckley to fill up. Ashley went in with Ethan as he paid so she could go to the bathroom, and they were walking out together when they saw a police car pulled not far from their stolen car.
Two officers were standing nearby, talking.
Ashley jerked to a stop, her heart jumping into her throat.
“Don’t look so guilty,” Ethan said, stopping beside her. “They’re probably not paying any attention to us.”
“What if the car was reported stolen?” Ashley crossed her arms tightly across her chest, thinking about how all her hard work at being good over the last eighteen months would be thrown out the window if Ethan got her arrested. “What if they’re trying to act casual and are waiting to see who gets in the car?”
“I doubt that. They look like they’re just killing time.” Ethan’s tone was laidback, but he didn’t move forward to the car, so he must not be absolutely sure.
“We can’t just stand here like this in the middle of the lot for no reason.” When she saw one of the police officers glance their way, Ashley pretended to be straightening Ethan’s shirt. “We’ll look suspicious, even if they’re not waiting for us.”
“I know that. Pretend we’re having a conversation, and it got so intense we had to stop.”
Still fidgeting with the buttons of his camp shirt, she couldn’t help but notice that the t-shirt underneath was so thin it was almost threadbare. “You really need to dump this stupid t-shirt.”
“What are you talking about?” His body stiffened, like he was offended.
Leave it to Ethan to not care when she insulted him or swore at him but get all upset when she threatened his favorite t-shirt. “You’ve had it since you were in high school. It’s falling apart. I’m surprised it even still fits, since you were skinny back then.”
He frowned. “I wasn’t that skinny.” Despite his frown, there was an unexpected warmth in his eyes that she used to see there a lot.
“Yes, you were.” She couldn’t help but feel a sudden wave of fond memory at the thought of Ethan in high school. He’d made her laugh and teased her and had once gotten into a fist-fight with a guy who had stood her up for the Christmas dance.
Even Mark hadn’t done that much for her.
“They’re looking at us,” Ethan murmured, his eyes still soft with that something. “I’m going to do something so we don’t look suspicious, so try not to get all upset about it.”
She had no idea what he was going to do. She was too distracted by the memories.
So she was stunned when he raised a hand to the back of her head and then leaned down to kiss her.
She’d never kissed Ethan before, and she had no desire to kiss him now.
He was smug and obnoxious and infuriating, and he’d brought nothing but trouble into her life.
She didn’t pull away, though. At first, she was so surprised she couldn’t. Then, when his mouth started to move against hers and he eased her closer against him, she didn’t really want to pull away.
It felt good. Amazing. He was a really good kisser. He was Ethan. And she wanted to kiss him back.
When she realized that she was genuinely responding, she sucked in a breath and tried to pull away.
“Don’t,” Ethan murmured against her mouth, holding her head in place with his hand. “They’re walking toward us.”
So she couldn’t pull away like she wanted—since kissing him was a better option than being arrested. But her heart was pounding painfully, and she fisted her hands in his old t-shirt to channel her surging nerves.
“Not in the middle of the parking lot, kids,” one of the policemen said as he passed. “At least make it back to your car.”
They broke apart, and Ashley heard herself giggling as the anxiety eased into relief.
“Sorry, sir,” Ethan said, much more com
pliantly than he would ever respond under normal circumstances.
So they returned to the car, which the police obviously hadn’t flagged as being stolen.
Ashley, feeling an intense wash of guilt and confusion, rubbed at her mouth with the back of her hand. She shouldn’t have liked kissing him so much. Having feelings like that would throw her whole life into a mess.
“Sorry,” Ethan said, obviously noticing the gesture. “I wouldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been an emergency.”
“I know. I didn’t say anything, did I?”
He didn’t reply, and Ashley was so embarrassed—thinking that he might have noticed she was an enthusiastic participant in the fake kissing—that she pretended to take a nap.
***
Sometime in the middle of her fake nap, Ashley thought of something. She popped her head up. “Don’t you have any real friends you can ask for help from?”
“What?” Ethan was clearly taken off-guard by her question.
Ashley made an impatient noise at his slowness. “I mean, can’t you call a friend and ask him to wire you money or get the bad guys off your back or something? Where are all your friends?”
He looked momentarily awkward. “I’m not sure who I can trust.”
Ethan was being serious, Ashley realized. He didn’t have a single person he could trust completely to help him. He’d surrounded himself by losers and crooks, and this was one of the consequences. A lot of people in the county liked him, but they might like Buster Jones even more. He couldn’t trust anyone. She couldn’t even imagine living that way.
She started to regret bringing it up at all. She didn’t like Ethan, but she hadn’t intended to lay out his isolation for all to see. Peeking over at him, she tried to read his expression. But his eyes were shuttered, and his face was detached. She felt a strange sensation grow in the pit of her stomach—couldn’t believe she was feeling it for Ethan.
