by Cat Johnson
The bartender smiled at the extra attention she was getting from him. “Yes, sir. I saw the chef making it myself today.”
“A’ight, then. We’re set.”
“Anything to drink?” Again the question was directed right at the object of the server’s attention. Justin.
“You want something to drink?” Once again, Justin asked Phoenix for her order before he would place his own.
“I don’t know. What are you having?”
“I’m having a draft. We’re barely a mile down the road, so I figure I can have one.”
“Um, okay. I’ll have a draft beer, too. Thanks.”
“Sure.” The girl wasn’t quite as receptive to Phoenix’s thanks as she was to Justin’s.
There was a small feeling of petty satisfaction that she was sharing a meal and having a beer with Justin while it was so obvious the girl was interested in him. Phoenix probably shouldn’t feel that way, but she couldn’t help it.
She watched the girl walk away toward the door of the kitchen and then turned back to Justin with a smile. “I think we make a good choice of places.”
He laughed. “Not sure there was much more in this town to choose from. We’ll see when the food arrives.”
“At least the beer should be good.”
“Let’s hope. If it’s cold, then it should be good.” He watched the bartender, tracking her with his eyes as she headed to the bar and the taps before he frowned and focused solely on Phoenix. “Hey, did the service station ever call you about your car?”
“No. I didn’t see a call.” She’d forgotten all about that. And it was definitely something she couldn’t let slide. She needed that car to get home so she could start school. “Let me check. Maybe I have a message.”
She reached into her purse and riffled around for her phone. It was down deep at the bottom, but she finally connected with it. Setting it on the table, she punched in her code and looked for a new message alert.
“Nothing. And no missed calls either.”
He extended his hand. “Give me.”
“Um, okay.”
“You have the number?”
“Yeah.” She searched the bag again and emerged with the battered but still legible cocktail napkin on which the bartender in Phoenix had written the number.
Justin took the napkin and punched in the number. “You remember the bartender’s name from yesterday?”
“Um, Joe, I think? Maybe.”
He nodded and then pressed the phone closer to his ear. “Yeah, hi. I’m calling about the yellow Volkswagen Beetle we dropped off for service this morning. We were told we’d be getting a call with an estimate.”
He was quiet for a second, but she could see by the set of his jaw, he wasn’t happy about what he was hearing.
“Uh-huh. So he didn’t get a chance to look at it today.” Justin shook his head. “Sometime tomorrow really isn’t going to work for us. Um, does the owner happen to be there?”
He paused a few seconds before continuing. “A’ight, because Joe at the bar personally assured me that you guys could get the job done fast and at a fair price.”
Justin paused again, then nodded. “I’d appreciate that. Yeah, that’s the one. It’s registered under Phoenix Montagno. Thank you.”
He hit to disconnect the call and then laid the phone down on the table. He slid it back toward her. “They’re putting it up on the lift now. A mechanic is gonna take a look at it and they’ll be calling back with an estimate before close of business tonight.”
“Wow. I doubt they would have done that for me.”
“Because you’re too nice.” He smiled.
“No, because I’m female.”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Probably. Definitely.”
“A’ight. Fine. If I need to call a business where a woman would do better like, hell, I don’t know, a beauty salon or something, you can do it for me. Okay?”
“Okay, it’s a deal. If for any reason you need to call a beauty salon, I’ll happily do it for you.”
“Good.” He grinned.
She was simply happy that he seemed to be in a better mood.
There were lots of mysteries surrounding this man, but if he was good, then she was, too.
The beer arrived and Justin thanked the server, which had the girl beaming as she turned back for the bar.
But it was when he lifted his mug in a toast and his eyes met hers that Phoenix’s heart kicked into high gear. “One day down, one more to go.”
She lifted her mug in a toast and then took a sip, even if the sentiment wasn’t exactly true. “One more day for you. You’ll be home tomorrow.”
“And you’ll be farther from home. I know.” He nodded. “However, you’ll be in the same town as Bonnie Martin, and I know—though I still have no idea why—that’ll make you happy.”
Would it? She still had no idea what she was going to say to the woman. It wasn’t as if she could walk up and say, “Hi, Mom.”
She was still considering that when Justin asked, “How long are you going to stick around Oklahoma?”
“I don’t know how long I’ll be staying. I do have to get back to California pretty soon. I have a couple of days, though.”
“I guess you could look into taking a bus back to Arizona so you won’t have to drive alone in a rental car. Or maybe take the Amtrak.”
She didn’t want to talk about leaving before she’d even gotten there. It was a lot to think about. Meeting Bonnie. How she was going to get home.
Then there was Justin—a small part of her would be unhappy to think about never seeing him again. Though, if Bonnie was her mother, and if she wanted to build some sort of relationship between them, there was a chance she’d be coming back to Oklahoma again.
And those were a lot of ifs to get past. Not to mention the biggest one—if Justin was at all interested in seeing her again.
They got along pretty well, though. Forget about dinner dates or movies. Phoenix was beginning to see the best way to get to know someone was by traveling together.
Hell, if two people could survive a road trip, normal dating would be a breeze.
Chapter Eighteen
Feeling stuffed from dinner and a little sleepy from being so full, Justin pushed the door of the hotel room open. “It’s not the Ritz, but . . .”
Phoenix followed him inside. “It’s fine. Really.”
“Well, it’s ours for the night, so we might as well get comfortable.” Justin realized that might have sounded suggestive. “You know, to get some sleep.”
“Yup.” She nodded.
Still not confident he’d defused the sexual tension he felt, he added, “Tomorrow’s going to be another long drive.”
“Mmm-hmm,” she agreed, not moving from where she still hovered near the door. “So do you want to go in the bathroom first?”
“Uh, sure.” Justin glanced at the bathroom. “Unless you want to get in there first? That’s fine, too.”
“No. I think I’ll sort through my bag before I go in. I kind of just threw things in this morning. I have to, you know, find my toothbrush and stuff.”
“A’ight. I’ll go first.” He turned toward the door and then realized he needed his stuff, too.
He couldn’t come walking out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. He turned back toward the bags he’d dumped by the door before they’d gone out to eat dinner and grabbed his, carrying it to the bed by the door. He paused before he put the bag down.
“You have a particular preference on the bed?” he asked, and then scrambled to add, “I mean which one you want.”
He tried his best not to think about her preferences as far as what to do in bed.
“Nope.” Phoenix shook her head. “Whichever is fine.”
“A’ight. I’ll take this one, then.” He’d rather be by the door.
If anything went down, he wanted to be the one to deal with it first, not her. Yeah, he might be paranoid, but you never knew what could happen o
n the road.
He unzipped his bag and reached inside. His hand connected with a clean T-shirt, and though he never slept in a shirt, he took it out anyway, thinking tonight might be a first for him. He didn’t think Phoenix would be comfortable with him being shirtless.
As he pushed a pair of socks aside and reached for his shorts, he had to wonder what Phoenix was going to be wearing tonight. That was a bad thought. He shouldn’t be thinking things like that.
He found the bag he’d tossed inside that contained his deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, and razor. He grabbed the whole thing to take in with him. For some reason, he had the urge to shave. Why, he didn’t know.
Dammit. He did know why.
It was because he was sharing the room with Phoenix.
Because he hadn’t bothered to shave while he’d been in Arizona, he was walking around looking scruffy. His beard only grew in a little bit. That was one issue with having lighter-colored hair, unlike Tyler, whose hair was so dark brown it was almost black. Ty could grow a full beard in a couple of days, while Justin would only have sporadic stubble.
He was thinking too hard about all this shit. He didn’t have to make excuses. A man could shave when he wanted to, dammit.
Mad at himself, he grabbed the bag. “A’ight. I’m heading in.”
“Okay.”
Leaving her out there in the room, staring into her bag, he turned and closed himself into the bathroom.
He flipped on the shower and let the steam from the hot water fill the room before he realized the water was much too hot for him. He flipped the hot down and the cold up. It seemed he couldn’t even manage to shower without messing it up.
That’s what thinking with the little head did to a guy. He had to stop it. If not, he’d end up wrapping both his brother’s truck and Rohn’s trailer around a tree when he tried to finish the drive tomorrow.
Justin somehow accomplished an event-free shower, after which he shaved and managed not to even nick himself during it.
He brushed his teeth, slapped on some deodorant, and towel dried his hair. He did everything he normally did before bed and then that was it. He had no more reason to hide out in the bathroom, except that he wasn’t sure he could handle it if Phoenix looked all cute and cuddly in bed. Or worse, if she looked sexy in some skimpy nightie. That would do him in for sure.
Crap.
Better to find out sooner rather than later either way. He gathered up his shit, tossed his towel onto the hook, and opened the door.
Lucky for him, she wasn’t even undressed yet. That was a relief.
Instead, she stood next to the bed with her phone in her hand. She glanced up when he exited the bathroom. If he wasn’t totally off base, she was looking pretty relieved that he was clothed.
“The service station just called.”
Good. Something to talk about that he could sink his teeth into, and it had nothing to do with sex. “Yeah? What’d they say?”
“He thinks it’ll be an easy fix. Some hoses or something. But he should be able to do it tomorrow, so it’ll be ready whenever I get back there.”
“Great. I’m glad to hear it.”
He was happy the car was an easy fix. That was a no-brainer.
What surprised him was how odd he felt when he thought about her leaving. They barely knew each other. He liked spending time with her, but he sure as hell wasn’t in the market for a relationship—not long-term and definitely not long-distance.
So why did he care if she left sooner rather than later?
It had to be because he needed to get laid. He was definitely thinking with the wrong body parts at the moment. That’s what long periods of abstinence did to a healthy young man, he supposed. Sad but true.
He wrestled his focus back to his present dilemma. The two of them standing in a cheap hotel room with nothing to do besides the obvious things a man and a woman could do in a room with not much more than a bed in it. “Uh, so the bathroom is all yours.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“Water’s nice and hot in the shower. Good water pressure, too.”
“Good.” She nodded.
“Well, enjoy.” Why was he babbling like an idiot?
“Thanks. I will.” She grabbed her stuff and headed into the bathroom.
When the door finally closed behind her, he blew out a big breath.
Yup. It was going to be a long night.
He tossed his dirty clothes as well as his small bag of bathroom supplies into his duffel bag and then stood there, at a loss. If he’d been alone he would turn on the TV to see if there was anything decent to watch.
That sounded like as good a plan as any.
It took him a minute to figure out where the network stations were, and the movie channel, which surprisingly came free with the room despite the bargain price he’d paid. He flipped through a bit and finally settled on a sitcom that, stupid or not, made him laugh.
Some days back home, laughter could be a real lifesaver.
That thought reminded him of his mother. He dug into his bag and found the jeans he’d taken off. The phone was in the pocket where he’d left it. He took it out and laid it on the nightstand next to his bed so he’d hear it if she called or texted.
Thoughts of his mother brought to mind the conversation with his aunt. How she had told him his mother had gone to bed while it was still daylight without having eaten dinner.
That reminder of his depressing home life was enough to knock any ideas of Phoenix and her hot little body right out of his head. That was definitely for the best for everyone involved.
Chapter Nineteen
Amazing as it was, Justin managed to sleep somehow.
In spite of the soft sounds of Phoenix’s steady breathing in the bed next to his, he’d eventually drifted off. Of course he’d also woken up with a morning hard-on so huge he had to wait for it to go down before he could take a piss.
Good thing it was still dark when he woke. He’d been able to hightail it to the bathroom without Phoenix seeing the tent in his shorts.
He did notice how she blushed when they bumped into each other while trying to pack up to leave the hotel. How she avoided making eye contact with him while they’d both been in their sleeping clothes. Not that she was wearing anything seductive. At least, her shorts and T-shirt shouldn’t have been sexy, but in his current state of self-denial, seeing Phoenix in her sleep attire had nearly broken him.
Thank goodness the awkward night was over. That was one huge hurdle he’d gotten over, and he was more than happy they’d both made it through unscathed. Or at least untouched.
It was the dawn of a new day, and time to hit the road again . . . after a quick take-out breakfast from the fast food joint by the entrance to the interstate.
Finally, they were on the last leg of this eternally long road trip.
Even after spending a restless night passing in and out of sleep and haunted by thoughts and fantasies of Phoenix, he somehow managed to hold up his half of a casual conversation with her as he drove. She was easy to talk to, once he got his head on straight and stopped picturing her in positions he shouldn’t be thinking about.
So far, the morning had consisted of long runs of conversation punctuated by bouts of silence as they both watched the scenery speed by.
It was during those long lapses of silence when Justin’s mind began to wander. That’s when it went to bad places regarding Phoenix. He tried his best to ignore that he was driving down the road fighting a hard-on just because she was sitting next to him talking about her job.
He had figured asking her about her teaching was a safe topic. He’d wrongly assumed that hearing her talk about her first-grade students would distract him from his naughty thoughts about her.
Seeing her in a professional light shouldn’t make him want to pull over and take her right there in the cab of his brother’s truck, but it did.
He imagined striding into her classroom after school was finished for the day, when all th
e kids had gone home and there was no one left except maybe a janitor sweeping the hallway. He pictured her sitting at her desk wearing a pair of reading glasses, which he didn’t even know if she needed or owned. He’d haul her up against him, crush his mouth over hers, and then have his way with her right on top of the desk. Schoolbooks, papers, and all.
“Justin?”
“Huh?” He turned his head to see her before dragging his eyes back to the road ahead. She must have said something that required an answer and he’d been so deep into his fantasy, he’d zoned out and hadn’t even heard her.
“Where’s your head?”
He lifted one shoulder. “Nowhere. I’m sorry. I guess driving this long is kind of hypnotic.”
“I know you don’t want me to, but the offer still stands. If you need me to take the wheel for a while, I don’t mind.”
“I know, but no, thank you. I’ll be fine.” If he could keep his mind off her and him getting sweaty together.
She drew in a breath. “All right.”
“No argument?” He shot her a look of surprise.
“Nope. I know the answers already. My car is small. Your truck is big. It’s not your trailer. I got it.”
He glanced in her direction in time to see her eye roll. “That’s all true, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. I just want to be of some help to you. You’re doing me the favor of driving me all the way to Oklahoma.”
“You are a help. You’re keeping me company. That’s keeping me awake and alert.”
She let out a laugh. “I don’t know about that. You didn’t even hear what I was saying.”
Because he’d been imagining hiking up her little teacher’s skirt—Justin stopped that thought in its tracks.
“I just got some stuff on my mind.” He glanced at her when she didn’t respond. “I’m sorry. What were you saying before that I missed?”
“Nothing important.” She hesitated. “I know something is bothering you. I could tell from that phone call you took last night. And I just wanted you to know if you want to—need to—talk about anything, I’m here to listen.”
He lifted his brows. “That goes the same for you, you know. If you want to discuss Bonnie or whatever.”
