I see that I’ve missed a call from Gibbons. I decide to give him a quick call while Elle is in the bathroom.
“Hey, G, what’s up?” I say when he answers.
“Brax, where are you? Shay says you’ve gone off duty for a few days.” He sounds pissed off.
“I’m okay, Gibbs. The job is still going as planned. Elle’s with me right now, as a matter of fact. We’re just getting out of town for a few days. It solves the problem of having to explain to her why we had to go to a safe house.” I hear him growl down the phone in frustration.
“Brax, this is taking it a bit far, don’t you think? I can’t even track your GPS right now.” That makes me smile because that’s exactly what I wanted. It means Shay must have worked his magic on the GPS tracker.
“I’m fine. Shay knows where I am and where I’m going. Nothing to worry about.”
“Don’t get smart, boy. You work for us remember, not the other way around. I don’t like you going rogue like this,” he says angrily.
I scoff at him. “I’m not going rogue, what the hell? Just relax and I’ll be back online in a week. Elle is with me and she’s safe and that is all that matters, right?” I state, knowing that it’s going to rile him up.
“Hmmm. Yes, just don’t get any funny ideas, Brax. We have to stick to the plan” he reminds me.
“If I remember correctly, the plan was to see if Elle knew anything and see if she was in danger then pull out. That is not going to happen now.” I spit out. I see Elle heading back towards the car and I know I have to end the call.
“Anyway, I have to go.” I hang up on him just as she opens the car door. He’s going to be pissed at me for that, but I’d rather have him annoyed than be forced to lie to Elle any more that than I have to.
“Was that Shay, babe?” she asks, looking at me with those bright green eyes of hers.
“Uh, yeah. He just wanted to see how far we’d gone today. He’s annoyed he couldn’t come along, but to be honest,” I say, inching towards her, “I’m glad I have you all to myself. My hot girl, in my hot car, it’s kinda hot, don’t you think?”
Hearing Brax say the word hot so many times in one sentence has my blood racing.
“Mmm hmm,” I say, darting my tongue out to slowly lick my lips. His gaze drops to my mouth and when he sees what I’m doing, a small growl rumbles in his chest.
“I see. Like that, is it?” he whispers, moving in closer so that our lips are barely touching.
He mimics my action, licking his own lips while gently grazing mine. It’s like the fire that we’ve been stoking all afternoon has been well and truly lit. Suddenly his hand is around the back of my head and he is pulling me towards him, plundering my mouth the moment I open my lips in shock. I grab his shirt, holding on for dear life as we struggle to control ourselves. Our tongues entwine as we pour all of the pent up sexual tension from the last few hours into this one kiss. It’s hard, it's raw, and totally uninhibited.
Brax has to pull away first, resting his forehead against mine as we struggle to catch our breath. I can’t help but give him a sly grin—I’m getting better as this little game of ours.
“You, my little minx, are gonna be the death of me if you keep that up,” he teases. “But if you can wait just another hour, you can have me as much as you’d like. It’ll just be in a nice clean hotel room, instead of being parked up at a highway rest stop. We can even get room service,” he says, giving me a cheeky wink before starting the car up.
The next hour can’t go fast enough.
Chapter Twelve
After a long night in Harrisburg where I made true on my promise to finish what we started in the car, we wake up refreshed for a big day of driving ahead of us. I’ve decided to take a detour and take Elle to Charleston, South Carolina. It’s so beautiful there and knowing that she’s never been there before makes it ever better. I love the idea of taking her to new places and being with her when she tries new things. I want to help her start a new, happier life, and maybe help erase some of her painful past.
We’re heading towards Richmond for our next overnight stop. We’ve got about 190 miles to travel today but we don’t have to rush. I’ve decided to let Elle drive for a bit, if only so that I have the opportunity to tease and tempt her like she subjected me to yesterday when I drove. All the little touches, flirty looks, and slight flashes of skin were driving me wild. She’s turning into a little firecracker and I love her even more for it, so now it’s going to be my turn to return the favor. Here’s hoping she doesn’t crash my car!
She jumps up and down when I ask her if she wants to drive my car today. All day yesterday she kept asking and I just couldn’t do it. This car is my other baby and I’m rather protective of her, but I finally decide I want to share her with Elle. I can see how much she loves the car, almost as much as I do. I want to show her how much I trust her, though it is nothing compared to the trust she has shown in me thus far.
It is tearing me up inside that I have to live a lie with her. She is my life now and I have told her more than once that I can’t live without her and to be honest, I don’t think either of us would ever be the same again if we had to be apart. I can’t live in a world where she is not in my life, it’s not even an option. She told me that she doesn’t want to go back to how she was before we met, alone and shut off from the world. She likes how alive and free she feels now that she’s with me.
Sitting down in the driver’s seat, the smile on Elle’s face is priceless. She’s glowing, her smile big enough to light up the world. She lets out a contented sigh when she turns the key and the car roars to life. I hear her giggle when she revs the engine and I can help but grin at her. She eases the car into gear and slowly pulls out of the hotel parking garage. Before too long, we’re on the highway heading south again.
By 2 p.m. we’re starving, so we follow some signs off the interstate to a roadside diner. We park up and just stare at the decrepit building in front of us. Elle looks over at me.
“You sure about this?” she asks me anxiously.
“Not really, but there isn’t much choice out here,” I reply with a laugh. “It’ll be fine darlin’.” I open my door and Elle soon follows. After locking up the car, we make our way inside.
It’s a typical roadside diner. A faded pink neon ‘open’ sign in the window, peeling red paint on the outside, and a front wall full of smeared windows and red leather booths that have seen better days. As we walk inside, there is noticeable lack of heating, but the aroma of coffee and fried food permeates the air and we’re so hungry that we don’t care. After taking our seats, we each order a turkey sandwich and a root beer from a waitress who does not seem happy to see us.