Chapter Eighteen

Brielle

We head south, the city fading into the distance, and Allen seems calm behind the wheel. I watch as he continually checks the van’s mirrors, but we drive for a good half-hour before he takes an exit abruptly and stops at a gas pump in front of the tiny, dilapidated-looking convenience store located in the middle of nowhere.

“I would hate to break down out here,” I mutter under my breath. There’s nothing around.”

Allen laughs. “I know, right? I have had the exact same thought myself. But the guy that runs this place is a friend of mine. We’re safe here.”

He pivots to look back at me.

“We need some gas and some snacks. We won’t stop again until we reach the cabin, so, now would be a good time to use the bathroom as well.”

With that, he climbs out of the minivan, gesturing to me to follow, and we walk side-by-side into the store.

“Bernie! How ya been?” Allen calls out, deepening his drawl as he speaks.

I flash a polite smile at the little old man behind the counter.

“Restroom, please?” I inquire, and he points a stubby finger toward the back of the tiny building before he extends his hand to my bodyguard.

“Allen! Long time no see.”

The two men talk as I weave my way between steel shelves filled to overflowing with all sorts of junk food and find a surprisingly clean bathroom at the end of my journey.

I tend to business and wash my hands, then pull a hair band out of my purse along with my mini hairbrush and quickly tame my unfettered locks into submission. Feeling more presentable, I nod at my reflection, put the brush away, and walk back up to the counter, where Allen has just set an armful of things down and is paying for them.

Bernie bags our items and counts out Allen’s change.

“Be careful, son,” he intones with a wink and a grin.

“You too, Bernie. See you next trip.”

When we walk back out to the minivan, Allen sets the bags in the floorboard behind the driver’s seat where I will be able to reach them from the front passenger seat. I take up my new position as he pumps the gas he paid for, then gets behind the wheel again.

“Cabin, huh?” I ask.

“Yep. No one else even knows about it but me.”

The smartass part of my personality seizes the chance to take over.

“Ooh. Do you need to blindfold me?” I purr, then laugh out loud as I see embarrassment, amusement, and lust all battle for position on Allen’s face.

“Sorry,” I giggle, tucking my head and covering my mouth with my hand. “Couldn’t help myself.”

But my giggle dies away in my throat when I turn my head to find Allen gazing intently at me, his eyes flashing with a heat that turns my insides to molten lava.

“Not for the ride down,” he growls as he leans over to whisper in my ear, “but maybe I will once we arrive if you keep teasing me.”

I gulp as I stare back at him, the promise of wanton ecstasy so clear in his expression that if he made a serious move right now, I would gladly crawl in the back seat with him in a heartbeat, regardless of being in public or not.

My cheeks flush scarlet as my imagination runs rampant, and he growls again.

“You’re still my client, Brielle, but I’m not made of stone,” he continues, then gently nibbles at my earlobe and makes me gasp before he retreats again and turns the key.

“Shall we?”

His voice is benign, almost too calm given that the inferno in his eyes has ratcheted up another notch.

Beet red and temporarily unable to speak, I can only nod as Allen pulls away from the tired old store and back onto the interstate again.

Allen

A great big clawfoot tub full of ice water, I find myself thinking as I drive. Maybe that would make it go away.

It is the raging lust that Brielle ignited in me the moment she mentioned being blindfolded in that sultry tone. It was all I could do not to drag her into the back of the minivan and take her right there in Bernie’s parking lot.

Hell, it took all the self-control I possess to only touch her ear and not the rest of her.

My hands grip the steering wheel a little tighter.

Her safety comes first, I chant over and over in my head like a mantra. Then we can move forward.

But I can already tell I am going to need every bit of resolve at my disposal to keep the line between personal and professional in place until this is all over.

I risk a glance her direction to see that she has rolled down her window and is letting her right hand rise and fall, rise and fall with the wind. The flashback to the last time Mary rode in the car with me is painful in its intensity.

We ride along for almost an hour in complete silence, the atmosphere around us thick with tension, before Brielle speaks.

“Would you like something to eat? Breakfast was a while ago.”

“Sure,” I say, focused on keeping my tone neutral. “There’s some peanut butter crackers in one of those bags.”

She leans over, then back, and grunts in triumph. “Got them,” Brielle says proudly as she tears open the multi-pack and hands me a package.

“Thanks,” I say, and she shrugs.

“You’re welcome,” is all she answers before returning her attention to the scenery moving past us.

After several more minutes, Brielle clears her throat.

“Not that I don’t enjoy crackers as much as the next woman,” she begins, “but shouldn’t we stop somewhere and buy some stuff for real meals?”

“Already handled. Pete placed an online order for me that should get us through the next three or four days. We just need to swing by and pick it up.”

“Oh,” she says, then hesitates, then blasts me with a question that I never saw coming.

“So, tell me again why nothing can happen between us? I would think that us getting… um, closer… would mean you would protect me even better. Emotional stake, and all that.”

I feel my jaw drop even as I am shaking my head.

Please, no, I am hanging on by a thread as it is…

“You’ve already said it’s not an attraction issue,” Brielle continues softly. “So…”

“Honey, someone tried to hit you with a car this morning. I can’t be as sharp as I need to be to keep you safe if I’m thinking about kissing you and stuff.”

“And stuff? What are we, twelve?”

“You know what I mean, Brielle.”

“I do,” she fires back. “But I don’t agree with it. The way I see it this should be a joint decision. You don’t get to just choose celibacy for us unilaterally.”

I feel myself start to cave.

“Brielle, I – “

“I’m not afraid anymore, Allen,” she says softly. “Almost getting killed this morning brought everything into sharp relief. Believe me when I tell you, it’s been years – years – since I’ve even been attracted to anyone after what Tony put me through.”

I instinctively go silent and listen as I focus on the road ahead of us.

“And then, I met you,” Brielle continues, “and it’s felt like waking up again after a long nightmare. I know where I am, who I am, and what I want. And I want you. Life is short, and I have wasted the last fifteen years living alone like a shadow, Allen. I refuse to do that anymore.”

She turns her torso in her seat to face me.

“So, my question to you is - are you in, or out?”

“It’s not that simple,” I try to tell her, but she raises her hand to stop me mid-sentence.

“Actually, it really is,” Brielle says, her face and voice filled with embarrassment, “and it sounds like I just got my answer, so thanks for clearing that up for me.”

With that, she shuts down, turning her entire body away from me to look out the passenger window.