"Baggage"

[spacevampire]

(closed)

"Baggage"

As he came over the top of a slight rise, he caught sight of her sitting on the shoulder. He knew better than to stop for her, but he immediately slid his foot over to the brake anyway, slowing the convertible dramatically enough for her to know he wasn't passing her by.

No good can come of this, he told himself even as the closing distance between them began to reveal her as the beauty he'd unconsciously hoped she was . Give her a wave and a smile and continue onward. She'll catch a ride. Girls like that ALWAYS catch a ride.

But he couldn't help it. Despite the reason for his crossing the country alone, he couldn't resist bringing the classic GTO to a stop before her and asking, "Give you a lift?"

https://41.media.tumblr.com/f16db7e6c1f763aa8ed3dc6018fa82dd/tumblr_nk6vavcoZg1uo5fjyo1_540.jpg

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If you are interested in writing the female lead, here are the specifics:

• TAKEN
• She has a secret, thus the title "Baggage".
• He has a secret, as indicated above.
• The basic plot is that they become interested in one another, and their "stories" come out, either all at once or bit by bit. There should be twists and turns and excitement, both erotic and otherwise.
• You can pick my image.
• I check my grammar, spelling, and punctuation before posting, and I expect my writing partner to do the same. No lazy cell phone posts.
• I am online almost every day and will post 10+ times a week. I expect my writing partner to do the same.
• I do not have minimum post length restrictions. Replies should move the story forward, and sometimes that can be done in 20+ words.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Paige Harper pulled her car to the far, back lot behind the service station and truck stop, and parked among the other cars there, before stepping onto the sandy ground. She opened the trunk and pulled a single, hard case bag from the trunk. She made her way inside, where she purchased a bottle of water and a single pack of cigarettes. She hadn't smoked for years, since high school, maybe. She couldn't even remember. But something about them seemed comforting and useful. She paid the clerk, then pulled her cell phone from the small purse she also carried, as she put the smokes away.

9:22 am.

She needed to go. Passing through the truck stop convenience store, she looked around to see if anyone noticed her. She felt eyes on her, of course. Rarely did she go anywhere that wasn't the case. That had been the case since she had been sixteen, and hadn't let up. But none of the eyes that landed on her appeared to be from anyone familiar, or intriguing enough to stay here very long. She went outside and found a pay phone, where she promptly called the number of a local cab service she had written down before she left home and in moments, her ride had arrived.

"Where to?" The driver asked.

"Montclair, please." She got in, placing the hard case next to her, and settled in for the nearly forty mile trip.

"You sure?" The man said again. She just nodded, and the driver pulled away. Nearly thirty minutes later, she asked out at a rather run down cafe alongside a service road along I-95. She paid the rather substantial cab fare in cash before getting out, pulling her bag and purse with her. She went inside the cafe, where she had coffee, turning the pack of cigarettes over and over in her hands. She slapped the pack against her palm, anticipating smoking one when her coffee was gone. Her phone rang.

Neil read the name on the screen. She sighed. She declined the call, left five dollars for her coffee, and stood up, again grabbing her bag. She stepped outside and tossed her phone in a nearby garbage bin. Being near I-95, she figured it wouldn't be hard to get to the next town, wherever that might be. She hadn't decided. She walked casually down the street, not too far, only enough to be away from the solitary cafe and find a place near the road to wait. Nearly thirty minutes later, her feet were sore and the sun was annoying, if not hot. She had forgotten her sunglasses. Several cars had passed, none stopping, though she clearly sought a ride. And it was then that a car, an older model of some sort, approached quickly, then promptly slowed and pulled to the shoulder. She glanced up and waited, not sure why, almost as if to make sure she was indeed seeing what she was seeing.

"Give you a lift?" The man behind the wheel asked. She noticed he was handsome, if a bit older than her. She did not get any upsetting vibes from the man and she stood up, leaving her bag where it sat, and straightened her dress a bit before stepping to the passenger side window to speak with the samaritan here to take her away.

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/Fast%20and%20Furious%206.jpg

The driver was handsome, but ruggedly so. He seemed the type that could do some damage in a fight, or if the occasion otherwise called for it. She was not only grateful for a ride, but also intrigued. She leaned down to the window and looked inside.

"Where are you heading?" She asked, casually. She had no idea where she would be going herself. She just needed to leave. The farther away the better. She didn't care what his answer would be, she simply wanted to gauge the situation.

 

[spacevampire]

"Where are you heading?" the brunette asked, leaning into the car's passenger window.

Behind his dark glasses, Rick couldn't help but allow his gaze to drop toward the woman's breasts, hoping to catch sight of a bit of cleavage. But the neck line was a bit too high for a peep show. He ignored his disappointment and considered her question. He didn't pick up hitch hikers too often, but one lesson he'd learned early on was to tell them you weren't going very far at all. That way, if it turned out they were non-stop talkers or they smelled or they were just freaky, you didn't have to put up with them for very long.

In this case, though, Rick could see him spending hours upon hours with this babe without ever tiring of taking quick little peeks at those long, sleek legs and, of course, fantasizing about parting them for a little afternoon delight.

"Chicago," he answered, expecting her to make some joke or comment about how far away the Windy City was from Montclair. Ironically, though unknown to him, it was 777 miles, which was Rick's lucky number. "Toss your bag in back and grab a cold one from the cooler."

After she settled in -- and after Rick took his first of many glances at those sticks -- he put the Goat back onto the highway, headed it toward the interstate, and got their little adventure started.

"Richard Lee," he told her, offering out a hand. "Everyone's calls me Rick." He gave her a glance and a sly smirk, adding, "Some people call me Dick, but ... I save that for special occasions."

He laughed and shot the car from the on ramp out onto the interstate. The beauty's long, curly hair was whipping about in the wind rushing past the convertible. He leaned closer to her and reached for the glove box. Clicking it open, he gestured to the ball cap and scarves, collected from or for various women during Rick's ownership of the hot rod.

"Feel free," he said, taking a closer look at those delicious legs before returning to a proper, upright position. He checked his mirrors, moved to the fast lane, and fired the GTO forward until they were doing thirty over the speed limit. He half glanced toward her, wondering whether the excess speed excited or frightened her. "So, tell me 'bout yourself. Such as ... your name ... where ya from ... and whether I have to worry about putting down some guy chasing after you with a broken heart and a faster car."

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Chicago, she thought, sizing the man up a bit more. I'm not sure that is even far enough.

"Okay," is all she said, before following his instructions and tossing her bag into the backseat. She would pass on the beer. The driver's eyes wandered to her legs, and she brushed her now seemingly too small skirt down again when he made his own introduction. "Hi Rick," she said, gripping his hand briefly enough to be polite an nothing more. He wasn't her type and she had no desire to put herself in harm's way. Though he did seem, at least, approachable and sincere. As he fired the car onto the highway, Paige jerked away from him when he suddenly leaned her direction and calmed when he opened the glove box.

"Feel free," he said, showing her any number of accoutrements that would pull her hair from her face. She smiled at the sweet gesture and the embarrassment of having been startled. At the same time, she wondered who all these items had belonged to and what happened to them. She wasn't one for hand-me-downs and politely brushed her hair behind her ear, showing she could take care of herself.

"I'm okay, thank you." Moments later, they were blazing south and east at a furious clip, far from safe but far from where she wanted to be, which was still far from here. She smirked and kept her eyes trained at the road ahead when he asked about her, the details of her life being the last thing she cared to explain.

"Paige," she said, turning to face him and giving a bit of a shy smile. "I'm not sure I know of anyone faster than you," she said, giving no indication she meant his car or his interjection into her world. She smiled again. "I don't think you have to worry." She dared not yet say more. There could be tales she could tell - tales of school and money and things never admitted, tales of loves and life and promises neither kept nor unbroken. But she had been in his car only moments and elected instead to reveal nothing. It was safer that way, for both of them.

 

[spacevampire]

(OOC: I made it March without snow. Hope that's okay.)

"I'm not sure I know of anyone faster than you," Paige said, causing Rick to smile -- as she'd likely expected -- at the uncertainty of whether or not she meant Rick's car or Rick himself. "I don't think you have to worry."

More to himself than to Paige, Rick said with a slight smirk, "Good."

He maneuvered the fast moving Pontiac from the fast lane to the middle to get around a minivan full of unbuckled, rambunctious children, then back to the fast lane to shoot past two lanes of eighteen wheelers. A chorus of air horns sounded behind them, causing Rick to again shoot Paige an ogling look as he said, "Was that for the car ... or you?"

He laughed loudly before she could respond and continued the car up the freeway. His eyes scanned constantly for traffic and cops, but also took in the views beyond and within the car. The interstate was lined with deciduous trees in varying stages of donning new foliage; strip malls and mixed commercial businesses; and both old homes surrounded by lawns, gardens, and fields of stock animals and new housing developments surrounded by parking lots and now-mandated drainage wetlands.

Rick loved being out here on the road, seeing new sights. He'd never been down I-80, so this was all new to him. Of course, he would have enjoyed it more if he hadn't been on business. He glanced again to Paige, and when she met his gaze, smiled politely. He thought, At least she makes the ride more enjoyable.

Occasionally, Rick chatted her up about this or that or the other thing. She responded to most of what he said, but she sure wasn't ready to give up anything personal about herself. Even his questions that began with Have you ever seen one of those...? or Have you even been there...? and the like resulted in answers that told him nothing about her.

That was okay with Rick, of course. He had no intention of pushing her for information she didn't want to reveal. He simply enjoyed having something at which to peek -- and of which to fantasize -- than the occasional sexy model on a road side billboard or sweet young thing in a little sports car that he flew by too quickly to truly make an assessment.

Then, without warning, Rick shot the car across all three lanes and up the off ramp. He glanced to Paige, then tapped his finger to the dash over the fuel level gauge. He barely slowed for the stop sign at the cross road, turned hard, and shot a block and a half further, passing two stations to finally pull into a third that had a café beside it.

"If you want to get some lunch," he said, stepping out and gesturing the station attendant over, "I'll pay."

He turned away to the young kid coming out, telling him, "I know its self serve, but if you'll fill'er up for me..."

He didn't wait for a response, instead heading into the station to use the bathroom. He didn't really need to use it. More or less, he was giving Paige an opportunity to high tail it in case she wasn't too tickled with her choice of chauffeurs.

Once he'd finished inside, paid the cashier, tipped the attendant, and snagged some snacks for the next couple of hundred miles, he went out to move the Goat to the cafe's parking lot, then entered, wondering whether or not he would find the delicious brunette still present.

(OOC: I didn't comment about whether he saw her case in the back seat.)

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Of course it was for me, she thought, when Rick asked about the bass horn over their shoulder as he sped down the roadway. Short, in shape, firm, and cute, she was a recipe for such overtures and she always knew when they were aimed at her. But rather than answer, she merely gave a knowing smile with the raise of an eyebrow, before returning her attention to the road and allowing the whoosh of the wind carry her away from where she was. As they continued on, Rick pressed her with questions, thought none of them were annoying. She answered briefly, never letting him into her world, expressly trying to keep him out. She wasn't sure herself what her story even was, if asked. She again watched the road, her mind wandering.

Her rapture was broken when Rick suddenly swung the car across every lane of the highway and clipped a curb with his exit. She simply glanced at him again, saying nothing. Excitement was both sexy and intriguing, and she made a mental note of his increased attractiveness as the chill from the move gradually expired through her spine and core. She smirked to herself, turning herself again to the road.

"Where are we going?" She finally asked, before he swung into another cafe, her second of the day.

"If you want to get some lunch," he said, stepping out of the car, "I'll pay."

"Thanks," she said, opening her own door and stretching first one, then another long leg onto the concrete parking lot before heading inside. She looked at him over her shoulder, watching him walking into the gas station. She appreciated his muscular build. He looked nice. She approved silently, then turned back around and continued inside the cafe.

DING! the bell hanging from the back of the door sounded as she entered, and she noticed the charming, but shabby, restaurant was dark in a cheap, not a romantic, sort of way. Above the breakfast bar, a television sat turned on, probably permanently, to Fox News.

That sort of place, she thought, as the woman on the screen rattled on:

"Our top news at this hour continues to be the revelation that the daughter of Senator Lynn Cabb from Connecticut, a front runner for President, has been implicated in an affair with the U.S. Attorney that has been investigating Cabb for corruption, and now, that same girl is missing. We are going to get you to that, but first, we take you to Brent Beem outside New York City."

"Hi Jenna," the male reporter chattered. "We are here in Midtown Danton, a small, wealthy community between New York City and the suburbs of New Jersey, where we are awaiting a press conference from city officials about what appears to be the dismissal of charges against four women accused of running a prostitution ring featuring the services, if you will, of their DAUGHTERS and their daughters-in-law. The reason this is a story is because, you will recall, the grand jury indictment accused New York Yankees Shortstop Aron Brunell of being a client of one of the girls, and Brunell is serving a suspension, pending conclusion of the investigation and trial. If no charges are ultimately filed, then presumably Brunell will be reinstated and sources say that the woman he is alleged to have patronized is no longer cooperating with attorneys. We will bring you that press conference live as it happens. Jenna?"

"Thanks, Caleb," the anchor picked up the lead again, as Paige ordered an iced tea.

She looked out the cafe windows at the early afternoon sky, perfectly blue and full of promise. She wondered where Rick had gone, or why he was taking so long, as she opened a package of sweetener and fixed her drink as she liked it. She crossed her legs beneath the little table where she sat, just before she watched him cross the parking lot and head inside. She glanced at the television once more as the stories from before continued to loop through the station's coverage. She glanced back at Rick as the bell on the door announced his presence.

DING!!

 

[spacevampire]

Rick was a bit more excited to see Paige sitting in the booth than he'd expected to be. It wasn't like he'd given her a reason to split on him. Well, aside from his Fast and Furious style of driving or Hungry Man glances at her amazing legs and other associated body parts over the last hundred miles or so.

"You order?" he asked casually as he plopped down across from her. He nodded toward the waitress, who had been flashing him a wide smile until he sat with the sexy brunette and now was only reluctantly looking his way. "Big burger, sweetheart. Any kind, don't care ... everything on it."

As the waitress nodded slightly and turned toward the kitchen, Rick focused his attention back on Paige, simply staring at her for a long moment with a slight smile widening his lips. He glanced up at the television in time to catch a long moment of the current article and laughed.

"Jesus, politicians, huh," he said. "The shit that goes on in Washington."

As he watched, the scroll across the bottom talked about some of the raw facts. Rick read them for a bit while also listening to the Anchor, then turned his attention back to Paige. She had an expression on her face that was ... intriguing, though Rick didn't understand why. She seemed interested in the news story, too, but ... but somehow seemed as if she was trying to feign a lack of interest.

"Bessie takes a bit of fuel," he said, the topic seemingly pulled from the blue. At Paige's new expression, Rick jerked a thumb toward the parking lot. "The Goat. My pa had a classic Ford pickup truck when I was a kid. Named her Bessie. Told him on his death bed that if I ever had a car I loved, I'd name her Bessie, too."

He laughed, short but loud. "Of course, driving her the way I do, you gotta expect she'll burn through a tank. Sometimes, I think I can see the gas gauge needle moving."

Rick stared at Paige for another moment. She obviously had no interest in his automotive love affair. Or ... did she simply have something else on her mind? He looked back toward the TV just as a six pack of photos -- some mug shots, others simply pictures -- left the screen. For a moment, Rick thought one of them resembled Paige, but he hadn't had enough time to see it to be certain.

"Bacon burger with fries, cooking as we speak," the waitress said, pulling Rick's attention away from the beauty sitting across from him. She verified with Rick that such a meal was okay with him, then looked to Paige. "Whatcha have, sweetheart?"

Rick's attention shifted casually between the shapely, top-heavy waitress and the less bountiful yet potentially more accessible hitch hiker. He fantasized about slipping away with the bleach blond for a pussy pounding quickie out back of the greasy spoon before getting back on the road with the skinny brunette he so badly wanted to spend an entire night fucking.

Probably wouldn't get a shot at either of them, he knew. But, that's was why they called them fantasies. After the waitress departed, Rick studied Paige another long moment before saying, "I have business in Erie I need to take care of. Not much out of the way. I can drop you off at the I-79 interchange if you want to keep going west, or ... if you want..."

The waitress dropped a carrying rack of condiments, then departed.

"Ever seen Lake Erie?" he asked, as if it was something spectacular to view.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Paige watched her chauffeur step through the door, gave another glance at the television and then back upon him as he approached. She shook him off when he asked if she had ordered, then listened as he rambled a bit about gas and his car, but she was distracted for reasons she wouldn't want to explain. She figured he'd find out soon enough. She zoned out a bit until the waitress caught her attention.

"Whatcha have, sweetheart?"

"Oh, ah...." she stammered a bit. "Whatever soup and sandwich special you have."

"Broccoli Cheddar and grilled cheese," came back the waitress. "That okay?" She nodded then stirred her drink a bit more. As she did, she glanced up with hesitation, not wanting to make eye contact just yet, though she did take in his features when she did peek his way. He was ruggedly handsome, not conventionally so. He was built, a sold piece of steel, but he didn't appear to be some ballooned up freak that every gym had. She thought he looked.....nice, but also something else. She couldn't put her finger on quite what it was. His eyes were not piercing, more droopy, but at the same time, he had an intensity that suggested to her that he was at least truly alive, like an electrical current just under a hardwood floor. He was engaging, but she didn't want him to know it, not wanting to become too close, or close at all. He began making plans.

"I have business in Erie I need to take care of. Not much out of the way. I can drop you off at the I-79 interchange if you want to keep going west, or ... if you want." His words were interrupted with the loud crash of the condiment tray nearby. She looked at the waitress scurrying to clean up, as he continued. "Ever seen Lake Erie?" he asked. She pursed her lips, a slight pause before giving her answer. As she did, she jerked her head up and looked his way, hearing the news stories now off the air over her shoulder.

"I haven't," she said, giving way to another long pause, determined to play noncommittal and coy. "Who says I'm going that far?" She wanted to see how serious his suggestion to tag along would be.

 

[spacevampire]

"Who says I'm going that far?" Paige asked.

Rick's lips spread in a devilish grin. He said with a suggestive tone, "Oh ... I have a feeling your the type who goes no less than all the way."

Before she could answer, their waitress arrived with their drinks. Rick had noticed a shelf full of Thermoses behind the counter. "Sweetheart, can you fill one of those with some strong coffee and add it to our bill?"

"Sure thing ... handsome," she said playfully.

She walked away with a bit more swing in her hips, causing Rick to smile, then laugh. He looked back to Paige and caught her expression. Again he laughed.

(OOC: I intentionally didn't say what her reaction would have been.)

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Paige's mouth dropped open in mock shock, before breaking into a small, amused grin. Rick continued to flirt with the waitress enough that Paige could tell he was flirting. She found him to be too transparent by half, then saw her suspicions confirmed as his gaze followed the waitress before turning to look at her, still giving a stern, though clearly transparent look of forced scorn, which she didn't really believe herself. As he laughed, she addressed his earlier comment.

"You just called me a slut!" She acted upset and began to fake pout a bit. "You don't even know me," she took a drink from the glass in front of her. Before he could react much, she turned the conversation serious. "I'm really not sure if I will go that far." The unspoken completion of the thought was that her decision might depend on him, or whether she was found by someone else first. "I mean, I might go farther," she punched back, letting the thought linger. "Or, I might decide to get off before then." She sipped her drink once more. "I haven't decided yet." It was the one thing she said of which she was absolutely certain, though she hated dropping any more hints to him about her situation than was necessary. However, if she was in his car, it would not take long for him to figure out that she was traveling with no clear plan or place to be and, for that reason, she was willing to open this small window on herself, for the sake of keeping on the move. She put down her drink and crossed her arms, leaning back in the booth in a relaxed posture, claiming some sort of upper hand. "But I'll let you now when I do."

 

[spacevampire]

"You just called me a slut!" Paige snapped back, her tone just too playful to be taken seriously. Rick was about to protest the accusation, but she continued, "You don't even know me."

As she continued onward -- serious, this time, though obviously uncommitted -- Rick considered Paige's comment about knowing her. He also considered wanting to change that fact. Paige was incredible, a joy to ogle: she was slim and yet well rounded in all the right places, too. Rick loved bodies like hers. While the rest of man-kind was gaga over huge tits and dramatic hour glass figures, Rick had always preferred a thin, lighter woman who he could take into his powerful arms and manhandle into orgasm after orgasm after orgasm ... for each of them, of course.

"I haven't decided yet," Paige said. "But I'll let you now when I do."

Paige had shown a great deal of uncertainty during their hours together, and particularly during the last minute. But Rick could tell that that last statement was based entirely in fact. She was a free spirit. Rick knew that, and not just because he'd found her on the side of the road waiting for a road to anywhere. There was something about her that said Point me in a direction.

But at the same time, Rick sensed that she was trying to get away from something or someone just as much as she was simply trying to keep moving. He caught a look in her eyes as she looked away from him again, and after a moment, he realized that the cable news station on the TV over the counter had returned to the same story that had been on when he first came in.

"You seem interested in that," he said casually. He figured that that was as much as it was: an interest. The slight smile spread as he pick up on the wrong detail of the story. "You a Yankees fan? Or just a Brunell fan?"

 

[CarnivalBarker]

"You seem interested in that," Rick said, his head nodding toward the television. Paige turned her eyes to her meal and shrugged, moving the food around on her plate, refusing further comment. "You a Yankees fan? Or just a Brunell fan?" her driver then asked. She looked at him with a curiosity. He could have been speaking a foreign language. She noticed the television over his shoulder, repeating further aspects of the news story having to do with a famous athlete and barely-legal hookers. Paige stifled a grin, not wanting to laugh out loud to herself. Her eyes met Rick's once more.

"I grew up a Yankees fan," was all she said before returning her attention to her meal, giving away nothing, not revealing her secret. She wondered about Rick himself. Why was he here? Why was he traveling alone across country? Was he even safe to be with? She had no clue. She finished her meal and excused herself to the restroom where she patted her face with water and straightened up. The long ride in the car had wrinkled her blouse and made her feel like an unmade bed. She took every minute she could to do the best that she could to look as cute as she could, but somehow still wasn't pleased with the outcome once finished. She returned to the booth and paid her tab, specifically refusing to allow Rick to pay for her, then stepped outside into the early evening light as the sun faded beneath the trees and got into the car. Moments later, he resumed his place too, and they were off. They traveled only a few miles before small talk grew tired and stale.

The wind continued to blow through her hair as she thought a few moments about how she had no real clear cut plan for her trip, despite her suggestion when Rick picked her up that she knew exactly where she was going. She had no place to stay and her only idea had been to get away, out of the glare of any spotlight and away from any scrutiny. She wondered just how safe this guy was. He looked good. He seemed to have a good nature. But Paige knew you could never tell by appearances alone. She ran her fingers through her hair and noticed a sign to the junction that would either lead South, eventually to New Orleans or ahead to Chicago. The South was a place she wouldn't mind going, where she could easily hide in plain sight among the oddities and the darkness that was the French Quarter. Maybe she could get a job bartending. The college boys on spring break would tip well and the wealthy tourists on business or pleasure would interest her. But maybe she had found someone she could sneak off with and hide as well. She turned to speak to Rick once more.

"What's in Chicago again?" She asked. "How long would you be there?" She did not reveal any plans and in fact had not, as of this moment, made any.

 

[spacevampire]

They'd driven in total silence for almost an hour when Rick saw the first sign indicating the approaching exit north to Erie. He half glanced Paige's direction for some sign at to whether or not she'd noticed them and was going to volunteer an answer about sticking with him.

"What's in Chicago again?" Paige asked just a quarter mile short of the exit. "How long would you be there?"

Rick looked to her with a happy smile. She hadn't said Yes, I'll go with you all the way, but it was close enough for him to do one of his trademark multilane crossings just in time to catch the exit and shoot up the northbound freeway.

"Just one day," he said, his head moving about as he checked for merging traffic and shot across to the fast lane. He clarified, "One day in Erie first. Then one day in Chicago."

They were heading the opposite direction Paige wanted to go, but Rick didn't see any obvious disappointment in her face. He gave her another flirtatious smile before saying, "We won't make it this evening, and I don't like to drive in the dark. We'll have to stop for the night."



Paige was sound asleep when Rick pulled the Goat up to the freeway motel. He got them checked in and took his own bags inside before returning to the car to wake her. She jolted awake before he would wake her himself.

"Clean room," he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "A/C. Cable if you're awake enough. I need a shower."

He turned without waiting for Paige's response, heading straight for the bathroom and -- before he even reached it -- shedding and tossing aside his tee shirt before reaching to his belt to unbuckle it. He never turned to see if she was following him, either totally or with her eyes. But as she swung the door closed, he pulled down his zipper to allow the upper curvature of his muscular buttocks show themselves before the door blocked the view.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

"Huh?!" Paige woke with a jolt before running her hands through her hair, sheepish at the reaction her anxiety, even in her sleep had caused her. She recalled Rick's move to rush off the highway and take the north junction before giving her a chance to suggest New Orleans. But not long after, she had curled up in the seat against the car door and passed out, tired from recent events and the long day. "Where....are we?" She looked around, blinking to recognize anything in the darkness.

"Clean room," he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "A/C. Cable if you're awake enough. I need a shower." She peered up at him, still half curled up in the car. He had some nerve. A single room? She had been nothing more than his ride. They weren't fugitives, at least not together. She had money that she could use for her own room. This seemed presumptive. At the same time, she didn't feel safe being alone, knowing what she knew - knowing what others knew about her. She watched him walk toward the room and slowly got up and looked for her bag. It was nowhere to be found. A bit panicked, she stepped quickly behind him and toward the room herself, slowly, hesitantly entering it as she arrived at the doorway. She caught the briefest of glimpses of Rick as he tossed his shirt off. Her eyes grew wide at his physique. She would be lying if she didn't find it appealing. A moment later, more was revealed as he slid off his pants and stepped in the bathroom and closed the door. She took a deep breath and instantly searched the room to see how safe she was. There was one bed and one couch. She smirked.

You fucker, she thought, amused that he would have booked a single bed room, and only a queen bed at that. You get the couch. She looked a second time and there, by the writing desk that every hotel room had, sat her bag. Thank god, she thought, stepping to pick it up and put it on the desk, then opening it up. Inside there was little but clothes, enough to get across country. She could buy a new wardrobe eventually. She looked through it to make sure the other things she had stowed away were safe, and they were. Rick had not tampered with her bag at all. Paige sat in a nearby chair and popped the buckles and laces that tied her boots, then pulled them off, instantly making herself many inches shorter and almost younger, her diminutive size apparent more than ever. She slipped off her leggings, then her skirt, leaving her top on as she pulled some soft, navy blue, pajama material shorts with red piping from her bag, slipping them on over nothing but her essence, before peeling off her top and quickly replacing it with top that matched her shorts. She looked at herself in the full length mirror and paused. She sighed, not believing where she was, or how much had happened recently. She felt like a little girl, far from home. She wasn't sure that's not what she was. She took a brush from her bag and straightened her hair a bit, then shaped it to frame her face as if she were going somewhere, perhaps out, for the night. As she did, she stopped and smirked to hold back a laugh at herself. Why was she primping? Why was she worried about how she looked. She was here on the road, just trying to get away and nothing more. And she knew that was a lie the second she heard the shower shut off. She stepped over to the bed and laid down under the covers, then reached over and clicked off the bedside light. She turned on her side and faced the wall away from the bathroom. She hoped Rick was a gentleman. She hoped he would just take the couch without dispute. She hoped if he didn't that she had not made a horrible mistake. She hoped she did not regret herself in the morning.