Free Terms of Desire: Tempt Me Twice, Part One by Lauren Hawkeye Page B

or b) get out of the damn car.
    I knew that he wouldn’t agree to either point.
    Austin let loose with another of those sighs and rubbed my shoulder. I wanted to lean into the touch and purr, but I was still smarting from the combination of my actions and his words. “Let’s just save that for when I’m not driving, okay?” It was hard to stay mad when I knew that he was every bit as frustrated as I was.
    “Okay.” I tried my best to keep the quiver out of my voice; tears would only serve to turn this into yet another big thing that stood between us. “Okay.”
    He patted me again, and offered up the smile that I knew so well. “ Sleep, Callie. It will settle you down. We’ll be there soon. Another half hour or so.”
    I didn’t reply, and instead sat back in the scratchy seat. Cracking open the window a sliver, I took a moment to enjoy the tumultuous stream of air that whipped into the car, drying the dampness that lingered on my forehead and sending my bangs into a frantic dance.
    Pursing my lips, I leaned back and closed my eyes. I knew that sleeping in the car would make me queasy, but it was better than teasing Austin into steering us to a crumpled death on the highway.
    ***
    The neon lights of the Esso station caused a sharp pain to shoot through my abdomen, reminding me that I’d had to pee since our near accident. I hadn’t mentioned it to Austin, since I knew that he would insist upon swooping the car over to the side of the road, where I would be obliged to make a pit stop.
    He would argue that no one would see or care, and then I would no longer be uncomfortable. Being female, that argument just didn’t work for me.
    No way could I have relieved myself while my rear end shone whitely in the sun, a beacon for catcalls and whistles from passersby. I was pretty sure that Austin followed my train of thought though, as I bolted from the car before it had even come to a complete stop. His throaty chuckle chased me as I made a beeline for the dingy gray door that was marked with the universally recognized female stick figure.
    I didn’t bother with the tissue seat cover, choosing instead to hover over the dubious porcelain. A checklist on the wall assured me that Colin had cleaned the restroom mere hours before, but since I spied a molding mandarin orange peeking out from behind the waste basket, I suspected that Colin had perhaps been not quite as thorough as he might have been.
    With relief now flooding my system, I rinsed the slimy soap off of my fingers, wrapped tissue around my hand and reached for the handle of the door. A wall mounted vending machine to my left offered the dubious delights of flavored condoms, an assortment of tropical flavors. For fun, I twisted a quarter into the slot, shaking my head when I was awarded a guava rubber in its bright green wrapper. Guava flavored condoms? Who had thought up that?
    The heat as I left the tiny bathroom almost knocked me off of my feet, even though I had been expecting it, but at least the air didn’t reek of old urine as it had inside. I picked my way carefully over the rough stones that dotted the chunky pavement, cursing when one worked its way into my rubber flip flop, and shielded my eyes against the glare of the sun as I looked for Austin.
    I didn’t see him, couldn’t pick out his rangy build or floppy blonde hair by our Crown Vic, or anywhere else, for that matter. But something about the man at the next pump over caught my attention, and I tipped down my tortoiseshell sunglasses to get a better look.
    The man at pump number two was hot. Hot and then some. I could feel my mouth drop open a bit as I watched the muscles under tasty looking tanned skin bunch as he tightened the cap to his gas tank.
    When he leaned over to check the air in his tires I dropped my purse into the dirt. His ass was tight, tight and hard looking, and for the first time in a very long time I found myself wondering what it would be like to touch someone other than my