Chapter Seven
Harley
If he doesn’t stop looking at me like that, I’m going to throw him out of this truck. I don’t have time to stop and take out my sexual frustrations on him and at this rate I’ll never make it all the way through my escape plan without frequent stops. I’ll have to lose him soon before he distracts me too much. I can’t take him to my safe house anyway. I refuse to let anyone know where it’s at… including the sexy as fuck man driving me insane with his deep voice.
“You’re slowing down. You must be thinking about riding my dick.” Yes… yes I am, but he will NEVER know that.
“I’m not even responding to that nonsense. I have to make another stop in about three miles. You’re gonna stay in the truck again.”
“What if I want to lift?”
“Then get in there and lift. I’ll be long gone before you finish.” He smiles at everything I say. I don’t think he’s ever met a woman as determined as I am. He’s not quite sure how to react. I park near the door and leave the truck running. I’m not worried about him getting into my bag in the back seat. It has a lock on it and he’ll have to cut into it if he wants to see what’s in it. That bag has some money in it, but it’s mostly important papers that I’ll need.
I slide my key into locker seventy-three and feel relief when I see the same bag once again. This one is full of money, just like the remainder of them are. “Thanks Daddy Dearest.” I give a shout out to the sperm donor who gave me life. He thinks he can buy my love and he’s tried to do it since he found my mom when I was nine. He’s been putting money into an account for me since then. I’ve never used any of it and just recently cashed it all out so I could have money if I have to run.
Twenty years of him sending me money has left me with eight million dollars, so I’m going to use it to give me a start on a new life. This one bag will give me enough for now. I don’t plan to get the other bags until I’m settled in. I’ll make another trip in a few weeks to get them.
I paid cash for the house a few months ago. It’s fully furnished, even though all the furniture is old. I bought it from a widow who wanted to sell it and move into a retirement village near town. The old house is deep in the country and perfect for what I need to do. Disappear.
I can’t help but smile at the fool in my passenger seat when I step outside. His shoes are off, his big feet against the windshield and his seat is back.
“Make yourself comfortable.”
“Great. I think I will.” He reaches behind his head and pulls his shirt off, sending a tingle through my entire body as I try to pretend he doesn’t affect me. His tattoos are screaming at me to look. The ripples of veins and muscles leave my mouth dry and send my imagination all over the place. Why does he have to be so damn attractive? “Feel free to get comfortable too. I don’t mind at all.”
“I’m good.” I can only imagine what he means by that, so I’m not going to encourage him to say anything more.
~~~~~~
I drive for hours until we get to the last town on my list of stops for today. I have a gym bag I could pick up here, but decide to leave it behind. Just in case something goes wrong on this trip I need to have something to fall back on. He’s been mostly quiet, dozing on and off as if he’s fighting exhaustion.
I can only imagine how uncomfortable he was in the bed of my truck for the few minutes he did get to sleep.
We pull into the worst hotel in town. I chose it on purpose because the rooms are accessible from the outside. It’s an easy way for me to slip out quickly and get the hell out of town if that’s what I need to do.
He’s putting his shirt and shoes back on when I toss my bags over my shoulder so we can go into the lobby. “Just rent one room. It’ll save money and I have no intention of letting you out of my sight.”
“No.” He walks toward me until he’s face to face with me. My back against the truck and his breath hitting my cheek.
“Yes. I’ve let you call the shots all fucking day. It’s my turn. This will also help tip them off if they’re looking for you. Now go inside and rent the damn room before I make a scene here making sure everyone takes notice of the hot couple having a fight in the parking lot.” I know he’s not kidding and will be a major asshole if I don’t do what he says. Just to suffice him, I decide to rent one room.
Using a fake driver’s license, I rent the room and pay cash trying to prevent anyone from being able to find us. He follows me, reaching for the strap of one of my bags just before we start walking outside again.
“No thanks. I have it.” I’m not sure if he’s trying to be nice or wanting to control me. I haven’t had someone attempt to be nice to me in a while… well, other than Henry.
“You’re carrying three huge bags. Let me carry at least one of them. I’m only carrying this little backpack and it’s making me look like an ass.” He reaches once again, this time going for the one that’s full of cash. I force myself to remain calm and not react hysterically about him having so much of my money. “Fuck this is heavy. What in the hell do you have in here?”
“Books.” I lie as I continue to walk. I’m the one that said we needed honesty… yet there’s no way I’m telling him he’s holding that much money.
“Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“No?” I pretend not to know what he’s going to say. He waits until we get into the room before he closes the door and sets the bag on the bed.
“That bag is full of fucking money. Where did you get all of that?”
“My father gave it to me.”
“Is that bag full of money too?” He points to the one I’m holding.
“No. It’s mostly papers I’m going to need.”
“You really did have this all planned out, didn’t you?” He sits next to the bag of money, before he falls back onto the bed.
“I did. Now get off my bed.” He stands and tosses the bag onto the floor before he yanks the top blanket off the bed and spreads it out on the floor. He’s taking up all the walking space as he purposely spreads out, making me walk over him to get to the bed.
“I’m not selfish. I’ll let you share my bed if you really want to.” His hand slides over my calf as I step over him to get to my bag of clothes.
“Oh… you’re so kind. But I think I’ll be better off in this comfy bed.”
“Don’t knock it til’ you try it.” He pats the floor beside him.
“We need to get a computer in the morning.” I purposely change the subject and ignore him. “Do you want the hot water?” I decide to give him the chance to shower first, so I can think about what to do with all this money. I was okay leaving the first bag with him in the truck, but this second bag is different. There’s no way I can take my eyes off it for a second. I don’t care what this guy has done for me in the twenty-four hours I’ve known of him; that’s entirely too much money to trust with anyone.
“Sure.” He starts taking his clothes off the second he stands up. He leaves a trail of dirty laundry and I try so hard to avert my eyes from watching his naked ass walk into the bathroom and disappear behind the door, but I fail miserably. Movement in the mirror pulls my attention and I’m instantly mortified as I watch his smirking face watch me in the reflection.
His eyebrows shift upward before he steps into the shower… leaving the door wide open just to torture me even further. What happened to me being focused and not allowing any distractions to interfere with me escaping my old life? Instead I’ve allowed some stranger to take up space in my truck… in my room… and now in my damn head.
I start moving around the room, trying to figure out where to put the money bag and quickly realize there’s no way to hide it and feel safe enough to shower with the door closed. I’m going to have to distract him if I want to be sure the money is safe.
I double check to make sure the bolt is locked before I take one final deep breath and start to plan my own undoing. This is a terrible idea… but at this point if I want a shower and a peace of mind at the same time, I have only one choice. Well, two… but only one of them sounds fun.