Opposites Attract (9 page)

Ethan was tired so Ted said he’d drive. Alexis was only mildly horrified by the fact their driving directions consisted of the words ‘just drive westward-ish’. Apparently, Ethan really didn’t own a road map.

Susan was cuddled up next to Ted in the front seat. Barry White, Al Green and Miles Davis whiled away the morning hours, filling the silence with their beautiful music. The compilation CD belonged to Ted and Alexis was a little surprised when Ethan didn’t protest. Weren’t men like him supposed to listen to punk rock or nu metal?

Alexis glanced over across the seat. Taking a deep breath and then another, she squirmed, uncomfortable and suddenly very hot. Moisture dampened her panties and she parted her legs, hoping to cool herself without anyone noticing. The image of Ethan in a bath towel wouldn’t leave her, especially the part when he dropped the towel while opening the bathroom door. It would seem Mr Tattoo was also Mr Well Endowed.

Muscles rippled over his form, from his hard stomach to his big shoulders. Both arms were covered with colourful tattoos, as well as part of his chest, but his stomach was left bare. She wondered why. His nipples were pierced with two horseshoe-shaped rings in them. She could see the faint outline of the rings beneath his T-shirt. She shook her head, taking another deep breath.

Was the car suddenly too hot? She lightly fanned the front of her shirt.

Strangely, his tattoos didn’t seem to distract from his amazing physique. If anything, they added a bad-boy appeal. And, was she mistaken, or had something silver glinted on his semi-erect shaft? Alexis felt heat rushing to her features. Should she even be thinking about Ethan’s penis?

OK, as future boyfriend material Ethan didn’t stand a chance. But as a fantasy to file away for a later day? Why not? Alexis suddenly realised one of Ethan’s incredibly blue eyes was open. She’d been caught staring – at his crotch. Biting the corner of her lip, she said the first thing that came to her mind. ‘You really would look better without the red goatee.’

His brow arched slightly. Then, closing his eye, he said, ‘And you would look better if you gained fifteen pounds.’

Somehow, when he said it, she couldn’t take it as a compliment. Alexis glanced down, feeling suddenly very self-conscious. She hugged her arms around her waist. Sulking, she turned to stare out the window. Some adventure this was – endless roadside upon endless roadside and a travelling companion she wanted to toss out of the car.

‘Guess what?’ Susan said, moving around to look at the back seat. Alexis turned her attention from the miles of grass and farmland to her friend. Susan held up the free notepad from the hotel. Talking to both Ted and Alexis, she said, ‘I did a search last night on the internet about the Great Lakes and we’re really close to Detroit.’

Alexis glanced at Ethan. He was still asleep.

‘I thought maybe Ethan would like to see some of the car museums they have there,’ Susan said. ‘You know, since he’s really into his car.’

The last thing Alexis wanted to do was detour for a car museum. She was about to say something when Ted vetoed the idea for her.

‘Ah, no, babe, I think we’d have to backtrack a little to get to Detroit,’ Ted said, yawning. ‘Mm, I don’t know about you two, but I’m ready for a break. I’m going to pull in up here and find some place to eat.’

‘Sounds good, honey,’ Susan said absently, reaching to pat his shoulder. She lovingly smoothed out the sleeve of his polo shirt before looking back at Alexis. ‘Well, then, how about we subtly work our way north and go to Lake Michigan?’

‘Why?’ Alexis frowned.

‘Because they’re the Great Lakes,’ Susan said. ‘And because I’ve never seen Lake Michigan.’

‘We just saw Lake Erie,’ Alexis said.

‘But, I haven’t seen Lake Michigan,’ Susan insisted. ‘It’s an altogether different lake.’

‘You want to detour just to see some more water?’ Alexis asked.

‘No, I want to detour because it will be fun.’ Susan sighed. ‘And because I haven’t seen you take your camera out of its bag once.’

‘Hey, how about this diner?’ Ted asked with an uncomfortable laugh. Susan and Alexis both leaned to look out the window.

‘Sure,’ Susan said.

‘Fine with me,’ Alexis added.

Ted merged lanes and started slowing down. ‘Ah, great, it’s right by a gas station too. Perfect.’

‘How are you going to build a portfolio if you don’t take pictures?’ Susan asked, picking up with Alexis where she’d left off.

‘I haven’t been inspired,’ Alexis said quietly. Her photography was a private thing and she really didn’t feel like discussing it with Ethan next to her, whether he was asleep or not. She glanced at him. He looked asleep. Still, he was a self-proclaimed artist and she really didn’t want anyone judging her work. She couldn’t take another blow to her ego right now. Her photography was the only thing she’d ever taken some sort of pride in, besides shopping. To have someone tell her she wasn’t any good would hurt too badly and she had no doubt Ethan wouldn’t pull his punches if her photographs were terrible. ‘And I forgot to charge the battery.’

‘Liar,’ Ethan mumbled, not opening his eyes. Alexis made a weak noise of embarrassment. Susan frowned slightly at her in question. ‘Mm, Ted, why don’t we go to Lake Michigan? I’ve never been there. I’d like to mark it off my map.’

‘Fine by me,’ Ted said.

Susan looked at Alexis a while longer, before saying with forced enthusiasm, ‘Yeah, cool.’

‘Mark it off your map?’ Alexis questioned. Her voice was sharper than usual in her irritation at being called a liar. So what if she’d lied? She had her reasons.

‘Never mind,’ Ethan said, still not looking at her. He angled his body towards the door, giving her his back. ‘A girl like you wouldn’t get it.’

Ted pulled up to the small roadside diner. There was nothing special about the red and white checkers along the top edge, or the boring inside décor. It had the same red curtains, vinyl booths and black and white photographs that all roadside diners seemed to have. Alexis was loath to spend money. What had happened to her? She was wearing a three hundred dollar Cynthia Rowley shirt and wondering if five dollars for a hamburger was too much. She’d ordered the small dinner salad and knew her stomach would be gnawing at her after an hour.

‘You know,’ the waitress said, sticking a pencil in her hair. She nodded at Alexis. ‘You look just like that woman on the news.’

Alexis didn’t move, didn’t make eye contact. She sipped her water. ‘You don’t say.’

‘Can I get a hamburger?’ Ted asked. ‘Medium well. Fries. No onions.’

‘Sure thing.’ The waitress grabbed her pencil and studied Alexis. ‘What is that woman’s name?’

‘I’ll have the same,’ Susan said, her voice a little rushed.

‘Sure thing, sugar.’ The waitress wrote the order down and said, ‘What was her name? I know I know it. It was just on the television. Frankie? Frannie?’

‘I’ll have the same only with onions,’ Ethan said. He sounded sleepy. ‘And you’re thinking of Audrey Hepburn, the old actress.’

‘Huh, that must be it,’ the waitress said, seeming pleased the mystery was solved.

Alexis turned to Ethan in surprise. He thought she looked like the beautiful, classical film star? The waitress left.

‘What?’ Ethan asked when Alexis stared at him. ‘You do around the chin.’

Susan hid a smile behind her hand.

‘You’re still too skinny,’ Ethan said, almost defensively.

‘And you’d still look better without the red goatee,’ Alexis answered, though her words lacked her previous conviction. There was no way Ethan could know just how much he’d helped her out with the waitress. The last thing she wanted was everyone pointing and staring at the convict’s daughter.

Susan excused herself for the bathroom. Ted and Ethan talked sports, while Ethan made a rose out of a paper napkin. He tossed it absently on the table by Alexis. She blinked, wondering if it was for her. He didn’t look at her, so she doubted it.

‘I got it,’ Susan said, coming back to the table. ‘How about we go to Door County in the upper peninsula of northern Wisconsin? I was just talking to this woman from Chicago and she said that her family has a summer home up there. It’s supposed to be really pretty this time of year. Since we are going to see Lake Michigan anyway.’

‘Why not?’ Ethan asked. ‘I need to mark Wisconsin off my map.’

The waitress came back with their food. As they ate, it was decided by majority vote that they’d drive all the way along the coast to go to Door County. Alexis didn’t vote and the others didn’t ask her opinion. She was pretty sure they just assumed she’d say no.

Alexis took a deep breath, turning on the mattress as she curled to the very edge of the bed to escape Ethan’s heat. Just feeling that much of him was doing wicked things to her body. It was like she was in a constant state of arousal and couldn’t do anything about it. Right now wasn’t any better.

She couldn’t sleep. It had been almost two days since he said that to her and she couldn’t get it out of her head. To top it off, she was horny and depressed – a horrible combination.

They weren’t making very good time travel-wise, but none of them seemed to care. It was strange not having an agenda – no dinner parties she had to attend for her mother, no new clubs she had to make a social appearance at. Is this how most people lived? Without the pressure of social life? Somehow, she doubted it. This laid-back attitude had to be the other end of the scale. Most people probably fell in the middle.

The second day they’d driven straight through Ohio and much of Indiana, stopping to spend the night in a hotel much like the first. Ethan pulled his same routine, charging her twenty dollars for a room he’d gotten for free. The next morning, she awoke with a coffee and fast-food breakfast sandwich awaiting her. The sandwich was gross, the coffee worse and Alexis was sure it was one of the nicest things anyone had ever given her. She knew he’d paid for it, but he didn’t say anything except ‘continental breakfast’. There was no way the cheap hotel provided its guests with free fast food.

Day three Susan drove. She took a scenic tour through Indiana, which Alexis assumed meant they’d gotten lost. The day had been pleasant with a warm, inviting breeze outside. They’d driven with the windows rolled down.

Alexis sat up in the bed. The hotel they were at was in Wisconsin. The landscape only subtly changed over the course of the trip, but she’d been too distracted to really notice it.

She was having a hard time sleeping next to Ethan anyway. Damn him for dropping the towel. She had to be confused. It was the only way she could explain her sudden fascination with tattoos or, in particular, the ones on Ethan’s body. Every chance she got, she tried to study the intricate lines on his arms. The artwork was a hotchpotch of different designs connected with swirled water patterns on one arm, fire on the other. There was subtle shading to some of the pieces that she found quite remarkable. He’d caught her staring a few times and frowned at her, but said nothing.

The red light on her camera battery charger caught her attention. Slowly, she crept across the hotel room and grabbed her camera. Attaching a lens, she then loaded the battery and tiptoed across the floor. She contemplated her actions for about a second before stepping on top of the dresser to get a better angle. Lifting the camera, she focused on Ethan. He was sleeping on his stomach, only wearing flannel pyjama pants. She was able to get a fairly good amount of his back and arms in the frame. Now she’d be able to stare at the picture and not the man.

As she took the picture, the flash lit up the room. Ethan moaned, shifting slightly on the bed. Alexis held still, quietly waiting to see if he’d wake up. When he didn’t move, she quickly placed her camera back in its bag and crawled into bed.

Ethan moaned as she snuggled beneath the covers. She felt his weight shift as he moved. His leg brushed the back of her naked calf and he moaned again, this time louder. Alexis stiffened, holding still as she waited to see what would happen. Her leg tingled where he touched her.

She felt him turn behind her moments before a hand glided over her hip. The pink and tan leopard print chemise only fell to mid-thigh and the warmth of his fingers easily met her skin through the mesh. The nightgown pulled up as he caressed to expose her matching thong panties.

Alexis didn’t make a sound. He was probably just sleeping and she really didn’t want to wake him up. Ethan moved his hand down, bringing the mesh against her flesh in a long caress as he worked aimlessly over her hip. He cupped her naked butt, squeezing the cheek lightly. It felt good to be touched after what seemed like an eternity. OK, a little over a month was hardly an eternity, but it had been a really hard month.

‘Mm, come here,’ he said sleepily. With a strong tug, he slid her back, until his body curled around hers. She felt the heat of his erection between the cheeks of her ass, as his legs pressed into her thighs. His pyjama pants were soft, but offered little in the way of a barrier. He slid a hand intimately over her stomach, pulling her firmly against his cock. ‘You smell good.’

Alexis felt a shiver of pleasure at his compliment. He sounded drowsy and she wondered if he was even awake. His body was warm and his chest rose and fell in even breaths. When he didn’t move, merely held her, she wiggled her butt slightly against his erection under the pretence of being asleep.

Her movements caused his hand to stir once more. His erection rubbed against her, as his fingers glided up to cup her breast. Warm breath fanned over her throat as his face burrowed into her hair. His lips met her neck, causing a small gasp of surprise to escape her as goosebumps rose along her body. Her neck had always been so sensitive. Ethan chuckled; again the sound was sleepy.