Attached (Coronado Series Book 3) (8 page)

She rolled over and leaned up on her elbows. “You don’t have to buy me breakfast. I’m going to check on my car in a while, so I may be heading out this morning.”

“What are you talking about? I thought we were going to take our road trip together.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean….why?” He leaned up and looked at her and started to get a very bad feeling. “Don’t you want to spend more time together?”

“I thought this was just a one-night stand.”

“No, I want it to be more.”

“How much more?”

“A lot more.”

“What’s
a lot
to you?”

He slowly realized that she had used him for sex, and he didn’t like it at all. “I think we should spend at least a month together, and then we can reassess and decide. We both live in San Diego, and I take that as a sign that we should be together.”
 

She looked at his rumpled, shaggy brown hair and melty brown eyes as she considered the possibilities. “I don’t think we would last two days. I would probably irritate you before we made it to Lake Havasu.”

“I don’t think so. Let’s have breakfast and we can discuss it further.”

“All right. You go have your run, and I’ll meet up with you later on.”

He watched her and tried to figure out if she was saying that so she could ditch him. “I’m holding you to your word. I expect a woman who teaches small children to be faithful to her word.”

She rolled off the bed and walked into the bathroom without saying anything. He had a feeling that she was going to pull a fast one, so he pulled a tracking card out of his wallet and dropped it in her purse before he went into the bathroom to join her. You could never be too careful or paranoid. He knew that from experience.

********

Cary leaned against the shower wall and tried to see if she had any brain cells left. Travis Mathers was the best lover she’d ever had, and she knew somehow the last twenty-four hours had changed her irrevocably. She felt an arm snake around her waist and pull her forward. She fell against a massive chest and sighed. “Remember when I said you had no game?” she asked.

“I remember you saying something about that.”

“I was wrong. I was so very wrong. You definitely have game.”

“Are you saying that because of the last ten minutes?”

“I’m saying that because of the last twenty-four hours. I didn’t realize it at first, but I do now.”

He pulled back and looked into her hazel eyes and smiled. “Thanks, baby.”

She leaned up on her tip toes, put her hands on his face and looked him in the eye as she placed her mouth against his. She felt the connection down to her toes and ended the kiss before it became stronger. “I’m feeling a little water-logged. Let’s get out.”

He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. He held out his hand, and she held on tight. He handed her a towel, and they dried off. “I’m going to go and get fresh clothes, and then I’ll come back and take you to breakfast.”

She patted his chest and smiled at him before leaving the bathroom. He had an uneasy feeling in his gut and was trying to decide how much attention he was going to pay to it. He followed her out and watched her dig through her suitcase. He quickly slipped on his shorts and shirt. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Wait for me here.”

“Sure, I’ll be here.”

He dropped a quick kiss on her lips and left. He walked over to his room and decided he was being paranoid. He walked in, quickly changed and was about to leave when he heard his phone ring. He looked down and knew he couldn’t ignore it. It was his mom and he had been avoiding her for weeks. His time had run out. He knew he couldn’t avoid the conversation any longer.

Cary decided to wear one of her new dresses and cowboy boots. She was going to embrace this new look and see what happened. Maybe if she wore more interesting clothes, she would then figure out how to get a life to go with them.
 

Hearing her phone buzz, she picked it up and listened to Mort talk about the state of her car. A wave of despair washed over her. “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.” She finished getting ready and waited to see if Travis was going to make it back. She checked her watch and noticed it had been close to an hour since he’d left. She finished packing her suitcase and gave the room one last check. She looked at her watch again and decided to head over to the auto shop. She rolled her suitcase over the motel office so they could watch it while she retrieved her car.
 

She walked over to the diner and grabbed a cup of coffee before heading down the street. As she passed the shops, she wondered why Travis made such a big deal about wanting to see her again. She knew it was a one-night thing and she was fine with that. Just because she taught kindergarten didn’t mean she was unsophisticated. He should have just said good-bye and left it at that.

Travis flew out his door as soon as he ended his call. He looked at his watch and realized that it had been more than an hour since he’d left Cary. He hoped that she was understanding about the delay as he took long strides over to her room. There was a maid’s cart outside the room, and he knew that she’d left without saying anything. He popped his head inside and noticed that all of her things were gone. It looked like Cary had checked out and not bothered to let him know. He looked down at his phone to see if she’d had texted him, but his phone was blank. Frustration filled his body, and he felt like pounding his head against the wall when he remembered that they hadn’t exchanged phone numbers. His boy parts had been buried in her girl parts hours ago, and somehow he had failed to get her phone number. The first lesson you learn as an adolescent is to get the phone number. Before he lost his mind, he recalled that he had dropped a tracking card in her purse.
It pays to be paranoid
. He brought up the app on his phone and quickly tracked her. It appeared that she was moving slowly down Main Street toward the other end of town. She must be going to get her car, so he jogged in the direction of the blinking light. He could still do a seven-minute mile, and he felt confident that he would make it before she left.

Cary stood in front of Mort and felt inexplicably sad, because her Volvo station wagon had died. They had been together since college, and she felt like she was being asked to say good-bye to a close friend. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn’t help herself. “Are you absolutely sure there’s nothing we can do to save her?”

“Ms. Cary, I can’t in good conscience make repairs on a car that has over 200,000 miles on it. You would be throwing away your money. I can try to make enough repairs to get you home, but that’s all I can do.”

“I understand. I knew this day was coming. I just wanted to make one last road trip together.”

Mort patted her arm in understanding. “I can give you $1500.00 for the car, and I’ll use it for parts.”

“That’s very generous of you.” She heard a loud voice shout her name and turned to watch Travis run toward her. “What are you doing here?”

He grabbed her roughly and crushed her against his chest. Taking a moment to collect himself, he closed his eyes and breathed her in. He smelled freesia again and felt his heart slow down as her arms wrapped around him. “Why didn’t you wait for me?”

“I did, but you never returned. I figured you just changed your mind.”

He looked down into her face and kissed her fiercely, because he wanted to mark her somehow. He needed her to be bound to him, and he didn’t understand why. “I had a phone call from my mom, and I had to take it. I’m sorry it took so long.” Her eyes were wet, and she looked like she’d been crying. “I promise it will never happen again.” He ran his finger down her face and gently rubbed his thumb across her mouth. “My word is something that you can always count on….I promise you.”

“Travis, I don’t care about that. I’m upset because my car died. We’ve been together since college, and it’s the longest relationship I’ve ever had.”

“I’m sorry, baby. What do you want to do?”

“I guess I’ll leave it here. Mort is going to give me some money because he can use it for parts. I knew I was taking a risk bringing her on this last road trip, but I thought we would make it.”

“You can come with me. We’ll go on our road trip together, and then I’ll take you home at the end of the summer.”

“That’s crazy. We’ve only known each other for two days, and there’s no way we would make it together on a road trip.”

“How do you know?”

“I know because you’re not an easy going man. There’s no way you’re going to want to do the same stuff I want to do. We would both end up miserable.”

“I’m happy to find out that you’re going to be the pessimist in this relationship. It looks like I get to be Susie Sunshine and sprinkle my happy fairy dust all over us.” He stood at his full height with his arms crossed over his enormous chest and looked exactly like who he was.

Cary started laughing so hard that she started to snort. Travis shook his head at her disapprovingly and waited for to finish. “Was the fairy dust too much? I could’ve left that part out…right?”

She wiped her eyes. “I’m looking at a man who is over six feet tall with more muscles than any one person should have. You’re one of the most feared spec ops warriors on the planet. You’re a scary hard-ass guy, and you’re talking about being Susie Sunshine. That’s pretty darn funny.”

He shrugged and gave her a bored look. “I tell it like I see it.”

She pulled herself together and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. I needed that. I think you’re right–you do have magic fairy dust.” She watched him smirk, as if not having fairy dust or whatever else he needed at his fingertips was ever going to be possible. She handed him her phone. “Can you take some pictures of me next to my car? I want to commemorate its passing.”

He took her phone, and they walked over to her car. She stood in front of it as Travis took several photos. She put her arms across the hood and laid her face on the metal. “Thank you for being such a good car. May you rest in peace.”

Travis watched her say good-bye to her car and realized that if she cared this much about a car, he probably had a chance with her. He decided he was going to figure out a way for her to start caring about him, too.

CHAPTER SIX

After Cary settled with Mort and cleaned out her car, she walked with Travis back down Main Street. He held her hand. “Let’s go have breakfast, and we can plan our road trip.”

“I just need a lift to the Greyhound station. Then I’m going home to get my new car and start all over again.” She felt a pull on her arm as he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “What are you doing?”

“Are you saying that you have a new car at home and you chose to drive your old car?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to take one last road trip with my old car.”

“That’s crazy-why would you take the chance driving an old car when you don’t have to?”

“Because I wanted to.”

He shook his head and started talking to himself as they walked down the street toward the diner. “Damn fool woman, taking unnecessary chances.”

“I can hear you make derisive comments about me, and I don’t like it.”

“Do you know what could’ve happened to you?”

“Yes, I do.” She gave him a pointed look and waited for him to catch on. “I think it worked out pretty well so far.”
 

“Because you’re lucky.”

She looked at him with a big smile. “I feel pretty lucky after what happened this morning.”

He smiled in response as he opened the door to the diner. Marsha waved to them as they walked back to their table. He let her slide in first and then settled next to her. “Have you ever slept with a stranger before?” he asked.

“Define
stranger
.”

He raised his eyebrows, “Someone who you don’t know.”

She fidgeted a little before answering him, “No, I haven’t. I think it worked out really well, though. I might try to do more of it in the future.”
 

He whipped his head around and glared at her. “You will not be trying more of it in the future. Have you lost your mind? Do you know how dangerous it is?”

A smile slowly touched her mouth as she put her hand on his leg and gave him a pointed look. “Are you getting your boxers in a twist because I’m considering sleeping with other strangers? Because when I decided to sleep with you, a stranger, you were all for it.”
 

Marsha came up to the table and Cary gave her their order. “Can we have two coffees, two orange juices and two specials?” Marsha nodded her approval and walked away.
 

“It’s completely different.”

“Why? Because boys can sleep around, but girls can’t? I wonder how many strangers you’ve slept with. Wait, let me guess….hundreds. I bet a majority of your partners have been strangers, and you’re alive to talk about it. Why should it be any different for me?”

“Because you’re a woman and not able to defend yourself if you find yourself in a situation that makes you uncomfortable. There are a lot of creeps and crazy people out there.”

“I’m an excellent judge of character, and I’ll be fine.”