Naked (2 page)

Relief started to flood through her. But then she caught herself.

Once she was in his car, anything could happen. Anything.

He seemed nice, though.

So did Jayson.

That brought back the tremors and the sick feeling. “I should probably stay with my car,” she said.

Elijah nodded slowly. He leaned back against her car, crossed his arms over his broad chest. She couldn’t help but notice the way his biceps flexed, even under the loose material of his t-shirt. “You know it’s probably going to cost you a couple thousand dollars to have it fixed, right?”

Caelyn’s jaw dropped. “A couple thousand dollars?”

“I’m sorry, but I thought you should know.” He sighed, then turned and placed her keys on the hood of her car. “Anyway, good luck,” he said, and started to head back to his SUV.

He didn’t slow his pace, or even look back.

Caelyn abruptly realized that Elijah was definitely going to leave her there, and that it seemed as if he didn’t have the intention of trying to kidnap and murder her after all.

And that’s when she realized how quiet and dark it still was. With Elijah nearby, the night hadn’t seemed nearly as frightening somehow. Which made no sense, because he was clearly not to be trusted.

Just as he was about to get in his own car, she called out to him.

“Wait!” she said.

He turned and looked at her. “Yeah?” He sounded a little impatient.

“I think—I think I might need a ride after all,” she admitted.

***

Caelyn was sitting in the passenger seat of an exceedingly clean SUV. She had her purse on the seat beside her and the small travel bag was sitting at her feet.

Elijah was driving the car, eyes straight ahead, one hand on the wheel, his free hand draped casually over one leg. He was chewing gum slowly, purposefully, his jaw tensing and relaxing.

Now that Caelyn was closer to him, she could see that he was even better looking than she’d first thought. He was hot—movie star hot—not that she knew any. But Elijah must be what Channing Tatum or Taylor Lautner had been like before they were discovered. He had that effortless intensity—that chiseled body, and the strong masculine features.

She was surprised at her own curiosity, especially after what she’d been through earlier that night. But there was something reassuring about Elijah, something that was slowly allowing her to relax, one minute at a time.

It helped that he didn’t seem to have the least interest in her.

In fact, he’d barely uttered two words to her since she’d taken him up on his offer to drive her to the next exit and see if they could find a place for her to wait until morning.

“You should probably call Triple A,” Elijah said, out of nowhere. It had been so long since he’d spoken that Caelyn was shocked by the sound of his voice breaking the silence of the drive. “It could take them a few hours to tow your car at this time of night,” he explained.

She felt her cheeks turning red. “I don’t have Triple A.”

He looked at her briefly. “What are you going to do, then?”

She sighed. “I’m not really sure.” She glanced at her purse, and saw the postcard tucked safely away inside. She’d somehow remembered to put it in her bag as she was gathering her things up to bring with her.

“Well, the exit’s coming up,” he said, nodding out at the road, and sure enough, the exit loomed at them out of the darkness. They got off to the right and slowly rounded a turn, coming out onto a main road that was still dark, with all the restaurants and gas stations shuttered for the night.

As they drove down the road, Elijah shook his head. “I don’t think anything’s open yet. Want to call around to some hotels and see if you can book a room or something?”

Caelyn pointed to a McDonald’s on the right. “Why don’t you drop me there? It will be open in the next couple of hours, and then…” her voice trailed off.

Elijah glanced at her. “And then what?” he asked. He slowly pulled the car into the McDonald’s lot and parked. When he turned to her, she instantly withdrew, shrinking back against the door. She put one hand on the car door handle, in case she needed to make a quick escape.

His brow crinkled in confusion. “What’s your damage, kid?”

She swallowed, regaining some composure. He wasn’t going to hurt her. She sat up a bit straighter. “I don’t have any damage—I’m just nervous. It’s late at night and I don’t know you. Sorry.”

He smiled slightly. His eyes focused on her, as if seeing her for the first time.

She was unnerved by how sharp and perceptive those dark eyes were. It was as if he knew everything in one instant of gazing at her. She looked away quickly.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. The thing is,” he continued, “I don’t feel right leaving you in the middle of nowhere with no car and no way home. Where are you headed, anyway? Can’t you just call someone to come and get you?”

She thought about lying and then, for some strange reason, opted to tell the truth.

“There’s no one I want to call.”

He nodded as if it made total sense. “Well where are you headed, then?”

“Florida.”

“Florida?”

“Yeah, Florida.” She glared at him, as if daring him to tell her she’d never make it.

He turned away, seemingly lost in thought. “I’m guessing you don’t have the money to fix that car we left back there.”

“No, I don’t.” She didn’t go any further than that—she didn’t tell him that she currently had about a hundred dollars in cash in her purse, a credit card that had maybe another hundred bucks before it was maxed out, and less than fifty dollars in her checking account.

Somehow, that money was supposed to last her all the way to Florida, and then continue to last while she found work and housing and fed herself.

As if Elijah knew all of these things, he suddenly put the car in gear and swung out of the McDonald’s parking lot, heading back the way they came on the main road.

“Where are you going?” she asked, her hand instinctively clutching her purse to her side.

“Back on the highway.”

“Why?”

He looked at her, just a glance, but she was again struck by how undeniably gorgeous he was. In other circumstances, a different time in her life, she would have been happy to be in this situation with a guy like Elijah. But right now, after the night she’d had, she only felt nervous and exhausted.

“Look, I can take you as far as New York City,” he told her. “I’m going that way anyhow. I happen to know for a fact that you can catch a bus from there that will take you to Orlando for eighty bucks.”

A thrill of excitement raced through Caelyn’s body. If he was telling the truth, then she could actually do it. Sure, Orlando wasn’t Sarasota, but it was damn close. Just a couple of hours away. For eighty bucks, she could do it. It would hurt her pocketbook, but she could make it.

She couldn’t help but smile for the first time all night.

Elijah grinned in return, although his eyes were back on the road now. “So, which is it—that shitty old McDonalds or New York City, kid?”

“My name is Caelyn and I’m pretty sure I’m about your age,” she replied.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

She pursed her lips. “You think there will be a bus to Florida before night time?”

“Probably.” Elijah moved the SUV into the middle lane, hitting the gas until they were cruising along at about 70 mph.

Caelyn sat back in her seat and tried to calm her racing pulse. She couldn’t quite understand it, because she was no longer afraid that he was going to try something on her.

But nonetheless, she was still riding an adrenaline rush.

A few times she glanced at him surreptitiously, pretending not to really be trying to look at him. Stealing glances, her entire body was creeping with warmth and her lower belly was tingling.

Slowly, it dawned on her that she was enamored of this strange boy. Maybe it was because he was mysterious, or perhaps because he was helping her in a time of need.

All Caelyn knew was that she wanted to look at him, she wanted to hear his voice.

But another part of her sensed that there was more to Elijah than he was letting on in his simple interactions and his casual demeanor. She knew that if she ever truly got to know him, she might wish she’d never laid eyes on him in the first place.

***

Somehow, she’d fallen asleep in the car.

It was surprising, given how fearful she’d been and the fact that Elijah was a total stranger with unclear intentions. And yet, after they’d been on the highway for a while, Caelyn had found her eyes starting to grow weary and heavy.

She’d begun drifting, startling awake, trying to keep alert and ready for anything.

But every time she looked over at Elijah, something about him made her feel relaxed.

He would never hurt me.

She didn’t understand how she could know such a thing. Why couldn’t he hurt her? She knew nothing about the guy.

But her body had known, it seemed, even if her mind was suspicious. Eventually, Caelyn must have simply given in to the weariness and exhaustion that were the result of everything that she’d gone through that evening.

When she first opened her eyes again, Caelyn could tell that Elijah hadn’t noticed she’d woken up. He was driving along, humming quietly to himself. The radio was playing softly, and she realized that he’d probably put it on very low volume so as not to wake her.

It was touching in a way, she decided. He was trying to be careful, trying to be nice to her.

She kept her eyes half-closed so as to continue watching him without his knowledge. It was voyeuristic and perhaps a little bit wrong, but she couldn’t help herself.

Something about Elijah was mysterious and enigmatic, and she wanted to know more about him. Any glimpse she could get would help her understand that extra little bit.

Caelyn continued to pretend to be asleep, letting her head loll a bit as the car jostled slightly on the road.

Suddenly, Elijah’s eyes locked on the rearview mirror and his expression changed to one of alarm.

There was a loud WHOOP! WHOOP! sound from behind them, and Caelyn snapped her eyes open, turned to look behind her and find a police car approaching quickly, its lights flashing.

“Shit,” Elijah whispered. His strong jaw settled into a tight line, and he put his blinker on and slowed down, pulling over to the side of the road as the cop pulled up right behind him. The police car was just sitting there, and there wasn’t any movement at first.

“Were you speeding?” Caelyn asked Elijah.

“Nah,” he said. “Well, maybe just ten miles over the limit.”

“So you
were
speeding.”

He gave her an exasperated look, like he couldn’t believe anyone would consider ten miles over the limit the same thing as speeding. “Just let me handle this,” he said.

His eyes went back to the rearview mirror. “I should just hit the gas and leave this douche in the dust,” he mused.

“You’re joking, right?” Caelyn asked, her stomach suddenly churning. He didn’t sound like he was joking. Visions of a high-speed chase danced through her head, along with a trip to the police station, where she’d be forced to call her mother and confess everything. Only this time she wouldn’t have just run away from school. This time she’d have been arrested with a strange boy.

Elijah didn’t answer. His eyes were still glued on the rearview mirror. Finally, he turned to her. “Whatever I say, you just go along with me. Understand?”

“What does that even mean, go along with whatever you say?”

“Listen, Caelyn.” His dark eyes grew intense. “I’m not messing around. You go along with whatever I say, no matter what. Got it?”

She didn’t like his tone of voice and she didn’t particularly understand his instructions either. “No way. I’m not just going to do whatever you say because you say it. That’s crazy.”

There was the sound of a door opening, and when Caelyn craned her neck to look, the officer was slowly getting out of his car.

Elijah looked at her and shook his head, then leaned across her and opened the glove compartment. He reached into the glove box, and she could see his heavily muscled forearm and a dark flash of tattoo ink on his upper bicep as the sleeve of his tshirt rode up.

Something about his proximity, the nearness of him—made her a little weak. She caught her breath, but inhaled just enough to smell the clean scent of shampoo and soap and maybe some cologne.

And then he’d gotten his registration and was rolling down his window as the police officer approached the driver’s side door. “License and registration,” the cop drawled in a tone of voice that indicated an unpleasant mood.

Elijah was instantly a different person. His whole demeanor had changed. He had been scowling a moment ago, but now he was smiling. “Morning officer,” he said, as he handed over the registration, then dug into his pocket, took out his wallet, and fumbled briefly until he found his license. He handed that over as well.

The cop glanced down at Elijah’s license. “Mister Daniels, do you realize how fast you were going just now?”

“I’m really sorry sir.” Elijah put his hand on Caelyn’s thigh. His hand was strong and warm, and instantly her skin began tingling. “Me and my girlfriend got to chatting and I must not have noticed that I was going too fast. We’ve been on the road for a bit, and she was trying to keep me alert.”

The officer nodded, but his mouth was pulled down into a frown. He looked into the window and saw Caelyn. They made eye contact and she tried a friendly smile, but the cop was having none of it.

“Where you two headed?”

“Florida, sir. Taking a little road trip, get some R&R.” Elijah flashed another smile and his hand softly rubbed her leg.

Strangely, Caelyn found that she wasn’t at all bothered by the physical contact. In a bizarre way, she thought that she was actually enjoying this little charade—and that made absolutely no sense at all.

The officer glanced into the back seat. “You need to be careful around here. Lot of accidents on this road last year.”

Elijah nodded. “Yes sir. You’re right, sir.”

“Well, I’m going to have to give you a ticket,” the officer sighed. “Please stay put.” He left the car and walked slowly back to his cruiser, got inside.

Elijah watched him go in the rearview mirror.

The smile was gone from his face. His eyes were completely transfixed, and he absentmindedly wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

Caelyn was wondering what on earth had gotten into him. Maybe he was worried about how much the ticket would cost. Or maybe he was concerned because he had outstanding tickets for other things…

She decided not to say a word for now. The tension was so strong that she felt her stomach tightening as if a cord was being wrapped slowly around her insides.

The time seemed to draw out. After what felt like nearly half an hour (but had to be much less), the officer got out of his car and came back to the driver’s side door.

Elijah’s smile and easy demeanor were back in evidence again. “Hope you took it easy on us, officer. We need that extra money to go parasailing.”

The policeman didn’t return the smile. He handed Elijah back his license and registration. And then he handed him a ticket. “I gave you a ticket for exceeding the speed limit. You can contest the ticket if you wish, or you can simply pay by mail or online. Please take it slow and be careful getting back on the highway, okay, Jake?” He patted the hood of the car softly. “Oh, and have fun in Florida. Remember to wear sunscreen.”

“Yes, sir.”

Had the policeman just called Elijah by another name? Caelyn felt like maybe she’d misheard.

After the cop walked away, Elijah breathed a deep sigh of relief. He gave Caelyn the registration. “Would you mind putting this back in the glove compartment for me?”

he asked.

She took it and looked at the name on the form. It clearly said Jake Daniels.

She opened the glove box and put the registration inside. Of course, everything inside the compartment was neat and stacked, totally orderly, just like the rest of the SUV. She closed the glove compartment, her heart racing, as Elijah started his car and slowly pulled out into traffic.

“That was fun, huh?” he asked, glancing at her like nothing was amiss. That it was just every day that he got pulled over by cops and lied to them about who he was.

She didn’t answer at first. Her mind was spinning, trying to make sense of how strangely Elijah had behaved about being pulled over for speeding.

“Why did he call you Jake?” she asked.

“What?”

“That cop called you Jake. And your registration says Jake, too.”

Elijah didn’t answer for a long moment. Finally, he glanced at her. “Listen, I’m giving you a ride to New York City. I’m not here to explain my life story to you.”

“Who said anything about your life story? You just lied to a cop about your name. Either that, or you’re lying to me. Any way you look at it, it’s pretty messed up.”

He shook his head, then smirked. “Oh, that’s pretty rich coming from you, Caelyn.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Look at you,” he said, glancing at her again, his eyes raking up and down her body from head to toe. “You’re a mess. Your freaking skirt is ripped, your shirt’s all stretched out, makeup’s running down your face. It’s pretty damn obvious you’re running away from something. But did I try and demand that you tell me about it?”

Her mouth opened and closed. She crossed her arms over her chest and shrank away from him. The way he’d looked at her and spoken to her—it had been so brutal, so cruel in a way. She hadn’t expected that. Is that what he’d been thinking, is that why he hadn’t really looked at her since he’d picked her up on the highway?

“You’re right,” she almost whispered. “I’m not going to ask you anything. Just pull over and let me out.”

“Caelyn,” he said, his voice apologetic now. “Look, I’m sorry, it’s just – ”

“LET ME OUT OF THIS CAR.”

“I’m not putting you out on the highway,” he told her.

She pointed to a rest stop up ahead. “You won’t be letting me out on the highway. Look, there’s a travel plaza right there.”

“It’s only another hour to New York and the bus station.”

She looked at him and met his eyes. “Let me out, Elijah. I don’t want to go anywhere with you. Understand?”

His jaw set. “Fine,” he said, in a clipped tone.

A moment later, he was pulling into the rest stop and parking the SUV. “Let me just explain one thing,” he started to say.

But Caelyn had already grabbed her purse and bag, opened the passenger door, and started getting out of the car. She was so done talking to him—she was furious, and she could feel the rage flowing through every crevice of her body.

How dare he look at her like that, talk to her like that, judge her like that?

She immediately began walking toward the entrance of the convenience store that was linked to the rest stop. Caelyn was walking fast, not looking back, her hands clutching her purse and bag.

Once she got inside, she pretended to look at some snacks, just for something to do while she regained her composure.

She wouldn’t look up to watch him drive away, either, she decided. She could already picture his SUV pulling out and leaving the area. He would be gone and she’d never see him again. For some reason Caelyn couldn’t even fathom, the idea of him leaving hurt badly. It hit her in the chest and stomach like a vicious cramp.

Why did she care? He clearly had a screw loose, and he was a liar, and he was mean on top of it all.

She grabbed a Slim Jim, even though she didn’t even like them, just so that nobody would think she was crazy for standing in the aisle and doing nothing but staring at the snacks.

The door chimed as it opened, and she didn’t look up to see who was coming in.

She didn’t want to be disappointed when someone else’s face greeted her.

But why do you still want to see Elijah? Why did you make him drop you off if
you still want to be with him?

There was no good answer.

She looked down at the dirty floor of the convenience store as footsteps approached.

“I’m not going to leave you here,” the familiar voice said from just beside her.

His tone was gruff and commanding, and she almost gave in. Almost. But the wave of relief that flooded her body was quickly countered by another wave of anger.

“Leave me alone,” she said, walking away from him again, even as a voice inside of her told her to stop pushing him away. If she kept it up, he really might listen.

But she couldn’t seem to stop herself. The door chimed again as she pushed her way out of the store.

“Caelyn!” Elijah yelled. She heard him coming after her, and she quickened her pace, not sure if she wanted him to catch her.

Then, suddenly, another voice pierced the air.

“Sir, your girlfriend is walking out of the store with unpaid for merchandise!

That’s our Slim Jim!” the voice of the cashier yelled.

Caelyn spun around and threw the Slim Jim, hitting Elijah in the chest with it. He fumbled it, but eventually held on.

“I don’t even like Slim Jims!” she yelled.

Elijah turned and gave the item back to the irate cashier, who said something inaudible to him. And then Elijah followed her outside, to the curb, where she was now sitting, head in her hands.

She was crying and shaking.

Everything was flooding through her -- the memories from the previous night, the things she’d tried to push away. It was all coming back.

“Can I sit down?” Elijah asked softly.