One Wild Night Read online

  “Okay, well I’ll get you to her. Just let me look at your arm.” He was just concerned that the creep had hurt her.

  She chuckled and gazed at him. Her lashes swept down, and her generously curved lips parted. “Scott, I’m okay. Please stop fussing over me. I’m not used to it.” She was laughing, but, really, it wasn’t funny. She really should have had someone fuss over her.

  He looked at her and took in her intoxicating beauty, her skin honey gold and flawless, made for loving. The sleek ends of her velvety chocolate brown hair lifted out against the gentle breeze, adding to her perfection.

  “Today is different.” He nodded and smiled back at her.

  “Aside from being one of those crazy days which I’d rather skip, it’s kind of no different to any other.” She raised her brows.

  “No, no. It’s a different day. We weren’t together yesterday. Or the day before that. Or, even the week.”

  She placed her hand on her chest, drawing his attention to her breasts. “Far be it from me to criticize my hero, but those days were definitely better.”

  “Okay, let’s forget this whole diner incident.” He raised his shoulders and shrugged. “Let’s start over. Today is still wide open, and we’re together. We used to have fun, Abi.”

  They did -- when he wasn’t being a complete dick.

  “I struggle to remember those times.”

  “Don’t worry; I’ll refresh your memory.” He winked at her and stood up.

  When he looked back to her, he noticed she was smiling. At least she seemed okay.

  They set off again and merged onto the highway following the route that would take them to Phoenix.

  Abi seemed a lot more relaxed with him now. She was less rigid, and her wall of reserve was gone. An advert came on the radio about Apple’s latest iPhone, and she told Scott that her company was heavily involved with a lot of Apple’s advertising campaigns. She elaborated on the work she was currently doing and all the ideas she had.

  He was impressed with the interest she showed and the way her eyes lit up as she delved into a deep conversation. He spoke, too, happy that they were talking and happy that they weren’t going to travel the rest of the way in silence.

  They’d been listening mostly to throwback 90s music, but, like some joke of fate, that Cranberries song came on again.

  He smiled to himself and looked over at her to see her blushing.

  “Are you sure you don’t remember this song?” he asked more pointedly.

  She was smiling now too. “Okay, I remember.” She took hold of the ends of her hair and tried not to look at him.

  “Do you remember what we used to do to this song?” He’d always loved teasing her and wouldn’t pass up the chance to see her blush with embarrassment like she was now.

  He knew she wasn’t the shy nineteen-year-old he’d met years ago and that a lot had happened since; they had both changed, but that wouldn’t stop him.

  She turned to face him. “No.”

  “Liar.” He shook his head and reached across to poke her stomach.

  “Hey!” She protested, eyes wide with surprise but laughing at the same time.

  “Don’t ‘hey’ me! And, if you lie again, I’ll come over there and tickle you to death.”

  She laughed again, and he relished the sweet sound.

  “You are too much, Mister.”

  “Baby, I just expect you to be truthful.”

  “Okay, I remember. Enough grilling already! Do you seriously expect me to talk about sex with you?”

  “Yeah, why not?” He laughed at the horrified look on her face.

  “I forgot how crazy you could be.”

  “Is the lucky guy that great that you’d forget me?” This was his roundabout way of asking if she was seeing someone.

  “What lucky guy?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

  “Your boyfriend.”

  She inclined her head to the side and gave him a sarcastic look. “I’m not seeing anyone. This week.”

  This week? “You see a different guy every week?”

  “Sometimes.” She replied with a sultry look he didn’t like (because it wasn’t for him) and he couldn’t help but feel jealous, which he knew was ridiculous.

  “How long has this been going on?”

  She started to laugh but stopped when she saw the serious look he gave her.

  “Look at you, Scott. I know you’re probably with a different woman every day. Don’t question me for dating a different guy every week.”

  “I’m not with a different woman every day.” Maybe a few years back he was, but he definitely wasn’t now -- not since he started thinking about his life.

  “Liar!” She threw back in the same tone he used with her.

  “Baby, I’m not lying.”

  “Okay, so who’s the lucky woman now? Who’s Scott’s girl?” she looked like she was humoring him.

  “Scott’s girl?... I like that.”

  He took his eyes off the road and ran his gaze over the perfect woman who sat next to him. The answer to that as simple.

  “Who is it then? Was she amongst the groupies this morning?”

  “Yeah, she was. I mean, she was there, alright, but not among the groupies as such.”

  “Where was she?”

  “She was standing on the balcony just ahead of me, looking on. You can’t miss her. Her beauty makes her stand out in a crowd, just like an angel. That’s Scott’s girl.” He smiled again at the slightly stunned look on her face as she realized he was talking about her.

  He didn’t know why he just said that, but he was glad he did because it seemed to lighten the mood a little. I broke down the wall Abi had placed up earlier when she was barely talking to him.

  “Oh,” was all she said, on the edge of a thoughtful breath. Then she looked ahead of them, out to the open road.

  He stole another moment to watch her and take in the perfection of her body. She glanced across at him, knowing he was checking her out, but she didn’t protest like she had earlier.

  She shuffled next to him as it had started to rain, and he closed the windows.

  “Do you think we’ll get there in that time?” she asked glancing over to the GPS on his dashboard. It said that Phoenix was still seven and a half hours away.

  “Hopefully. It’ll be after nightfall, though, and that’s if we make it through traffic.”

  She smoothed her hair to the side so she could run her fingers through its smooth ends. He watched her twirl it around her thumb and then take out her phone. “I’m going to call Margo and see how she’s doing.”

  “Cool.” He glanced over at her and then back to the road ahead to see the traffic building.

  He just barely saw a hazard sign flash above them in bright yellow lights, stating that the road ahead was closed due to a massive collision.

  “Oh, shit!” He swerved over to the other lane, following the car ahead of them. They’d just gotten out before they got stuck with the other cars that had sped into the traffic.

  “The road’s closed.” Abi winced, raising her chin as she looked up at the sign too.

  Scott reached forward and tapped the map on the GPS, trying to see where this route would lead them. “Dammit.” The whole area came up red with traffic, and the road he was hoping to take was closed, too, with the same collision warning. The collision had backed up the traffic and closed roads on the other routes.

  “What do we do?” Abi asked.

  “I don’t know. Just hang tight. Let’s see where we get to from this road.” He could already see what was going on, and it didn’t look good. Instead of heading down to where they wanted, they were now en route to Nevada.

  The route from Nevada to Phoenix would be a long one -- longer than he anticipated.

  Scott drove along until they hit the country roads. The cars ahead diverged off in the direction of more traffic, but Scott stayed on the country road, now driving without a plan.

  “Call Margo, Abi. I think she�
��s going to be waiting for a while.”

  “Margo, I don’t know when I’ll get to you. I’m with Scott.”

  “You’re both coming?” despite the news of having to wait longer, Abi detected a note of excitement in her friend’s voice at the mention of her and Scott.

  “Yes. He’s driving. Are you okay? Are you safe?” She couldn’t help but ask after what happened to her earlier.

  She was still shaken up by it, but the feeling of terror was beginning to fade. Abi looked over at Scott and saw how worried he appeared to be.

  “I’m okay, just eager,” Margo replied.

  “Can you find a decent place to wait at the bus station?” Abi had been concerned enough as it was that it was going to be late when they got to Margo. Now she knew it was going to be later than the time she originally worried about. She also noticed a few missed calls from Gale.

  “I think so. I don’t have anything left to steal, so I guess I’m okay in that respect -- unless I fall asleep and wake up in Colombia, captured by some drug lords who want to use me as a mule!” Margo chuckled, but there was an edge of worry in the laugh.

  Abi couldn’t laugh -- that scenario wasn’t a total impossibility with the day they were having so far.

  “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. I really don’t know how long we’ll be, but we hope to get to you as quickly as we can.” She could see from the map that they were heading towards Nevada. She hoped they could divert at Carson City and get on a quicker route down south to where they wanted to be, but she couldn’t be sure now. It didn’t sit well that they were the only ones on this road and the area was starting to look like a set from of those films where people disappeared into the woods.

  She loved trees and walking around in parks, but this was a little too much for her liking. They’d just hit the entrance to Eldorado National Forest, and, from what she saw, it was going to be a while before she’d stop seeing trees.

  “Are you okay? Is it weird being with Scott?” Margo asked

  “It is, but I’m fine.” ‘Weird’ wasn’t the word she’d use, and, honestly, she didn’t know what she’d quite describe this as.

  Scott had shown more care and interest for her in the last three hours than he had during the majority of the time they’d spent as a couple. And not just that, she was starting to feel…

  Well, that was it. She was starting to feel. And while that whole ‘Scott’s girl’ thing was super sweet, and she was completely grateful to him for saving her from that creep, Abi didn’t want to feel for him. It would break down the woman she’d worked so hard to create over the last few years. It had taken her a long time to rebuild and rebrand herself. Spending a few hours with Scott shouldn’t have any sort of impact on her, but how was she supposed to ignore a super gorgeous guy who compared her to an angel?

  And then there was his openly sexual manner that he exuded so casually. And the way he looked at her. How had she forgotten about that? He was the kind of man who could just look at you, and you’d know exactly what he was thinking. Within minutes, he’d have you up against a wall, naked and wondering how the hell you got that way.

  “We’ll talk when I see you,” Margo said. There was a smile in her voice. “He’s changed a lot, Abi, so at least he won’t get on your nerves.” Abi couldn’t dispute that. She’d definitely seen that he’d changed. The bad boy was still there, but that selfish and uncaring attitude was not. That was the thing that had broken them up. That was what came with the fame he gained and what had changed them

  “Yeah, I sort of noticed. I’ll get him to call you in a while.”

  Abi hung up and looked over to Scott.

  “She alright?” he asked.

  “She is. I think she sounded less panicked than earlier.”

  “Good. We’re going to be a while, Abi. I have no idea when we’ll reach Phoenix, and we’re heading into the wilderness, it seems.”

  As soon as he spoke, the car bumped over something. It jerked them both. A loud explosive sound rippled through the air and then another, and the car jerked up and down some more.

  Abi shrieked as she saw smoke coming from the engine. There was a whistling sound. Scott pulled the car over to the side of the road and hit the steering wheel.

  “Fuck! What the hell is this now!” he flared, jumping out of the car to have a look.

  Abi got out, too, and looked over the damage. The front wheels were completely flat and ripped up. Whatever had done this appeared to have gotten to the engine, too. She looked over to the road and saw the culprit -- or, rather, culprits: n

  ail traps with thick steel blades. The lethal kind people reported and cautioned cyclists about. She was under the impression that you’d most likely find them on a path -- not on the road.

  It didn’t matter. There were a few of them scattered in the middle of the road. So, either someone put them there maliciously, which is exactly what Abi was thinking, or maybe they fell off the back of a truck. She’d never heard of anyone making these with any good intent, though, so she was going to lean towards her first instinct.

  “Scott, look.” She pointed to the road.

  He frowned and sighed the minute he saw them. “Shit. I bet one of them flew up into the engine.”

  Abi looked at him as he leaned against the car in frustration. Then she looked around and wondered what else could go wrong.

  Chapter 5

  “Are you safe, Margo?” Scott asked, pressing his phone to his ear. He’d walked a little way away from his busted car, and his beautiful ex-girlfriend had taken it upon herself to move the traps off the road and to report them to the police. She was now surveying the area for more.

  He supposed it gave her something to do to distract herself from the craziness that was happening.

  “I’m okay,” Margo answered. “I’m feeling a little better than earlier. Not loving the idea of staying here overnight, but I spoke to the station staff, and they’re going to allow me to use the staff office when they leave. So, I’ll have access to the phone. There’s also a security guard that will be on site until the last bus leaves. Then the place will be locked ‘til tomorrow morning.”

  This was one seriously messed up day, and while he might have seemed cool and casual, Scott was worried for his sister. No matter how old they got, he always put himself in charge of taking care of her --right from way back when they were kids. Their parents raised them that way.

  “Sounds good,” Scott said. “I’m glad you were able to arrange that. Do you have food?”

  “The kind lady who helped me set up my sleeping arrangements got me some food. I have enough to last for days,” she chuckled. “She would have gotten me on a bus if not for the roads being messed up down there. And I said I’m being picked up.”

  The question was ‘when.’ “I’m really sorry about this, sis.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s entirely mine.”

  Margo had already told him what happened and how she felt. She agreed to contact Gale and tell him she’d be with him by tomorrow to talk about the problem, but she still insisted on hiding the fact that she ran away. She made Scott promise not to say anything, and he did. He understood, he supposed, and he admired his sister for being able to look past a problem and focus on how Gale felt. Few people could do that.

  “It’s no one’s fault,” Scott assured her. “Let’s just try and stay positive. I wish I could give you a time.” It was nearly 3:00, and the mechanic said he’d be able to get to them in roughly two hours. As for fixing the car, the mechanic said he’d do his best but had a few jobs to do before he could start work on Scott’s car. They were probably looking at another five to six hours on top of their wait here. Scott had called at least ten different roadside assistance companies, but most were either blocked in because of the collision, booked for hours, or couldn’t come at all.

  The guy he spoke to was the one with the least amount of waiting time.

  Instead of thinking only about getting to Margo, he was now
also thinking about getting himself and Abi somewhere for the night. And, when he thought about hanging out with Abi for that many hours, his mind went into overdrive and zoned in on that wild streak that got him in trouble with women.

  Was it terrible that he was thinking of ways to get his hands on his beautiful ex -- to feel her soft skin and kiss every inch of her fine body, intoxicating himself with that sweet fruity smell that surrounded her from her shampoo?

  Margo was saying something, but Scott didn’t hear. It was her saying his name with more insistence that grabbed his attention, taking his mind from his Abi-filled daydream.

  “Scott, how’s Abi? I told her you changed, so don’t go embarrassing me.”

  “Things are fine. Why wouldn’t they be?” He was trying to dismiss any conversation about him and Abi because Margo had been so pissed off with him after they broke up that it was nearly a year before she started speaking to him again.

  Also, he didn’t want to talk about it. He knew his error in the whole thing and didn’t want to feel worse than he already did.

  “Are you kidding? When you guys broke up I worried she wouldn’t want anything to do with me. Scott, she didn’t just move across state; she moved across the country to start fresh.”

  He closed his eyes and bit the inside of his lips. “She had a job in New York.”

  “Not when she first left. Anyway, just please be gentle with her. She’s my best friend.”

  Margo started saying something else, but, as Scott turned to walk back to the car, he got a really good view of Abi bending over by her side of the car to pick something up on the ground.

  Her perfectly sculptured ass was calling to him to touch it. Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, she started undoing the buttons on her blouse. He had to wonder if he’d fallen asleep and was dreaming.

  He continued watching, feeling his cock go from zero to hard in seconds. He expected to see her bra showing off her delicious breasts as she took off the blouse, but, instead, there was a lacy camisole top which she was wearing underneath. (That was just as good as the bra because it gave him a view of the definition in each breast as they bounced in delicious jiggles when she moved, catching his lustful eye.)