by C. L. Stone
The surprise was that he was super polished. I could spot cultured elite from a mile away, and he oozed it, from his hair style, to the way he was standing. What was he doing out in the middle of farmland?
His jaw was tight, with his nose flared. His disapproving scowl and heaving chest told me he was irate.
I retained my stance, drawing my head back to appear humble. I was desperate. I needed water.
“Are you insane?” His voice was silvery, yet there was a huskiness, and I wasn’t sure if the rough edge to it was natural or it was because he was stressed.
I spoke delicately as I could over the rumble of the still-running engine. “I need a ride. Or water, if you have it.”
He tilted his head, scanning me down to my chest and then back up to my face. An eyebrow lifted enough to arch over the sunglasses, and he twisted his lips. “Didn’t your mother teach you modesty? Someone worse than me could have been out here.”
Worse than him? I scoffed, ditching my dainty tone for something practical. “It’s hot. You were the only person who’s come by for hours... And then you were going way too fast and acting like you were going to drive through me.”
He whipped off his sunglasses, giving me a startled glare with wide blue eyes. “What? I thought you were hurt. I was trying to get here faster to see what the emergency was.”
The light blueness of his eyes stunned me, how they clashed with the even, deeply tanned skin of his cheeks. He had a country charm to his face. What caught my attention more was the disarming feeling that settled into me as those eyes showed he was genuinely concerned more than angry.
I had pictured him as rugged and possibly uptight while he had the glasses on. The eyes softened everything about him.
I relaxed my shoulders and breathed out slowly through my lips, giving myself a chance to calm. The heat was making me snappy, and that wasn’t nice of me given I was asking the favor. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I was desperate. I’m sunburned and lost. If you have any water at all... A ride would be better, if you can.”
His irritated demeanor instantly evaporated and his face relaxed. His lips formed a loose smile, something on the verge of amused. He looked me over again, but this time he seemed more curious. My burned skin and dry, cracked lips proved I was earnest about being in danger. My dark hair was wild, as I hadn’t combed it out. The frizz levels had to be astronomical.
He fiddled with the glasses in his hand. “Where to?” he asked.
“I was heading to Charleston,” I said. It was as big a town that I could get lost in, but still held some refinement. I could find work. I could blend in. “But any place between here and there with water is fine by me. I just need to get out of this sun.”
“No kidding,” he said. “You look like a tomato.”
He might have been right, but he seemed to know just what to say to cause a surge of embarrassment through my heart. I bit my tongue and forced a pleasant smile. “If you can’t help me, if you could give me some water... Anything. Please. I don’t have much cash on me, but I can pay for it. And maybe put in something for me in Uber. Or a cab. Anything.”
His lips tightened. His gaze went to the fields around us, and I wondered if he was trying to figure out how he could drive around me.
“How’d you end up out here?” he asked.
“It’s a long story.”
He nodded slowly, replaced his sunglasses, and waved to me. “Come on, tomato.”
A small wave of dizziness crashed over me, and I hoped this wasn’t a mistake. I could take a few crude comments if it meant I made it out of this place alive.
I stepped carefully over the gravel to get to the car, the rocks easily biting at my feet through the thin shoes.
He sprinted to open the passenger door, a gesture I took with some surprise. He might have some rough edges, but he was still a Southern gentleman.
I studied him as I approached. He wore jeans, G-Star brand. The T-shirt I couldn’t place. It was simple, slight V-neck, light blue, no logo. Looked like cotton blend. He had some bulk around the chest, but with the way the clothes went around, it was hard to tell if it was bigger pecs than his rib section or just his broad arms making that appearance.
I leaned to get into his car until I spotted the seat. Leather. Expensive. I paused, looking back at him. “I’m sorry...”
He gazed at me, an eyebrow lifting above the ridge of his sunglasses again. “Stop being sorry and get in.”
“It’s just that I’m sweat covered and your seats.” I motioned to the leather. “I don’t want to ruin it. That stitching looks expensive.”
He wrinkled his nose. The gruff to his silvery tone continued, and I believed it to be natural. “I thought you were dying. You’re worried about the seat? What’s wrong with you?”
“I was...” I grimaced, unsure how he made it my fault for being nice. He made it so difficult to be polite. “Never mind, I guess.”
He harrumphed and nudged my arm, and I took a step back. He pulled a sports coat out of the back and showed it to me. “You prefer to sit on this? It’s all I’ve got.”
I grimaced at the Theory coat—wool and cashmere mix in an ebony color, easily seven hundred dollars. “Well, how much is it exactly to clean leather?”
“Not as much as the coat,” he said, and he threw it back into the rear seat in a heap. “Just get in, will you?”
I wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but I wasn’t going to argue any more. I did get in, sitting on the very edge of the cool leather, trying to make myself as tiny as possible. I dropped my wallet to the floor, tugged the phone out to join it.
I sucked in a breath to hold briefly, avoiding looking at his face as he got into the car. I was embarrassed by how I must have looked and my situation and didn’t want to see any pity.
He closed the door and smacked the dashboard to flick a dial. A wall of ice-cold air hit my body.
My muscles seized, taking in the change and adjusting. My mouth opened as I tried to cool off my insides, too. I opened my arms a bit, tugging the shirt away from my stomach and chest. I probably appeared insane, but my skin was sticky and I wanted to dry enough that I could sit back.
Then I realized I smelled awful. Ugh. I closed up, trying to prevent further assault to my senses. I could taste the dirt and sweat in the air, as horrid as it was.
He changed gear and started the Montego down the road. He started slow, but within moments was over sixty, and tilting toward ninety. He was skidding over the rocks and the potholes had me bouncing in the seat at first, until he was going so fast we were flying over them.
I gripped my door and reached around for a seatbelt. “Take your time,” I said. “I think I’ll be okay.”
He turned his head to me, eyebrow arched. “What?”
I snapped the seatbelt into place, deciding it would be wrong to be critical of his driving when he was doing me a favor. There was a water bottle in the console between us. I eyeballed it, licking my lips. “I don’t suppose you’ve got anything to drink.”
He reached down, grabbing the bottle. “Not much left.” He shook the contents and passed it over.
I took it, draining what was left, and then coughed when parts of my throat were still parched.
“You okay?” he asked.
I nodded, and then licked what I could from the inside of the bottle, shaking it for whatever drops I could get.
When I got what I could, I replaced the bottle in the holder and settled back into the seat. The sea of cotton and soybean fields around us stretched on for miles. We had a way to go before we’d reach civilization.
The inside of the Montego had been refurbished to something more exquisite than the original. I knew little of old American cars, but I did know the dashboard couldn’t have been originally in wood. The leather was also brand new, and not part of the original interior. He’d smashed together old vintage with new luxury finishes. “Did you rebuild it yourself?” I asked.
He laughed deeply, reach
ing to adjust the direction of the air from his vents my direction. “I might have made a few modifications.”
“It’s a nice one,” I said, and it was, even though it wasn’t to my taste. “It’s hard to find a sixties Montego in such good shape. You had the engine redone?”
His head tilted like he wanted to look at me but didn’t want to take his eyes off the road. “Usually you have to with old beauties like these. You can tell, huh?”
I wasn’t surprised by the question. I found a little joy in surprising people with what I knew, something I gained by reading widely or in deep conversations with people who had a passion for such things. A Montego was an uncommon choice to rework. “The old Montegos couldn’t reach ninety that quickly. The dash isn’t original, is it? I didn’t think they used wood.”
A playful smile made his attractive face light up. “You should see my other toys.” He drove with his left hand, reaching for me, open palm in offering. “Ace.”
I placed my hand in his, trying to keep it a light touch as my hands were clammy with drying sweat. I paused. “Em—,” I stopped short. My real name might be all over the news by now. If Georgia news reached out here to South Carolina and he’d been paying any attention, he’d have heard it. I hadn’t come up with an alternative name for myself, and the first one I could think of was Emily. Did I look like an Emily?
He clutched at my hand, keeping it in his grasp. “Em? Is that short for something?”
I flinched, glancing between the road and the speedometer. “Emily...” He wasn’t asking for a last name, so I didn’t offer. “Is Ace short for something?”
“Nope,” he said. He squeezed my hand gently but continued to hold on. “So, what’s your story?”
I slid my eyes forward in an obvious way to indicate the road. I tried to tug my hand back, but he held on. “What?”
“You’re out in the middle of nowhere in those clothes, and you want me to believe it’s just a coincidence?” His other hand turned the wheel. The car swerved.
I slid across the seat, first into the door and then into the center, the console stopping me from spilling on top of him. The only thing holding me up enough was his hand grasping mine, locking it into place.
I cursed to myself. Good going, I just hopped into the car of a maniac. I tugged to get him to release me. “Let go. Watch the road.”
“Not until you tell me why you’re out here.”
My heart was in my throat and my stomach twisted into a sharp knot. “I was stranded.”
We swerved again, and I slid over. The car lunged toward a ditch, where the front tires almost went in, but he turned the wheel at the last moment. It bumped hard into a pothole, causing me to strain hard against the seatbelt.
His hand kept me steady at the console. I grasped what I could of the door with my other hand, bracing as best as I could in preparation for another swerve. “Stop it!”
His grasp on my hand continued to hold strong, and he frowned in my direction. “I don’t like being followed. I don’t like being filmed.”
The fact he feared for his privacy didn’t surprise me, something my wealthiest clients always complained about. His suspicion of me had me shaken. “Okay!?” I cried out. “Next time I see someone filming you, I’ll tell them Ace doesn’t like it. I get it, but I have no idea who you are and I wasn’t out there for a scoop or whatever you think I want.”
His mouth slackened, lips parting, revealing clean, even teeth that were almost too perfect. He was thinking. Did he believe me?
I huffed. In a brash move, I caught his hand holding mine with my free one and held as if I was going to hold him in place even if he wanted it back. He was clearly driving fine even with one hand. I wasn’t going to be intimidated. “Do you see my sunburn? Not fake. What was the likelihood I knew you’d be out here? I would have stopped anyone coming by. I just wanted a ride. I don’t care who you are.”
He tried to release me then, but I clung to him, angry that he’d gotten me so irritated and was so reckless, even if I was mimicking him now and calling his bluff.
“Let go,” he said.
Now he’s concerned? Slowly, I released his hand and he reclaimed the wheel.
He drove in silence, both hands on the wheel and focused on the lane. My heart quaked in my chest, unsure he wouldn’t try something else.
I kept my back pressed to the seat. Damn the leather. I wanted to hide my shaking and at least appear unfazed by this.
Minutes went by with his lips firmly pursed. “Sorry,” he said eventually. He wiped the tips of his fingers across his lips and then wiped his palm across his forehead. “I already ran into two today.”
“Two what? Reporters? Women standing out in the middle of the road asking for help who turned out to be carrying cameras?” I bent over to scoop up my phone to show to him, pushing buttons and still getting a black screen. “My phone is dead. I don’t have another camera. Not that I’d care to use one right now. If you don’t believe it, we can stick everything in the trunk. I don’t care.”
He relaxed his shoulders and then rubbed at his face, his fingers making scratching sounds against the gruff around his cheeks and chin. “I’m not crazy. It’s been a weird week.”
“How so? Besides this, I mean.”
“So far today, two girls dressed up as maids at the hotel I was staying at. They started snooping through my things while I was passed out in bed. Right in front of me. I woke up with one of them shoving a camera in my face and the other threatening to get into bed naked with me unless I answered questions. I eventually tricked them, trapping them in a bathroom and getting the hell out of there.”
That was very extreme, but I wasn’t too surprised to hear it. Amateur gossip bloggers, and sometimes gold diggers, showed up at my work way more often these days. It was too easy to find out who so and so hung out with, where he bought his clothes, etc. I had to deal with a few asking me what gossip I might have heard with the job I had. “They aren’t still trapped, are they?”
“I called security the moment I was out of there,” he said. “They’ll be lucky if they aren’t arrested.”
“Why did you pick me up if you thought I could be another one?”
He shrugged, the thin shirt bunching around the muscles of his arms and shoulders. “Just in case I was wrong. Don’t want to be that kind of guy, leaving someone out in the middle of nowhere.”
It was still a risk to drive so crazy, but it was also a risk to admit his problems to a stranger. “You’re a politician? Is there a reason they target you?”
He frowned. “Don’t ask.”
“Sounds like I need to. Even for gossip, breaking into a hotel room is pretty audacious.”
He stared off toward the road. “They wanted Internet drama. The usual sort. Let people find out something is wrong with you, hell just anything, and it gets twisted until hate rains down. Doesn’t help when...” He paused. “Never mind. Don’t worry about it.”
“Your name’s not really Ace, is it?”
He smirked. “Why are you out here alone?”
I didn’t like not knowing who he was, but then, I couldn’t fully be honest with him, either.
At least we both had a similar desire to be out of the public limelight.
Let him keep his secrets, but first thing I’d need to do was get away from him. I didn’t need vloggers doing something stupid and roping me up in whatever they wanted from him. “Looking for God,” I said flatly.
He waited and then laughed “Really?”
“Does it matter?” I asked. “If you’re heading toward Charleston, drop me off as close as possible without going out of your way. I’ll stay quiet the entire time. I don’t need to know anything about you.” I placed a palm over my heart. “I’m not a reporter or a vlogger or anything. I don’t care about you. I can’t entrap you if I sit still and do and say nothing.”
He pressed his lips together and breathed out slowly. He nodded. “Okay.”
I suspected there wa
s more to this than he was saying. Vloggers usually don’t pick random people to harass in such an extreme way, to the point where those two could have been arrested. To not have called the police on them was strange. I’d a feeling he had more to hide than he let on. I raised an eyebrow but kept my lips pressed, wanting to keep my promise to stay quiet, not ask questions, and let him take me as far as he could.
I had my own problems.
I was impulsive and left town as soon as I’d heard there was trouble. My instinct had been to avoid the police—they were after my ex, not me. I wanted to stay out of the matter. I knew from movies to stay under the radar of the police, to not use my credit cards and to not turn on my cell phone or they could trace where you’re at. I had little cash on me. And I had no idea what I needed to do next.
I’d never been as scared for my reputation and dignity as within the last twenty-four hours. I was running low on steam and needed to find a place to cool my burning skin, to regroup and plan the next steps.
Suddenly, his head jerked back. His eyes widened as he stomped on the break. Hard.
I jerked forward, bracing as best as I could. The seatbelt tugged against me and held me in place at the waist.
The car skidded for a second but then stopped.
“What are you doing?” I cried out to him, sure that he was simply crazy now.
He ignored me and jumped out of the car, looking down toward the fender.
We had gone a few miles since he’d picked me up, and we were near farmhouses, two next to each other.
Ace bent at the knee, disappeared in front of his car for a minute. I waited, leaning forward, wondering if he was worried about damaging his car on something.
When he reappeared, he’d had a small Pomeranian in his hands. The little dog barked. He held a hand close to his nose so the dog could sniff. It did and then proceeded to lick at his fingers.
I pressed a hand over my heart. I hadn’t even seen a dog at all. It had sandy fur, nearly the same color as the road. He could have run right over it and not noticed.
Ace did a half jog toward one of the homes, I assumed taking a guess as to who owned the dog. He knocked, waited. Within a minute, it was opened and an older lady, looking surprised, spoke to him.