She walked across to the bathroom door to let herself inside and looked around. The surroundings were sparse and looked as if they could do with a good clean. A glance in the shower cubicle showed one small bar of soap, and she wrinkled her nose when she picked it up to catch the scent.
“Carbolic soap,” she let out and shook her head, but a smile flashed across her face.
No woman in her right mind would have just a bar of carbolic soap in the bathroom, and that likely meant Crash lived a bachelor life. It was a tell-tale sign that she might have a chance. She stripped naked then got under the water after switching it on. There was really no option but to use the soap, so she rubbed it between her palms to produce some lather then worked the bar over her body. The memory of masturbating in the shower the day before came in her head and the slight prickle of heat erupted on her skin.
“Not this time,” she let out.
Her hope was that there might be more than just playing with herself on the menu that evening, so she ignored the tingle between her thighs. It wasn’t easy considering the man she obsessed about was so close, but she quickly finished washing herself. The slightly weird scent of the carbolic soap clung to her when she stood under the jets to rinse herself clean, and she could still smell it when she got out of the shower.
She used the towel to dry herself then wrapped it around her chest and secured it in place. Stepping through to the bedroom, she walked over to where her bag was sitting on the floor and lifted it onto the bed. She opened it up to look inside at the clothes she brought with her then changed her mind and walked across to the wardrobe. Opening it up, she searched through the hangers and found a large white t-shirt. The urge to wear it was too much to resist and she dragged the towel from her body.
Her petite frame was swamped by the large t-shirt, but she still liked the look of herself in it. The hem sat high on her thighs and the fact that she was wearing nothing below brought on a flush of arousal that made her breathing slightly ragged.
“Keep calm,” she told herself, but knew she was about to tease the way she did when she was younger.
She considered putting on some underwear, but eventually decided not to and stuck with just the t-shirt. It was too big and loose to really put her curves on display, but the fact that it belonged to the man she had a crush on was enough to make her keep it on. She walked to the door of the bedroom then took a couple of deep breaths before stepping out to the hallway and going in search of Crash.
“That’s better,” she said when she walked in the kitchen and found him.
Crash’s eyes opened wide when he saw her clad in just a t-shirt that he recognized as his.
“Help yourself, why don’t you,” he commented in a droll voice.
Carrie gripped the hem as if she was trying to haul it down and knew it would bring his gaze to her legs.
“I didn’t think you would mind,” she said with a smile.
“Why are you here, Carrie?”
She ignored his question to ask one of her own as she stepped over to the table.
“Aren’t you going to offer me a drink?”
She sat down on the seat next to Crash and made no effort to stop the hem sliding up her thighs to put more of her legs on show. A quick glance showed that the man next to her was unable to stop himself staring and it gave her shudders. His gaze then went to the beer bottle on the table before coming to her.
“Are you old enough to drink?”
Carrie let out a laugh.
“You know how old I am,” she commented.
“I guess you must be around nineteen or twenty now,” Crash said.
“Twenty,” she replied. “So… I’m not the little kid you used to know.”
Crash shook his head as he got to his feet and walked to the refrigerator. He got another bottle of beer and used the opener hanging from the fridge handle to pop the cap.
“OK, now you have your beer,” he said when he sat down. “So, are you going to tell me why you’re here?”
Carrie picked up the bottle to take a sip then brought her gaze to his. There was no point in beating around the bush, so she got straight to the point.
“I can’t get you out of my fucking head.”
“For fuck’s sake, Carrie,” Crash let out in a quiet curse as he screwed up his face. “You know this can’t…”
“I tried,” she interrupted him to stop the words she didn’t want to hear. “I mean I really tried. It’s been what… four years since you got married and left the army? I thought that would be plenty of time to forget about you and move on, but I just can’t do it.”
Crash shook his head.
“You always were a little teasing pain in the fucking ass,” he complained. “Were you trying to get me in trouble?”
Carrie couldn’t stop the cheeky giggle coming out.
“No, I wasn’t trying to get you in trouble,” she said. “I liked you.”
“Yeah, but what the hell did you expect me to do about it?” he said. “You were the underage daughter of my superior officer.”
“You didn’t like the pretty skin and blossoming teenage curves I was showing you then?” she joked.
“For fuck’s sake,” Crash protested. “You hit the nail on the head right there. You were a teenager and I was in my late twenties.”
“And here was me thinking you liked the pretty outfits I wore for you,” Carrie continued teasing. “I didn’t notice you looking away.”
“Yeah, well it wasn’t exactly easy considering you were around me so much,” he commented. “I shouldn’t have even been looking, but you surely must have known it was never going to go past that.”
“You liked me though, didn’t you?” Carrie asked.
Crash let out a sigh.
“Come on,” he let out in an exasperated voice. “Don’t do this to me.”
“I liked you… a lot,” Carrie admitted. “I used to have such naughty dreams about you.” The memory of masturbating in the shower the day before came in her head and she said the words as soon as they came in her head. “And I still do.”
“Fucking hell,” Crash said and got to his feet.
It was obvious that the conversation was making him uncomfortable, so Carrie decided to change the subject.
“How is Sally Connolly these days?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t know,” he said.
“You broke up?” Carrie asked.
Crash walked across to the sink and ran some water in his hands before splashing it on his face. He wiped his hands over his forehead to slick down his long, wavy black hair.
“Yes, we broke up,” he replied. “The marriage was a disaster and didn’t last long.”
“Has there been anyone since?” Carrie went on.
“What is this?” Crash complained. “Twenty questions about my love life?”
Carrie wasn’t about to give up now that the chance was there to find out some of the truths of the past.
“Has there been?” she pressed him.
He returned to the table to sit down and let out a sigh.
“No,” he admitted. “There hasn’t been anyone else.”
“Did you begin dating Sally because of me?” Carrie asked.
“What!” he exclaimed. “What the hell gives you that idea?”
Carrie shrugged her shoulders.
“A pretty teen girl making eyes at you and flashing some smooth skin,” she said with a grin. “I always thought that Sally was just a distraction because what you really wanted was a taboo fantasy that was unattainable. And don’t pretend you didn’t like what you saw. I bet you even had some dirty dreams of your own.”
“Fucking hell,” Crash let out. “Did you just come here to rake over ancient history?”
“So… tell me it’s not true and I’ll get dressed and walk out,” she challenged him.
He grimaced as he stared down at the table, but the fact that he didn’t contradict her made her think there really might be a chance with him. She ke
pt her gaze on him and their eyes met when he lifted his head.
“Look, you were a teenage girl and thirteen years younger than me,” he said. “And more than that, you were the youngest daughter of my superior officer.”
“I’m not a teenager now,” Carrie pointed out. “And you’re not in the army.”
“That might be true,” Crash said. “But it doesn’t really change anything. You’re still thirteen years younger than me, and I might not be in the army, but your father would rip me a new one if he knew you were here.”
“He doesn’t know,” Carrie replied.
“Does anybody know?” Crash asked.
“I only told one of my friends from college,” she answered.
“You didn’t quit college to come here, did you?”
Carrie was suddenly on the back foot.
“Umm… well…” she stammered, but didn’t get the chance to finish.
“Your father is going to fucking kill you,” Crash said. “And you’re taking me down as well.”
She shrugged her shoulders. His words were likely true, but the threat of what her father might do was never going to stop her going through with her plan. Once she made her mind up about something, she went all out to see it through and never even considered the consequences.
“I needed to find out once and for all,” she said.
“Find out what?” Crash asked.
Carrie lifted her eyes to his.
“You know what I’m talking about,” she told him.
He raised a hand to rub his palm on his head, but it was only a long, drawn-out breath that slipped from between his lips. When he said nothing in response to her comment, Carrie went on talking.
“Since I was twelve years old, I wanted to be with you so much that it almost hurt,” she told him. “I knew it was never going to happen on the army base. There was too much stopping it ever getting started.”
“There still is,” Crash pointed out.
Carrie shook her head.
“Not if we want it to happen,” she said. “And I do. That’s why I’m here.”
“And what if I tell you to leave?” Crash asked.
“Are you going to do that?” she asked.
He rubbed his fingertips on his chin, but said nothing for a few moments.
“Do you have somewhere to stay?” he asked.
“No,” Carrie said. “I got on a bus this morning and came here with no other plan than to see you. If you tell me to leave, I’ll just need to go to the bus station and catch a ride home.”
She stroked her fingertips nervously on the hem of the t-shirt she was wearing and was all too aware of Crash’s gaze going to it. It was like the old days when she was a teenager and teasing him, except now they were alone and there was really nothing stopping them getting together.
“OK,” he said. “It’s too late now, so I’m not going to throw you out on the street. You can have the bedroom tonight and I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“You don’t have…”
Her words stopped when he raised his hands and she decided to just be quiet and play along rather than trying to force the issue.
“That’s the deal if you want to stay,” he told her. “Any arguments and I’ll kick your ass along to the bus station right now.”
“OK, OK,” Carrie agreed.
There were definitely signs that Crash was still interested in her, and she wanted to stick around to see just where that got her. It was clear that he still viewed her as the teasing youngster that practiced her flirting on him, but she was going to show him that she was now a long way past that. She might be only twenty years old, but she was all woman and about to make him realize it whether he wanted to or not. The urge to be playful and tease was one she just couldn’t resist, however, and she couldn’t stop herself as she got to her feet.
“Do you want your t-shirt?” she asked and laughed as she grabbed the hem to ease it up her thighs and put a lot of skin on view.
“No, you can keep it for the moment,” Crash answered quickly, although he was unable to keep his eyes from the pretty sight of her naked thighs.
“OK,” Carrie said sweetly and picked up her bottle of beer.
She knew the hem of the t-shirt was loose enough that it would fly up if she turned quickly, so she did it and there was a thrill to giving Crash the briefest of glimpses of her pretty, rounded cheeks. A glance over her shoulder when she got to the kitchen door showed that he was unable to stop his gaze following her, and the excitement of that was something more than she’d ever experienced with boys her own age.
“Goodnight,” she said and saw the slight tinge of red on his face when he looked up. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
It was the last exchange between them and she closed the door when she got to the bedroom. There was little chance that anything was going to happen that evening, but it didn’t stop her fantasies kicking in when she tried to get some sleep. It made her want to go to him, but she suspected that she needed to take things slowly to make sure she wasn’t kicked out of the apartment. For the moment she just decided to accept what she had. She was lying in Crash’s bed wearing his t-shirt, and his musty scent was all over her. It was the very least she wanted, however, and she was now in a position where her dreams of Carl McCallister might very well come true in the days to follow.
For more than eight years she’d been hoping to be with the man she’d tracked down that day… and she vowed to herself that she would end the wait as soon as she possibly could.
Chapter 5
“Hi, is that Carmen Hopkins?” Bella asked when the call was answered.
“Yes,” Carmen answered. “Who’s this?”
“I’m not sure if you remember me, but my name is Bella Nelson and…”
“Oh sure,” Carmen cut in. “You’re Carrie’s older sister.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Bella went on. “We met when I came to see Carrie a few months ago and we swapped numbers.”
“I remember,” Carmen said. “Are you planning another visit?”
“I’ll be there at some point,” Bella answered although she wasn’t sure if that was true. “I’m actually calling about something else to see if you can help. I got in touch with the college earlier today to speak to Carrie, but was informed that she’s not there at the moment. She never said anything to me about going anywhere, and I just wondered if she’d spoken to you about a trip.”
“No, sorry,” Carmen said. “A few of us went out last night for the birthday of a classmate. Carrie was definitely there because I spoke to her a few times, but she never mentioned anything about going anywhere.”
“She didn’t say anything out of the ordinary?” Bella asked.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Carmen went on. “Is there a problem?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Bella replied quickly. “We just can’t get her on her phone and my mum wanted to speak to her.”
“Sorry, I can’t help,” Carmen said.
“Do you think any of her other friends or classmates may know something?” Bella queried.
“I’ve really no idea,” Carmen replied and the line went silent, as if she was thinking. “Have you tried Darlene Harper? She and Carrie have been close for the last couple of months. I guess she might be your best bet.”
“Do you have her number?” Bella asked.
“I don’t know it off by heart,” Carmen said. “I’ll need to hang up and check the address book in my phone, but I’m pretty sure I have the number so will call you in a few minutes.”
“Sure,” Bella said. “Thanks for your help.”
The line went dead and she looked at her parents and shrugged her shoulders.
“She didn’t know anything?” her mother asked.
“That was the gist of the conversation,” Bella replied. “Carrie said nothing to her about going anywhere, but she’s going to give me a number for another friend.”
The three of them sat quietly as the seconds ticked
past and Bella jumped when her phone rang to break the silence.
“Hello,” she said when she answered it.
“Hi Bella,” Carmen said. “I have the number. Do you have something to write it on?”
“Yup,” Bella said and picked up the pen on the coffee table in front of her.
She wrote the number down and thanked Carmen before ending the call. Her mother leaned forward to look at the writing.
Club Property: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC Page 4