A Life Less Ordinary (22 page)

“More
like five or six, if I’m reading the map right.  It’s also going to be dark
soon, and even though we just have to follow the road, I’d still rather see
where we’re going.  Besides,” she glanced towards the west, “it’s going to rain
tonight.”

He
followed her gaze to see the dark clouds slowly building on the horizon.  His
shoulders slumped as he nodded glumly.

“It’s
going to be a long night,” he muttered.

~~~~~

Time
slowly ticked away.

Manny
and Zeke threw blankets on the ground and sat in silence as the sun finished
setting, staring at the gently rolling and completely deserted landscape, and
watching the clouds on the western horizon.

“Remind
me again whose idea it was to take the side roads?” Manny asked idly.

Zeke
heaved a long-suffering sigh and hung his head. 

Manny
smirked as she added, “I believe the thought was we’d shave at least four hours
off our time?”

“How
was I supposed to know this piece of shit was going to give up the ghost in the
middle of fucking nowhere?”

Manny
laughed.  “And in probably the only place left on this continent that doesn’t
have cell phone service.”

Zeke
groaned and slowly slid to the side until he was stretched out on the ground,
his arms crossed over his eyes as he slowly shook his head.

“And
we haven’t seen another car since we got on this godforsaken road,” he
grumbled.

“Nope,”
Manny agreed simply.

They
sat in silence for another moment, then Manny said briskly, “Well, it could be
worse.”

Zeke
lowered his arms and turned his head to stare at her in disbelief.

“How?”
he demanded.

“We
didn’t have an accident; the van just...quit working.”

“There
was smoke!”

“Well,
yes, that was pretty scary,” Manny agreed.  “But,” she glanced behind her at
the vehicle in question, “it doesn’t seem to be on fire anymore.  I suspect it
was really just steam.”

“
You mean you hope!”

Manny
ignored the interruption. “Which means it should be safe to sleep in tonight.”

Zeke
groaned again and re-covered his eyes.

“We
also have food, water, a bathroom – well, of a sort - and a relatively
comfortable place to sleep,” Manny continued.  “I also have a couple decks of
cards if you want to do something to pass the time.”

Zeke
heaved a long-suffering sigh, then, “Penny a point?”

“Depends
on what we’re playing,” she countered.  “I don’t want to owe you my soul by the
end of the evening.”

He
looked at her from beneath his arms and flashed his rakish grin. 

“Glad
to know you recognize my skill.”

She
rolled her eyes as she clambered to her feet. 

“Yeah,
and your ego,” she said drily as she gathered up the blankets and led the way
into the van.

~~~~~

Zeke
threw his cards down in disgust as Manny once more made gin.

“Who
was supposed to owe who?” he griped as he began to count his points.

Manny
shrugged with a smirk.  “You win some, you lose some.”

“Well,
I need to stand some,” Zeke said.  He rose stiffly to his feet, winced as he
hit head on the van roof, then headed towards the open back door of the van.

They
both glanced upwards as thunder rumbled across the sky.  The rain hadn’t yet
started, and the door was still open to allow the fresh, evening-cool air – along
with, unfortunately, the evening bugs – into the van.  Zeke stepped outside and
stretched.

Manny
shuffled the cards as she watched Zeke slowly turn in a circle, his eyes on the
sky.  He was dimly lit by the lanterns inside the van, his dark features
half-hidden in the shadows, his hands planted firmly on his lean hips.  He
glanced at her over his shoulder and she blinked because he looked saturnine
and dangerous and incredibly handsome with his dark eyes, messy black hair and
five o’clock shadow.

Saturnine?
  I don’t think I’ve
ever heard that word outside of a trashy romance novel.  Are you sure you’re
using it correctly?  Or do you mean something like satyr?

Manny
dropped her eyes to her suddenly shaking hands.  Harvey sat beside her in the
chair, looking between her and Zeke with bright interest shining in his dark
eyes.

I
was wondering where you were,
she said drily.

Right
here.  Where I always am.

But
blessedly silent for a change.

“You
look like you’re deep in thought,” Zeke said, settling back at the table across
from her.

She
started and stared at him with wide eyes.  He raised an inquisitive eyebrow and
she flushed.

“Sorry,”
she said hurriedly, ignoring Harvey’s smug albeit charming grin as she dealt
the cards.  “I was thinking about tomorrow.  It’s going to be a long walk.”

“Twenty
miles or so,” Zeke nodded.  He picked up his cards and frowned as he arranged
them to his liking.

Manny
did the same with her cards, leaning comfortably back in her chair.

“It’s
going to be a long day tomorrow,” she muttered.

Zeke
nodded.  “And we can only hope the little hole-in-the-wall we’re heading
towards will have a garage.”

“As
long as it has a motel, I’ll be happy,” Manny said.  She shook her head. “We
should probably go to bed after this game is finished, especially if we want an
early start tomorrow.”

Zeke’s
gaze snapped to hers, his eyes wide.

She
raised an eyebrow.  “You do realize we’re going to be sharing the bed, right?”

Zeke’s
dismayed expression would have amused her if it hadn’t been so insulting.

“I
can sleep in the front seat,” he offered quickly.

Manny
rolled her eyes in exasperation.  “We can share the bed without it having
anything to with sex.”

He
blinked at her.

She
frowned.  “Haven’t you ever shared a bed with someone without having sex?” she
asked slowly.

“Sure. 
But I’ve never shared a bed with someone I didn’t end up having sex with at one
point or another.”

Now
it was Manny’s turn to blink at him.

“I’m...rather
scared to ask if you ever shared a bed as a child, or at summer camp,” she
finally said.

Zeke
laughed and shook his head.  “I appreciate the offer to share the bed, but in
case you haven’t noticed, I’m a pretty big guy.  I tend to take up the entire
bed no matter how large it is – and that bed over there isn’t exactly huge.  I
really don’t have a problem with sleeping in the front seat.”

“Thanks,
but we have a long walk ahead of us tomorrow,” she reminded him absently,
frowning at the cards in her hand.  “Trust me – you’ll appreciate sleeping in a
bed.  And I’m out.”

He
gaped as she laid down her cards then glared at her.  “Just for that, I will
share the bed.”

She
gave him an innocent smile and shrugged.  “That’s the game, too, by the way.” 
She tapped the paper with the scores.  “According to this, you owe me at least
two and a half beer.”

He
growled.

~~~~~

Manny
rummaged her book out of her backpack and settled herself on the bed next to
the wall while Zeke closed the door.  The wind was starting to rise, the
thunder was rumbling more often, and the smell of rain was getting stronger. 
As Zeke settled beside her, she glanced up as the first raindrops pattered then
began to drum on the roof as the storm rolled in.

They
glanced at each other, then Zeke checked his watch. 

“Yeah,
we would have been soaked,” he said. 

She
nodded with a smile, then opened her book.  Out of the corner of her eye, she
watched him watching her.  She looked curiously at him.

With
a raised eyebrow he reached over and turned the book so he could see the cover.

She
shrugged and blushed a little at his amused smile as he took in the lushly
beautiful woman and surreally handsome man locked in a passionate embrace.  The
man’s shirt was open to his waist while the woman’s bodice was pushed halfway
down her arms.

Are
there pirates in this one?

Highwaymen.

Damn. 
Do I have to wear feathers in my hat?

That’s
a musketeer.

My
mistake.

“Is
it any good?” Zeke asked, amused.

“For
a bodice ripper, it’s not bad,” Manny shrugged.

“Bodice
ripper?” he asked, puzzled.

“Oh,
come on – you’ve never heard of a bodice ripper?” 

He
shook his head.

“They’re
historical romances, usually with lots of sex.  Didn’t any of your girlfriends
read these things?”

Zeke
gave her a smug, arrogant smirk.  “They didn’t need anything like that – they
had me.”

“Oh,
dear God,” Manny groaned, shaking her head.  She turned back to her book as
Zeke laughed. 

“Well,”
she huffed, “if you’re bored and you’re not ready to sleep yet, the books I’ve
finished are in the bottom drawer of the cupboard over there.”

~~~~~

Zeke
tossed the book aside with a grimace.

“I
can’t believe you read this stuff,” he grumbled.

Manny
glanced up with a grin.  “And yet you went through the whole thing,” she
pointed out.

“Well,
at least it passed some time.”

Manny
nodded.  She yawned as she dog-eared her place and tossed the book over Zeke
and on to the floor.  She adjusted her pillow and slid down under the covers,
shifting to find a comfortable spot.  Zeke did take up most of the bed and the
fact they were both still in their jeans and t-shirts didn’t make it any
easier.  But she finally settled on her side, her back to Zeke and facing the
wall.

“Ready
for lights out?” Zeke asked.

“Yep,”
she yawned again.

He
flicked off the lantern.

“Zeke?”

“Yeah?”

“I
snore.”

Zeke
froze, then breathed, “Wonderful.”

* * * * *

“You
know, you really do snore.”

It
was eight in the morning and they’d already been walking for an hour.  They
each carried a backpack filled with the things they couldn’t leave behind in
the van along with their laptops and at least one change of clothes.

Manny
snorted a laugh.  “I warned you.”

“Yeah,
when it was too late to go sleep in the front,” Zeke said drily.

“Like
that would help.  We were still in the same space.”

“True.”

“Did
I wake you up?” Manny asked after a moment of silence.

Zeke
glanced at her from the corner of his eye and grinned.  “Just enough to roll
you over.  You stopped almost immediately after that.”

“That’s
good.”

They
lapsed into companionable silence.

“So,
do you want to play Ask Me Anything?” Zeke asked idly.

Manny
shrugged.  “Why not?  We haven’t played for a while.  And as promised, I won’t
ask you any questions about your personal life.”

Zeke
rolled his eyes.  “You’re too kind.”

“I
still feel a little guilty about beating you so badly in gin last night.”

“As
you should.  I’ll start.  When was the last time you had sex?”

Manny
turned startled eyes towards him.

“You’re
asking me about my sex life?” she asked incredulously.

“Are
you refusing to answer?” he teased with raised eyebrows.

“No! 
But I have to say I’m shocked.  You usually can’t even say the word to me, let
alone actually ask me such a straightforward question about it!  What’s going
on?”

Zeke
shrugged, his eyes focused intently on his feet and the ground in front of
them.  “I’m just curious about how dangerous it really was to share a bed with
you last night.”

Manny
smacked him hard on the shoulder.  He rubbed the spot as he grinned at her.

“So
platonically sharing a bed has eliminated the gag reflex when it comes to me
and sex?”

“Maybe. 
I guess we’ll find out.  You haven’t answered the question...”

Manny
frowned, thinking.  “A long, long time ago,” she sighed.

“In
a galaxy far, far away?” Zeke teased.

“It
certainly feels like it.”  She mumbled to herself as she counted on her
fingers. 

“Six,”
she said finally, nodding decisively.  “Yeah.  Six.”