The Game Has Changed (7 page)

Evan's eyes widened with surprise. “I thought
that you . . . that you were terrified of the tape last
night.”

She smiled demurely. “Cuz I thought you were
gonna tape it across my mouth.”

Evan couldn't help the pleased laughter that
burst from his lips. “Oh, Sweetheart, I'm sorry.”

She shrugged shyly.

“So you'd really allow me to . . .
?”

She nodded.

“I wouldn't have to tie you up at all if you .
. .” He grinned. “If you came into the shower with me.”

Her eyes widened with shock and she extended
her arms. “Tie me up, please,” she beseeched.

Evan laughed again.

Jaime stood quietly as Evan gently pulled her
arms behind her and wrapped the duct tape once around both of her
wrists. He figured with her arms bound behind her, she wouldn't be
able to open the door anyway, so he really didn't have to affix her
to anything stationary. Once done, he made her sit down within the
open bathroom doorway.

***

Jaime sighed deeply as she leaned back against
the door molding. She heard the shower running and felt the hot
steam as it filled up the room. She couldn't help the mixture of
feelings she was experiencing, then and there. Loneliness for home,
a foreign longing, even a tingling lust consumed her.

She was well aware that he was naked just a few
feet away from her. She longed to have a look, but refrained from
doing so. She forced herself to remain where she was sitting. She
really wanted to go home. Yet at the same time, she found herself
wondering as to why she was having such weird and pleasant
sensations running throughout her body. They were unlike anything
she had ever felt before and left her feeling confused the more she
experienced them.

CHAPTER 7

They took to the road again, but soon stopped
at the nearest McDonald's for breakfast. Jaime sat in a booth near
the order counter so that Evan could see her while he bought their
food. He was still quite aware that if she really truly wanted to,
she could have jumped up and run out the door in order to get away
from him. There would be nothing he could do to stop her. Yet, she
hadn’t done anything of the sort. Instead, she sat there and waited
for him. He grimaced and carried the tray of food over to her. In
truth, he was quite amazed and proud that she hadn't run
away.

“What?” she wondered, an amused smile playing
about her lips as she noticed his twisted expression.

He set the tray down before her and then sat in
the booth beside her. “Coke for breakfast?” He scrunched his
nose.

“What's wrong with that? It's caffeine, just
like your coffee.” She pointed at his steaming cup.

“Coffee is a normal thing to drink for
breakfast,” he replied.

“Well, you already know that I'm not very
normal.” She giggled and bit into her hash browns as if she were
famished.

“Join the club.” He winked at her as he sipped
at his coffee.

“Besides, I never had coffee before,” she
added.

He looked up from his cup with surprise.
“Really? How come?” he asked with curiosity.

She shrugged, feeling a tad hesitant, unsure if
she should get into a personal conversation with him. It would be
like inviting him into her private life and she wasn't quite sure
if she was ready for that. “I don't know,” she sighed, thinking
about her father again. Then it just came out, almost as if she had
no control. “I guess because my dad never drank coffee.”

Evan nodded with understanding as he began to
eat his breakfast. “When did your father die?”

She shuddered a little with both sadness and
mistrust. But then she figured,
What could
it hurt?
“Just a little over a month ago now,” she
whispered.

Evan was immediately sympathetic. He stopped
eating and placed his hand across hers as it lay on the table. “I'm
so sorry, Luv,” he whispered. “Must still be hurting an awful
lot.”

Tears rose to the surface and immediately
blurred her eyes. She didn't want to cry again because of her dad.
Not in front of Evan, nor ever again. She was so tired, but a few
tears still escaped her eyes and she swiped at them with her other
hand.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked
softly.

She shook her head. “Not yet,” she
whispered.

He nodded with understanding.
“Okay.”

After a moment of silence between them, with
only Jaime's sniffling cutting in between, Evan spoke up and held
his coffee cup toward her with a sweet smile. “Try it,” he
offered.

She gave him an uneasy smile and a small watery
laugh. “I don't know, should I?”

“Sure. Make this whole adventure about
experiencing wonderful and new things and then maybe it won't seem
so bad,” he said enthusiastically.

She couldn't resist his precious smile and his
sweet demeanor. She took his cup of milk-laced coffee from him and
carefully sipped at it.

He waited for her verdict with wide eyes.
“Well? What do you think?”

She nodded with a smile, handing the cup back
to him. “It's good. Makes you feel all warm inside.”

“There you go!” he murmured happily.

Jaime silently watched as Evan finished his
breakfast. She really did feel all warm inside and it wasn’t
because of the coffee. She began to wonder if this was the way it
felt when you were falling in love with someone.

“Want anything else?” he asked as they prepared
to leave.

She shook her head dutifully, albeit
dreamily.

Evan noted her faraway look and he couldn't
help but to smile. “What's up? You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said airily.

“Shall we hit the road again, then?”

She nodded once more. This time, she reached
out for his hand as they stood up. He promptly took hers and led
her out of the restaurant.

***

“Before we stop for the night,” Evan said as he
drove along, “we'll get some clothes and more supplies,
okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed and suddenly felt the urge
to ask him some personal questions. It took her a minute or so to
summon the courage to do so. “How come you don't want to tell me
why you're running?”

He looked at her for but a moment as he drove
and then turned his attention back onto the road. He shrugged,
moments later. “Maybe because I feel like it's none of your
business.”

Her eyes widened with surprise at the answer,
yet she didn't let it go. “Well, it kinda
is
my business,” she rationalized, “seeing as
how I'm here on the run with you and have no choice in the
matter.”

“Good point.”

“So it would be nice to know why we're
running.”

“Is it absolutely necessary, though?” he
continued, frustratingly evading the question. “I think you would
be able to carry on the rest of your life quite nicely not ever
having known, wouldn't you think?”

She didn't answer.

“After all, didn't you tell me yesterday that
you didn't want to know anything about me?” he reminded her quite
cockily.

“Yes, I did say that,” she agreed. “But a girl
can change her mind, can't she?”

“All the girls I've ever known in my life have
had that prerogative, my special darlin’,” he said so
eloquently.

Jaime's heart leapt.

“This is why I get in trouble with women all
the time.” He laughed at himself.

“What sort of trouble is that?”

“You
do
want to know about me, don't you?”

“Well, I figure we'll be on the road together a
long time. We'll need something to talk about. Maybe if I feel like
you've told me a lot about you, I can start talking about myself,”
she offered.

“Sounds fair.” He nodded. “Do you know what a
philanderer is, my dear?”

“Not really.”

“A bloke that absolutely loves to chat up
women. One who can't get enough of them to suit him.”

“So, you're saying you're a philanderer?” she
asked innocently, shifting in her seat.

“Yes, a dreadful one. Love 'em and leave 'em.
That’s always my motto, Darlin'.”

“Why is that? Because you can't find the right
woman? Someone with whom you could settle down and raise a family
with?”

“Whoa, who said anything about settling down?”
He laughed. “Not even looking to find that yet. Far from it, I
fear. See, you still don't really understand the concept of a
philanderer.”

She gazed thoughtfully at him. “So you're
saying you'll never settle down with a woman?”

He gave her an inquisitive smile. “Well, maybe
someday, I suppose, but certainly not any time soon.”

“Are you afraid of commitment?”

Evan laughed again. “Only from the lips of a
woman does that sort of observation come from. Yeah, a major fear
of commitment. Women seem to love hearing that, though. Trust
me.”

“I wouldn't think so,” Jaime said with wonder.
“I would think women would want to find a guy who could commit
himself to them.”

“You are a woman like that.” He smiled at her.
“And I truly hope you find a guy willing to be shackled to you some
day.”

She gave him a peculiar look then, but shook it
off. “So you've had lots of lovers, you said. How many?”

His eyes widened playfully. “Nothing like
getting right to the heart of the matter, huh? Why on earth do you
care as to how many lovers I've had?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Just making
conversation.”

“And you are now intrigued with my roguishness,
no doubt.”

“Don't flatter yourself.” A small burst of
laughter slid past her lips.

“Get used to it!” he retorted.

“Aww, come on! More than one hundred
lovers?”

He laughed again, this time with surprise. He
became a tad thoughtful. Jaime waited with curious wonder for him
to speak.

“Um, probably not
that
many, but I don't really keep
count.”

“Are you considered a good lover?” Jaime boldly
asked.

Evan wasn't too shocked by her interest in him,
but he tried to pretend to be. “Why do you want to know this? Would
you like to find out for yourself? Is that it?”

“No!” she squealed. “Of course not!”

“Sounds like it to me.”

“You’re wrong.”

“We'll see about that.”

“What's
that
supposed to mean?” she asked, offended.

“Did you have a good look at my junk when I was
in the shower? Is that why you're asking?” He grinned.

She looked mortified.

“Size doesn't always correlate with how good a
bloke is at sex. But in my case, you can safely assume I will blow
you away,” he continued with his arrogant elucidation, hoping that
he was either thoroughly shocking her or absolutely turning her on.
He sensed it was a little of both when he saw her
reaction.

Her eyes were wider than he had ever seen a
girl's eyes get and her cheeks were a bright scarlet red. “You're
very crude!” she gasped.

“I try,” he answered smugly.

She quickly turned toward the window, burning
with embarrassment.

He couldn't help but to smile proudly. “I'm
just having a bit of fun with you, Sweetheart,” he
apologized.

“Mmhmm,” she mumbled awkwardly.

“’
Cept, I really am
huge!”

Jaime coughed with mortification.

“Sorry.” He laughed.

“No problem,” she hissed. “But I should be the
one to decide if you're huge or not, Mister.”

It was Evan's turn to widen his eyes. She was
playing the game, too. She looked back at him, amused by his
mystified expression, with a playful grin upon her face.

“All right, then.” He nodded, laughing once
more. “I think we're even!”

***

Jaime managed a shy giggle, her heart racing
with anticipation. She had never expected their conversation to
take such a sordid turn. Still, she was enjoying herself even if
she was loathe to admit it.

“So,” he said and added one last jab. “When do
you want to make that decision, my love?”

Her eyes widened again, but this time, she
surprised him. He was teaching her to be as crude as he was. “I
guess next time you can tape me up while you're taking a
shower.”

Evan burst into laughter. “Sounds to me as if
you don't mind being bound up. Now that is pretty
kinky!”

Jaime flushed with embarrassment. She suddenly
feared she was giving this philanderer some ideas. Her head filled
with terrifying visions of bizarre sexual practices being performed
on her. She winced as the thoughts circled inside her head and
released a tiny, fearful sigh.