Page 16 of Reckless

She’s messing with me, right?

“Just let me get changed. I won’t be a minute. I’m pretty sure I saw that fancy black sports car when we first pulled in.”

My stomach drops. She was messing, but for a different reason. I watch her slip into the bedroom and pull a sliding door over for privacy.

Where did she see the car? Damn. Rising, I stretch my legs, finish the last of the water and decide to see what it might be like driving one of these things.

I slip into the driver's seat. My legs are all bent up because it’s so close to the pedals. I don’t want to mess around with her arrangement and can’t figure out how to do it anyway. Instead, I spin the chair around back to the cabin. It’s nice. Granted our tour buses are swankier, but I’m seeing the appeal in this.

Krista is still in the back, so I get up and wander along towards the kitchen. There are pictures up I didn’t notice before. I spot Krista in a group photo, wearing a bikini. Damn. She’s sexy underneath her clothes too. Not that I haven’t thought that.

“You ready?”

I straighten up, my face hot. Her eyes go to the picture, then back to me, but she says nothing. As she gathers her things, I eye the outfit and am pleased her legs are still on show. This time in denim shorts, they still show off the length of her legs. She’s paired it with a vintage grey band shirt, which is baggy but accentuates her figure.

She opens a cupboard and takes out a pair of white sneakers, and slips her feet inside. Then she grabs a purse and slings it over her shoulder so it’s sits across her body.

“Guess I should say goodbye to this place,” I remark.

“If we dawdle any longer, your manager will leave, and I will have to give you a ride someplace else.”

“I’m not gonna say that would be a bad thing,” I grin.

We leave the RV and I wait while she locks it up. It’s warm out. I’m wearing the same clothes I had on all day yesterday, after a seven-mile trek and lying on the grass. I surreptitiously give my shoulder a sniff. Doesn’t seem that bad, but I should have asked to wash up before we left.

Krista hasn’t mentioned I stink, so I won’t worry about it.

“Here,” she says as we walk through the parked RVs. She hands me a black baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses.

“Fuck, I hadn’t even thought about that.”

“Being mobbed isn’t on my list of things to do today. Okay, I saw his car this way.” She heads to the right, away from the buildings.

It’s busy at this time of the morning. Although I have no clue what time it is anymore. I don’t even care. She’s right. I spot Cody’s corvette a few rows over.

“Do we wait by it?” Krista asks, shading her eyes from the sun as she turns back to look at me.

“No, I said I wanted to buy you breakfast. We can check for him inside.”

“If you’re sure.”

“Definitely.” And hopefully we miss each other.

Why the hell don’t I tell her to take me to the nearest city so I can get out of here without Cody’s help? It would be wrong, that’s why. As much as he’s a prick, not letting him know I’m safe is a pretty shitty thing to do.

We check the diner but don’t see him. I follow Krista to the convenience store, telling her to grab her groceries, but she says she’ll come back once we’ve tracked Cody down. So far, there is no sign of him. We look back to the car again when we leave the convenience store, but it’s still there. Cody isn’t.

A couple of people watch me. I have distinctive tattoos. Despite the heat, it will be best to cover them up. I ask her to wait while I duck back inside the store and grab an ‘I heart Montana’ sweatshirt. Luckily, I only tossed my phone last night, not my wallet.

Now I’m less conspicuous. We begin our search again. When I spot him, my stomach drops. Krista sees him too and turns to look at me. I can’t read her expression. It’s like she is trying to hide what this means. It’s clear when he sees me too.

Cody grabs his phone and calls someone, talking into it as he heads towards me. He eyes Krista the nearer he gets and his face morphs into recognition. Ah shit, never thought of that. Let him say even one word to her and I’ll tear him a new one.

“Where the hell have you been?” Cody hisses. “And you,” he turns to Krista.

I grab his arm, give Krista a quick look of apology, then drag my manager away.

“What the fuck are you doing? Do you know how many people are losing their shit over you vanishing into thin fucking air?”

---