Page 4 of The Runaway and the Rugged
As they should.
“Glad you think so highly of me…” she mumbled teasingly. “You should know, I wouldn’t let that thing near me again even if he were the last man on earth.”
I was seconds away from responding, but my surprise was short-lived when she added, “His tongue, though, he offered that up pretty quickly when I told him sex was off the table.”
An uncontrolled laugh tumbled from my mouth. “Please tell me you didn’t…”
“Emelia,” she said, feigning exasperation. “I haven’t had sex inweeksweeks!” she emphasized playfully. “I needed something to hold me over and Hunter was my only logical option.”
Groaning, I couldn’t help but shake my head.
“Hunter and logical are two words that should never appear in the same sentence.”
Clarke snorted. “Desperation can make people do crazy things, Emelia. But don’t worry, Hunter is heading off for California in a few days. So, I think I’m just going to take this as his parting gift to me.”
I replicated Clarke’s snort.
That’s one way to justify it.
“Enough about me and my poor decision-making, what’s going on? It’s not like you to call me in the middle of the day.”
Thrown back into reality of why I rang her in the first place, I fiddled with the band around my finger again.
“I need you to go with me somewhere,” I all but blurted out.
“Okay.” She laughed. “Where do you need to go?”
“On a short trip to wherever Nathaniel is sending us?” I winced as a pause of silence greeted me.
“Where is he sending you?” Her voice took on a more concerned angle as I struggled to continue talking.
"That's the thing, I have no idea. It’s a surprise.”
“A surprise…” She seemed less than interested in entertaining the idea. “And you want me to go with you?”
“Yes, he was going to have his sister go with me, but I said I would ask you instead.” I laced my words with a hopeful glint, strongly anticipating a reluctant yes.
A long string of silence stretched over the phone as if she were contemplating her options carefully. She disliked Nathaniel with a strong passion, but when it came to his villainous sister, her hatred burned even stronger.
“Fine!” She sighed grudgingly. “But this asshole better be sending us somewhere nice, like a beach!”
With a relieved smile, we made plans to meet in less than an hour.
I only hoped that Clarke was right about it being a beach.
2
EMELIA
“Where the hell did this asshole send us?” Clarke announced from beside me as we descended down the steps of the airplane. The drastic change in landscape had me wondering the same thing as another part of me questioned whether we were in the right place or not.
The air hung heavy with dust and shimmering heat, while the horizon held nothing but endless nothingness. No high-rise buildings, no bustling streets or chaotic sidewalks. A stark reminder that we were far from home.
“I… I’m not sure.” I removed the sunglasses from my purse and propped them onto my face. Everything was filtered through the darkened lens, but it was no easier now than it was seconds ago to pinpoint our location.
“Well, fuck.” She did a three-sixty before letting her head fall back. “Nathaniel Bettencourt, the king of luxury, has brought us to the middle of absolute nowhere. How fucking thrilling.”
“There has to be some sort of mix-up,” I grumbled, searching for my phone through the mountain of items in my purse. “I’m sure this was just a mistake.”
