Duke
We’d been on the road for about three hours when we reached the town of Dublin. For someone who’d never been on the back of a bike before, Pearl was a natural. I checked in with her at every pit stop, but the more road we put between us and Atlanta, the more she wanted to ride on.
“How ’bout we stop here for the night and continue on in the morning?” I asked as an attendant gassed up my bike.
“I can’t do that. I have to be at work in the morning. Besides, where would we stay?”
“There’s a place we can get a room right there,” I said, motioning to the Peach Tree Motel.
“You expect me to share a motel room with a man I hardly know? Are you trying to ruin my reputation?”
“If you would marry me, there’d be nothing scandalous about it,” I replied.
“Are you actually proposing to me… again? At a gas station?”
“I’m going to keep asking until you say yes.”
“Let’s just stick to the subject at hand, shall we?”
“Fine. I say it’s a night at Dublin’s finest gas station adjacent motel, and then on to Savannah in the morning.”
“Who said anything about going to Savannah?”
“You got your degree in Animal Husbandry, right?” I asked.
“How on Earth did you know that?”
“I told you. The donut shop guy was very friendly, especially after I bought two dozen jelly-filled from him.”
“You ate all of those?”
I laughed. “For the guys at the firehouse next to the Y.”
“You were a busy bee this morning.”
“I was a soldier on a mission, but in the end, the universe delivered you right to me in front of that bookstore.”
“You are a hippie,” Pearl said with a laugh. “Do you honestly believe the universe is trying to bring us together?”
“Absolutely.”
“But why, and what does that even mean?”
“You believe in God, right?” I asked.
“Of course,” she replied.
“And you believe he has a plan for your life?”
“I suppose so, yes.”
“Well, I don’t know what I believe, but I swear to you that the moment I saw you on those steps, I knew we were meant to be together.”
“Even if I believed you, what’s that got to do with Savannah?”
“There’s a place I want to show you. A place, given your degree, I think will interest you quite a bit. Stay with me here tonight, and I’ll take you there tomorrow.”
“But, my father…the station.”
“Play hooky,” I said.
Pearl was drinking a strawberry soda from a glass bottle through a straw and I’ll never forget the look in her eyes as she mulled over my suggestion. Her tongue flicking the end of the straw as she thought.
She finally broke her silence with something I didn’t quite expect. “I won’t have sex with a man before I’m married.”
“What about a woman?” I teased.
“I’m serious, Duke. If I agree to stay with you tonight, you need to know that I’m not agreeing to sleep with you. We’ll be staying in separate rooms and that’s non-negotiable.”
“Shall we shake on it?” I asked, wiping my hands clean with my bandana.
Pearl extended her hand and I pulled her in for a kiss. She dropped her soda, which shattered on the pavement before throwing her arms around me.
Pearl
“We’re plum sold out,” the front desk clerk said. “I got one room left with a double bed, but that’s it.”
“How is that possible?” I asked.
“Annual clown convention,” he answered dryly.
“We’ll take it,” Duke said, and handed the man a ten-dollar bill.
I shuddered. “I hate clowns.”
“Then you better stay in your room,” the clerk said, sliding Duke a key.
“Come on, baby,” Duke said, and led me to room nine.
“I can’t do this,” I whispered.
“Shit, you’re that freaked out by clowns?”
“Not that. I mean, yes, I’m terrified by clowns, but I mean, this. Sleeping in your room alone with you.”
He faced me, cupping my face. “No one knows who you are, Pearl. We’re gonna sleep, then head out early, okay? I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.”
“That’s not entirely the problem,” I admitted as he pushed open the door and waited for me to precede him.
“Then what is?”
I bit my lip and faced him. “I need you to promise me you won’t do anything, even if I beg.”
“Jesus,” he hissed, closing and locking the door and then pulling me into his arms.
I gripped his leather vest and held on as he kissed me, his hands skimming the underside of my breasts and making me shiver. Unable to stop myself, I slid my hands under his shirt and flattened my palms against his back. I could feel his muscles ripple as he lifted me and settled me on the bed.
He pulled off his vest and shirt and I licked my lips at the sight of his muscular chest. He had a little bit of hair between his pecs, but otherwise, he was bare, and he was very tan.
Grinning, he leaned over me and kissed me again, his hand going to my breast and squeezing gently. I whimpered, slipping my hands into his hair.
“Duke,” I panted between kisses. “Please.”
He groaned, breaking our connection and stretching out on the bed, pulling me against him. “If you do that again, I can’t promise I’ll stop next time, so this is your one warning.”
“Okay,” I whispered, and snuggled close to him.