AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She smiled more warmly at Xavier as he ran his hand through her hair.
The answer to that question would have to wait until another day.
Chapter Three: Charlotte, North Carolina
It is illegal to falsely register as a Mr. and Mrs. when checking into a motel. It is an offense to have sex in a graveyard.
“Smith?” Xavier asked.
Hope blew out a decidedly impatient sigh and stirred her coffee.
She had a point.
Sitting across from him in the booth, she slid a slender finger under her wig and scratched her scalp. The long blonde hairpiece cascaded over her shoulders and down her back.
When Hope had pulled it out of her bag that morning, Xavier had been sceptical, but like many other things, so far, she’d managed to pull it off. Her dark eyebrows complimented rather than detracted from the golden tresses. It gave her a glamorous old-world movie star look.
Hope attracted gazes from every person in the diner, male and female. She didn’t seem to have noticed. The fifties style gingham dress wasn’t terribly revealing but hugged and highlighted her shapely form perfectly. Perhaps a little too perfectly. There were only so many times you could politely refuse a leering diner owner’s offer of a refill before you had to punch him in the face. Beside her, he felt a little shabby in hisworkout gear, but it was comfortable, and he’d been up early for his usual run. What a shame good looks and cardio wasn’t solving this problem.
“Jones, no. That’s worse,” Xavier conceded to himself. “McGurkinsquirter?”
That received a reaction. Not a good one. “That’s not even a real name,” she said.
“I read it somewhere, years ago, I’m sure. Pretty sure.”
“Doesn’t matter. Your plan won’t work,” she said for the third time.
They’d been there for over an hour. Add the thirteen-hour overnight road trip from Boston, and her anticipation had morphed from impatience and was ramping up into adversary. It couldn’t have been fatigue. She’d somehow slept most of the way while he’d driven kilometre after kilometre of dark country road with only the radio to keep him company. Apparently, it hadn’t been long enough to think of a decent plan.
“It will, trust me,” he said sounding more confident than he felt. “We just have to pick a name they won’t question. We register as man and wife…”
“Manand wife? Really? Ruth Bader Ginsburg is rolling in her grave.”
“…and boom, we break the law.”
Her shoulders slumped.
“Yes, I know, it still won’t work. Hate to tell you this, but it’s the twenty-first century. You can’t book into a hotel without a credit card, seven forms of identification, a letter from Stephen Hawkins confirming your proof of existence, a blood sample, and liking their official Facebook page. Can’t be done.”
Pointing to his face, he said, “Ah, yes, but you’re forgetting one thing”.
“I fail to see how your nasal hair is going to help this situation.”
“You sure get snarky when you think you’re thwarted, don’t you?”
“Thwarted? Is that off your Word of the Day calendar? I’m not snarky, I’m justthwuperhorny. Ugh!” Hope placed her palms on the tabletop, followed by her forehead. She straightened her back and said, “Xavier, I just want to make some sweet, sweet lovin’ with you. Okay? We don’t need the song and dance.”
“The point is breaking the law.”
“No, the point is the more time we spend here, the less time we spend having sex.” She looked around and lowered her voice. “Everything else is window dressing.”
She had a point. Another one. Before he conceded, he remembered their journey. The Hat of Destiny had made them cross seven state lines, encounter countless homogenised diners, and drive all night fuelled by god-awful American coffee and sideways glances at his slumbering companion.
No, he wouldn’t be defeated this easily. His nature simply refused to accept the option of failure. He always succeeded. That was how he got as far as he did in the cutthroat world of the Iron Man competition back home. He could never fail, especially in front of this woman. Sure, breaking another law might seem trivial, but there was the principle. He had to do it. There had to be a way. He’d sort it out.
Hope watched him place the last piece of pancake in his mouth. “As the person who was appointed to help you keep your training on track, is that what you should be eating? You’ll never make it to the CPABS thing at this rate.”
“CSLSA, but you were close.”
