Chapter 45

Phoenix went off without a hitch and so did the return drive to San Diego. At Ryan’s urging, my home was left vacant and we stayed at a hotel where Dom and Brian could stay close to us.

Liz only drove my car one more time after we arrived in Phoenix – and that was the entire way back to San Diego.

Liz had reverted to her childhood on the ride back along Interstate 8. She put a purple paisley bandana around her blonde hair and slipped on a pair of oversized sunglasses. We put the top down and I think she smiled the entire way back. She kept her hand on my knee most of the drive and every so often she’d look over and blow me a kiss.

I’m not sure I’d ever seen anything more adorable in my life.

Our conversation was limited on the drive back and Liz seemed to want to make up for it when we were safely ensconced in her suite.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed when the suitcases were safely stowed away. “I love, love, love you!”

She jumped on me. I caught her but we both fell backward onto the bed. Liz was giggling as she tossed her sunglasses and bandana away. She wore a shirt the same color purple as her bandana and pair of tight white denim shorts. I could see her tanned stomach because she had tied a knot in her shirt. Her smile practically lit the room.

“That was ... totally normal!” she said as she sat astride my midriff. “I just took a drive with my guy. That was so much fun, Travis. I can’t believe you’ll just let me drive your car.”

I smiled back at her.

“I could tell you wanted to drive but didn’t want to ask,” I said.

“I totally did,” Liz said, dropping down to kiss me. My hands naturally found my way to her butt. I kept them there when she pushed herself back up.

“I’ve always wanted a personal driver,” I said.

“I will be your personal anything,” Liz said. “I gotta pee.”

She bounced off the bed and headed to the bathroom, unbuttoning her shorts before she hit the door. I laughed as her white butt came into view. She stopped at the door and shook it at me. I was still reclining on the bed when I heard the toilet flush and Liz came bopping out again.

She jumped on the bed and resumed her spot. She had left her shorts unbuttoned and I saw the tops of her gray panties in the gap.

“You just can’t stop looking at my pussy,” she said, smiling but shaking her head in mock disappointment.

“I could if you showed me your boobs,” I said.

Liz didn’t comply with my request but instead gave me another kiss.

“I know if we get undressed we’re done for the day,” she said.

“Probably,” I agreed.

“I want to go somewhere,” Liz said. “I ... I want to go to the beach and ... be normal some more.”

“That’s not really possible,” I said.

“I think we can,” Liz said. “Uh, do you remember one of the guys from backstage here? He was the only one that wasn’t a total prick.”

“I remember his face but I don’t know his name,” I admitted. “I think Eric knows him.”

“He does,” Liz said. “The guy’s name is Scott Van Winkle. Uh, Eric said the guy has a beachfront home up the coast.”

I frowned. The fad of privatizing the coastline was one of my biggest pet peeves.

“I know, it sucks,” Liz said. “But he called Eric last week and told him to let us know we could use his house for access if we wanted some privacy for sunbathing. I thought...”

She gave me a cute little look to let me know that she wanted to do it but not if I was going to be really pissed at the whole idea.

“If you want to,” I said.

“I really do,” Liz said, biting her lower lip. “I ... I rented a boat for tomorrow. Skye talked her professor into letting her test early. She’s flying out in the morning. I thought we’d sail to Cabo instead of fly. I’ve never been on a boat when I wasn’t ... drunk or stoned. Can we?”

“Does anyone ever say no to you when you look so cute?” I asked.

She shook her head emphatically and I laughed. She had somehow managed to be even cuter than a moment earlier.

“How private is the beach?” I asked.

“I checked Google Earth,” Liz said. “He has neighbors but he said they won’t be there until summer. I can probably go topless.”

“No!” I said. “Because you can bet they have cameras recording every person that trespasses on ‘their’ property. It’s not going to be private. There will be boats on the water and helicopters and stuff. They haven’t figured out how to fence off the water and the air just yet ... but give them time.”

“If you’re really opposed then we won’t go,” Liz said.

“My opposition lies solely in the fact that I was part of the people they didn’t want there,” I admitted. “But, yeah, the concept of taking something that was been free for everybody’s use and turning into a personal area used once or twice a year just seems excessive. Since the continent rose out of the sea, people have had access to the coastline. Now, because the county overspent its budget and needed a cash influx, the area is restricted to those that can afford to pay for it. It’s another shot in the war between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots.’ A revolution is coming, Liz. That has pissed off a lot of people. I hope the ‘haves’ have figured out that they are outnumbered and stop being such assholes or it’s going to be bloody.”

“I keep my land fenced off,” Liz said.

“That’s well and good,” I said. “Your land was never designated a ‘public resource.’ That’s what the ocean is. It’s public. It doesn’t belong to a single person. State law says that the beach is free up to the high tide mark. The county commission couldn’t change that. So, instead they sold the public access points to the rich pricks and they immediately closed them. Now, the only way you can use some sections of public land is to float there on a raft or land with a parachute. It’s bullshit. The commissioners passed the resolution as part of a larger budget package. There was no public discussion ... because the revolt would have started right there. I don’t begrudge people keeping their property private. But the assholes like Scott Van Winkle knew the beach was public when they build those monstrous mansions. Then they bribed and wheedled the politicians until they got the ability to claim public property as their private fiefdom. I swear to God, if I ever hit the lottery, I’m going to buy one of those fucking places and make it public access just to piss those bastards off.”

I saw Liz frowning.

“If you tried to rope off Yosemite, I’d call you on it,” I said. “It’s no different.”

“I guess I didn’t look at it that way,” Liz said. “For someone like me, it’s the only way I can go to the beach with any sort of privacy.”

“And that’s too fucking bad,” I said. “It’s the price you pay for courting fame. Fame means you don’t get privacy in public places. That can’t be a surprise to you.”

“I guess,” she said. I saw that I was casting a pall over her good mood.

“I didn’t mean to compare you to the people out there,” I said.

“I’m not different,” Liz said. “I’ve...”

She sighed heavily.

“I’ve considered looking for a place like that for us to use when we’re here,” she said.

“Don’t count on me stopping you,” I said. “But don’t count on me coming to see you there either.”

Liz nodded and a small smile reappeared.

“Even if I sunbathed topless?” she asked.

“Even then,” I said. “But I’d sit at home kicking myself in the ass for missing it.”

Liz laughed. I noticed that she had removed her bra while she was in the bathroom.

“We can find something else to do today,” Liz told me.

“No, I’ll go with you today,” I said. “But I couldn’t live with myself if I started to sacrifice my principles because I know someone with a lot of money. I understand that you want a place where you can do private things. I get it. But what’s right for you isn’t right for me in this instance.”

Liz shook her head.

“I don’t want a place I can do anything,” she corrected me. “I want a place where we can do things. How long do you think it will be before one of your neighbors starts to take pictures of us on the deck? How long do you think it will be before a horde of photographers stations itself right across the street from the roadway? Then all your neighbors will hate us for living near them and subjecting them to that crap. Hell, one of the websites might buy a house nearby just to put a photographer in there just in case we leave the blinds open one night. You’ve seen how things are. I’m not exaggerating in the slightest.”

“I know you’re not,” I said. “There are some gated communities that aren’t on the beach.”

“What fun is that?” Liz said. “I want a place where I can make love to you in the sand and then run naked into the surf!”

“I don’t think that place exists,” I said. “But I understand that you’ll need a place with more privacy than my house offers. It’s OK for short-term but it isn’t viable for long-term.”

“I’m sorry,” Liz said. “I know you love that house.”

It suddenly occurred to me that Liz was talking about us sharing a residence fulltime. The conversation about how often I’d need to be in Nashville had been one thing but this was entirely different. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the prospect of selling the first home I could really call my own.

“I shouldn’t have dropped that on you,” Liz said. “I’ve been thinking about how great the last two weeks have been and I already have our entire lives planned out. Sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry,” I said. “The same thoughts have crossed my mind. I just always quashed them before they got too far along. This is a really big step for me. You’re talking about being around each other 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. I am going to drive you crazy!”

“Oh, we’ll drive each other around the bend a few times,” Liz said, seemingly relieved that I hadn’t freaked out. “That’s the good part about having so much money. We can buy a kickass house that’s so big we avoid each other for days and still live together.”

I started to shake my head but Liz caught it between her hands.

“Yes, there will be limits on what we spend,” she said. “But those limits won’t be predicated on your paycheck.”

“I can’t live that way,” I said.

“Sure you can,” Liz said. “Look, say you hooked up with one of those doctors that I’ve heard were chasing after you – or even one of the nurses. They would make a lot more money than you do. You forget, I know what you were paid at the hospital. A good nurse would bring in twice what you made. As much as I pay Ryan, Sondra makes more money than he does. Well, guess what. I make more money than you do.”

“I’m guessing the disparity between Ryan and Sondra isn’t quite as stark,” I said.

“Probably not,” Liz admitted. “So it’s a matter of degrees? Well, I’ll tell you what. We’ll sit down and calculate my net worth after we get shit settled with RFN and RaveLand. I’ll give everything away until we have the same amount of money. Will that help?”

“That’s ridiculous,” I said. Liz just tilted her head at me and I realized that I was being silly. “Yeah, fine. Give away your shit and in a year you’d have to do it again. I just ... I just need some more time to adjust to things. OK? Let me get used to you jetting me off to have your wicked way with me in tropical paradises before you hit me with buying a million dollar house.”

“My wicked way?” Liz asked. “I seem to remember you having your wicked way with me last night, Mister. I just wanted to come home after a hard day at work and relax. Did I get that? No! Instead I got you licking and caressing me half the night. Then to top it off you toss me your keys this morning and let me drive us back here. I know you did that because you want into my panties again!”

“You caught me,” I said.

“You probably thought I’d give you a blowjob as soon as we got in the room,” Liz said, sliding back down my legs until she could reach the buttons on my shorts.

“It crossed my mind that you might be so inclined by my generosity,” I admitted.

“And I guess you hoped I’d take my top off while I sucked you,” Liz told me as her fingers started to work on the knot of her shirt.

“Just in the interest of cleanliness,” I said.

“Of course,” Liz said, nodding as she unbuttoned her shirt and pushed it off her shoulders. The lack of anything beneath it was confirmed. “I guess the removal of my shorts and panties were also part of your plan.”