Driving Mrs Barker (BWWM)

Chapter Six

"Two minutes and seven seconds - not bad for a rookie."

"A rookie? Mate, I've been running since I came out of my nappies. Rookie." She scoffed as he handed her the phone, performing some quick leg stretches after doing so.

Ariane quickly averted her eyes when she noticed just how tight his sweatpants were. Grey sweatpants were the greatest thing to be invented for men but now was not the time to appreciate them. Not with Beau.

"Ready?" He drawled, standing up with a smile on his face and backing up.

"Go!" He sped out of sight in an instant and Ariane kept her eyes on the numbers on her screen. All of a sudden, a fresh set of digits appeared but these were from an entirely different area code calling her. With hesitance, she picked up after remembering that Gerald was out of town for a few days. "Hello?"

"Hey baby, how's it going?"

"It's going great, how's business?"

"Business is business, babe. You know how it is. Listen," he replied, ending their idle conversation. "What have you got planned for today?"

Ariane racked her mind. "Apart from going into work, Beau, Ms Betty and I were thinking of doing something but we don't know what-."

"Cancel it. I have something planned for you but I need you to be ready by 7."

"Babe, I promised Ms Betty I would stay-."

"She will be fine. Beau can keep her company - he's a nice enough guy to indulge an old lady like her. 7pm baby." He hung up without giving her time to respond. Sighing heavily, she ran a frustrated hand across her face. Somehow, before 7pm she would have to break the news to Ms Betty and cancel on her - the last thing she wanted to do.

She should have stood her ground and said no. She should have told him that her plans were important too but when it came to Gerald - she was as obedient as a dog. Ariane was like his little dog and she hated it. But at the same time, she hated upsetting him because he was her everything. He was all she had.

Heavy footsteps made her refocus on the numbers on the screen and ignore the sudden cloud that had appeared over her head.

"Two minutes, twenty eight seconds." She reiterated the numbers that stared back at her.

"You sure?" He asked, panting heavily. "That felt like a good, solid two minutes there."

Ariane chuckled as he braced his hands on his knees to try and catch his breath again. "I'm gonna go get ready for work, you can use the guest shower if you want."

She took only two steps before feeling a hand around her arm. His grip wasn't tight like the one she had grown used to. This hold left room for her to move away if she felt uncomfortable and this hold didn't have her in pain. It was gentle but firm enough to make her turn back around.

Beau had lifted a thick eyebrow and his silver eyes were narrowed. "You okay?"

She nodded vehemently, offering a reassuring smile. "Just fine. Why?"

"You look... uneasy."

Was she that transparent or was it just him who could see straight through her? This wasn't the first occasion where Beau and Beau alone was able to tell that something wasn't right with her. He was very observant if anything.

"I ran round the block in practically two minutes - I need a shower and a lie down." Ariane hoped that the joke would make him back off . She needed him to back off so that she could stop feeling weird about him being so aware of her emotions.