Chapter 4: Rest Stop Intensity

Even though Bash knew she was simply projecting her feelings for Francis onto him, it was hard to get his heart to slow or for the loud buzzing in his ears to soften.

He gripped the steering wheel, pointedly not saying anything as he drove passed the next exit and instead turned at the one after - it had road signs that told him there was a rest stop nearby and he could easily reach the mall from where they were by taking the streets instead.

The truck stop was located conveniently off the exit ramp, and he turned into the lot. He let the engine idle as he reached over from his seat and rifled through the glove compartment. He pulled his hand back, revealing to Mary a small blue make-up kit.

"Straight through the doors, passed the checkout, near the back to the left," he instructed. He straightened in his seat and reached his hand to his utility belt next, and pulled out the mace. He plopped the discreet can - shaped like a tube of lipstick - in her palms on top the kit. Replacing his hand to his slacks, he pulled out a twenty dollar bill and gave her that also. "Three waters."

He moved back in his seat then, out of her personal space and into his own, scanning the customers for tell-tale signs of threats, thoughts churning.

Mary looked at him, taking everything into her hands and putting it into her bag. She undid her seatbelt, sparing a moment to look over at him before she got out of the car. She made her way as he had told her, straight through the doors, pass the checkout, near the back to the left. She came across the bathroom and made her way inside, closing and locking the door behind her.

"Foolish Mary...he thinks it that you're missing Francis...why can't he see..." She whispered, pulling out the make-up kit and fixing her mascara and foundation before replacing it into the bag. She checked herself over in the mirror before walking to the door and unlocking it.

Upon exiting the bathroom she went and gathered three waters, making her way to the checkout and paying for them. She pocketed his change, and the bag they gave her holding the waters and made her way back to the car. Resolution stern upon her face as she moved to his side of the vehicle rather than her own, she stood there at his door and looked through the window at him. "Bash, join me outside please." She requested, her tone holding that edge of authority. She would prove to him that she meant her own words that she wasn't just projecting as he most likely thought.

She set the bag of waters down, as well as her own bag on the hood of the car as she waited for him. Her hands wringing together with her nerves at what she was about to do.

Recognizing the tone in her voice, Bash immediately undid his seatbelt and got the door. He hadn't seen any threats while she was paying for water, but he scanned her body alertedly, his eyes hard and face tense. Satisfied she was unharmed, he stood straighter and regarded her. "You're Grace?"

She took a breath, albeit a rather shaky one as she brought one hand up to rest on his cheek. This was bold, even for her, and yet here she was about to do what she had thought of doing for quite some time. She let her thumb slide across his cheek before she leaned upwards, boldly bringing her lips to press against his lightly. Perhaps now he would see, perhaps now he would understand her tears.

His eyes had widened slightly as her hand touched his cheek. Bash furrowed his brows, lips parting to address the young queen again, when her lips gently touched his own.

It was a light touch, her lips on his, and yet Bash felt as if he was breathing air into his lungs for the very first time. He tensed, intending to pull away, when he heard snickers from onlookers around them. From the corner of his eye, he saw one step closer, and Bash - reacting on instinct (and knowing full well the situation Mary had created for herself, and quite possibly the House of Valois) - reached out his hands and took her face within them, cupping her soft cheeks. He gathered strands of her dark, silky hair in between his fingers so as to veil her face from public eye. He pressed his lips into hers, slanting his mouth over her own in a deep, closed kiss, to further hide her face from those that might recognize her.

He was brushing his lips against hers as he spoke on her lips, "Your Grace, this wasn't very wise at all." His voice was a low rumble in his throat, blue eyes dark and reproachful. "Why are you insisting on placing the names of both our houses under scrutiny?" He narrowed his eyes on her lips, his anger evident in his voice, "I don't mind your confused confessions, but this takes it steps too far. It'd be in your best interests to not act in this manner again. Do not forget that you have to share a car ride with me. Regardless of how logical your projections seem, I am not a man who likes to be teased. I am already very near my limit."

Mary locked her eyes with his own, "I'm not teasing you Bash...I feel strongly for you, strongly enough to know that my heart no longer has ties to Francis." She said, lightly against his lips as she gazed at him. Yes she knew the consequences, but she also knew that if she hid how she felt any longer she would be living a lie.

Ever so slowly, she removed her hand from his face and placed it over his before lowering his hands from her face. She gathered her bags off the hood of the car, and looked at him. "I don't wish to live a lie any longer. Surely you can understand those premises?" She questioned of him, her eyes holding nothing but the truth within them as she gazed at him. She had let this lie go on too long, that she still held out hope for Francis to return to her without another love in his heart.

"I don't wish to think ill of Francis, but he's been away so long. One can only take so much heart ache, before ones heart moves on to loving another." She said, nodding her head towards him as she felt the heat in her cheeks. When he had kissed her back it was more than she had hoped, it had sent her heart racing a mile a minute.

"And I do not wish to put you in a position you don't wish to be in, so if you'd like to forget that I've told you my heart has fallen for you...so be it." She said, walking past him.

His eyes watched her angrily. He got in the car and waited for her to join him before fully starting the car and pulling out the gas station. Driving with one hand, he used the other to reach into the bag of waters and opened one with his teeth, drinking it halfway.

"I assumed you heard the news, but it seems you did not, so I will tell you. Francis is returning to France, so I'd like to not be a mere substitute for him if that's possible. Furthermore, you have a reputation to uphold as the publically announced fiancé of the prince of France. If you truly no longer love him, congratulations, but until the matters are discussed with my father and Francis, you still have an image to uphold. There is nothing proper about you behaving like this. If you wish you be romantically involved with others, do not mix such personal matters with your professional ones and keep your pillow talk separate from your duties as a queen." He flicked his blinker and turned right, the mall up ahead.

"Your boldness not only affects your public image, but also the image of my father's house. Please keep in mind the safety measures needed to be taken when doing such things. You're Grace."

Mary bit back her words, knowing that only anger would come out if she spoke. "I see, well if that is the case. Than after we're done I wish to go straight back...and perhaps if it is too much for you, I'll speak with the king about getting someone else to be my security detail." She snapped, her words harsh and sad at the same time.

She couldn't believe him right now, how he was acting, and the words he was saying. "Furthermore, if you even thought for a split second you were a substitute for Francis, you're highly mistaken! My ladies have watched me night after night cry over this situation! Over falling in love with you!" She snapped once more, her knuckles gripping at her coat and the muscles showing through the evident paleness of her hands. She was furious, upset, and over the top emotional with all of this.

"I never wished for this Bash! Not a second goes by that I don't wish I could change how I feel! But damn it all if I must continue to live a lie!" She exclaimed, turning to look at him from where she sat. This was more than she had hoped to say, and yet the words were harsh and filled with the sadness she had kept contained all this time.

"Forget my boldness, if it bothers you that much I'll request someone else upon our return. Than you won't have to see me again, will that help you to cope with the errors I have made this day?" She said, turning her gaze away from him as she felt her body shake slightly.

"Do you really think anyone could keep you safer than myself? I'm the head of the security detail, Your Grace, because there is no one else better than me. No matter where you go, even when I am not with you, the eyes that follow you, the driver that escorts you, the hands that keep you from tripping over your feet - all of that is me, and has been me, and will continue to be me. Even if the face is different. But by all means, you're Grace. If you'd like I will have a report of the three most impressive on my team, and you'll be able to pick one of them to deal with your self-centered decisions."

Bash could see the strip for the mall in view. He went in the turn lane and waited for the red light.

"I am correct in everything I've said to you. Regardless, you're only focused on the rejection you think you hear and not on the issues at hand. What would you like me to do, Mary? Pull over and jump you in the front seat of my car? Responsibility, respectability, ethics, and family be damned! Did I ever tell you to lie to yourself? Have I even said to you a rejection to any of your confessions? Have I said I don't want you? Did I not imply the opposite when you kissed me?"

He turned to sharp as he entered the roundabout for the parking lot. He drowned out his agitation by listening to the revving of his engine as he sped up. "You're being overly emotional, and hearing only what you want to hear. Yes, Your Grace, I am bothered by your boldness. Never mind my family's name, my respectability, my brother's feelings, or your honor. All you'd like is for me to tell you that I love you. With your head like that there's a lot for me to be bothered by." He found a parking space. He quickly turned off the car and turned to her, reaching to his utility belt.

"Stun gun," he said, grabbing her purse and shoving it inside. "I'm sure you know how to use it, seeing as it was I that showed you how."

He reached in his door for the pack of Djarum's Cherry Black cigarillos that he kept in each car just in case he needed a breather. He was actually trying to quit tobacco altogether, but he thought the hell with it. Never had he been so happy and disrespected at the same time.

He opened his car door and shut it behind him a bit too forcefully. He leaned against the car, jaw working and eyes scrutinizing as he waited for Mary to follow suit.