Run. Just Run.

Chapter 17

James quickly pulls Ashley back behind the tree.

"If we're going to meet people, don't you think I should be wearing a shirt?" James asks sarcastically.

Ashley blushes. She'd forgotten he was shirtless!

"Oh, yeah." She says, embarrassed. "Here."

Ashley quickly unbuttons James' shirt, and slips it off her shoulders. She hands it to him with one hand, and with the other she reaches behind her and grabs the shirt that's been hanging from her belt loops.

James slowly takes his shirt from Ashley's hand, surprised that she didn't make him turn around or even close his eyes. I mean, it's not like she didn't have a sports bra on or anything, because she did, but still.

Ashley puts her arms through her t-shirt as she thinks. Oh shoot. She hadn't made James close his eyes. Her face gets red. It didn't bother her that much, after all it was only a sports bra, and James was her best friend, but still. What would James think about it? She quickly pulls her shirt down and glimpses the top of James' chest as he finished buttoning his shirt.

"Okay, let's go now." James says, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

He grabs her hand, and she walks forward. As they walk up to the house, James starts feeling a little uneasy.

"What are we going to say to them?" He asks inquisitively.

Ashley glances back over her shoulder and smiles. "Trust me." She says with a wink.

James rolls his eyes and grins at the same time. Why could she never give a straight answer? They slowly walk through the garden at the side of the house. Someone spent a lot of time on this, he could tell. It was very pretty.

Ashley walked right up to the door and knocked. After knocking a couple times, a woman, who looked to be about in her sixties, greying hair and wearing an apron, answered the door.

"Well hello there!" She says with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

Ashley smiles her cutest, best smile. "Hi, my friend and I are traveling across the country, and we started doing it without bringing any money along!" She says with a glance at James. "We were wondering if you knew of a place we could spend the night, maybe a loft in a barn, or whatever."

The woman gets a grin on her face. "Well that won't be necessary!" She replies. "You guys can stay right here in the house! We have an extra room."

"Are you sure?" James asks tentatively. "Because we wouldn't want to impose, or put you out. And we can't pay you or anything." He hurries to add.

"Oh, no, no trouble at all." The woman says with a shake of her head. "I'll tell you what though. You can go down to the barn, throw down some hay for the horses and we'll call it even."

James glances at Ashley. She has a triumphant look on her face. That smile of hers could make people do whatever she asked!

"Well come on in, make yourselves at home!" The woman says. "What are your names?"

Ashley looks at James in alarm. They couldn't possibly give their real names!