“Nothing,” Ben deflected, “I just don’t like feeling unprepared.”
“That I can tell. Trust me, life is best lived when you’re unprepared.”
Ben laughed, and he laughed loudly, "That is not true!"
"Of course, it is! All of my best moments had come when I wasn't prepared for them."
“Any of those moments land you in trouble?”
“Absolutely!” Tara stated proudly, “But my trouble days are over. Honestly, this trip is the most trouble I’ve been in over the past few years. Bad things happen when I overthink stuff.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, overthinking is what got me on this trip to begin with.”
“Care to tell me about that?”
"Wrecking an exhibit was one thing. It was an accident. After, I started going into work with the idea that this day would be the day they fired me. So every day I made it without a pink slip, I tried harder and harder to be likable. I think I ended up annoying everyone. I was constantly on pins and needles. It's like everyone knew I should have been fired. I knew I should have been fired, but I wasn't. That’s what I felt. It turned out that the Ming vase that was shattered by a group of rough housing kids I was giving a lecture tour for, was an expensive fake. MoVa does that when the insurance to keep it on public display is too high. It’s an insider secret. Everyone thinks all our displays are the real deal but not everything is authentic. They sent me on this excursion to get rid of me or get me out of the way for a while. Besides no one else wanted to do this assignment. I sure didn’t.”
“Yeah, but this trip isn’t exactly a bad thing.”
Tara smiled, "You're right, it's just a few bad things happening along the way. If I don't come back with those artifacts, I might as well file for unemployment or get a job at Danielle’s bar.”
“Let’s shift our focus to making it back in one piece. I have to admit you seem more relaxed than you did earlier. That’s a good thing.”
"Yeah, once I read the file, I realized we were breaking up the collection. MoVA only bought the dagger and the scabbard. The rest of the collection is separated between three other museums and two private owners. The museums agreed on a rotation with MoVA to have the entire collection shown at once. After a two-year tour, there are plans for the individual pieces to go back to the museums and the owners, but one private collector wants to purchase all of the pieces. Since the museums aren't relinquishing their pieces of the exhibit, the private collector has been stirring up trouble in the media."
“I don’t remember that in the dossier,” Ben grunted.
“It wouldn’t have been in there if you spoke to Dr. Barrett. He’s not exactly in the loop of what’s going on outside of the museum. He was probably told to organize secure transport. Now that I think about it, he was probably asked to complete this trip himself but sent me instead.”
“I’m glad he sent you instead.”
5
Tara blushed at Ben's statement with flashes of her wildly salacious dream resurfacing. She remembered it vividly. With the prickly bristles of his beard growing in, Ben sported a five o'clock shadow making him all the more sexier in Tara's eyes. He drove silently for the next hour or so, letting her get some rest. Her imagination betrayed her sleep, and she dreamt of Ben again.
Ben pulled the car over to the side of the road not wanting to wait another minute to have her. The minute the car stopped, Ben pulled Tara over the gearshift to pierce her lips with his tongue, engulfing her in a kiss that sent chills down her spine. She could barely keep up as she panted with pent up passion.
The longer they kissed, the more his hands explored her. He slid one hand easily into her jeans, grazing the sensitive endings of her center before dipping inside of her pleasure while letting his tongue dive into her mouth. Electricity soared through her body as Ben extracted one orgasm after the next. The third and last one was the most powerful causing her to yell out as her essence coated his fingers.
Ben pulled his fingers out of her and sucked on them gently, moaning as he did so before thumbing her bottom lip and stealing another kiss.
Tara woke with a gasp to see the hear the radio blaring rather loudly. She brought her seat up to its fully upright position. Disorientation swept across her as she closed one eye and reached for the dial to turn the volume down.
"Why was that so loud?" she moaned with sleep swaddling her words. She watched Ben's posture stiffen at the tone in her voice, but still he didn't speak. "Well..."
“You have some vivid dreams, Tara.”
“What does that mean?”
“You ask a lot of questions for someone who believes living life is best going in unprepared,” he sighed.
“I meant when you’re not overthinking things so much, not necessarily unprepared. Don’t change the subject either. What did you mean that I have vivid dreams? Was I talking in my sleep or something?”
"Something like that." He ran his fingers through his hair, which only made Tara want to do it herself. Her awareness of him was palpable. He was frustrating as he continued to avoid the subject.
Tara continued to press him, hellbent on ignoring his discomfort. “Spill it, Ben. Tell me about my vivid dreams since you know so much.”
"You're also irritable when you awaken from those dreams," he snickered.
“I’m only irritable when you deflect. Besides, if you were in the middle of that dream, you’d be irritated if someone woke you from it,” she mumbled.
"I kind of wish I was in the middle of it. Will you tell me about it?" Ben smiled to himself as her imagined what Tara would like undressed.
Tara shot straight up with embarrassment, forgetting the close quarters of
