A Summer on the Road

Dear readers, I hope you enjoy part 3 of this story. If this is new for you I recommend reading parts 1 and 2 first. Enjoy!

*

Paul looked over at Jane. She was experiencing her first night time drive on the return trip. They had switched at a truck stop south of Ottawa, having picked up the return load well after dark. Conversation between Jane and Paul had been limited to essential business. Jane had barely looked at him since the flareup at the truck stop.

The silence was getting to Paul. His feelings of remorse were growing over his anger at her petulant behavior. To the nineteen year old, she was missing an important social event, Tara's pool party and he had blasted her for her outburst. He had threatened with washing her out of the job if she didn't smarten up about her work responsibilities. Worse yet, in the heat of the moment, he said the other choice was a spanking, something he now regretted. A word to her father about his threat could go very badly for him. He needed this job and he wasn't at all sure who her dad would back up.

Trying to moderate the mood, he started up a Judy Collins album from his iPod. The music was soothing. They both shared a liking for 70's folkies, an odd connection between them. The dim interior lights of the truck dash lightly illuminated Jane and he couldn't help himself from quietly glancing at her. Even her impassive face drew him in. In a way, Paul was amazed that this young women, with such seemingly delicate hands and arms could control the semi but she was growing in competence every time at the wheel. Soon he would let her drive through the metropolitan areas.

But still, the frostiness of the drive was bothering him and at the same time he was worried about what she might say or do.

Several songs into the album she reached over and turned the volume down. "Paul," she started.

"Yes Jane?" he replied tentatively.

She sighed, "I'm sorry." She flashed a contrite look at him and then returned to the road ahead.

"Okay," Paul replied in a questioning manner. "For what exactly?"

"For being bitchy to you. I realize that you have the best interests of this company in mind. Its just, well, you know, I really did want to go to Tara's party."

"Yeah, I get it. Sorry as well that it worked out this way. It happens in this job."

"Are you still mad at me?" Jane asked. "Are you going to tell my dad?"

Her concern about his anger caught him by surprise. He was the one who had the most to lose if she went to Mr. Robertson and told him about the spanking threat. He looked over at her as she fixed her gaze ahead. "Jane, lets put this behind us. I think we are good now."

She let out a giggle. "And you're not going to spank me?"

Paul threw his head back and laughed. "No, I'm not going to spank you," he said playfully.

"Brat ass, huh," she smiled over at him.

"Jane, I was just trying to underline the point. Don't take it too literally."

A smile played on her face. The image of his hand on her butt made her squirm just ever so slightly. Low in her tummy she could feel a tingling that dropped to her core. She wondered what it would be like to lie over his knee and feel his body against hers. A shiver went up her spine.

Jane reached over to touch him on the forearm and flashed a huge smile at him. "Okay partner, I'll try to behave. Thanks for letting that go."

Paul smiled back casually but inside he was reeling at her touch. She had squeezed his arm, a contact that shot a current through his body. He couldn't remember when the touch of a woman had done that to him. He had no idea what had just happened and he sucked in a big gasp of air.

"You alright?" she shot over at him, catching the big intake of air.

"Um yes. Its been a long day. Looking forward to home and bed." Jane smiled again at that.

Hours later, Paul killed the engine in the Robertson Transport compound. Getting out, they walked though the guard station and into the car park. It was well past 2 am and Paul walked beside the tired teenager, taking her to her car. Waiting for her to get her keys out and get in, she suddenly turned to him and threw her arms around his neck and gave him a brief hug.

Opening the door and sliding into the driver's seat, she lowered the window and said, "Thanks for your patience with me and everything, good night."

Paul was rocked, but he managed to get out, "Its okay. You're doing great. Get home safely please." With that, she drove away in her sky blue BMW.

Paul's body was aglow from her contact. The feel of her breasts through her light t-shirt on his stomach set his mind and body on fire. 'Sweet Jesus,' he thought, 'How can she do that to me.'

*****

The run today was a couple of hours down the highway towards the Windsor crossing, The load had been dropped off and she and Paul brought the truck back empty, arriving at the compound mid afternoon. He sent Jane home early as they were finished for the day. He called his mom to arrange pickup of his daughters.

His mom croaked a hello in answer to his call. She didn't sound well. In fact Mrs Cain, Paul's mother, had come down with nausea, headache and fever and had been unable to pick up Paul's girls at their after school program. Reluctantly, not wanting to bother the wife of Paul's employer, she had called Mrs. Robertson to ask if her offer to help out with the kids was sincere. Vera Robertson had jumped at the chance and immediately arranged to pick up Zoe and Beatrice and take them back to her home.

***

Zoe stood on a chair at Vera's kitchen island stirring a bowl of cookie mix. Beatrice was working on a drawing at the kitchen table while Vera greased a cookie pan with butter. Jane walked in and stopped in surprise when she saw the young girls in her family kitchen.

"Well hello. Who are you guys?" she asked, smiling at the beautiful kids.

Vera piped up, "These are my little helpers. That's Zoe stirring the mix and Beatrice is making me a drawing for the fridge. Say hello to Jane. She's MY little girl."

Zoe looked through her lashes and quietly said, "Hi" and then went back to staring at her bowl as she stirred.

Beatrice, the younger of the two, gave a shy smile and looked away.

"Hey, that looks like a tree with flowers all around it. The colours are beautiful," Jane said to Beatrice as she sat down beside her. "You're very good at drawing."

"Thank you," Beatrice said quietly while giving Jane a sideways smile. Vera beamed at her daughter and the little girl.

"Can I have a cookie when they're ready Zoe?" Jane smiled over at the serious looking girl mixing the batter. Zoe looked questioningly over at Vera.

"I think we can spare one for Jane, after all she's had a long day driving trucks."

"My daddy drives trucks too, really big ones," Zoe volunteered to Jane.

"You're right and do you know what?" Jane asked smiling at the little girl.

"Um, no, what?"

"He's teaching me how to drive as well. He's my instructor."

"Oh." Zoe said, not knowing what to make of Jane's information.

"We take turns driving on the highway. He is a very good driver and has shown me lots of things. Hey, is that a lady in your drawing Beatrice?"

"Yes, its my mommy."

Jane swallowed hard looking over at her mom. Vera had a helpless look on her face.

"My mommy died."

"Oh sweetie, that is so sad," Jane choked out having no idea what to say to child of this age.

Vera was almost overwhelmed with love and sympathy for these beautiful children. She wiped a tear away from her eye and then piped up, "Okay girls, lets put the cookie dough on the pan and I'll need both of you to push them down into cookie shapes. "Zoe, do you think the chocolate chips are mixed well enough?"

Zoe tilted the bowl so Vera could see. "Looks good, I'll put them on the pan and you two make them into cookie shapes."

A chime went off. Vera looked over at Jane and asked, "Dear, could you get the front door. It may be Paul coming to pick up the kids."

Jane opened the door to find Paul looking out at the spacious grounds around the Robertson home. This was his first time at his Boss's home and he was very impressed by the understated elegance of the country estate. Jane beamed a smile at him. "Hi Paul, welcome to our home. Come on in. The kids are in the kitchen making some cookies with my Mom."

"It was very sweet of your Mom to pick them up. My mom is very appreciative. She can barely get off the couch."

"Trust me, Mom is in heaven with your delightful kids. I really hope my brothers deliver some grandchildren soon or she'll be on my case. Follow me."

Walking into the kitchen both kids ran over to hug their dad. Vera beamed at the sight.

"Mrs. Robertson thank you for taking care of the kids. Its a huge help."

"Paul, call me Vera and its an absolute pleasure to have your kids here. Do you think they could stay until the cookies are out? Half an hour more."

"Okay, but we don't want to cause you any more trouble."

"Paul, no trouble at all. Jane, why don't you take Paul out for a tour of the grounds and show him your dad's old Harley."

"Sure Mom. Paul, wait out on the deck while I change out of my work clothes."

Paul moved out to the back deck which opened up onto the spacious lawn of the Roberson country estate. Jane emerged in a pair of very short cutoffs and a fuchsia tank top over a white sports bra. Paul quickly took in her appearance.

Jane giggled, "Okay now with my legs?"

Paul threw his head back and laughed. "Give me another hour or two to adjust. I'll make it."

"Not trying to scare you, old guy. I could throw on a potato sack if that will help."

"Getting bratty again huh?" he said with a chuckle, "Come on, give me the tour."

Jane walked over looking Paul in the eyes and took his hand. "Lets go. You'll love my dad's vintage Harley. He takes his evening coffee out to the shed and polishes the bike. Me and the brothers call it the fourth sibling and his favourite one at that."

To Paul, her voice faded away, in fact everything faded away except the feel of her hand holding his as they moved across the grass. His vision moved to Jane's legs. They were simply gorgeous: long and slender but with toned muscles in her thighs, all perfectly tanned. But it was her touch that warmed him, shooting jolts of electricity throughout his body.

Jane dropped his hand to open the shed door, leading Paul into a perfect man-cave with the Harley as the centre piece. It was gorgeous. Paul gasped at the beautiful restoration.

He circled it in admiration and turned to Jane, "Does he mind people sitting on it?"

"Yeah, go for it."

Paul swung his leg over the bike. He had a soft spot for classic British motorcycles but also had a grudging admiration for American iron. In his early 20s he restored a Norton Atlas to mint condition. This bike was a long stroking monster that was pure evil to ride due to the vibrations transmitted through the frame, but the handling was excellent and together the motor and handling made each ride a memorable occasion.

Jane edged around behind him as he gazed at the classic instrumentation. She quietly joined him on the bike. "Do you mind me sitting on it with you? I love when Dad takes me for a ride. Its been a few years though."

Jane slid her hands around Paul's waist and rested her cheek on his back. Paul sat up stiffly, suddenly uncomfortable. He could see Jane's legs slide up under his and he could feel her delicate hands on his stomach. Her warmth flowed through him as her breasts pushed into his back. The softness of her body melded into him. As her hands dropped lower on his stomach he could feel his arousal building. He couldn't take much more of this without making his arousal obvious. The feel of this beautiful but totally untouchable young woman was intoxicating and he was embarrassed by how stiff and uncomfortable he was becoming.

"Jane?"

"Hmmm, yes Paul."

"What are you doing?"

Jane sat up quickly and said in a stammering voice, "Oh sorry! This is how I used to ride with my Dad. I was a bit scared of the bike and would hold on really tight." With that she swung her leg off the bike and backed away. She was flushed at both his implied rebuke but also from the illicit feel of his body against her chest and firm warmth of his stomach on her hands.

Deep down and in a subconscious way her frustration was building. She had for many days now accepted in her rational mind that he was a very attractive man. But a relationship? The reality was that was never going to happen. Their worlds were just too far apart, and, he really didn't seem at all interested. Still, she thought that the summer would be fun driving with him as a trucking partner. She had even fantasized about Paul's future, about him finding a woman his own age and the love they would share, and how she would be a bit jealous, but happy for him.

But at this moment in time, blushing and looking at him step off the bike her body was pulsing in a way her rational mind couldn't really connect with. Jane was just too inexperienced to understand fully what was happening to her.

Paul smiled warmly at the blushing girl and suggested, "Should we check back and see how the cookies are coming. You're mom is a lifesaver but I don't want to push my luck.

To Paul, her infatuation with him was obvious. Her blushing and awkwardness was cute, adorable even and he reminded himself that she was very young. He had no idea what her relationship experience was, but given her age and what he knew of her father, he suspected, correctly as it turned out, that she was very inexperienced around men. And he had a realistic understanding of his own attractiveness to women. He would be the adult in their work partnership.

He fully accepted in the primal part of his brain that his desire was to pull her body into his and feel his lips on hers. He wanted so much to feel the skin on the back of her thighs and to mold her ass into his hands and to feel his cock push into her belly through the skimpy clothing. He hadn't had that feeling in ages. In the time since Gillian died, his body was deadened to any sexual urge and the revelation that he was with a woman, or really a girl, that stirred those feelings in him was strangely exciting. Maybe he was ready to move on and open himself up to possibilities. Jane wasn't the one but he was secretly grateful to her for what she had stirred in him.

But for now, he would have to manage her infatuation, if that what it really was, for both of them.

"Oh, and by the way, thanks for the tour. I'm envious of your dad." With that, he looked her straight in the eye and smiled again. Jane locked eyes for a second and then looked away in confusion. 'What did he mean by that?' she thought

"His bike is gorgeous."

"Umm, yeah, its his baby all right," she stammered.

After some cookies were devoured a short while later the girls shyly thanked Vera for taking care of them and the small family headed off in Paul's pickup, a box of cookies held tightly on Zoe's lap.

Vera turned to her daughter, shaking her head, and said, "I can't believe some woman hasn't sunk her claws into that man. From what I can tell he's an amazing father besides being a total hunk as well."

Jane stared at her mom. 'Total hunk' was not a phrase she had ever heard coming out of her mother's mouth. Wow! Jane mumbled an agreement and went inside.

Vera watched her walk into the house, a curious smile on her face. From the kitchen window she had watched Jane take Paul's hand and lead him across the yard. The thought struck her at that moment that she had very little idea how her daughter related to men or what she thought about this particular man.

****

Two days later Paul and Jane were underway on an extended road trip. They were transporting a tank and valve assembly along with state of the art sensor and electronic shutoff switches for an LNG plant at a remote northern British Columbia deep water port. This was a cross country trip that had no specific time limit, just the requirement that the very expensive equipment get there safely. Paul had picked this run because there would be lots of very open and lightly traveled northern Ontario and Prairie roads for Jane to hone her skills. And without the time pressure they could stop and catch full nights sleeps.

However, an uncomfortable tension had settled over the cab. Paul was staring out at the northern countryside passing by as he tried to reel in his growing irritation over Jane's driving and attitude. Her driving skills were not the issue. In fact, he was impressed with her progress. But she was getting a head of herself. He had asked her to request guidance before she made any out of the ordinary maneuvers and that included passing. Earlier in the day she had pulled out to pass a slow moving RV on a two lane section. Distracted by his mobile he hadn't realized what was happening until they had pulled abreast of the RV. He barked at her that she wasn't in her BMW and held his breath as they barely made it into their lane in time before oncoming traffic. Even then, the RV had slowed down to help them out. He was livid at her taking the chance without asking first and she was pissed off at the reprimand he had given her. They were both simmering.

Earlier, when he had let her drive out of the client's industrial location, she had executed a wide right turn without even looking to see if traffic on the right was backing off to let her complete the turn.

He couldn't dislodge the thought that she was simply too young and immature to be taking on the responsibility of driving a transport. Agreeing to partner and train her may have been a very bad idea.

And now, he had to deal with the tension in the cab. Looks from her were short and sharp. She was sending daggers at him visually. Jane liked having her way and didn't appreciate his attempts to clip her wings.

The final straw occurred late in the day. He had gone into the sleeper section of the cab to rest after giving some very specific dos and don ts. They were now in the heart of the northern bush on some very low traveled sections and conditions were perfect. He had felt it best to give her some space and to rest himself. He was contemplating driving the night despite concerns about night time driving on this moose infested section.

A horn from a passing car snapped him out his sleep. He felt the truck swerve back to the right at the same time he rose up looking into the cab. Jane was pushing her phone away. A shock passed through Paul as he realized that she had been texting while driving.

Instantaneously he decided that this gig was over. He resolved in a heartbeat that it was time to tell her dad that she wasn't ready for the responsibility.

"Jane, you were texting!"

"Umm .. just a short one. Sorry."

"Jane, that's not going to cut it. Just keep driving till we reach the next town. On this side is a small motel with a lot in the back for transports. Pull in there and park."

"Really, I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

Paul was trying to control his temper. He replied, "Absolutely right you won't do it again." Jane looked nervously at him but kept her mouth shut and kept driving.

****

Paul had asked her to come to his room as soon as she was ready. He hadn't said anything beyond that while they parked and checked into the motel. Jane was growing more apprehensive by the minute as she fretted in her room. She new he was really pissed and dreaded the talk they were about to have.

She took a quick shower, more to try to calm hers nerves and to add some delay. Finally she got up the courage to quietly knock on his door. He opened it and pointed to the chair by the small desk in the room. He moved over to sit on the edge of the bed.

Paul sighed deeply and then began. "Jane, you are developing solid skills as a driver. In fact, I give you credit for being much further ahead than I would have expected at this point in time." He stopped and sighed again.