Opposites Attract by Michelle M. Pillow

took all his control not to smile at her.
    The coastal road changed, taking them through a small forest. The white bark of the birch trees made a beautiful contrast to the darker shadows behind them. Hours passed fairly quickly. Small wooden signs along the road boasted crafts and seafood.
    They’d been driving for some time when Ted chuckled, ‘There’s another bar.’
    ‘I know, what is that? Fifteen along this road?’ Susan laughed. The bars were actually small trailers with signs in front. They were set up in little inlets along the road. It was the strangest thing.
    ‘We need to stop for gas,’ Ethan said. ‘We should be getting close to a town.’
    ‘Ah, good, I’d like to stretch my legs a little,’ Alexis said.
    I’d like to stretch your legs. Ethan’s eyes darted involuntarily to her long legs at the comment. He stiffened, forcing himself to stare at the road. All day thoughts like that had been popping into his head. It would seem the morning’s events only whetted his appetite for more. Yeah, he needed to get laid and fast.
    Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin was picture perfect – so much so that it actually looked like a living postcard. Alexis did as Ethan suggested and took pictures of everything. The great thing about digital was that she could weed through the photographs later and delete the ones she didn’t want. The streets were clean and many of the houses looked late nineteenth century with tri-coloured wood siding and manicured lawns. Alexis wasn’t sure what to think of it. The place was almost too perfect – and too quiet, too clean, too middle America – and she found herself missing the busy, dirty streets of the city. Even the people were dressed a decade behind the times, their floral print dresses and denim hardly the latest New York trends. Though, to be fair, it wasn’t their fault New York was the heart and soul of the United States. They were more of the . . .
    Alexis bit her lip, wondering what part the dairy state could qualify as. Bones, maybe?
    Trees seemed to grow everywhere, the long white birch trunks shadowing the side streets. There was a collection of quaint little shops boasting cheap vacation T-shirts and cherry-decorated knick-knacks. A large drawbridge in the centre of town lifted over the dark waters of Lake Michigan to let yachts pass under. Seeing it rise up over the glistening surface was amazing, the steel beams a testament to man’s ingenuity.
    ‘I’ve always wanted to go on a yacht,’ Susan said, pointing at the large white boat. ‘Can you imagine that only one family lives on that thing?’
    ‘You mean one prince,’ Alexis said, chuckling.
    ‘What? Your family didn’t have a yacht?’ Ethan asked.
    It took her a while to answer, as she tried to decide if he was just being curious or mean. ‘No, my mother hated boats.’
    They stopped at a little corner gas station. Alexis watched from just outside the car as Ethan talked to the cashier. The girl giggled, tossing her short brown hair. Ethan grinned, a truly stunning look as he flirted with her. Alexis felt jealousy unfurl in her gut. She knew she had no claim on him, didn’t really want him for herself, but did he have to be so blatant? It wasn’t as if that morning meant anything, but did he have to hit on the very next woman he came across?
    ‘You look like you’re about to spit nails,’ Susan said, leaning up against the hood. ‘Care to share?’
    ‘It’s nothing,’ Alexis said.
    ‘You know, I don’t really like this depressed, closed-up version of yourself you got going on.’ Susan threaded her arm through Alexis’s, shivering in the chilled breeze.
    ‘Ethan might have come onto me this morning,’ Alexis said. It didn’t feel right not telling Susan things, but she wasn’t about to confess how he’d literally come onto her. ‘Just a little.’
    ‘What he do? Ask you on a date?’ Susan cuddled closer, laying her head on Alexis’s shoulder. ‘Brrr, it’s chilly here. I