It was hot.

Really hot.

Really, really, really hot.

All right, it wasn’t that hot.  Ashleigh just didn’t have the state of sanity to be out roasting herself right now.  She was covered in sweat; she smelled like she had taken a bath with lemon juice in a pine tree; and to top it all off, she was beginning to consider eating that squirrel that was taunting her from the tree next to her.  Yep, she was that hungry.

She should have been inside the house; where was oh-so-delightfully cool; with her boyfriend, who was undoubtedly sitting at the window, probably laughing his head off at her misery.

But NOOOOOOOOOOOO- it was HER turn to give the cars a good wash.  And she was forbidden to do the deed in the garage because the love of her very pitiful life would throw a hissy fit about getting his… whatever was in storage wet.  And the tree with the insane squirrel making insulting faces at her didn’t provide much shade.  Her frown deepened as she scratched out an idea.  It’d probably be really embarrassing if she tried to park halfway on the curb and halfway on the street… Yeeeeaaaahhhh.

So, right now, Ashleigh was standing; wearing a black bikini top and her little jogging shorts; at the back of her boyfriend’s jeep.  She glared intensely at the car and then her shoulders sagged in defeat.

“Damn car.  Why can’t ya just clean ya-self?”  She muttered as she bent down to grab the sponge from the white bucket next to her leg.

“‘Cause I wouldn’t see your gorgeous sweaty body.”  

Her body froze at the voice that came… SOMEWHERE at the front of the car.  Her blue-green eyes scanned the premises; the voice sounded suspiciously like a man she was very, very, very close to.

“Jon?”  She squeezed the sponge in her hand, not flinching at the water streaming down her arm as she cautiously walked to the front.  “Is tha' ya?”

She heard nothing.  And her scan of the front of the car confirmed her hearing.  She then craned her head towards the back of the car. Nothing.  She then lowered to her knees to check underneath the vehicle. Nothing there either.  She gritted her teeth with self-worry.  The heat was making her paranoid.

“All right.” She huffed out as she shakily ran her other hand through her curly blonde hair.  She dropped the sponge on the hood, grabbing it loosely.  “Let’s just git this ov'r with. Ah gotta tall glass o' Iced Tea waitin’ inside fer meh.”

“But Gorgeous! I wanna take it niiiiicccceeee and slllloooowwww…”  The same voice interrupted again, this time from the back of the Jeep.  Ashleigh reflexively chucked the sponge at the back of the car, to see if someone was trying to attack her.  She scrambled around the car again, but found nothing.  

“O-Kkkkkkaaaayyyyyyyy.”  She drawled out, her eyes flitting around.  “Now, Ah’m gettin’ a lil’ creeped out.”  She looked down at the bucket of water and swore under her breath as she remembered where her missing sponge went.  She trudged to the back of the car again, but her eyebrows furrowed with confusion as she came up with nothing on her search.  She slowly walked back to the front and looked at the hood.  

There was her beloved sponge, sitting exactly where she had been meaning to scrub the car.  She sighed as she picked up the bucket of soapy water and sloughed it over the front of the car.  She grabbed the sponge and sighed with boredom as the water dripped everywhere.  That voice was NOT going to stop her from getting this mundane chore completed.  She started scrubbing the hood.

“Yeeeeaaaahhhh…  That’s right.  Niiiiicccceeee annndd sllllooooowwwwww…” The same voice cooed out, this time, it sounded like it was underneath the car.

Rapidly, Ashleigh dropped to her knees and looked under.  And of course, she saw a dark-haired man with dark eyes and the smile of a joker.

“JONATHAN!”  She screeched as Jon started laughing hysterically.  She huffed, insulted by his prank and stood with her arms crossed defensively across her chest as he rolled out from under the Jeep, still laughing his head off.

“You actually…” Jon bent over, his hands grabbing his knees, still laughing uncontrollably.  “You ACTUALLY FELL FOR THAT!?!!!” The tall man stumbled forward, his hand holding onto Ashleigh’s shoulder as he tried to control himself.

“Asshole.”  Ashleigh vehemently murmured as she violently shrugged her boyfriend’s hand off her shoulder, turning her nose up at him.

He calmed down a bit and stared at her revealing back in a mix of lust and confusion.  He reached out a hand and weaved a golden tress of her hair around his long finger

“Come on, Ash, I was just havin’ fun.”  Jon grinned charmingly, letting loose of her hair and curling her into his arms, but frowned at her stiffness and her elbow threatening to inflict harm to his stomach.

She spun around in his arms, her blue-green eyes narrowed as she jabbed a finger into his chest.

“Ah thought Ah was goin’ CRAZY!!!!” She hollered, her index finger still pointing his chest as she looked up and glared at Jon, who smiled enchantingly.

Jon leant in to kiss her, but he stiffened slightly as he felt nothing from the blonde.  He broke the kiss and looked intensely into her pale eyes.

“Ashleigh, you can’t be serious!  I honestly was just messing around with you!”

Ashleigh still stared coolly at him, one eyebrow creeping up into the fringe of her blonde curls.  She stepped out of his loose embrace and pointed to the car.

“YA can wash the cars. An' mah motorbike.  THEN Ah’ll forgive yer lil’ prank.”

“Okie-Dokie, Boss!” Jon smiled and saluted her, then took her spot in front of his jeep.  Jon smirked as his knock-out girlfriend turned and walked towards the house, her hips sashaying the whole time and a self-righteous smile on her full lips.

She swung open the back door and felt a rush of chilly air override her senses with euphoria.  She stepped inside and leant towards the wall.  

“Thank ya, Lord!”  She kicked the door shut with her foot, and then indulged herself with pouring a tall glass of iced tea.  She took a sip and her eyes rolled back with pleasure.  “This is Heaven.”

She grabbed a fashion magazine and her drink and curled herself up on the window seat.  She raised her glass to her lips and smiled as she watched her lover battle the tangles of the hose with little success.  He won the battle and started filling the bucket with water again.  He then resumed his deed, and Ashleigh suddenly had trouble drinking her tea or even breathing.

Jon was shirtless… and wet, with soapy, lemon-pine-scented water, but still wet…

Ashleigh’s magazine slipped from her hand and fell to the wood floor.  She lowered her glass on the table next to her and just watched the masterpiece strutting around in front of her.  She didn’t find the air conditioning seductive anymore.

She watched Jon for some time.  Each time that Jon would simply move, Ashleigh mentally trembled at the toned muscles of his body contracting and loosening.

“Mah Gawd, don't he have a fine ass!”  She blushed at her outburst but her tongue licked her lips.  God, she felt like she was a teenage girl again, but she didn’t care.  She rose from the window seat and dazedly walked out the back door again.

Jon had felt her eyes on him and looked towards the back of the car.  A cocky, sexy smirk curled on his lips as he saw his aroused girlfriend, standing at the back, her lips slightly parted.  He waved his hand at her, beckoning her to come.  She obeyed.  She looked up at him with squinted eyes until he stepped in front of her, effectively blocking out the annoying sun with his frame.  He curled an arm around her waist, his eyes gazing into her affected irises.

“Yeah?”  She shakily blew out, acting as if she hadn’t been drooling at Jon’s goodies.

“Yeah?”  Jon grinned sexily at her, his other hand dropping the hose and inching up her back.  

“Ummm…” She shivered at his touch as he traced her spine.  She smiled at him with confusion. “Yeah.”

“Okay then.” Jon grinned again and then gently crashed his lips into hers.  His hands picked her up and she flexibly curled her long legs around his waist, both losing their sense of rational thinking.  

‘Ah.’ Ashleigh thought as her fingers played with the short waves of his dark hair. She was HAPPY she complied with THIS.  

A couple of moments into the kiss, Jon began to become restless.  He carefully pressed the blonde woman onto the hood of the Jeep without thinking.  This resulted with Ashleigh crashing up into Jon’s chest a bit painfully and a screech of pain that rang in Jon’s ears.  

“WHAT? WHAT’S WRONG!?”  Jon exclaimed, stepping back to let his girlfriend stand.

“IT’S HAWT!”  Ashleigh screamed, angry at the stupid car.  “WE’RE OUT HERE IN 95 DEGREES WEATHER!!!!  METAL GETS HAWT!!!!!”  She hopped a bit, trying to rub her back to soothe the burning sensations.  She groaned angrily as she could only get her lower back.  She turned to Jon, who was trying to look sympathetic for her.  She threw her arms out to her sides.  “Forget this!  Ah’m goin' back inside!  YA can finish washin' yer damn car!  Ah’ll be inside!”  She tightly ordered as she stomped off.  Ashleigh had had enough for one day.

Jon watched her trek back inside the house, a small grin on his lips.  As soon as the door shut itself, he burst out laughing.  But in his moments of amusement, he leant back onto the hood of his jeep and yelped loudly as he scorched his arms.

“FUCK!”

“SERVES YA RIGHT, ASSHOLE!”  Ashleigh’s voice echoed from the open window.

Jon laughed again, shaking his head.  He resumed his work, wanting to finish as quickly as possible--- he had a girlfriend to ‘comfort’.