Fast Lane (Consumed by Love Book 1)

by Lizzie Hart Stevens

  He catches it and says, “Because we just detailed the bitch like four days ago, Fucker,” taunting me with the same tone I just used. “There isn’t even any road dust on it yet. So, who’s the broad?”

  Damn it. I can’t get anything by him. I blow out a forced breath and run my hand through my hair. “Just some chick I ran into twice today. She’s hot and a little sassy, and she handles getting a tattoo better than some grown men I’ve seen. I invited her and her friend out to the race tonight. I just don’t want to look like a total loser, that’s all.” I take a few swigs from my beer and pop open the hood of my 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. She’s Bacardi Hurricane Blue and goes zero to sixty in three point five seconds.

  I set my beer down on the work bench and start cleaning the Hellcat while Derek makes sure everything is good to go under the hood.

  Derek grabs an oil rag, wipes his hands clean, and sits down on the porch to finish his beer. I head over to join him. Sitting down in the chair, I finish what little bit was left of my beer and notice music coming from across the street from a black 2014 Shelby GT500. Whoever this chick is, she doesn’t sing half bad.

  I nod my head toward the house across the street. “Who’s the hot piece hanging out of the Shelby and singing like nobody’s listening? I haven’t noticed her over there before,” I say to Derek, eyeing up the view of some chick’s ass as she wipes down the seats of her car.

  “Ah, that’s just Lexi, my neighbor. She works a lot, so she’s usually not home when you’re here,” Derek answers.

  I start to nod my head in acknowledgment, but then his words finally sink in. “Did you just say her name is Lexi?” I don’t take my eyes off of her.

  “Yeah, man, why?” Derek asks, looking puzzled. And then I see her silky red hair as she steps back out of the car, continuing to shake her ass and sing along to Mötley Crüe as she gathers up her cleaning supplies.

  Must’ve been a good day to clean a car.

  My heart starts racing about as fast as my Hellcat. This girl does things to me that I haven’t felt in a really long time, and that scares the living shit out of me. But I can’t stay away. Running into a person three times in one day can’t be a coincidence. I’m starting to believe the higher powers of this universe are trying to tell me something. Who am I to ignore that?

  I set my empty bottle down on the porch railing. Eyes still focused across the street. Fuck, if Lexi keeps shaking her ass like that…

  “Earth to Coen! You wanna come back from outer space, dude? What’s the big deal about Lexi? You act like you haven’t seen a hot little inked up redhead with a nice ass before.” Derek breaks through my dirty thoughts. I stand up and adjust my semi-hard cock through my jeans. Down boy. Save it for later.

  “Man, that’s the chick I was telling you about. I’m gonna go talk to her. Thanks for your help again with the car, bro,” I say, gripping Derek’s shoulder. “I’ll meet you at the race later.”

  “No prob, Romeo. I’m going in to get showered and have something eat. See ya later.”

  Derek heads inside his house and I start walking across the street to Lexi’s place. It looks like she’s about to go inside. The music has stopped, and she’s sitting in the driver’s seat with the door open and one leg outside the car. Just as I approach the end of her driveway, “Come with Me Now” by the Kongos starts blasting through the Shelby’s speakers.

  I clear my throat to make my presence known. “Nice ride you got here, Legs.”

  Lexi yelps like someone just pinched her ass.

  I’d love to do more than pinch it.

  “What the fuck? You really are a fucking stalker aren’t you?”

  “Sorry, sweetness, didn’t mean to scare you. And to answer your question, no, I’m not. Believe it or not, my buddy Derek lives across the street. He was helping me tune and clean up my car. I was getting ready to leave when I noticed you over here, singing and swaying that sexy ass of yours, so I figured I would come say hello.”

  She stands up and looks up at me with those big brown eyes. I can’t help but wonder what’s going through her head. I can’t tell if she wants to kick me in the balls or suck me off. I hope it’s the latter.

  “For one, Coen, I told you my name is Lexi, so you can stop it with the pet names. I’m not your girl, nor do I have any desire to be. And two, you didn’t scare me. You just caught me off guard a little.”

  “I’m not a bad guy, Lex. Is it really so wrong that I’m interested in you?” I stare down into her eyes and slowly bring my hand up to cup her face. Her breathing hitches, and she gradually drags her top teeth across her bottom lip. She may say she isn’t interested, but her body is giving away all of her secrets. “We’ve managed to end up in the same place three different times today. I don’t know about you, Lexi, but I don’t really believe in coincidences.” I nod my head toward her car. “Mind if I take a look? My old man used to have a Shelby.”

  She steps aside and folds her arms in front of her. “Have at ‘er.”

  I sit down in the driver’s seat and pretend like I’m checking out her stereo system and interior. What I’m really doing is trying to buy more time. Time to convince her that she needs to give me a chance. I notice a neon green spot next to the handle on the passenger door.

  “Hey, Lex, what’s this green spot over here?”

  “Brea was painting her freakin’ toe nails on the way home earlier, she must’ve got some on the door.” She ducks in the door and leans over to get a better look. “I didn’t notice it until you just pointed it out. I’ll get it later.” Her foot slips on a rock, and she falls into the car and across my lap. “Ugh! Sorry, my foot slipped,” she says, turning over so that she’s now sitting on my lap. Without hesitation, I brush a strand of hair from in front of her face, letting my hand rest on her cheek. Softly, I brush my thumb across her lips and look into her eyes again. God, I’ve never seen brown eyes so beautiful.

  “You wouldn’t ever have a reason to say you’re sorry while sitting on me, Lexi. I would make damn sure of that.”

  “Coen.” She wets her lips with her tongue.

  I can’t hold back any more. I crush my mouth against hers and kiss her like I’ve been waiting for this moment for years. She’s kissing me back just the same. She wants this as much as I do, whether she believes it or not. I reach down and ease the seat back so that there’s more room between me and the steering wheel. Then I grab her by the waist and reposition her so that she’s straddling me.

  “Coen.”

  “Don’t talk, Lexi,” I pant. “We’ll talk later. I’ve been dying to do this all day.”

  I cup her face in my hands and pull her back into a slow, passionate, soft kiss. Gently, I part her lips with my tongue while slowly sliding my hand up her thigh and teasingly brushing my fingertips under the seam of her shorts. I’m as hard as a fucking rock now. She must know it, too. She lifts herself up, never breaking our kiss, and positions herself so that her pussy is right on top of my thick, hard, throbbing shaft, and teasingly gyrates her hips.

  Things are getting hot in here really fast. I don’t know what it is about this girl, but she sets every inch of me on fire. My balls ache like I’m going to explode, right here, right now. It’s like the rest of the world has ceased to exist.

  My pocket suddenly starts singing the chorus of “She’s Got Issues” by The Offspring. Lexi pulls away from me with a jerk. She rolls her eyes.

  “Interesting choice of ringtone.” She climbs off my lap, out of the car, and goes to lean up against the front fender with her arms crossed over her chest. Damn it! I look at the caller ID. I better answer this and deal with Lexi after. I speak quietly so Lexi can’t hear. If she finds out about my family drama she’ll really not want anything to do with me.

  “Hello, Aunt Sarah. What do you need?” I ask hesitantly.

  “Coen, darling, what makes you think I need something? Can’t an Auntie just call to check up on her favorite nephew? I haven’t heard from you in ages.” s
he says dryly. Her voice resembles Cruella de Vil, as does her demeanor. Aunt Sarah had to raise me ever since I was eight years old. She never thought that day she agreed to babysit she’d be stuck with me forever. Neither of us did.

  “Sure. I guess. But I just spoke with you last week, and you never call just because. So what do you want?” I ask again, not impressed that I have to deal with this today. Especially now. Perfect fucking timing Aunt Sarah. As always.

  “Well dear, since you asked, I need you to come over and put a bookshelf together that I bought today.”

  I let out a deep sigh of frustration. Just what I want to do this weekend. Put up with Queen Sarah’s bullshit and demands. I’m sure she’ll be standing over me the entire time telling me everything I’m doing wrong. Nothing I ever do is right her eyes. All I am to her is a fuck up. A burden. A slave to her every beck and call.

  Lexi moves away from the car and goes to sit on her front porch. She looks disconcerted. God only knows what is going through her head right now. I need to get off the phone and figure this shit out. I need a clear head going into the race tonight. “Fine. I’ll be over tomorrow morning.”

  “Make sure you are here before noon, Coen. I can’t have a brawny, tattooed….person,” she hesitates, trying not to use the word ‘freak’, “hanging around my house when my book club friends show up. You’ll scare them all half to death. Ta ta!” The other end goes silent. She got what she wanted, so she hung up without waiting for my reply.

  “Fuck you too, you evil wench.” I shove my phone back in my pocket and lay my head back against the headrest for a brief moment to gather my thoughts before I approach Lexi.

  WHAT WAS I THINKING letting Coen kiss me like that? I only just met him today. Who does that? So much for swearing off men for a while. So much for having self control. So much for not letting Coen know he’s getting to me. Way to show him you aren’t interested, Lexi. Kiss him like you’re starving to death and grind on his cock like a stripper. I’m not this girl. I don’t move this fast. This isn’t normal. My head is spinning. Not only from that insanely hot make out session in my car, but from all the questions circulating through my head right now. This immensely hot, tall, muscular, tattooed guy shows up, not just once, but three times in one day, and sweeps me off my feet faster than I can blink. This is the kind of shit that happens in those cheesy ass romance novels.

  And what is with that ringtone? It has to be a woman on the other end. That would only make sense, right? It’s probably his wife, or his ex wife, or his baby mama, and I’m just his “flavor of the day”.

  Maybe I’m over thinking it. I mean this is a crazy, once in a lifetime thing. There’s no chance in hell that a guy this beautiful is ever going to pay me this kind of attention again. But can I really trust him? Who the hell was that on the phone?

  I snap out of my daze when I hear Coen’s boots on the cement getting closer to me.

  I don’t hesitate. I have to know, before this goes any further. “Who was that on the phone?”

  “It’s not what you’re thinking, Lexi. It was my aunt.” Coen has his hands resting in the back pockets of his jeans.

  “That isn’t a very loving ring tone for an aunt,” I say raising an eyebrow.

  Coen sighs. “Yeah, well, she’s not exactly the loving type, unless designer bags and shoes count. That’s all she loves.” He rolls his eyes.

  I’m not really sure what to say next. I don’t even know this guy. I know his name. I know that he has an amazingly sexy body that’s covered in gorgeous tattoos, especially that neck. My God, that neck drives me crazy! I know that he really seems interested, but I need to be sure I can trust him before I let him in my life at all. I can’t handle the stress and anxiety of having to put up with someone like Patrick again.

  I wonder why he seems to hate his aunt so much. I decide not to pry.

  “Look, Lex, I’ll understand if you don’t show up to the race tonight,” Coen says as he turns his back to me and leans over to rest his arms on the railing. “I don’t know what came over me today. There’s just something I can’t quite put my finger on. I feel drawn to you.” I can’t see his face, but he lets his head fall to his chest and takes a deep breath.

  “Coen, what race are you talking about?” I ask, confused. “And don’t worry about the kiss. It was nice,” I say. Maybe “nice” wasn’t the best choice. It was definitely a lot hotter than nice.

  Faster than I can blink, Coen grabs me by the waist and pulls me tight against him. His lips are so close, but not touching, and he’s gazing into my eyes so deeply I fear he can see my soul. God, he smells so good.

  “The quarter mile tonight. There’s a race.” He winks. “And as for the “nice” kiss, next time you’ll be seeing stars, Princess.” He slowly runs his tongue up my neck, nips at my earlobe, and grinds his hard cock against my waist. Our breath is ragged. Part of me wants him to just pick me up over his shoulder, carry me inside, and fuck me until I can’t walk. But another part of me says this is insane, and we need to slow the hell down.

  He stares into my eyes for a few moments longer, and lets me go. “I have to run, but I do hope I’ll see you later tonight, Lexi.” He’s back to looking serious again. What is his deal? Coen starts down the front porch steps to leave.

  “Hey, Stalker.” He stops at the sound of my voice, and turns to look at me with that sexy smirk on his face.

  “Yeah, Sweet Cheeks?”

  I drag my teeth across my bottom lip. “I’ll see you in a couple hours.” Coen winks and continues back over to Derek’s. I go inside and peek out the blinds. While I wait for Coen to leave, I give Brea a quick call.

  “Hey, Chick!” she answers.

  “Hey, Brea. I can’t talk long, but what the hell was up with you at the tattoo shop earlier? Did Coen say something to you?”

  Brea’s quiet for a minute, which makes me even more suspicious. “He caught me while I was on my way to the bathroom and asked if I would give him a few minutes alone to talk to you. He’s seriously got the hots for you, Lex. I really think you should give him a chance,” Brea says.

  “I think I just might. I’ll explain later.” I hear Coen start his car. Now’s my chance. I hope this doesn’t backfire. “Meet me at the quarter mile at eight. You aren’t going to want to miss this.”

  “What are you up to?” Brea’s on to me.

  “Gotta go. See you at eight!” I hang up without giving her a chance to ask me again. I know she’ll try to talk me out of it.

  Once I’m sure Coen is gone, I head over to Derek’s. This day has been a whirlwind of emotions and crazy coincidences, so I figure maybe Coen’s right. Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something. I must be absolutely insane to allow a man to get close to me so soon after breaking up with Patrick. But something about Coen just feels right.

  I’ve been into drag racing for as long as I can remember, but I haven’t been in years. I’ve been known to race show-offs at a stop light on occasion, though. My Shelby can definitely hold her own.

  I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and knock on Derek’s door. I must look like a mess after cleaning my car in this heat. I’m sure the heavy make-out session with Coen didn’t help, either. I hear him yelling from inside,

  “What did you forget assho—” He opens the door in a pair of shorts, still dripping wet from the shower. “Oh, hi Lexi. I thought you were Coen.”

  “It’s all good. I’m hoping I can cash in that favor you owe me. I was wondering if you have a contact for the organizer of the race tonight?” I ask, biting the inside of my cheek. Crap. I’m picking up Brea’s habit.

  “Uh, yeah, Lex. You’re lookin’ at him. Why do you ask? What can I help you with? Do you need directions?” Derek looks puzzled.

  “No, actually I was wondering if you could pair me against Coen.” I raise my eyebrows slowly and give him a nervous smile.

  Derek laughs. “Are you serious, Lexi? He’ll smoke your ass in the Hellcat.” He stops laughing when he rea
lizes by the blank look on my face now that I’m dead serious.

  “I can give him a good run, Derek.”

  “Average buy in is $500, Lexi. Can you do that?” He looks doubtful.

  “How about $250? You know, since it’s my first race and all?” I ask.

  He lets out a deep breath. “Coen will be pissed, but I’ll let you run, Lexi. But only this one time, okay? You want to race after that, you’ll have to pay the regular buy in, just like everyone else. And don’t tell anyone I let it slide. It’ll be bad for my rep.” He gives me a “don’t let me regret this” look. “I saw the way he was looking at you earlier, Lex. That’s the only reason I’m letting this happen. Just don’t…” He stops talking. It’s like he isn’t sure if he should say was he was about to or not, but then he continues. I can see the worry in his face. “Just don’t break his heart, Lexi. He may look like a badass on the outside, but inside, he has his heart under lock and key. If he gives you that key, know that you have something rare.”

  Unsure of how to respond to that, I thank Derek and run back home to shower and get ready.

  I’m sitting in my car, parked behind one of the empty warehouses along the quarter mile. I’ve put almost my entire inheritance into buying this car and making sure it’s something my dad would have been proud of. Now I’m about to find out if all the hard work has paid off. If I can at least keep up with Coen’s Hellcat, I’ll be happy.

  Derek said he would send me a text once Coen is in position. I brace my hands on the steering wheel and push myself against the seat, taking in a deep breath. I relax my body. His car will most likely leave mine in the dust, but if I want to have any chance of not making myself look like a complete idiot, I need to stay relaxed and focused.

  I reach down and scroll through the songs on my iPod. There’s nothing quite like the perfect song to get your blood pumping. I stop scrolling when I get to “Everlong” by the Foo Fighters. I don’t know if it’s the lyrics or the wicked drum beats, but this song has always given me the feeling of wanting to put the pedal to the floor and not look back.