by Bromberg, K.
I manage a single laugh. “Yeah, I can see the sincerity oozing out of your pores.” I roll my eyes. “Your compassion is just overwhelming.”
She purses her lips. “Us girls have to look out for one another.”
Now I really laugh. What a bitch! “Yeah, I’m sure you have my back!” With a knife pointing into it. “I appreciate the heads up, but I’m a big girl, Tawny. I can take care of myself just fine.”
She throws her head back and laughs loudly before eying me up and down again, a look of disdain on her face. “Oh, he is going to eat you alive and then spit you out, and I am so going to enjoy watching it!”
I see Colton complete his last lap and swing the car into the pits to the right of us. The boys will come looking for me any moment to go down and see the car, and frankly, I’ve had enough of Tawny’s little “let me put you in your place” speech. I’ve tried to take the high road. I’ve tried to not be the catty bitch she’s being. But enough’s enough.
I take one step closer to her, my voice a spiteful whisper. “You better get used to watching, Tawny, because that’s all you’ll be doing. When he cries out a name, it’ll be mine, sweetheart.” The corners of my mouth turn up, my voice implacable. “Not yours.”
“That’s what they’ve all thought!” She snorts derisively.
How I’d love to throttle her right now. Wipe that sarcastic smirk off her face and show her she has no clue what she’s talking about. But I can’t. In the end, she may be right. And that kills me. Reminds me I need to keep my guard up. I give her the same, slow appraisal that she’s given me, and I shake my head in disinterest. “This conversation has been stimulating, Tawny, but I’m going to go spend time with people that are worth my breath.”
I rush down the stairs quickly, wanting to make sure that I get the last word in. At the bottom of the stairs, I walk toward where I can hear the engine of Colton’s car. As I turn the corner, I see my boys following Davis down to the garage area of the speedway. I hurry to catch up, trying to let the anger and irritation from Tawny’s words dissipate.
I shrug it off and tell myself that she’s just a catty bitch trying to hold on to something that’s not hers. A drop-dead-gorgeous catty bitch, but a catty bitch nonetheless. I think the combination of her being his type and my fear that there is some truth to her words, keeps the anger running through my system.
I catch up to the group as we approach the garage where Colton’s crew has set up. The purr of the engine stops, and I see Colton hand the now-detached steering wheel to a crewmember before slowly pushing himself up from his seat. He lifts one leg over the side and then the other to stand on the ground. He takes a moment to settle on his legs before removing his helmet and the white fireproof balaclava from his face. He accepts the Gatorade that someone hands him and takes a long pull on it before running a hand back and forth through his sweat-soaked hair. Colton gives the man who approaches him a huge grin, and it takes me a moment to place him. He is the rakish gentleman who was at the Merit Rum party with him.
I stand back with the boys away from the flurry of activity in the garage. Several people are talking to Colton, who is motioning with his hands to demonstrate what he is saying. Other crewmembers are tending to the car, using instruments to measure things. Colton is completely in his element. It’s not hard to sense his enthusiasm and respect for his sport.
His smile is wide and authentic, and I feel a pang in my heart when I see it. If he is this passionate about the sport that he obviously loves, I can’t help but wonder what he’ll be like when he finally accepts love from someone. My heart twists at the thought that it won’t be me. I push the thought from my head, but it stays at the edge of my mind as I watch him.
The flurry dies down as several of the people who Colton is speaking to back off and attend to the engine in the back of the car. Now Colton is just speaking to the man from the club, and I observe an easy camaraderie between the two.
Davis motions for the boys to enter the garage, and they quietly follow in line, trying to stay out of the way. I remain rooted, choosing to watch from afar. Colton notices them and looks up from his conversation, giving the boys a wide smile. He waits until they approach before speaking. “So what did you think, guys?”
All of them shout out words at once ranging from “awesome” to “cool” to “unbelievable.” He unzips his fire suit and pulls his arms out of the sleeves, letting them fall and hang below his waist. His shirt, darkened with sweat, clings to the defined muscles of his chest. The sight of him, sexy as hell, pulls at every part of me.
“I’m so glad you guys liked it! Now, this here,” he says, putting his arm around the man from the club, “is one of the most important people out here. More important than me,” he kids. “None of this...” he gestures to the garage around them “...would run so smoothly if it weren’t for him. This is Beckett Daniels, my crew chief.”
The boys say hello to him and he smiles back at them. Ricky throws out a question and Beckett smiles broadly, motioning the boys over to the car to look at something. Colton stays where he is and watches the boys follow. He rolls his shoulders and takes another long drink before looking up and around the garage. I feel that sudden crackle of electricity when his eyes meet mine, and that slow lazy grin turns up the corners of his mouth, his dimple deepening. He looks like sex: hot, sweaty, disheveled, and mouthwateringly irresistible. He looks back at Beckett to make sure that things are okay before sauntering over to me.
“Well, hello there.” I can’t help the smile that forms on my lips when I speak to him.
“Still think I’m faking it?”
“No.” I laugh as he stops in front of me.
“Well, as long as you’re not, then I’m doing my job correctly,” he quips, reaching out a hand to tug on a curl.
I shake my head at him with a soft smile before taking a deep breath. Faking it is definitely not a necessity when it comes to Colton in the bedroom. We stare at each other, the activity of the garage buzzing around us, as we become entranced by one another.
“You looked good out there, Ace,” I finally manage to say, breaking our silence.
He takes another drink of his Gatorade. “You know nothing about racing, do you?” He laughs as I shake my head, laughing with him. “Didn’t think so, but thanks for the compliment.”
“But I have watched it with my brother before, and the boys obviously were Googling all about it to make sure they knew as much as possible.” I shrug, glancing over his shoulder to check on the kids. “So, Wood, huh?”
He smiles shyly at me. “It’s not what you’re thinking. It’s an old nickname.” I raise my eyebrows at him, amused. “When I first started racing, someone called me Hollywood. The name stuck. Has been shortened to Wood over time. Anyone who calls me that has been around a long time.” He looks back at Beckett for a beat. “Is someone I trust.”
“Don’t let the press get a hold of that or they’ll have a field day with it.”
“Believe me, I know.” He laughs.
We both turn our heads as Shane’s laughter fills the garage. Beckett has his arm around his shoulder and is laughing with him while Davis is lifting Ricky into the seat of the car to sit for a picture. “Thank you so much, Colton. For making them feel special for a day.” He turns from watching the boys to look back at me. “For everything. I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to the boys.”
A dark look flashes across his face. “It’s not a big deal.” He shrugs it off, picking at the label on the Gatorade bottle. “I understand that need more than most.” He shifts his attention back to the boys who are each getting their chance to sit in the car and get their picture taken. We watch them for a few moments, Colton taking his hat off of his head and running his hands through his hair. I watch him out of the corner of my eye as he looks at his watch and then turns his attention back to the boys.
Tawny’s words ring in my ears. Two months, tops. What if she’s right? Even if whatever we have lasts three o
r four months, I know it won’t be enough. I don’t think any amount of time will be enough to love someone like Colton. He is one of those guys who consumes every part of you. Makes you whole when you never thought you were incomplete. Gives you strength and makes you weak all at the same time. I know I am capable of loving him like that—like he deserves—but I know I will never get the chance. Tawny may be a catty bitch, but she knows him way better than I do. Between her words, Colton’s own admissions, my research, and my intuition, I know that I will end up being destroyed if I allow myself to fall in love with Colton. And I can’t allow that to happen. The rise might be more than fun, but the devastation after the fall will break me.
Colton breaks through my thoughts. “We have a meeting in ten minutes,” he says, turning to look at me. “Can you stay and then I’ll drive you home when it’s over?”
I twist the ring I’d put back on this morning—a source of comfort to me. I desperately want to say yes. “It’s probably not a good idea, Colton,” I shake my head, avoiding his gaze.
“For who?” he says, turning and taking a step closer to me. His scent envelops me—the outdoorsy, clean scent of his cologne mixed with the scent of a man who has put in a hard day’s work.
I eye him warily, trying to keep him at an emotional distance. “For both of us, Colton. You said so yourself the other night.” He takes a step closer to me and I can feel my pulse surge.
“But maybe I think something different today …”
I sigh deeply, telling myself that nothing’s changed since Saturday night. He is who he is, and he’s not going to change. That a few days away from each other has just made him horny, and he wants some relief. That’s all this is. I push his last comment out of my head and try to carry on like he never said it. “Besides, I have to get the boys home. They’re my responsibility.”
He takes another step toward me, and I put my hands up on his chest to prevent him from getting any closer. I don’t think I’d be able to bear the feeling of his body pressed against mine. My hands pressing against the firm muscles of his chest makes it hard enough for me to resist him as it is.
Colton takes a hand and lifts my chin up. “What’s wrong, Ry?” His eyes search mine, trying to understand my hesitancy. How can he understand why his idea of a relationship is unacceptable to me? How do I explain that him pushing me away one minute and then kissing me senseless the next is making me question what I might concede in order to have him in my life?
“You,” I whisper.
“Me?” he mouths.
“You confuse me at every turn, Colton.” I shake my head softly and despite telling myself that touching him will only make walking away that much harder, I lift my finger and trace the hem of the neckline on his damp shirt. “One minute you tell me you can’t stay away and the next you tell me you have to keep me at arm’s length because you’re going to hurt me. On Saturday you told me whatever is between us will never work unless I agree to your terms and then today you kiss me breathless.” I step back from him and look over at the boys getting a tour of the garage, to avoid meeting his gaze. “I can’t give you what you want and you can’t give me what I need. That’s all I know. All I understand, Colton.”
He steps toward me again and tugs on my ponytail, forcing my head to lift and my eyes to meet his. And despite the chaos around us—the boys laughter, the clang of metal on metal, the sound of an air compressor in the distance—when his eyes hold mine, it all disappears. It’s just he and I. A guy way too irresistible for his own good and a girl in way over her head.
“As much as I keep telling myself that this needs to be—should be—over, Rylee, for both our sakes … I still want you.” He cups the side of my face with his free hand and traces the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. “Desperately,” he whispers. His words resonate in my heart. “I think about how soft your skin is. The feeling of your body against mine. Of it under mine. How you tighten around me when I’m buried in you …” His words, mixed with the intensity in his eyes, leave me breathless. Has my body vibrating with a deep-seated need for him that I’m not sure will ever be sated. “Christ, Rylee, it … you … are consuming me.” He leans in and brushes a soft, brief kiss on my lips. The innocence and vulnerability behind it beguiles me. “And I intend to have you again.”
I breathe in a sharp, audible gasp. I step back from him, holding his gaze for a second longer, before looking around the garage to check on the boys. I notice more people have joined us since we started talking. I notice a perplexed look pass between Beckett and Quinlan. I see Davis rounding the boys up, and I know our time here is ending.
“I’m sure you’ll feel that way until you find someone else who fits your requirements,” I quip, fearing my words speak the truth. I turn back to Colton, still trying to recover from the impact of his confession and yet needing to show him that I have some self-control when it comes to him. “Why waste your time on me when you can have any other girl willing to give you exactly what you want?”
“But. I. Want. You. Rylee. No. One. Else.” He smirks.
The man is relentless, but I still think he’s after the challenge when it comes to me. I shake my head. “You have a habit of telling me what you want, Ace, without asking me what I want.”
Colton takes the baseball hat in his hands and tugs it down over my head, a Cheshire cat grin spreading across his face and a sinful gleam in his eyes. “Oh, sweetheart...” he emits a low rumbling chuckle as he takes two steps back from me “...I know exactly what you want.” He holds his hand up to motion to Beckett that he’s coming when his name is called. His grin widens into one of the wickedest and most carnal smiles I have ever seen. My core coils and I tense to stifle my desire. “And I have just the right tools to give it to you.” And with those parting words, he turns on his heel and walks over to Beckett, his laughter reverberating in the garage. Beckett eyes him up and down, a bemused look on his face as Colton says goodbye to the boys.
When Colton finishes, he turns back toward me and smirks. “All consuming experience!”
He laughs at my confused expression. “What?”
“What it stands for.” He grins and I finally get it. He’s still guessing what Ace means.
“Nope,” I say, fighting the smile that tugs at the corners of my mouth.
He takes a step backwards, biting his bottom lip in concentration. I can see the minute he thinks of another one as his eyes light up, the corners around them crinkling. “The amazing Colton experience,” he shouts over to me, garnering an eye roll from Beckett.
“Oh geez!” I laugh at his lack of humility and mimic Beckett with an eye roll of my own. “Nope,” I yell back, suppressing a laugh.
Colton takes another step backwards, his face filled with humor, and shakes his head at me. “Later, Ryles.”
“Later, Ace,” I mutter, begrudgingly accepting the fact that in so many ways Colton is right. That no matter how intelligent I am or how rational I try to be, his pull on me is just too strong.
I tug his hat down on my head, adjusting my now-wrecked ponytail, and watch him throw a playful arm around Beckett’s shoulder as they walk down the pathway. I shake my head, overwhelmed by the day’s events, and head over to collect my excited but very tired boys for the long ride home.
“CHECK IT OUT!” DANE THROWS a newspaper proof onto my desk as he walks by my office at Corporate Cares. “Your cleavage is going to be in the newspaper and we’re going to get some good press.”
I whip my head up to look at him, confused, before glancing down at the paper. On the lower half of the cover of the sports section is a side-by-side picture of our outing at the track and the accompanying article. The picture on the left is a picture of Colton’s car with all of the boys kneeling in front of it with Colton in the middle. The picture to the right is a close up of Zander, Ricky, and myself. I am in between the two, and unfortunately, the way my arms are positioned, my cleavage is on display in the V of my snug T-shirt. “Lovely! Oh my God, that’s e
mbarrassing!”
“C’mon, Ry, you look hot. And the girls look great!”
I throw my pencil at him, laughing. “When does this go to print? Can we ask him to change the picture?”
“Yeah, right! You know they picked it so that the guys that open up the sports page will read the article and not flip past it.” I roll my eyes, feeling the flush of embarrassment creep into my cheeks. “Just think of it as taking one for the team—”
“What?”
“It’s a really good article that’s going to give us good press.” He laughs out loud. “Hell, if I was into playing for your team, I’d keep the picture for late night fun!”
“Oh, shut up!” I shout at him, unable to keep my laughter from bubbling up.
“C’mon, Ry—read it. You’re gonna like what it says.”
“Really?” I raise an eyebrow as I skim through it, pleased with what I see.
“Seriously. It is,” he tells me, taking a seat in front of my desk. “A lot of good info about The House and about corporate and the new facilities.”
“When’s it running?”
“This Sunday, and the OC Register most likely will run then too, but I haven’t seen their proof yet.”
“Hmmm, not bad.” I set it down on the side of my desk where I can read it more thoroughly later.
“How was your interview?” he asks, referring to the one good candidate I had for the open counselor position. I interviewed her earlier in the day and was quite impressed.
“She was actually really good. Almost too good to be true really, but her references check out, and I think I’m going to make her an offer. I think the boys will really take to her. I’ll need you to help me train her but—” The ringing of my cell phone interrupts me. I glance down to see who is calling. “It’s Teddy,” I tell him.
Dane rises from the chair and mouths he’ll come back later as I answer. “Hey, Teddy!”