Inside, he retrieved a menu and handed it to Nora. Thankfully the menu was big and Nora said there were plenty of choices for her and Ben. The hostess escorted them to a table in the side room where AJ was waiting.
Davey signed a couple of autographs along the way. Right before they were seated an attractive red-head asked if she could get a picture taken with him. As he agreed, Ben bounced to his side.
“I wanna be in the picture too,” Ben whined.
He ruffled Ben’s hair. “Sure, buddy,” he said, making the red-head frown.
Pulling Ben to his side, he gave the red-head a half apologetic, half it’s-this-or-nothing look. “He’s my boy.”
After the picture, Ben raced over to greet AJ and Nora sidled up to Davey. “Thank you,” she said, and then kissed him on the cheek.
Davey linked his arm with Nora’s. If that’s all it took to make her happy, he was gonna take a hell of a lot more pictures with Ben in the future.
They greeted AJ, then took seats at the round table.
“We volunteered at a horse place,” Ben told AJ. “It was awesome.”
Davey laughed. Sure, it had been awesome for Ben. He’d gotten a day off school to mostly play in the hay.
A waitress arrived and took their drink order.
After she left, AJ raised a brow in Davey’s direction. “You got community service or something?”
He lifted his hand to flip AJ off—not to be an asshole but because that’s how they communicated—but Ben’s noisy humming caught Davey’s attention. He needed to set the right example for his son.
“No,” Davey said, lowering his hand. “They needed help.” He slid his gaze to Nora. “And it was important to her.”
Grinning, AJ nudged Nora. “Feel the power, baby. His idea of volunteering is to write a check.”
Once again, Davey had a strong urge to flip AJ off, but Nora gave him a sweet, appreciative look that dissolved it. Still, his friend didn’t do any better when it came to volunteering.
After the waitress dropped off their drinks, Davey flicked a look at AJ. “Pot, kettle.”
AJ’s grin widened. “Yeah, but I don’t have a hot mama that I’m trying to impress.”
“Hot mama,” Ben parroted. “Hot mama,” he said again, articulating the words in an exaggerated southern drawl that was similar to AJ’s.
Nora elbowed AJ. “Behave,” she said, but her lashes fluttered and her lips tilted upward. Davey shook his head. Nora seemed to be fond of his butt-head friend.
“I got the day off of school,” Ben said.
“Cool.” AJ blew his straw wrapper across the table at Ben. “I wasn’t the best student when I was in school.”
Ben scrunched his nose. “It’s not really my thing either.”
“You do well,” Nora put in.
Ben shrugged.
“What’s your favorite subject?” AJ asked.
“I dunno, maybe social studies.”
Davey grinned. “I think mine was recess.”
“Ooh!” Ben raised his hand in the air. “Can I change my answer? I like recess best too.”
Nora shook her head.
The waitress returned with Nora’s glass of vegan wine and took their order.
Nora ordered the pasta primavera, Ben a veggie burger with extra fries. AJ ordered the twenty-two-ounce Porterhouse steak. When the waitress looked at Davey, he was still hemming and hawing.
His go to was a big juicy steak and he was going to have to watch AJ eat his big juicy steak. But as he opened his mouth to order it, an image of the cow from Horse Haven appeared in his head. Remembering Nora’s gentle, loving way with the cow, he clamped his mouth shut. “I’ll take the swordfish,” he eventually said.
AJ gaped at him. “Since when do you eat fish?”
Davey leveled a look at his friend. “I love swordfish,” he said, even though he’d never eaten it in his life. Unless he counted fish sticks, although he wasn’t entirely sure they were actually fish.
As AJ smirked, Nora beamed at Davey. He reached for her hand under the table. He didn’t care about his friend’s ribbing because he had made Nora smile. She traced little hearts on the top of his hand, making him extra glad he’d ordered the fish.
“How’s your car running?” AJ asked.
He and AJ talked shop for a few minutes until salads were delivered.
“Did you always want to be a racer?” Nora asked AJ.
“Darlin’,” AJ said, pushing at his salad with a fork, “I popped out of my mama wanting to race.”
Nora laughed.
“How ‘bout you, Dad?” Ben asked. “Did you always want to race?”
“Nah, when I was younger I just wanted to work with Cruz building fast shit.” He winced at his use of the curse word and quickly corrected it. “Fast stuff, you know car engines, boat engines.”
Davey talked about a couple of the cars he and Cruz had transformed, then their entrees were delivered.
Ben stuffed a big bite of ‘burger’ into his mouth, then slid his gaze between Davey and AJ. “Which one of you is gonna win this season?”
“Me,” Davey and AJ answered in unison.
They all laughed.
“I’ll win if I can get my owner off my ass,” AJ said.
Before Ben could repeat the word, Davey leveled him a don’t-even-think-about-it look. When Ben snapped his mouth shut, Davey’s chest swelled with pride. Maybe he was finally getting this whole parent thing.
He took a few bites of the swordfish, which was pretty decent, then glanced at AJ. “Is he giving you a hard time again?”
A vein in AJ’s forehead twitched. “I got lectured about being a team player this season and—” he looked around, presumably to see if anyone was paying attention “—supporting our superstar in his quest for victory.”
“What does that mean?” Nora asked.
Davey leaned in close to her. “He’s asking AJ to run interference,” he whispered. “So his teammate—the chosen one—has a better chance of winning.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” she said, her voice indignant.
AJ’s jaw tightened. “It’s a bunch of BS.”
“Hopefully he’ll chill out when the season gets underway.” Davey popped a french fry into his mouth. “Our first race is a month from today. You two want to come?” he asked, shifting his gaze between Nora and Ben.
“Yeah!” Ben pumped his hand in the air.
“It’d be nice. I’ve never been to a race.” Nora toyed with a lock of hair. “But I’ll have to see if I can get the time off work.”
“I have an in with the owner.” Davey winked at Nora. “Cruz already talked Mom into coming and she wants you and Ben to come too.”
His statement garnered a smile from Nora. “Okay, let me see if I can swing it.”
“It’s on me,” he said. Of course he’d pay for her and Ben’s trip.
Nora gave him a look that said he was an idiot. “Some of us have bills to pay, like rent.”
“I’m paying for that now as a part of child support.” He had finally convinced Nora to accept the support last night, but only after showing her the papers his attorney had drafted. Obviously, she hadn’t read the fine details.
Nora shook her head. “You can’t pay for everything of mine.”
Davey rubbed his chin. “I have legal papers that indicate otherwise.”
AJ snickered, the bastard, probably thinking about the whole Deadbeat Dad fiasco. But some good had come from it, like Nora finally accepting his support.
“Come on, Aunt Nora,” Ben whined. “I wanna see Dad race.”
Ben’s plea won Nora over. Davey could see it in her eyes even before she opened her mouth. “Okay, but we can’t stay long because Ben has school.”
“I can miss school,” Ben said.
Nora shook her head, but before she could protest, Davey outlined his plan. “I’ll fly you in on Friday evening and home on Monday. That way Ben will only miss one day of school.”
&n
bsp; “I could miss more,” Ben grumbled.
“I guess one day wouldn’t hurt,” Nora said, playfully nudging Ben.
Nora’s agreement brought Davey a rush of relief, followed by a surge of joy. Then he remembered the sponsor commitments he’d agreed to earlier in the week and tipped his head toward Nora. “I’ll have to work with my team on Saturday morning and I have a few sponsor events I have to take care of in the afternoon.” He gave Nora a slow smile. “After that I’ll be all yours and Ben’s.”
“If your boyfriend doesn’t have time for yah,” AJ said, “I’m at your service.” He gave Nora a mock salute.
As Nora laughed, Davey kicked AJ under the table. “Asshole,” he mouthed the word so Ben wouldn’t hear.
Throughout the remainder of their meal, Davey’s excitement soared. He couldn’t have been more pleased that Ben, Nora, and his mother were all coming to his first race of the season. A deep sense of belonging unfurled in Davey, shocking the hell out of him.
He now had the family he’d never known he wanted.
Chapter Nineteen
A month later Davey flew Nora, Ben, Steph, Jamie, and Lucas to Daytona. Nora was looking forward to watching Davey race. Ben was even more excited. It was all he’d talked about over the last month.
After they arrived on Friday night, Nora and Davey hung out at the hotel playing video games with the boys while Jamie went out with AJ and a few of his buddies.
She enjoyed hanging out with Davey. She hadn’t seen much of him in January because he’d spent a lot of time in Charlotte getting ready for the season. She reflected on the comfortable routine the two of them had established over the last month. He’d called every night that he’d been away. He would talk with Ben first and then ask for her. They’d catch up with each other, sometimes talking for an hour. They would chat about anything and everything, even mundane things like a conversation she’d had with a customer at the bar or a minor adjustment Cruz had made to Davey’s car. It felt as though they’d deepened their relationship through their daily phone conversations.
She and Ben had spent time with Davey during his brief trips home, but she and Davey hadn’t gotten any alone time. They’d snuck in a forbidden kiss here and there but hadn’t had the opportunity for anything more. Nora found herself obsessively thinking about the night of passion they’d shared in Alabama. Despite her declaration that she could only give him one night, she desperately longed for more.
She wasn’t sure what to make of whatever was going on between her and Davey. Picking up her controller so she could get in on the NASCAR video game, she decided that instead of labeling it or stressing over it, she would follow the approach Pap and Steph had taught her. Live in the now.
The next morning, Jamie took the boys to the Xfinity race. Davey and Cruz left to meet with their team to prep for the next day’s race. Nora had a wonderful morning of leisure—sleeping in, jogging on the beach, then strolling around town with Steph. She wasn’t used to such luxuries—staying at a nice hotel, eating out, visiting a new town—but she had to admit she’d been enjoying it.
Back in her hotel room, she got ready to meet Davey and the rest of their group for dinner. She took the time to curl her hair and carefully apply her make-up so she would look extra nice. Jamie had already offered to keep the boys tonight. Lust pinged low in her belly as she thought about being alone with Davey.
At the last minute, she changed into the dress she’d purchased earlier in the day. Pale pink, it hugged her breasts, cinched her waist, and turned loose and flowy at the bottom. She topped it off with a jean jacket, silver jewelry, and strappy sandals. After one last peek in the mirror, she made her way downstairs to the hotel’s restaurant with nerves flitting in her belly.
She had been eagerly awaiting this opportunity. But now that the time approached, fears and doubts consumed her. She wanted to make love with Davey again but what if it wasn’t as good as it had been the first time? What if the first time had been good only because it had been their first time? What if she really wasn’t good at it? Davey had suggested that her and Matt’s issues had been his fault, but maybe luck had been on her side the last time.
Inside the restaurant, she spotted Davey sitting at the bar by himself. When he caught her eye, their gazes locked for a long, heated moment. Then Davey slid off his barstool and made his way over to her.
“Hel—” She didn’t get a single word out before Davey hauled her against him and devoured her lips. He kissed her long and hard, and quivers of delight danced though her. She was so lost in his kiss that she forgot they were in public until several bright flashes made her jerk back.
A reporter shoved a microphone in Davey’s face. “Is this your girlfriend?”
“What’s your name?” a second reporter asked, thrusting a microphone in front of her face.
“How you gonna do tomorrow?” the last one asked.
The nerves in Nora’s stomach intensified but Davey appeared to be calm and collected. He plastered on a charming smile, took her hand, then turned to the first reporter. “Yes, she’s my girlfriend.”
What? She wasn’t his girlfriend. She wanted to protest, but she didn’t want to do it in front of the reporters. She clutched his hand as he addressed the others.
“Her name is none of your business,” was his response to the second reporter, and “I’m gonna kick ass,” to the third. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we have dinner plans,” he said, and then led her into a private room in the back.
Steph and Cruz were already seated and sharing a bottle of wine.
After greeting them and ordering drinks, Nora pressed a hand to her belly. “That was…intense.” She didn’t know how Davey did it. She didn’t like being in the limelight, much less being put on the spot.
Davey lifted a shoulder. “You get used to it.”
“What happened?” Steph asked, glancing across the table at Nora.
Nora filled her friend in on the frenzy of reporters.
Steph gave her an empathetic look. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but it’s bound to happen when you date a NASCAR driver.” Steph beamed at her son, but her words only added to the flurry of anxiety in Nora’s stomach.
She and Davey were dating? He’d told the reporter that she was his girlfriend.
She turned to Davey. “What did you mean by the girlfriend comment?” she asked, taking care to lower her voice. Although why she had bothered was anyone’s guess. Steph and Cruz were seated directly across from them and Cruz’s soft chuckle indicated he had overheard. Even so, she kept her gaze locked on Davey.
“I call you every night.” He gently brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “I text you every day. We go out when I’m at home,” he said, feathering his fingers through her hair. “In between, I think about you a hell of a lot and I hope you think about me too.” He touched his forehead to hers. “I’m not sure what you call that, but I’m going with girlfriend.”
From across the table, Steph let out a squeal of delight, but it barely registered. Nora’s stunned mind was taking it in. They did talk and text every day. They did go out at every opportunity and she sure as hell thought about him a lot too.
“Come on, Nora,” he said, nuzzling his forehead against hers. “Be my girlfriend.”
Before she could answer, he touched his lips to hers. He lingered there, barely making contact. Sweet anticipation built up inside her, but she expected him to draw back because they had an audience. Apparently, Davey didn’t see the problem with that. His lips grazed over hers, again and again, causing goosebumps to race up and down her arms. As he continued the soft, sensual skimming of his lips across hers, the goosebumps strengthened and shot out in all directions.
When he finally pulled back, his eyes held hers. “Girlfriend,” he repeated. This time it was more of a statement than a question.
Her head bobbed up and down in agreement. After his soft, delicious lips had just turned her world upside down, there was really no other option.
Bef
ore she could fully process what had happened, Ben, Lucas, and Jamie joined them. Over dinner, Ben and Lucas gave an enthusiastic recap of the Xfinity race. Davey and Cruz talked about tomorrow’s Monster Energy race. Davey was more demonstrative than he’d been in the past, giving her a soft touch here, an adoring look there. He’d even given her a quick kiss after she had shared her realization that racing took a lot of skill and planning. She’d never had that kind of attention from a man and it made her both giddy with joy and tight with concern.
She worried about what Ben would think and whether he would get hurt when her and Davey’s relationship ultimately ended. As if on cue, Ben glanced over and eyed her and Davey. His gaze zeroed in on their clasped hands, then he studied her face which was undoubtedly flushed. He raised a single brow in question. “What’s the deal with you guys?” Ben asked, bringing conversation around the table to a halt. The gesture was so characteristic of Davey, it made her chest tighten even more.
With no idea how to respond, Nora let out a nervous giggle.
Davey squeezed her hand, then crooked a finger at Ben.
Ben rounded the table and stopped in front of them.
Davey put a hand on Ben’s arm. “I asked your aunt if she’d go out with me,” he said, then gave her a look that was so tender it made her heart whimper. “But it’s important to us that you’re okay with it.”
Ben’s eyes widened and his mouth formed into an ‘o.’
“What do you think?” Davey asked.
“Yay!” Ben’s face split into an ear-to-ear smile. “Just like Grandma and Mr. Cruz!”
Nora sagged in relief. She was pleased not only because Ben was happy about her and Davey dating, but also because he hadn’t made any broad assumptions. He hadn’t asked if they were getting married, he’d simply responded with his thoughts on the question asked. Maybe she should look to Ben for lessons on how to stay centered in the now.
When Ben returned to his seat, Nora whispered in Davey’s ear. “Thanks. You handled that well.” She appreciated that he had taken Ben’s feelings into consideration, that he’d given Ben a voice in their relationship.
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