Burndown (Nitro Crew Book 1)

by Winter Travers

  “Don’t you just need jeans, a couple racing shirts, and underwear?”

  “Socks, not underwear.”

  Her eyes dropped to my crotch. “Does that mean…” she trailed off.

  I hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head back. “That’s exactly what it means.”

  She swallowed hard and bit her bottom lip. “Uh, so you need to pack, uh, things, but you have time to stay for pizza right?”

  “Is pizza the only thing you have me staying for?” I drawled.

  “You’ll have to come inside and find out.”

  *

  Harlyn

  I wanted him.

  There was no more denying it.

  I had initially been a little miffed the rest of the day at work about the way he had acted about Roc being my dad. And if I were being honest, I was miffed until he opened his mouth and told me why he loved his job so much.

  Remy wanting to keep a connection he had with his dad was honorable. Even though I’m sure no matter what job Remy had, his dad would be proud. So he didn’t want to shout it from the rooftops we were dating, but I was more than okay with that. I wanted to spend time with Remy, and the less people there were honing in on the time we were spending together, the better. Besides, he knew he wouldn’t to be able to hide us from Roc forever.

  “What do you guys eat when you’re out?”

  Remy looked up from the plate in front of him. “Food.”

  I rolled my eyes. “What kind of food? Are you always eating out?”

  He shook his head. “Nah. Brooks keeps us stocked with food. Normally Hank or Charles do all of the cooking. That’s not to say we don’t eat out, though. Just for the most part, if we’re not traveling, we have meals cooked for us.”

  “Hmm, totally not what I thought. I figured you survived off fast food and pizza.”

  “Now you are talking about my college years,” he snickered.

  I grabbed the half empty pizza box off the counter and held it out to him. “You done?”

  He nodded. “I think I’m good for now.” He glanced at the clock behind me. “I need to get going pretty soon, baby. I wish I could stay longer, but I’m supposed to be driving the hauler tomorrow, and while I know what I’m doing, I’d much prefer to do it on more than two hours of sleep.”

  Damn my father for deciding to leave at the ass-crack of dawn. “You’re in the hauler all by yourself?” I closed the top of the pizza and set it in the fridge. I had dinner for the next two nights.

  “Jay will probably be with me. Roc tends to ride with Frankie so he can chew her ear off about all of the problems with the car.”

  “Frankie is pretty important around there, huh?”

  He nodded. “She is. Although she doesn’t always get the credit she deserves. Especially from Brooks. I swear, Frankie could walk around naked in front of the guy, and he wouldn’t even notice. Brooks may be her boss, but Frankie doesn’t care for the guy at all.”

  “Is it weird I’ve never actually met the dude in person yet?” I laughed. “So I can’t really be a judge of whether or not he’s a sexist ass who doesn’t like women or if he’s just completely clueless?”

  Remy grimaced. “Yeah. It seems Brooks has a lot on his plate other than running a racing team.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t really know anything, Harlyn. Just there is always more than what you see on the surface.”

  “Well,” I laughed, “if that isn’t cryptic as all get out.”

  He shrugged and leaned back in the stool he was sitting on. “Come say goodbye to me, baby. I’m not gonna see you for two weeks, and I’m already starting to miss you.”

  The feeling was mutual. That was why I didn’t want him to leave yet. “Two weeks is such a long time,” I complained.

  “It is. That’s why I plan on calling you every night, and you better have your phone on you at all times because I’ll be texting you.”

  I tsked and slowly made my way around the kitchen island and over to Remy. “You say that now until you’re stuck under a car for the next two weeks.”

  He chuckled and grabbed me around the waist when I was within arm’s reach. “One. I don’t actually go under the car, baby. Two. Nothing is going to keep me from talking to you these next two weeks.”

  I rested my hands on his shoulders and stepped between his wide spread legs. “I knew you didn’t actually go under the car. I happen to watch the races every weekend. I know more about drag racing than you think I do.”

  “Now you can watch and try to catch a glimpse of me.” He threw a wink up at me and smiled. “I’m the one helping to line up the car before Roc takes over.”

  I slapped him on the shoulder. “I totally saw you last week. Well, I saw your back last week. They never got a shot of your face. If they would have shown you, we would have figured that we worked for the same place then.”

  “I’ll be sure to wave this week.”

  A giggle erupted from my lips. “You’re such an ass.”

  He shrugged. “You’re the one who watched it last week.”

  “I didn’t know it was your ass,” I protested.

  “Oh,” he mumbled. “I see how it is. You’re just watching everyone’s ass then.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Your suit thingy was so tight, it was hard not to look at it.”

  “Suit thingy?”

  All right. So I might know some about drag racing, but the terminology escapes me sometimes. “Your thing with Cummings Racing plastered all over it.”

  “They’re just coveralls, baby.”

  “Oh. I thought it was some fancy word.” Over thought that one, Harlyn.

  He chuckled softly, snaked his arms around my waist, and pulled me close. “I’m gonna need a kiss before I go, baby.”

  “Is that so?” I leaned down and kissed him. “Is that enough?” I whispered against his lips.

  “It’s a good start, but I’m going to need a hell of a lot more to get me through these next two weeks.” He kissed me. He really kissed me.

  I was helpless to the pull he had over me. I kissed him back, knowing that this kiss wasn’t going to be enough. Endless kisses from Remy were never going to be enough.

  His firm mouth was settled against mine, unyielding. It was as if Remy was determined to kiss me with all the kisses we were going to miss.

  My brain short-circuited, all common sense left me, and all I was left with was a sharp need for him I knew was never going to go away. I slid my tongue against his, wrapped an arm around his neck, and we devoured each other. There wasn’t any other word that could describe it. Impatient hands pulled on the back of my shirt, lifting the hem, and his hands gliding over my skin. His touch always bumped my undeniable need for him to another level.

  It went from the rough and needy exploration to a slow burn where we lazily kissed each other.

  “I don’t want to leave,” he whispered against my lips.

  “You don’t have to leave this second,” I reasoned.

  He slightly shook his head. “No, I mean I don’t want to leave. Ever.” A hand trailed down over my ass. “I think you need to come on the road with the team for a little bit so you can fully understand everything.”

  “And who will be doing my job while I fully understand everything?”

  He squeezed my ass gently. “Don’t fucking care as long as you’re with me.”

  “Does this mean you are staying longer?”

  He shook his head. “No. It means I need to get the hell out of here before I stay too long and end up missing my ride out of town in the morning.”

  I hummed under my breath. “Of course you have to be all responsible, don’t you?”

  “Well, I could stay the night, but then you would probably have to give me a ride to catch up with the team, and then we’d let the cat out of the bag about the two of us before we’ve even really started.”

  “I hate false starts.”

  His arm tightened around my wa
ist. “Hearing you talk about racing is a major turn-on, baby.”

  “Oh, is it now?” I cooed. I pressed my lips to his ear. “Burndown, burnout, dial-in, holeshot, and pedal it.”

  He shot up from his chair, pushed me away, and took two giant steps away from me. “Sweet heavens above, woman. You are going to be the death of me.”

  I had stumbled on the one thing that could bring Remy to his knees. Drag racing lingo. “You totally just pedaled that. Giving me just enough but not too much to break away completely.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “Jesus,” he whispered. “I gotta get out of here. Today has been a fucking whirlwind. First, I find out you’re the daughter of the guy who makes my life a living hell, then I think about it and realize that shit doesn’t matter, and now, I find out you know shit about drag racing. Shit that most women don’t have a fucking clue about. Add on top of that the fact your kisses are the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted, and I’m ready to hit the fucking bed.”

  I hitched my thumb over my shoulder. “I have a bed just down the hallway.”

  He took two more steps away from me. “You’re an evil woman, baby. I’m leaving before you manage to talk me into seeing just where that bed is.”

  I shrugged and leaned my elbows back on the counter. “I can’t really deny that I would try.”

  He pulled his keys out of his pocket and tossed them up. He snatched them out of the air and pointed a finger at me. “I’ll call you in the morning when I wake up.”

  My jaw dropped. “You said that you were leaving at four.”

  He winked and headed to the front door. “I am, baby. Make sure you wake up when I call you.” He slipped out the front door without even a goodbye, and I stood there speechless, wondering what in the heck had just happened.

  I heard his car roar to life outside and looked at the clock on the stove. It was only eight-thirty, I was worked up to the point nothing was going to satisfy me besides Remy, and I had half a pizza in the fridge.

  Since I couldn’t have Remy and it was still early, I grabbed the pizza from the fridge and a half bottle of wine. I headed to the living room and set my booze and food on the coffee table. I was going to go crazy if I spent the rest of the night thinking about Remy, knowing he was only a few miles away.

  I was going to make it through these next two weeks, but you better believe when he came back into town, things were going to be different.

  And one of those things was going to be that Remy was going to spend the night. Even if I had to tie him to the bed and have my way with him.

  It was going to happen.

  I just had to wait two weeks.

  *

  Chapter 20

  Remy

  “Hello?”

  Her voice was heavy with sleep, and I knew I had woken her up again. “Don’t you have to work today?” I asked Harlyn.

  “No,” she muffled. She sounded like she had her head buried in a pile of cotton.

  “It’s Friday. How did you manage to get a day off?”

  “Because none of you guys are around, all of my work is done, and it gets lonely as hell being the only person at the garage. I was about to go crazy yesterday.”

  I chuckled and leaned against the stack of tires at the end of the hauler. “You did sound a bit out of it when I talked to you last night.”

  “Cat.”

  “What?” I asked. Had she answered the phone in her sleep and now she was having a conversation with me half awake?

  The sound of her sheets ruffled against the phone met my ear. “Cat,” she said more clearly. “I’m going to go get a cat today.”

  “Really?” I ran my fingers through my hair. “Why did you come to this decision?”

  “Because then I’ll have someone to talk to.”

  Well, I guess that made sense, but you could talk to a book and say you have something to talk to. The thing of it was, they didn’t talk back. “Uh, maybe you should try to make some friends in town so when I’m gone you have someone to hang out with.”

  She laughed. “You talk like I can just go to the store, buy a couple of friends, and pull them out whenever I need them.”

  “I guess it’s not that easy, but I do think maybe finding a friend wouldn’t hurt. Otherwise I’m going to have to smuggle you into the hauler with me when I’m on the road.” I looked down at the ground. “You know what, that doesn’t sound like a half-bad idea. This past week and a half has been hell with you back in Leeds Square.”

  “That mean you are up to telling my dad about us, then?”

  That was a big fat nope. Roc had upped his game and started blaming me for everything that was going on. On top of all of that, after he yelled at me, he would tell me to go fucking fix it. I was running around helping everyone, and I was about running on empty. A week-long break was exactly what I needed after this weekend. “Negative, ghost rider.”

  “Huh?”

  “No, baby. No plans of that just yet.”

  She sighed. “Okay. Well, since it’s only six-thirty, and I don’t need to be to work today, I’m going back to sleep.”

  “You gonna watch qualifying today?”

  “Maybe,” she drawled. “I might have it set to record so I can look for a certain pit crew member.”

  “I’ll let Harold know you’ll be looking for him.”

  “Pretty sure Harold would be pounding on Roc’s door if he was warming my bed.”

  “I’m not even warming your bed yet.”

  “Yet,” she giggled. “You might have competition from Harold now.”

  “Go back to bed, baby. You’re delusional if you think I’m going to let any other guy have a shot with you.”

  “Claimed,” she muttered. “I’ll call you after I’ve had my coffee and joined the land of the living.”

  “Sounds like a plan, baby.”

  “I still can’t believe that shit,” Jay muttered.

  I shoved my phone into my pocket and looked up at Jay who had his arms crossed over his chest. “Believe what?” I asked.

  “The fact you somehow managed to snag a chick I hadn’t met yet, and even after she met me, she didn’t want to ditch you for a chance with me.”

  I shook my head. “You ever think you might just be a little too full of yourself, Jay? That shit might come and bite you in the ass one day.”

  He scoffed. “Never gonna happen. The only reason you got her was because you got to her first.”

  “Well, if you would have tried to talk to her that night, you would have been very drunk and way off your game.” I grabbed my thermos full of black coffee and took a long drink. “I’m thinking you need to just move on from Harlyn. Any chance you had with her is off the table.”

  He smirked and nodded to the car hauler behind me. “Then I guess that means you and Roc are going to become close buddies now, huh?”

  I glanced behind me, knowing Roc was somewhere in the hauler. He had said we needed to be up and ready by seven, but I figured that he was already up. “Um, soon. Not today, though.”

  Jay clapped me on the back and put an arm around my shoulders. “Suck it up, buttercup. You may have Harlyn okay with the fact you're hiding her right now, but that shit isn’t going to last for long.”

  “Pretty sure I didn’t ask for your opinion.” I knew keeping us a secret wasn’t going to last for long, but it needed to be for a little bit longer. “Besides, she’s only a secret from Roc. You and Frankie know about her. Hell, my mom and Lo even know about her.”

  “I’m impressed.” He smacked me on the back and took a step to the side. “How the hell did you tell your mom about it?” He dropped his sunglasses from the top of his head over his eyes.

  “You’ve met my mom. I’m not even sure how it happened either. She called, and then the next thing I knew, she was going on about needing to meet her.”

  “Grain!”

  My head dropped, and I knew my day was about to begin with Roc riding my ass.

  Jay laughed an
d headed in the direction of the trailer and grill where breakfast was being served. “Good luck, Remy. You go do Roc’s bidding, and I’m gonna grab some breakfast.”

  I flipped him off, knowing I wasn’t going to be able to grab anything to eat until I figured out what Roc needed now. “Try to save me some coffee, asswipe.”

  Jay raised his hand over his head. “Sure,” he drawled.

  Now I had to deal with Roc with only half a cup of coffee, and I knew when I got done, Jay was going to make sure there wasn’t any coffee left in the whole track.

  The only thing that was keeping me going was knowing Monday, I would be back in Leeds Square and finally in Harlyn’s bed.

  *

  Chapter 21

  Harlyn

  Shit.

  Shit on a stick.

  I searched through my backseat one more time and hung my head.

  I couldn't find my wallet. It was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t even remember grabbing my purse on Thursday, so with it being Saturday morning, I was a bit concerned that I could find my purse but with no wallet inside.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see Remy had texted me.

  Morning, baby.

  Morning. I typed back quickly. I was a mess trying to figure out where my wallet was. I had torn apart my house and had just finished going through my car for the third time. My purse was sitting on my kitchen table sans a wallet.

  What are you up to today?

  I slammed the door shut and leaned against my car. I had planned on running to the grocery store to stock up on food and wine, and then possibly run to the mall to see what I could find in the way of some sexy new panties. With Remy being gone for almost two weeks, I was more than ready for him to be back, and I wanted to knock his socks off the next time he saw me.

  Trying to run some errands but I can’t find my wallet. Might as well let him in on my miserable start to the day. It was only nine o’clock and I was ready to throw in the towel and go bury myself under a pile of blankets.