Magnetic Shift

by Lucy D. Briand

  The cars lined pit road in starting order, ready to go. Colton ran off for his driver introduction, where they paraded all the drivers in the backs of pickup trucks around the track for the fans. Meanwhile, I stood to the side, trying my best to stay out of the crew’s way.

  Gwen glared down at me from the hauler, as if trying to zap me with laser beams. That girl had a serious problem, and it wasn’t that her colored nails didn’t match her purse.

  “Walk with me.” Colton’s whisper came from behind, startling me.

  I spun around and smiled. I couldn’t help it. His sheer presence brought one on every time. “Walk with you where?”

  He stood before me, gloves in one hand, helmet in the other, and a sexy half-smile on his face. “To my car.” He winked and tapped me on the arm. “Come on.”

  The remainder of the crew followed behind us as we walked by the other cars and drivers. Some stood around with their wives and kids, others with their girlfriends and parents, all anxious to start the race.

  Colton placed his helmet on the roof of his car and threw his gloves inside on the dash. He stood by me, talking to the crew as my attention wandered to the massive grandstands ahead. Everything looked so much more majestic from down here. Camera crews and reporters threw themselves in front of any driver willing to talk. I prayed that none came toward us. My nerves were tightly strung enough as it was, I didn’t need a microphone shoved in my face.

  Speakers blared, and the crowds in the pits and grandstands settled when the anthem started. Colton removed his ball cap, reminding me I’d forgotten to wear mine again. Maybe, with a little luck, my green Fizzy Pop one would still be in the hauler. Colton’s hand rested on the small of my back. I bit my lip, skin tingling under my shirt. It took every ounce of my willpower not to look at him. I focused my eyes on the rows of cars and the crews lined up in their matching team uniforms, mentally gearing up for the long afternoon. Being part of a NASCAR team was like being part of a whole different kind of family. I laughed and covered my ears as the jets flew over our heads at the end of the anthem. Maybe I could get used to this life.

  Lenny smacked me on the shoulder. “Put the boy in his car, sweetheart.” He winked. “For good luck.”

  “Put him where … what?”

  Colton laughed. “He means see me to my car.”

  “But we’re at your car.”

  Colton leaned back against his front fender and pulled me toward him. He looked down at me, at my lips. A chill traveled down my arms and legs despite the scorching heat of the sun. Please don’t kiss me, I prayed. I looked around. Too many people. Too many reporters.

  Ah, who was I kidding? I wanted him to kiss me.

  He tucked my hair behind my ear, leaned in, and pressed his cheek against mine, his lips practically touching my ear. My lids fell.

  “Wish me luck,” he whispered, then pulled back. Resisting the urge to touch the tingling skin of my cheek, I lifted my lashes and met his smile. “Good luck.”

  Lenny pushed me aside and shoulder-shoved Colton. “Alright, now. In the car you go.”

  Colton climbed through the window, put on his gear, buckled himself in tight, and snapped his steering wheel into place. Lenny fastened his window net, tapped the hood, and walked away.

  “I hear you,” Colton said, his voice muffled by his helmet. Lenny or Jimmy was likely testing the mic.

  “Be safe,” I told him.

  He winked and gave me a thumbs-up. Dylan tugged my arm. “Time to go.”

  As I walked back, something tapped me on the thigh. I looked down and found Colton’s Guardian Auto Insurance ball cap hanging from my belt loop. Without me noticing, he’d attached the Velcro strap to the belt loop of my denim shorts. Sneaky little bugger. I removed it, put it on, and then raised my headset over it.

  “Fire in the hole,” Lenny shouted over the airwaves, just as the words. “drivers, start your engines!” rang out over the loudspeakers.

  I shuddered when all forty-three 850-horsepower engines roared to life at once, angry and ready to attack the track. Everything sounded so much louder from down here. The cars rumbled around the track two-by-two behind the pace car, warming up their tires and easing in for the long haul.

  “One lap till the green,” Colton’s spotter voiced.

  “I’m ready. Let’s go do this thing,” Colton answered. The caterpillar of cars rumbled down the last turn toward the start/ finish line. The fans in the grandstands stood, the flagman leaned forward, and then Jimmy yelled out, “Green, green, green,” over the airwaves.

  The race was on.

  Colton had started sixth and hovered in that position for most of the race. I’d made sure to stay out of harm’s way when Colton pitted, but close enough to catch a glimpse of him through his net.

  With ten laps left to go, Colton began forcing his way to the front of the pack. One by one, he knocked the others back. He was behind Mitch now in the 220 car, the leader, with only five laps to go. He lingered, toying with him in the turns.

  “What are you doing, Colt?” Lenny voiced.

  “Just setting him up, chief.”

  “Two laps to go,” Jimmy chimed in.

  Colton went high in the next turn, and so did Mitch. Colton slingshotted low behind him and passed him on the inside.

  “Yeah!” Lenny yelled beside me.

  “Clear, clear, clear,” his spotter said as he fell in line ahead of Mitch.

  Colton pushed forward, gaining half a car length on the former leader.

  “White’s out,” Jimmy cheered. Just one more lap to go.

  “I can hold it. I can hold it,” Colton said.

  The crew and I lined the edge of pit road, watching. Lenny wiped his brow; we were all covered in sweat.

  “Checkered’s coming out,” Jimmy said, then added, “220, up high.”

  Mitch was gaining on him, attempting to pass, but it was too late.

  “Checkered’s out.”

  “Whooo-hooo!” Colton hollered as he crossed the finish line.

  I jumped up and threw my fist in the air. “Yeah!”

  The crew jumped over the barriers and ran toward victory lane while Colton performed his victory lap. “This one’s ours, boys, this one’s ours!”

  My heart filled with pride.

  After tearing up the infield grass and smoking his fans with burnouts, he eased her over to victory lane.

  “Lexi, I better see you over there,” he said. And the airwaves fell silent.

  How did he know I planned to stay behind? He knew me too well already. I chased after the crew and joined them all on the stage. Colton was already being interviewed, and his PR rep kept switching his ball caps every few seconds so that each sponsor brand got media time. He spotted me standing behind Lenny, and I flinched. I just knew he intended on pulling me to him.

  That’s exactly what he did.

  I squealed when he wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up over him. My hands gripped his solid shoulders tight, afraid to fall. Everyone cheered, hollered, and patted each other on the back. Containers behind us burst with confetti, sending it fluttering all around us—a shower of shiny, colorful paper. Colton lowered me to my feet, and before I could register what had just happened, his lips met mine in front of everyone—the crew, the sponsors, the media, and the fans gathered around the winner’s circle. Heat rose from the center of my core and burned my face and neck. I lowered my lashes and let my surroundings fade. The cheers and crackling fireworks that lit up the sky disappeared.

  Colton released me, his eyes scouring my face. Only he existed, no one else. The kiss had only been a peck, but a long one, more intimate and more shiver-inducing than any kiss I had ever experienced.

  Jimmy wrapped his arm around Colton’s shoulders from behind and pulled him back a few steps. I snapped out of my trance. The chaos of celebration returned and the moment we shared ended. I fought the urge to touch my lips. Everything had happened so fast, not even my curse had a chance to react. How? Wh
y? Had it actually happened? Had I imagined it? The questions bounced inside my head and wreaked havoc on my pounding heart.

  The excitement of winning his first Cup race had to have confused him. He hadn’t meant to kiss me, had he?

  Mistake or not, he had kissed me, and no kiss would ever compare to the emotional web Colton Tayler had tangled me into today. I was in big trouble.

  chapter fifteen

  I hadn’t spoken to Colton since his very intimate, very public show of affection three days before, but he was due back some time today and my nerves were coiling into tight little balls. I couldn’t take it anymore.

  Dean and Colton were still in Vegas with Nancy, Colton’s PR rep, to do some major Guardian Auto Insurance promos. With a win in his sponsor’s hometown, Mr. Langdon had insisted they stay.

  I, on the other hand, was too chickenshit to face Colton and the media frenzy surrounding him, so Dean made arrangements for me to fly back to Atlanta on a commercial flight and cab back to the house.

  When I’d walked in the door, Lorna batted her eyelashes and flashed me a dish-it-girl grin. “I saw you two on TV. You were both so cute.”

  “No, we weren’t,” I’d scoffed before locking myself up in my room.

  Dean gave me some extra days off work, not wanting to bother Lorna and Annabelle’s daily routine since he wasn’t going to be there to drive me.

  For the next two days, I’d snuck out to the barn to work on controlling my ability. Something odd had happened this past weekend, and I needed to understand what. My ability hadn’t reacted to Colton’s kiss. Obviously, my feelings for Colton had been the cause of my outbursts—yet I’d been closest to him during that kiss, and not one warning bell had gone off.

  I opened myself up to the full range of emotions that surfaced when I thought of his touch, his lips, his scent, and—let’s face it—his total hotness, in hopes of evoking a way to train myself to shut off my magnetic impulse at will. I hadn’t had much luck as of yet.

  The guys were due home any minute. Desperate, I opted to hide out in the barn and keep trying.

  My current challenge was circling three items in midair while letting the memory of the dance Colton and I shared fill my mind. How his body had hugged mine, the feel of his arms around my waist, his breath hitting my neck. I even tried to conjure up the thoughts I had that night. My head pulsed, and whirlwinds of magnetic energy fogged my mind. One of the items, a large tire iron, strayed from the rest. With a firm image of Colton’s vivid eyes looking down on me while surrounded by flickering DJ lights, I managed to sense the straying object through the emotions and focused it back into the circle.

  “Yes!”

  Then, just as quickly, the tire iron wobbled and then shot itself across the barn, heading for the one of the old hay stalls. I scrunched my face and squeezed my eyes shut. The tire iron broke through the wall with a loud, wood-splintering crash.

  Oh, please God, tell me Lorna didn’t hear that from the house.

  “Lexi?”

  My eyes shot wide open. My heart leaped into my throat. Shit. Colton.

  I launched the remaining two items into a pile of old hay in the corner of another empty stall, then rushed to preoccupy myself with gathering a large braided rope off the ground at the far end of the barn.

  “Lexi, are you in here?”

  I took a deep breath tried to find my inner calm. “In here.”

  Colton appeared in the doorway with a half-smile on his face. “I thought Lorna didn’t want us in here?” He leaned his forearm against the doorframe above his head.

  I turned away and hung the rope on one of the hooks protruding from the wooden beam above me. “She didn’t—doesn’t. She doesn’t know I’m here.” My knees weakened. It was like I’d forgotten what he looked like and I was seeing him again for the first time. His arms bulged from his plain brown t-shirt, tight at his chest and loose at his waist, leaving his abdominal situation to the imagination, but what made me almost lose it was the hint of a thin black necklace around his neck.

  He nodded to the hole in the plywood ahead. “What happened there?”

  I picked up an old leather tool belt from the ground and hung it on the hook next to the rope.

  “Not sure. Maybe one of Lorna’s ghosts did it.”

  Colton laughed, then moved closer. “Why didn’t you answer any of my texts?”

  “I’ve been busy with school and stuff.”

  He reached for my hand. “Lexi.”

  I faced him, trembling and nervous. Noticing, he let go, frowned, and shoved his hand in his pocket. “Dean asked if we could watch Annabelle while he and Lorna go out tonight. He feels kinda bad for missing their date night on Monday.”

  “Sure. I’ll go wash up.” I dusted my hands together and stepped past him toward the house. I didn’t look back, but his heavy footsteps followed me up the slope. Dean and Lorna were on their way out when we reached the front porch.

  “Oh, good. We were just about to holler at y’all. Annabelle’s playing in the family room.”

  Colton went straight for the door. “I got her. You guys go have fun.”

  An evening alone with Colton. The reality sunk in, and my stomach turned.

  Lorna pursed her lip, and she leaned in close. “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

  “I’m fine. Promise. Go on and have a good time.”

  “Okay. We won’t be too late.” I watched them get in the truck and pull out of the driveway, then headed inside where a tickle fight had already begun. Annabelle screamed and giggled.

  Anxiety clutched my insides. I couldn’t do this. I aimed my sight at the stairs. “I’m going to take a shower. You two eat. I’m not hungry.” I hurried out of sight before Colton could respond. What was wrong with me? I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t even look at him.

  I took my sweet time, afraid to face the living, breathing temptation waiting for me downstairs, but after two hours, I didn’t have much of a choice. As I neared the bottom of the stairs, my attention drew to Annabelle laughing and clapping as the big, strong Colton held her tiny toy phone in his massive looking hand and conversed with whoever Annabelle told him was on the other end. A muffled laugh escaped me, and Colton turned.

  “What are you laughing at?”

  My heart fluttered. “You.”

  He smiled and turned back to Annabelle. “I think it’s bedtime.”

  “Nooo,” she protested.

  “Come on, Anna Banana, you promised after this last phone call that you would go to bed like a big girl.”

  “No.” She stomped her foot and shook her pigtails. I bit my lip to stop from laughing. Her attitude reminded me of Gwen.

  “Will you go if Lexi takes you?”

  Annabelle looked at me and grimaced, then dropped her head in a sulk. “Okay.”

  I held out my hand, and she dragged her tiny feet, pouting. I picked her up, brought her up the stairs to her room, and tucked her into her Tinkerbell bed sheets. I swear this kid was obsessed with the green leaf-wearing fairy. Her room looked like Pixie Hollow had thrown up all over the walls. I stayed with her for a bit, avoiding having to face Colton downstairs, but I knew I couldn’t stay here all night. I had to go back.

  When I finally built up the nerve, I found Colton standing in front of the bay window. A nest of butterflies deep down in my gut opened and fluttered into my chest at the sight of him, his back to me, his hands in his jeans pockets.

  I began picking up Annabelle’s toys, dumping them one by one into the open toy box near the TV next to where Colton stood. I caught him glancing at me from the corner of his eye each time I came close.

  Man, why was being alone with him so awkward now? “You’re good with her,” I said finally, not daring to look at him.

  “I wish it were that easy with you,” he replied, still gazing out the window.

  His words caught me off guard. I straightened, clutching a stuffed pink elephant in both my hands. What was that supposed to mean? I
spun around to ask him that very question, but stubbed my toe on the toy phone on the floor. I winced, dropped the stuffed animal, and skipped forward with an ungraceful flail of my arms. Colton lunged to catch me. I latched onto him with more momentum than he expected and took him down with me instead. His back hit the floor, and I stumbled over the top of him, our arms and legs tangled and knotted together in a mess.

  He looked up at me, eyes bulging. An uncontrolled laugh burst from my lungs. “Oh, my God, are you okay?”

  His jaw relaxed, and a smile spread across his face. His body, stretched out under me, convulsed with laughter. “I’m okay.” He reached up, grazed my cheek, and slid his hand to the back of my head. “I’m okay,” he repeated, this time with a soft exhaled breath.

  He lifted his head off the ground, closing the gap between our faces. My heart quickened, pounding in my chest faster than a piston at red line. My gaze was caught in the net of his stare. It was as if he were waiting for me to move, bolt, kick him in the nuts, something—all things I should have thought of doing. Instead, I froze, and all I could think about was his breath on my lips. I wanted to be free from his spell, from the way he made me feel, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t laugh away this moment. My mouth refused to let me. Colton tucked in his lower lip, slid it back out from the grasp of his teeth slowly, as if restraining himself. Then, without warning, he tilted his head and pressed his lips against mine.

  Every nerve and muscle in my body melted together. His fingers trailed from the back of my head to my neck, then down to my waist where his other hand already rested, leaving behind a path of warm tingles and shivers. Was this really happening?

  I moved my hand to his neck, his shoulder, then flattened my palm against his chest. The rush of his pulse intoxicated me, seared my skin with heat, and flooded my mind with a static haze.

  Static. Haze. Thumping temples … Hell, no. Not now.

  I pushed myself up off him. “I can’t. Colton, please. I can’t do this. I just can’t.” I backed away and squeezed my eyes shut.

  “Lexi.”

  “Please, Colton, don’t.” I turned and held the tips of my fingers over my lips. I’d never been kissed before, not like this. Not like … My temples flared and pulsed worse than they ever had before. Not without losing control.