Race For Love

by Nana Malone

  12

  Derek turned away from the bright wash of sunlight and snuggled into the warmth and smell of woman. He loved this smell. Coconut and vanilla with just a hint of spice.

  He could smell it all day long. As he nuzzled deeper, his cock twitched, pushing up against firm, warm buttocks and he wanted to lie here forever. His hand teased up her soft belly to cup her bare breast and he groaned. Jesus she was so full for someone so slim. And she was all natural, nothing artificially enhanced about her. As he kissed the hollow of her neck, he rubbed his thumb over her nipple and relished in her soft, aroused gasp.

  There was nothing better in the world than waking up like this, with the promise of sex and comfort and love. He reveled in the way his partner wiggled her ass further into his crotch. The soft way she whispered his name as he ran his thumb over her nipple again. "So soft and fucking perfect. I could hold you forever."

  "Derek..." The whisper was soft, aroused and needy. She wanted him. Just as much as he wanted—

  His brain stuttered as he focused on the sound of her voice. The way she said his name. Like she was used to this. Like they had been lovers for eons and she knew his touch intimately. But, they didn't know each other's bodies. As much as he'd imagined it, the feel of her breast in his palm was new, not familiar. It was too new, too good. Too...unexpected.

  His eyes popped open and he lifted his head. The all-white room startled him. Not his fucking room. What alarmed him even more were Kisima's legs intertwined with his and his hand on her fucking breast.

  Oh shit. His brain went into preservation mode and sent the command. Do not squeeze. Don’t do it. But motion was a reflex. He cupped her gently and tested her weight. Heavy, full. Overflowing his hand. In that moment, he was desperate to know what she tasted like. What color were her nipples. Did she like to have them pinched, sucked, bitten?

  Her hips shot back into his and he cut off an abrupt curse as her barely-clad ass cheeks slid over the length of his cock. Once, then again. Oh hell, yes. He could come just like this. His ever-helpful brain conjured an image of him sliding his cock up and down the oiled seam of her ass, taking pleasure in that soft skin and tightness of her body.

  Stop it, now. His brain reasserted command and he released his hold on her breast, sliding it out from under her T-shirt.

  With a mewled protest, Kisima turned toward him and nuzzled into his chest like she had done last night. Fuck. He needed her. Wanted her. Craved to hold her, kiss her. More. But he was not going down this path with this girl. "Kiss, wake up."

  She didn't wake, instead burrowed even closer into him. "Kisima. You have to get up. We have work to do and we're getting a late start on the day."

  Slowly her lashes fluttered against her high cheekbones and she peered up at him. Her first response was to nuzzle his chest, which, let's face it, he enjoyed. Her second response was to blink up at him and smile, that lazy grin of a woman who wanted to be fucked by her man—and fucked well. Except he wasn't her man, and he wouldn't be fucking her. Though, his cock begged to differ.

  Derek saw as soon as awareness hit her, because she tried to push to a sitting position and dragged the sheet up over her breasts.

  Yeah, like that would hide the fact that she was stacked. It was as if her first thought was that they'd slept together and he was naked. Had she been as tormented by dreams of him as he had about her?

  "Derek?"

  "Yeah."

  Her gaze slid over his naked torso. "Uh, w-what happened?"

  He shook his head. "Nothing happened." Shit not the truth. "You had a nightmare. I guess I ended up crashing."

  She nodded as the fog of sleep was finally dissipating. "Oh, I remember."

  He licked his lips. We, uh, got a little cozy. I was asleep. I didn't mean to—"

  She put up her hand. "Please stop." She narrowed her gaze. "Did we have sex? Or end up with our mouths in places they should not have been?"

  Fuck, he wished. What would she taste like? "What? No. You're still dressed in case you didn't notice." He cocked his head and gave her a sheepish smile. "I accidentally found out that you're a very full C, but that's about it. I swear, I would never—"

  She shook her head. "This is embarrassing enough without you stumbling through an apology. It's not like we woke up screwing." She shrugged and dropped the sheet. "Besides, I have nice boobs."

  Despite the bizarre situation, he laughed. "You seriously make me insane."

  "It's weird, not the first time I've heard that."

  Clearing his throat, he went to yank back the sheets, then thought better of it. If she kept staring at him, she was going to get a bird's eye view of the erection tenting his pajamas. His mind, again being helpful, provided basketball stats. "Are you okay? Last night you seemed pretty freaked out."

  She ducked her head. "Yeah."

  He nodded. "You said it was about the crash?"

  She licked her lips and glanced away from him. "Yeah, I was stuck in the car again. I couldn't breathe, and I couldn’t get out. My belt was jammed and all I could do was get my upper body free. I—" She rolled her lips inward. "I was right back there. Suffocating."

  "You have those often?"

  She shook her head. "No. But thank you for staying with me. I know I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep."

  "Glad to help." He needed to establish some distance between them again, otherwise he was going to do something stupid, like kiss her until she was riding him, screaming out his name. "We should get going. I think we slept in a little and we have some work to do."

  She nodded, but made no move to get out of the bed. "Why do I have a feeling that this is going to hurt really bad?"

  "Because anything worth having is worth working your ass off for." He stood, grateful that his pajama bottoms weren't tenting. But to keep it that way, he'd better get the hell up out of her room. "Let's get to work.

  * * *

  ***

  How was that for embarrassing? Derek had practically sprinted out of her room that morning. It's not like she meant for that to happen. Don't act like you didn't like it. Yes. Yes she did, but she was not going there with him. He was the kind of guy that would leave a path of destruction and heartbreak in his wake and she wasn't going to do that again.

  What she should do was try to focus on Christian. Now if only he made her hot and tingly all over. Instead of warm and squeezy. She loved him, she really did, but the idea of kissing him did nothing for her. How was she supposed to tell her best friend that she didn't want to date him? It would be just like that day when he'd left Daniels Racing. She could just see the hurt and pain on his face now. And she wasn't looking forward to it.

  Derek's voice called out from somewhere deep in the house. "I don't hear the shower going. Do you really want me to come in there and help you?"

  Yes, dear God, please. She'd been in the throes of a really good dream, reveling in that tingly body feeling this morning. Then he'd had to go and ruin it by waking her up.

  She didn't get it, he was clearly a little flirtatious, but there was also this distance. Which worked fine because she didn't need that kind of complication. Yes, yes you do. "I'm getting ready. Keep your pants on...or don't."

  She hated to admit it, but it was so much faster and easier to get moving and get ready in the mornings. She had better use of her shoulder. Her hip was achy, but she didn’t wake up in excruciating pain every day. And she felt stronger. When she let her body do the work, things were actually a million times easier.

  She dressed quickly in her yoga pants and tank top. After the last couple of days she'd learned not to wear sweats because they'd get too hot.

  When she made her way into the kitchen, he'd already started the eggs.

  The same heart-stopping smile was there, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Here you go." He handed her the spatula to continue stirring the eggs on the stove. "Use your left hand."

  She scowled at him, but he didn't seem to notice. "So what's the plan for today?
"

  He gave her a wide berth as he grabbed some fruit out of the fruit bowl. "More of the same. Work, sweat, pass out."

  She studied him out of the corner of her eye. "You going to act all weird around me just because you've touched my boob?" Better to get it all out there so they could get back to normal. He didn't want her, no big deal. She wasn't going to let it get all weird. Why was he?

  Derek sputtered into his coffee and thumped his chest as he worked past the coughing. "Jesus, Kisima."

  She plated the eggs. "And that's another thing. Considering you torture me by day and you've touched a boob, you might as well call me Kiss. All my friends do." She shifted her weight. "Especially the ones who've touched a boob. So can you go back to being a giant pain in my ass already and stop with the weird extra gentlemanly thing? It's creeping me out. Besides, I get it. You're my trainer. And I get it, it had nothing to do with me. I don't think you want me or whatever."

  His wary gaze turned sharp and focused. "Is that what you think? That I don't want you?"

  The intensity of his gaze made her insides warm. "What I think is it doesn't matter either way, right? You're here to fix me. You said it yourself. You can't do that if there is weirdness. So get over it already. I mean you're not that cute."

  His shoulders relaxed as he cocked his head. "So you think I'm cute?"

  "I think you're a slave driver."

  "I am. But I'd also like to point out that you've been standing up eating and you're only leaning on one of the crutches."

  She blinked in surprise and glance down at her body. "Well, how the hell did that happen?"

  "Oh, you know, I'm just a miracle worker."

  13

  "You mean to tell me that is your trainer?"

  Kiss adjusted her sunglasses as she shifted on the lounger. "Yeah. That's him all right."

  Leah studied Derek over the rim of her glasses as he did laps in the pool. "Just one question."

  "Yeah?"

  "Just how are you managing not to jump his bones, because that man is...wow. Seriously, he is everything."

  Yeah, Kiss knew all about his wowness. She spent half the time they were training drooling over him. "He's my trainer. We have a professional relationship."

  Leah shifted her glance to meet Kiss's. "Uh huh. Professional." When she said professional, she used air quotes.

  Kiss giggled. "And he's sort of a pain in the ass. He's annoying. And insists that I drink these green smoothie things, and pushes me until I think I'm going to die, then pushes me some more. What you're seeing is my annoyance."

  They'd been friends since they were kids, so Leah wasn't buying any of it. "Right. You can smell the bullshit dripping off your words, right? Just so we're clear."

  Kiss laughed. "Yeah I can hear it."

  "What is the problem, honey? I mean look at him." She nodded as Derek flipped over at one end of the pool. The water glistened over his strong back as he sliced through the water, and the sun kissed his already tanned shoulders.

  "Believe me, I see him. But he's not interested, trust me." The moment the words were out of her mouth she wished she'd just shut up. There was no way Leah was letting that slip go.

  "And how would we know he's not interested?"

  Heat suffused Kisima's skin. "I had a nightmare the other night. A pretty bad one. He, uh, came in to see if I was okay."

  "Yes," Leah prompted, as she leaned forward and pulled up her imaginary popcorn bowl.

  "We sort of passed out. In the morning, when we woke up, I guess he had his hand on one of my boobs."

  Leah sat up abruptly, brows knitted. "Say what? Where the fuck was my phone call?"

  "Would you clam down before he hears you? I may also have been rubbing myself all over him. Neither one of us was really awake."

  Her friend's eyes went wide. "Jesus, that sounds hot. Sleepy sex is so fun."

  "Yeah, except when he fully woke up, he sort of freaked and acted all weird and distant."

  Leah wrinkled her nose. "Ahh, the good old, I got caught showing how I feel, so I'm going to pull back and make it extra awkward."

  Kiss laughed. "So you've been here before?"

  "More than once, I'm ashamed to say. What did you say to him?"

  "What I normally tell guys. To get over himself."

  Leah reached over to give her a pound. "So what now?"

  "Nothing now. I'm already coming along fast. I'm starting to use the canes now, and to be honest, I really don't need them as much but they help when I'm tired. Maybe another month and he'll be gone, so it's not going to happen."

  Leah rolled her eyes heavenward. "Have I taught you nothing, girl? If you want something, be upfront about it. Take it. Don't apologize to anybody either. Someone doesn't like that, fuck 'em. They can talk to me."

  "Not that easy in this case. He's got a big thing about professional conduct. And honestly I don't know if I can."

  Leah cursed under her breath. "I know Antonio fucked you up, but you can't sit on the sidelines because of it. He hit it and quit it because he's a douche."

  "Not entirely his fault. I was a moron. So I deserve to take my lumps."

  Leah sat up, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders. She swung her leg to the side and leaned forward, making sure she had Kiss’s full attention. "Antonio Bates is a first class asshole. You cared about him and believed him when he said he loved you. What happened wasn't your fault. You are a sexual person, you were allowed to sleep with him. Hell, he was your boyfriend. You didn't deserve to be slutshamed for it. I swear to God, if I get my hands on him, I will kill him."

  "He's hard to kill. I was in a crash right next to him and he escaped unscathed. The guy is slippery."

  "Just remember, this guy, is not that guy. You're a woman who can sleep with whoever the fuck she wants to. Anyone who has anything to say about it can feel free to kiss your black ass. And when they're done with that, they can come kiss my bony Asian one."

  The laugh bubbled out of Kiss easily. Leah had a way of putting things in perspective. "Man, what would I do without you in my life?"

  "Let's hope you never have to find out. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to continue to ogle your future bedmate."

  * * *

  ***

  "So how long before she's ready to get in a car?"

  Derek attempted to drag his gaze off of Kiss and her friend on the loungers outside. He'd come inside over an hour ago, but he'd been hard pressed to leave the living room with the clear view to the pool area. To be fair, since the entire wall of the living room was glass, there was really nowhere else to look. The sun glistened on her skin. He was glad she was relaxing. She deserved it. She'd been working her ass off for days.

  "When I took this job, I told you that I couldn't guarantee when she'll be back to normal. I'm trying to bring her to healthy now, but then she'll have to condition to be ready to get back in a car. The average person can't just climb in and be ready to rumble."

  The older man nodded. "Yes, I understand that, but can you give me some kind of ballpark. Something to work with? I've got a car with no driver and I know no one is going to give me the same kind of commitment that Kiss is going to do. If she plans on racing in Abu Dhabi, she's going to have to start training soon."

  Derek dragged in a deep breath. He was here to do a job. TJ had hired him for the specific job of getting her ready to go. Just because he'd gone and caught a case didn't mean he didn't have the same objective. And that was to get her up and ready to go.

  But, he also had an obligation to her, not to push her beyond what she was ready for. Her health and wellbeing were all that mattered. That and you're afraid of her getting in another car.

  "The work we're doing should have her ready to train in a couple of weeks. She's already graduated to using the cane, and in a couple of weeks, she won't need it anymore if she keeps working as hard as she has been. Beyond that, she'll need at least another two months of conditioning."

  "I don't have another two mo
nths for her to condition. She doesn't have that time."

  What the fuck? "Sir, all due respect, but if you put her in a car before she's ready, you could do damage to her physically and mentally. She needs to heal in both respects. She still can't remember much, but she's been having some pretty ugly nightmares about it."

  The older man paled before sagging against the bookcase. "I know you think I'm a callous prick, but I love that girl like she's my own. I'm trying to build her legacy here."

  Derek frowned. "Are you sure this is about her legacy?"

  TJ's brows drew down. "What's that supposed to mean?"

  Derek put his hands up. "It's none of my business."

  "You think you know so much, why don't you enlighten me." TJ crossed his arms over his chest.

  "I know that your own son abandoned the family company to work for the competition. I know your former driver also left for the same company. It's not hard to see that Kiss is your hope and a prayer for this team. Your other drivers have some promise, but not as much as she does. You've been grooming her since she was a child for this. What I don't know is if that's the reason your other drivers quit. She's your favorite. It's clear to see that. Did the jealousy start to eat at your son?"

  TJ shook his head. "You don't know anything."

  "I'm trying to protect her. She thinks of you like her dad. She'd do anything to make you happy. She's so loyal to you."

  "I think of her as mine. All I want to do is protect her. Look, I'm pushing hard to make a legacy for her. One day I won't be here. All she has ever wanted to do is drive. Since she was a little kid and following her father around the track. When her dad died, I promised to give that to her. Right now, most teams are such a boys club. They think she's a joke. A pretty set of legs to stare at. They don't respect her in a car. I know what she can do. She always had the magic. Christian, as much as he wanted to have it, he just didn't love it enough to work his ass off. And as for Antonio, he could drive, he had an instinct, but the boy just doesn't love it like she does. It's the difference between muscle and finesse. He does it because he can power through and force it. She gets in the car and it's like she’s flying. I've never seen anything like it. It makes her an amazing driver, but no one will give her the chance when I'm gone. Not unless I can prove it before that day comes."