Everyone laughed and Derek grabbed me into a hug, the best he could since we were sitting down.
“Aw, you’re part of the family now,” Lisa cooed.
“Is there a reason you’re hugging my girl, when your’s is right there for you to fondle?” I looked up to see Landon standing a few feet away with a grin on his face.
Derek let me go and scooted over for Landon to sit.
“Derek was just welcoming her to the family, since you popped her street-racing cherry and all,” Joe stated.
I scrunched up my nose. “Thanks for that, Joe.”
“No problem,” he grinned.
Landon wrapped his arm around mine and entwined our fingers. “You all right?” he asked as he leaned down to whisper in my ear.
I smiled up at him. “Yeah, I’m great,” I said as I rubbed my finger along his finger. “Where is your car? Aren’t you supposed to sit in it and wait for the race?”
“No, I’m one of the last cars to race. The more experienced drivers go last.”
Well, I guess that makes sense. Racing against someone who didn’t know what they were doing wouldn’t be much of a challenge. “Do you know who you’re racing against? Or do you get to choose or something?” I had no idea how this worked.
“Yeah, who did they pair you up with?” Derek asked.
“Luke Stewart.”
Derek nodded. “He’ll be a good run.”
“Yeah,” Landon replied.
“What about that Javier guy? Is he here?” I hoped he wasn’t so we wouldn’t have a run in with him again.
Landon huffed. “Yeah, he’s here, but they won’t pair us until next week.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a rule that got set up a couple of years ago. If you are going to be in the big summer race, then you don’t get paired up with your competition after it’s been set. There’d been a lot of taunting and crap that was going on a while ago. We take this race seriously so stuff like that isn’t needed, so they made it into a rule.”
I nodded my head, understanding what he was talking about.
I heard some engines revving and looked up to see that they already had some cars lined up. “Looks like they are about to start,” Derek stated.
I leaned up against Landon as the races started. It was one race after another with no breaks. I got the same feeling watching them as I did when Landon brought me to the races last Friday. It was amazing to watch. I still didn’t understand the whole time clock thing, but I did know the lower the time, the better you were. And the better you were, the higher rank you got in the community. It seemed like everyone wanted to be recognized one way or another.
According to all the talk I was hearing, Landon and this guy Javier were the best. Apparently, Javier was King B, until Landon showed him up. They’d been at each other’s throats ever since. It was also why Landon had so many girls following him around like lost puppies. He was the new big thing and they all wanted a piece.
When it came time for Landon to head down to his car, we all went down to the fence that surrounded the track. Landon held my hand until Devon found a good spot to shoot.
Landon turned to me with a smile. “Good luck kiss for the race?”
I smiled and leaned up to press my lips to his. I was only going to give him a soft kiss, but he took it further by wrapping his arms around me and running his tongue along the seam of my mouth. I opened up for him and he kissed me thoroughly to the point where I almost forgot where we were, which couldn’t happen in this group since they started whistling and chanting Landon’s name.
He pulled back from me with a smile and I laughed.
“You can’t lose now after that kinda kiss,” Lisa said from beside me.
“I didn’t plan on losing, anyway,” he smirked and gave me a wink as he walked away toward his car.
Lisa pulled me with her to the fence so I could have a clear view of the race. “You could’ve started a fire with that kiss he just gave you.”
I bit my lip and blushed. I wasn’t one for PDA and wasn’t even thinking about it at the time. “He can definitely start a fire with those lips.” I giggled and looked at Lisa.
“Oh, boy.” She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, hey, there he is.”
I looked at the starting line to see Landon lined and ready to go. Then I saw the other car he was racing against. “Is that a…Viper?” I asked Derek, who was standing right next to Lisa.
He shrugged his shoulders as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Yeah, but always remember, you may have a nice car but that doesn’t mean it runs well. Landon has put more money into his engine than this guy probably has. Just watch. You’ll see.”
The engines started to rev and I watched nervously as they each did burn outs and rolled slowly to the white line. The smell from the burned rubber was overwhelming being so close; it almost made me feel sick.
A voice sounded over the loud speaker announcing the race was about to start. The first light turned yellow, then the next, and the next after that. Then the green light lit up and the cars took off. We all started to cheer in excitement.
They were lined up at first, but you could see Landon slowly easing his way past him. I couldn’t see much after he passed by us, but it was easy to tell who the winner was.
Lisa turned to me with a huge grin and raised her hand to me. I lifted mine up and gave her a high five. “Woohoo, hell, yeah,” she cheered and I laughed.
“That was pretty awesome,” I admitted.
She put her arm around my neck as we walked down to Landon’s car where he was waiting. “See, I told ya.”
When we got to Landon’s car, I immediately grabbed him around the neck and pulled him into a kiss. Doing the same thing to him as he did to me before, but this time, I sucked and nibbled on his bottom lip, earning me a groan.
“Damn, sunshine, you keep doing that and we’ll never make it home.”
I pulled back with a smile. “Congrats on your win,” I said as I walked around the car and opened my door. “I’m going to admit that it truly was amazing. I can’t wait to see you race again.” We got into the car and buckled up.
“It’ll be here before you know it,” he grinned as he pulled away from his spot and made his way through the parking lot so we could leave.
We headed home right after his race since it took forty minutes for us to get back. A couple of the guys wanted to stop and get something to eat, but after getting up early for work and it being so late, I was exhausted. I just wanted to crawl into my bed and go to sleep.
Landon agreed and brought me home, walking me to my door like the gentleman he was. “Thanks for coming tonight,” he said as he played with my entwined fingers.
I was going to invite him in, but I was too tired. I knew as soon as I lay down, I’d be out for the night. “Thanks for taking me.”
He leaned down and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. “I know you’re tired.” He rubbed his hand down my cheek. “I’ll text you tomorrow. Okay?”
I nodded and smiled at him. “Night,” I said as I gave him one more soft kiss on the lips. I then headed into the house and went straight to bed.
Nineteen
The week leading up to the big race went by quicker than I thought it would. After Mr. Johnson got his tractor fixed, we were overloaded with work. Though, I didn’t complain. The quicker the days went by, the faster I was able to spend time with Landon.
Monday, he had more parts for his car arrive so he had to take the opportunity at night to install them since it wasn’t so hot. He asked me if I wanted to come over while he did it all. It wasn’t the most entertaining thing to do on a weeknight, but it was better than sitting at home watching reality TV. Plus, I got to spend time with him. And I loved how he would take the time to try and teach me a little bit about his car. I was catching on little by little, but still so far from understanding anything.
Tuesday night, Landon told me he had somewhere he wanted to take me on Friday and asked if I’d ta
ke the day off.
“What do I say to your dad?”
Landon was leaning over the engine using a wrench to tighten a bolt on the new turbo he just installed. I didn’t understand why he needed a new one, so I asked him about it. He said he’d heard Javier installed a bigger one in his WRX, so he wanted to make sure he had enough power. I just nodded in agreement because I didn’t know how all of that worked on giving it more power.
“Just ask Nan for the day off. You don’t have to tell her a reason why. It should be fine.” He looked over at me with a grin.
I smiled at him as I spun the stool I was sitting on, next to his workbench. “Okay, boss. I’ll ask for the day off, but only because you are asking me so nicely.”
He set his wrench down and walked to me with black residue all over the gloves he was wearing. “I promise you’ll like it.”
“You promise I’ll like what?” I challenged.
“The surprise.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Another surprise, country boy? You keep this up and I’ll be expecting one every week.” I smiled brightly.
He leaned in to me, resting his hand on the workbench on either side of me. “I just might be inclined to do that,” he smirked and leaned down to kiss me. He smelled like oil and sweat, but I didn’t care. Any time he kissed me, I took full advantage of his lips.
He pulled back and resumed working on his car. “So are you going to tell me where you are taking me?”
He didn’t answer or look at me, which was his way of telling me no. I’d just have to wait and see and hope the week went by fast.
And it did.
Friday, I received a text from Landon telling me to meet him at his house at eight in the morning and to make sure I wore my bathing suit. I frowned as I read the message because the only place I knew of that I could wear my suit was at his house. I hoped he had planned a surprise better than spending the day at the house.
After taking a shower and shaving, I put on my suit, covering it with a jean skirt and a tank top. The weather wasn’t supposed to be as hot as it had been the previous week so I was hoping that if we were going to be outside, at least I’d be able to somewhat enjoy it. I grabbed an extra pair of clothes to toss in the car, just in case the ones I was wearing got soaked, and then I grabbed my small sketchpad from my side table drawer. Landon had asked me if I drew people and I wanted to try it out. I didn’t know if I’d be able to do it, but I figured I could bring it just in case. Then, I was out the door and headed to the house.
I arrived two minutes after eight; Landon was waiting for me on the porch.
“Good morning, handsome,” I said as I made my way up the stairs.
He smiled at me. “Good morning, gorgeous.”
He leaned down wrapping his arms around my waist, and gave me a soft kiss on my lips. “I’ve got everything ready to go if you’re ready.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Well, I’ve got my suit on so I guess I’m ready; although, I didn’t bring a towel. I didn’t think about it before I left.” I wasn’t really able to prepare because I didn’t know what we were doing.
He pulled back to see what I was wearing. “Yeah, I should have told you to wear shorts, but that’s okay. We’ll just make do with what we’ve got,” he wiggled his brows at me and laughed.
“You know, I’d probably find the situation funny too if I had any idea what we were doing.”
“Come on then,” he said, pulling me toward his truck. “Let’s get this day started.”
We got into the truck and Landon drove off down the road. Looking him over, I found myself staring more and more every day. I couldn’t help it. I had this feeling deep down in the pit of my stomach that I was falling for him. I hadn’t even known him long, but it was like my gut was telling me he was the one. It scared and thrilled me all at the same time.
“Thank you,” I smiled at him.
He looked at me confused. “What’re you thanking me for?” He reached over and entwined his fingers with mine, and then focused back on the road.
I shrugged. “For being good to me and showing me I can be happy. You truly are an amazing man.”
He looked over at me with the cheesiest grin. “Does this mean you kind of like me?”
I laughed. “Maybe just a little bit.” I held up my finger and thumb to show him just how much.
Squeezing my hand, he looked over at me. “I plan on making you very happy, sunshine. You deserve nothing less.”
I knew he meant every word and it just made my feelings grow stronger.
Ten minutes later, we were turning down a dirt road surrounded by trees.
“Where exactly are we?”
“We’re on the property adjacent to ours. A friend of Dad’s owns it. Nobody is ever here.”
“So, what you’re saying is, if you discarded my body in the woods, nobody would ever find me?”
He laughed. “Yeah, something like that.”
I pushed at his arm. “That’s not funny,” I laughed.
“Hey, you brought it up.”
We finally made it through all the trees and I looked up in awe. There was a pond surrounded by a few trees with a small dock going out to the water.
“Wow, this is really nice.”
He nodded. “Yeah. It’s too bad it doesn’t get used very often, but good for us because we have it all to ourselves,” he said with a grin.
After putting the car in park, he opened his door and looked at me. “Can you help me carry some of this stuff and we’ll set it up over there.” He pointed to a shady spot underneath a big oak tree.
“Yeah.” I opened my door, hopped out and walked to the back of the truck. He handed me a tote bag and a blanket, while he carried a big cooler. “So a day out by the pond, huh? I like it.”
He grinned. “I had a feeling you would.” He winked and walked off toward the tree.
I followed behind him, watching where I stepped along the way. The grass was really long and I didn’t want to step into a hole.
When we got underneath the tree, he set the cooler down and grabbed the blanket from me. After he unfolded it, he flung it out and laid it on the ground.
“So, you like picnics, huh?”
He nodded as we sat down. “My mom used to take us on picnics to the park when we were kids. I’m thinking the gesture rubbed off.”
“Well, I think it’s great.” I sat with my legs out to the side, not wanting to flash my goods in a skirt. “I’m guessing you brought us snacks?” I said, pointing to the cooler.
He opened the lid for me and I leaned up to see what was inside. He had an assortment of fruits, crackers and cheeses, and a lunchmeat tray. “Someone went shopping,” I beamed at him.
“I did,” he smiled. “And I also have my favorite dessert in here.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
Reaching his hand in, he pulled out a medium-sized white container, and then opened it. “Chocolate covered strawberries.”
My eyes widened at how big they were. It was like they were on steroids or something. “Wow, those things are huge.”
“And juicy,” he added, making me giggle.
Grabbing one out of the box, he lifted it to my lips. I smiled at him before I opened my mouth and as seductively as I could…took a bite. “Mmmm,” I closed my eyes and moaned as the juices and chocolate hit my tongue. I loved chocolate-covered strawberries and the over-sized berries were especially good.
Opening my eyes, I looked at him, causing a sudden blush to spread across my body. He was looking at me like he might attack me at any second.
Holding the strawberry up to my mouth again, I opened up and took another bite. Juice ran down the side of my mouth as I chewed and I lifted my hand to wipe it off, but Landon grabbed my hand to stop me. He leaned in, keeping eye contact until he was so close I could hardly breathe. I chewed as quickly as I could and swallowed, just as his tongue darted out and licked the juices from my chin up to my lip. I closed my eyes and moaned again, but this
time for a different reason. He grabbed onto both sides of my face and locked his lips with mine. I opened up to him and we entangled our tongues in a needy kiss. I felt like he was telling me so much with just his lips. He was a passionate kisser and his feelings came out in waves. His hands didn’t have to roam all over my body for me to know how much he wanted me. It just emanated from him.
Pulling back, he licked his lips and I sat there, trying to catch my breath. “Mmmm, those strawberries are good,” he said in a not-so-sexy voice.
I burst out laughing at his playfulness. “You crack me up.”
He pulled out the assortment of fruit and smiled. “I aim to please, sunshine.”
I grabbed some cantaloupe and popped it into my mouth. “This place is really nice. Kind of perfect really, with the shade.”
He sat next to me as we looked out over the pond. “Derek and I used to come out here when we were kids. Mr. Williams’ house is about a mile through those trees over there,” he said, pointing to the right. “He moved away about eight years ago though. His mom got sick so he moved the family to South Carolina.”
“Oh, wow. I’m surprised he didn’t sell it then. This is a lot of land,” I stated as I looked around.
“Yeah, well, Dad has tried numerous times to talk him into selling, but he won’t budge. It was passed down to him so it’s not like he has to pay for anything. I’m sure when his kids are old enough; he’ll give them an option to move out here.”
I stared out into the water and thought about all the things Landon had told me over the past two weeks about his childhood and growing up in the south. It all sounded so amazing. To be a part of a small town where you knew everyone and everyone knew you. Where you could go to a neighbor’s house and borrow sugar if you wanted. I didn’t have that kind of life in Chicago. We lived in a condo in the city. My neighbors were mostly old with a few spoiled rich kids. If I hadn’t have met Erin in school, I wasn’t sure how I would have turned out.
“I have some news I wanted to share with you,” he said, pulling me from my daydreaming.
I blinked a couple of times and looked at him. “Yeah?”
He was looking straight ahead out into the water. “I’ve decided to go back to school.” He looked at me with a big smile on his face and I gasped with excitement.
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