by Chelle Bliss
He does not know what it is like to be hungry.
I do, and I am starving.
FAITH
Even with music playing on the radio, the silence between Brooks and me is damn near deafening and completely uncomfortable. We’ve barely spoken five words to each other since we left the field, walking toward the Ridley headquarters.
I turn toward him, ready to say something, but immediately clamp my mouth shut when I can’t think of something funny or charming to say. Brooks stares at the road ahead, oblivious to my gaze as he taps his thumb against the steering wheel to the beat of an old country tune.
Brooks has a tiny bump near the ridge of his nose I hadn’t noticed before. I imagine he got it from one too many fights. He’s a hothead, just like every driver I’ve ever known, including my brother. Roscoe would have a bump in the same spot if it hadn’t been for my mother’s insistence that he see the family doctor and have his nose set to avoid plastic surgery in the future.
“Are you a big city kind of guy?” I cringe a little but hide it with an uneasy smile. I don’t even know why I asked such a stupid question. The way Brooks dresses doesn’t scream slick city guy in any way, but I couldn’t take the silence anymore, and it was the first thing that popped into my head.
“Mountain man,” he replies, taking his eyes off the road for a second and glancing in my direction.
Those damn butterflies flutter around my insides again like crazed little Brooks fans. Flashes of a sweaty and shirtless Brooks chopping wood play like a naughty movie reel on a constant loop. The vision of his perfectly tan, dirty body glistening in the sun from a hard day’s work has my mouth watering.
I turn my attention toward the window, trying to push the sexy images of Brooks out of my head to stop myself from drooling. “Sounds like hard work and completely exhausting.”
“I love getting my hands dirty. I’ve never been one for the bright lights of the big city. Hopefully someday I’ll own a ranch and settle down with nothing but mountains as my company. You?”
“I grew up a few miles away, but I’m sure you did your research.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t learn much about you or your mother.”
“Oh.” I glance in his direction and find his eyes on me and not the road. “Eyes,” I say, pointing toward the windshield and grabbing my chest with my other hand. Then it hits me. Brooks just admitted he tried to find information on me but failed.
Interesting.
“Sorry.” He tightens his grip on the steering wheel and leans forward, giving the road his full attention. “Tell me something about Faith Ridley.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
My face flushes. “Man, the sun’s hot today.” I fan myself with one hand and roll down the window with the other. The cabin of his truck seems to suddenly feel stifling. “There’s not much to tell. I attended Vanderbilt University and graduated with honors. Now I work for Ridley Racing.”
“You just told me what you do, not who you are.”
I reach for the pendant around my neck, sliding the diamond from side to side. “I’m a country girl at heart…”
“Stop,” he says, interrupting me from finishing my boring monologue about who I am. “What’s one thing about Faith that would shock me?”
I bite my bottom lip, turning his words over in my head, but come up empty. “I’m really a boring person.”
His eyes twinkle as he looks in my direction. “I find that hard to believe.”
I really am boring, even if he doesn’t want to believe me. Growing up as a member of the Ridley family, I had to behave or I’d land on the front page of the local gossip rag. That was the problem with growing up in a small town. Nothing stayed private for long.
It’s one reason I went to Vanderbilt. I needed my freedom and a break from Buxton. I thought I’d love the city life, but I quickly learned that when the bright lights and decadence wore off, any city just becomes a bigger version of Buxton.
I can feel his eyes on me. “A bunch of us are going out later for drinks. We’re celebrating the start of the season.”
“That’s cool.”
I fidget with the hem of my skirt. “Want to come?”
Why did I ask him that? Because he’s hot. If I’m being honest with myself, Brooks Carter, for all his ego, is the hottest man to cross my path in a very long time. I promised myself I’d never date a race car driver, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t invite him for drinks. Maybe he’d feel more at home and would make my job a little easier.
“Hell, yeah. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Brooks’s eyes grow wide when he catches his first sight of our headquarters. The two-story office building with a giant attached garage could easily fit twenty cars if my father decides to expand even more. When Roscoe told him he wanted to follow in his footsteps, my father could not have been prouder, and Ridley Racing was born. My dad has built an empire in a short amount of time, and the entire thing revolves around his past career and growing another legend in the family. We pull into the half-full lot and park next to my father.
“Damn. This place is impressive.” Brooks leans forward, mouth hanging open as he stares up at the building.
“Wait until you see inside.”
He shakes his head as he leans back and takes it all in. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Expect to have your mind blown, Mr. Carter.”
“Brooks, please,” he corrects me, tilting his head back and grinning.
Everything about Brooks is sexy, not just his easy smile and beautiful blue eyes. I’d seen hundreds of races in my life, but not one of them had me squeezing my thighs together like today’s practice did. I held my breath every time he hugged the inside of the track or tapped my brother’s bumper, waiting for him to spin out. He commanded the field, always in control just like he’d stated before he climbed into the front seat and pulled onto the track.
Maybe I had Brooks pegged all wrong. I assumed he was an egomaniac like Roscoe, but the man opening my door to help me down from his truck seems to be nothing but a gentleman. When I place my hand against his palm, my fingers itch to touch the rest of him. He leans forward, and for a moment, I hold my breath, thinking he is going to kiss me.
“You kids coming?” my dad asks, breaking whatever moment we were having.
I shake my head and pull my hand back as soon as my feet touch the ground, scurrying toward my father and averting certain disaster.
Chapter Three
Brooks
Faith has had four shots of tequila along with a few beers, matching me drink-for-drink just as she promised before we walked into the bar. Roscoe didn’t bother to show up, but no one seemed to care about his absence, especially me. The rest of the group has already called it a night, probably because Faith and I are pretty much shitfaced drunk and verging on obnoxious.
“You’re not the best at everything,” Faith says right before she hiccups and covers her mouth. Her eyes go wide, and she giggles softly behind her hand before another hiccup bubbles out of her.
The prim and proper woman of earlier is gone, replaced by a carefree and fun country girl. God, she’s so freaking beautiful, with her pink cheeks and pouty mouth complete with lush, kissable lips. Everything about the woman drives me wild and has the blood coursing through my veins faster than I can drive around any track, even at breakneck speed. I know she’s technically my boss, but that doesn’t stop me from having all sorts of dirty and inappropriate thoughts about her.
“How would you know?” I raise an eyebrow, teasing her from across the table.
“Well, I…” She drags her hands down her cheeks. “I’m drunk,” she slurs as she tries to set her elbow on the table and almost misses. She giggles again, but this time it’s somehow louder than before. Her eyes flutter closed as she places her face against her palm and sways.
I bribed the waitress with an extra twenty bucks if she’d leav
e the bottle at our table and give us a little privacy for the rest of the evening. I wanted Faith’s complete and undivided attention. I pour myself another drink but don’t refill her glass. I think she’s hit her limit, whether she wants to admit it or not. I can’t allow her to drink any more. “You’re holding your own, but I think it’s time to call it quits,” I tell her when her body finally stills, and she opens her eyes again.
“I’m not a quitter.” She narrows her gaze, going almost cross-eyed in the process. When she reaches across the table for the bottle of tequila, I snatch it away from her reach. “Give it to me,” she snaps, and then reaches for it, wiggling her fingers.
My cock twitches in my pants, and I shift in my seat but don’t dare give her the bottle. “Come on, princess. We all have our limits, and you’ve hit yours.”
“Brooks.” She smiles lazily and leans forward with her breasts on top of the table. I can’t drag my eyes away. No matter how much I want to look anywhere else, it’s like she has me in some teenage trance. “I’m a grown woman.”
“I know.” My voice is almost a whisper. I don’t realize I’m still staring at her breasts until her fingers push against the tequila bottle. I snap my gaze away from her well-endowed cleavage and find her smiling at me. “There’s nothing you can do to change my mind.”
“Nothing?” She slides her tongue across her bottom lip, and my eyes follow.
Fuck. How did Faith Ridley, the good girl who still calls her father “Daddy,” suddenly become the woman across the table taunting me with her breasts and beautiful mouth for another shot of tequila? It doesn’t matter because the fact that my dick is stirring in my pants, begging to be freed, tells me I approve even if I shouldn’t.
“Nothing.” What a crock of shit. The word doesn’t even come out of my mouth sounding convincing.
She shifts in her seat and then drags the wooden chair close.
In response, I move the bottle again, still keeping it far enough away for her not to reach. “Tell me something about yourself like I asked earlier, and maybe I’ll give you another.”
I’m still lying. I won’t give her another drink. The last thing I need is Faith passed out so I have to explain to her father why I let her get so out of control—in public no less. I’m sure word would get back to him. In a town this small, nothing stays hidden for long, no matter how hard people may try to bury it.
Faith finally pulls her hand back but keeps her chest on full display “Well”—she glances around the bar before smiling—“I kissed a girl once.”
I cough, almost swallowing my tongue with that confession. “What? When?” I have so many questions I can’t seem to speak fast enough. I lean forward and push my cock down, reminding the damn thing I am in control. “How did that happen?”
“I was a freshman, and it was pledge week. That’s all you need to know.” Her smile widens, the corners of her mouth almost reaching her deep-green eyes as she pushes her glass toward me.
I lift the bottle and shake it. This is dangerous territory and I know it, but I can’t stop myself from pushing her for more.
She leans back and brushes her auburn hair back over her shoulder. “Fine. I had to kiss Katie McGee for sixty seconds.”
“Where?”
“On the mouth.”
“No.” I laugh. “I mean, where were you?”
“Oh.” She giggles and blinks. “We were in the living room of our sorority house.”
I shake my head, jealous of anyone who was in that room that night. “To be a fly on that wall,” I whisper.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“What about you?”
“I’ve kissed a girl on the mouth too.” I smirk and wiggle my eyebrows, trying to make light of the situation because my pulse has already sped up like I was running a marathon.
She laughs loudly and slaps her hand across her mouth when it turns into a snort. “You’re an asshole.”
“I know.”
She leans over the table, scanning the room once again. “Have you kissed a boy?” she asks in a hushed tone.
“Nope.” I’m not the least bit sorry to disappoint her. Kissing another dude with their facial hair tickling my lips has never been on my to-do list. There isn’t a damn thing in the world that would make me want to place my lips on another man’s.
“That’s sad.” She frowns like she just heard the saddest news in the world. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
I tilt my head to the side. “You’re a funny chick, Faith.”
“No really.” Her eyes brighten, and she bobs her head. “Kissing a girl was okay, but there’s nothing like a man’s touch as his lips slide across yours and the stubble of his chin brushes against your skin.”
I wave her off, needing her to stop. “Nope. Not for me.” I easily brush off the thought of kissing a man, because I can’t stop picturing kissing Faith. I want to reach across the table, place my hand on the side of her face as I lean in for a kiss. I can almost taste the shiny lip gloss she reapplied three times in the last hour as I dip my tongue between her lips.
“So, you’re saying you’re one hundred percent into chicks?” When my head jerks back, Faith giggles uncontrollably. “Your face,” she says, pointing at me as my mouth hangs open still in shock that she is questioning my manhood.
“You got some jokes, li’l girl. A smart mouth too.”
“No. For real, though.” Faith places her hand on top of mine, stroking her thumb across my skin. “I may need proof.”
Shit. This is all kinds of bad. She’s drunk and so am I, but I know we’re treading in dangerous water, and I’m not sure I have the power to pull myself free from the Faith Ridley riptide.
I growl, almost at the breaking point, and the tequila is doing nothing to make this situation any easier. “We better get out of here before you pass out,” I say, but I really mean before I do something I can’t take back and will cause a bigger headache tomorrow than we’re probably both going to have already.
“You can’t drive like this,” she says, swaying as she tries to stand up from her chair.
I reach out and wrap my hands around her upper arms to steady her. She glances up, her eyes meeting mine, and the invisible electricity in the air crackles. My heart races, pounding in my chest uncontrollably as I stare into her green eyes. “I’ll call a cab for us. It’s really not a big deal.”
Faith places her hand against my chest, scorching my skin through my T-shirt. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. There are no cabs.” Her fingers crumple around my T-shirt, fisting it tightly as she gazes at me with glassy eyes. “My place is just around the corner, though.” When I don’t reply, her hands slide up to my shoulder before landing on my biceps. “Come on. I’ll be a good girl. I promise.” She grins.
My palms start to sweat, and my dick presses against my jeans as if reaching for her warmth. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Faith.”
“Don’t be a prude.” She squeezes my bicep and lets out a little throaty moan as we step outside. “I live in a loft and have plenty of room. If something happened to you tonight because you’re drunk, my daddy would kill me.” She pouts, making it impossible for me to say no.
I am more afraid of her father killing me if he finds out I spent the night at his daughter’s place than I am of hitching a ride back to my trailer and being murdered by a stranger. I already have one Ridley hating me, and the thought of another makes my stomach turn.
“Don’t be a baby, Brooks. It’s the responsible thing to do.”
And because I’ve had four shots of tequila and I’m not thinking clearly, I say, “I’ll sleep on the couch, and I’ll be out before you’re awake.” Even drunk, I know I should walk my ass back to my trailer to avoid being alone with her, but I can’t bring myself to say the words.
Right now, with her hands on my skin, almost in my embrace, with her sweet-smelling perfume swirling around me, there’s nothing I want more than more time with Faith.
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“Don’t worry about that.” She rests her forehead against my shoulder, still squeezing my biceps. “No one will see you. I promise.”
“But I’m sleeping on the couch.” I repeat that phrase like somehow it makes the entire situation more acceptable.
“Sure.” She giggles and sways again as she tries to straighten after finally releasing my arms.
“Steady there, princess.” I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her against my side. “I think you overdid it tonight, and we’re going to pay the price tomorrow.”
She peers up at me with a lazy smile. “Maybe just a little, but it was worth it.”
“Let’s get you home and into bed.”
She bats her eye lashes. “Why, Brooks. How very forward of you.”
Fuck. This could be bad. No, this could be horrible and the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. And I’ve done a lot of stupid things in my day.
We stumble toward Faith’s place, laughing and holding on to each other for support. I don’t realize how drunk I really am until I collapse on her couch after she disappears into the bathroom. I lift my head, trying to focus in the haze of white and pink that surrounds me. The amount of lace and furry shit in her place is mind boggling. Who needs ten throw pillows on the couch in every shade of cotton candy pink?
Faith’s loft is huge. I don’t know why I figured her place would be a normal-sized apartment. Instead the damn thing takes up half of the top floor and has no walls except for the bathroom. There will be nothing separating us tonight besides a couple dozen barrier-free feet of space.
“You okay in there?” I lift one of the pillows, close my eyes, and inhale. I groan into the pillow, smashing it against my face and clutch the edges tightly in my fist as Faith’s perfume washes over me. My dick stirs. I’m torturing myself, making the entire situation worse.
“I’m fine,” she calls back. “Just make yourself comfortable.”
I toss the pillow to the side before pulling off my shirt and grabbing a nearby pink blanket. The room starts to spin as I lie back and stare at the ceiling. Between wearing my jeans, my dick having a mind of its own, and Faith being so near, sleeping is going to be impossible.