Katie peered at me over the rims of her designer sunglasses and frowned. “No, I guess not. I just wish you’d stop running away from your problems all of the time.”
“Holy crap! I totally don’t run away from my problems.”
“I’m just saying you get totally worked up over things and then you bail when they don’t go how you wanted them to. It’s like you don’t know how to deal.”
Katie unlocked the doors of her Honda Civic and we climbed inside, settling into the hot plush interior.
“Whatever,” I said as I rolled down the window. It was a sunny spring day in Florida, which meant summery weather and enough humidity in the air to keep my hair in a perpetual curl.
“Aww… It’s okay, Hun. Don’t worry so much.” Katie said as she craned her neck around to look over her shoulder before she put the car in gear. “I still love you,” she said as we pulled away from the curb.
I bit my lip. On a certain level, I knew Katie was more than just a little bit right. After all, I had moved around a lot since I’d turned eighteen. I’d grown up in Odessa, Delaware, a small town in the middle of nowhere with a population of next to nothing, zero culture, and even less chance for adventure.
It’s one of those towns where everyone knows everyone else…and their deepest secrets. I’d been dying to get out. After high school, most kids I graduated with never left. They stayed and worked in their family businesses. I knew my parents expected the same of me, but I high-tailed it out of there as fast as I could, moving some two thousand miles across the country for college.
But being on my own for the first time was so exhilarating that I had trouble remembering to go to class. I wound up having to drop out after my sophomore year. Rather than return home, I moved around, taking receptionist and administrative assistant jobs for small offices in the biggest towns I could find.
I eventually landed in Florida and liked it well enough. I loved the beach, all of the tourists, and the carefree energy. But as time passed, I realized that in the back of my mind, I’d already started itching for my next adventure.
“Hey,” I said suddenly as Katie pulled into a parking space and shoved the car into park. “You know what?”
“Mmn?” Katie didn’t look up as she gathered her stuff. “What, Liv?”
I reached into my purse and dug around until I found the threadbare denim wallet I’d been carrying ever since I was a teenager.
“About that hundred bucks,” I said, pulling the cash out and fanning it in the air. “I think I’m gonna place a bet.”
Katie’s jaw dropped. She tilted her face down until her sunglasses slid down the bridge of her perky nose. “Liv, you can’t be serious. You know that’s not a good idea!”
Her reaction somehow made the idea even more appealing.
“Well, I was totally kidding,” I said, grinning at her. “At least, until you started acting like my mom and now I think I definitely want to do it!”
“Liv,” Katie said, dragging out the middle of my name much longer than necessary. “Come on. You know this isn’t smart.”
“Who knows, it could be my lucky day!” I smirked. “And as you said, anything can happen. I just have to be open to the possibility.”
“That wasn’t quite what I had in mind.”
I shoved the wallet back inside of my bag and climbed out of the car. In the parking lot, I stretched my arms high above my head. The day already seemed fifteen degrees hotter than it had been when we left my apartment. Sweat broke out along the back of my neck and my upper lip as Katie and I trotted across the parking lot.
After we got our tickets and passed through the entrance gate, Katie called our friends Lauren and Jackie from her cell.
“They’re in the stands,” Katie said. She shielded her eyes from the unforgiving Florida sun and pointed at the stadium. “You wanna go find them?”
I licked my lips. “Nah, I’m going to walk around and place a bet,” I announced. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
Katie grabbed my arm. “Olivia,” she said seriously. “Please, think about what you’re doing. This is such a bad idea! You don’t know the first thing about gambling!”
I rolled my eyes. “So? Isn’t that what the bookie is for?”
“Olivia, the bookie makes illegal bets!” Katie hissed. She looked truly alarmed and I couldn’t help giggling.
I shrugged. “Oh well. I’ll figure it out. I always do. See you in a bit!” Leaning in, I air-kissed both of Katie’s cheeks before I took off into the depths of the speedway.
Ten minutes later, I was feeling much less confident about the whole thing. The counter where people were placing bets was loud and rushed, with lots of men shouting at each other and waving tickets in the air. I suddenly felt very small and very out of my element.
“Excuse me,” I said when it was finally my turn. I flashed a big smile at the fat greasy guy with big bushy eyebrows working behind the counter. “I was hoping to place a bet.”
“What kind?”
“Um, I don’t know,” I said brightly, pulling out my wallet and handing over my cash. “I’ve never done this before. Can you help?”
The man smelled like stale cigars and cheap cologne. I could smell him from the other side of the counter where I was standing. I had to fight the urge to reach across the counter and smooth his unruly eyebrows. What he really needed was to get those things groomed.
“Hey, Missy. I ain’t got all day.” He rolled his eyes at me. “Who you wanna bet on?” He spoke with a thick Florida twang.
I glanced up, mesmerized by the board with all of the races and names of the drivers listed on it. I’d never heard of any of them before—after all, I’d only agreed to come with Katie as an excuse to get out of the house.
One name though stood out to me: Jacob Teller. The guy in the picture next to the name had golden blonde hair, playful blue eyes, and a killer smile. He even had a cleft in his chin.
“Who do you think will win in that race?” I pointed up to where Jacob’s name was displayed.
The guy shrugged. “DeMarco’s the favorite,” he said. “You wanna bet on him?”
I looked up and frowned. “No.” I didn’t like the looks of DeMarco. He had a pinched face and looked like he could have a temper if you weren’t careful. “How about Jacob Teller?” I asked.
The guy burst out laughing. “That clown? Seriously?”
Suddenly, I knew I had to bet on Jacob—it was an instinct, a feeling that grabbed my gut and made me dizzy.
“Yes, him.” I said, pushing my cash across the counter.
The guy stared at me. “Whoa, lady, this is a lot of dough for a first timer on a bet like that,” he said, taking the tens and twenties. “You sure about that? That Teller kid doesn’t have a chance.” He looked at me for a second and asked, “You sure you wanna be out of a hundred bucks?”
I nodded. “Totally sure,” I said, smiling widely. “After all, what’s the worst that could happen?”
The guy rolled his eyes and took my cash. He scribbled something on a ticket, then handed it to me.
“Watch out for number seventy-two.” The guy added sarcastically, “That’s your lucky guy right there.”
Before I could ask about what to do if I won, another customer pushed past me. The crowd was foaming and pulsing around me like a live thing, like a river or a stream teeming with fish.
I pushed my way through the herd back out into the bright sunshine. The air smelled toxic. Clouds of oil-scented smoke wafted up from the track. My ears were filled with the whine of cars as they screeched around in an infinite loop of blurry colors and burning rubber.
When I finally found my friends in the stands, they were sipping tall ice-cold beers and taking turns peering through the binoculars. After greeting Lauren and Jackie, Katie gave me a dark look.
“Liv placed a bet, didn’t you, Olivia?” Katie asked.
“Yup,” I said, proudly showing off the ticket I’d received at the betting counte
r. “Number Seventy-Two. Keep an eye for him─Jacob Teller. That’s my guy!”
“Oh my god, Olivia, he’s like, supposed to come in last place!” Lauren, one of Katie’s friends from community college, shoved a program in front of me. She was a petite blonde with big blue eyes. “Did the guy at the counter trick you or something?”
“No,” I blushed. “I just looked up and picked the cutest guy.”
Lauren burst out laughing. “Great strategy. I’m sure they’re all rednecks anyway,” she said dismissively. “I personally don’t find white trash guys all that cute.”
“Whatever,” I shook my head, then grabbed the binoculars and focused until the tiny blurs below actually looked like cars. “He looked like, normal-cute,” I said, not taking my eyes away from the track.
“But I don’t know, maybe it was an old picture. How many times are they driving around that thing anyway?”
Katie and Lauren laughed. “Oh, Liv,” Katie said. She reached over and hugged me. “You’re so funny. That’s why I love you.”
I rolled my eyes at her, then passed the binoculars back. “So, you wanna make good on that promise and buy me a beer?”
A couple of hours and several beers later, I was seriously regretting having bet all of my money. From what I could tell, Jacob Teller wasn’t actually doing all that badly. When I last checked, he was in third place. All I knew for sure was that I was tired of sitting on the hard plastic seat and baking in the sun.
“I wish we were at the beach,” I moaned, drinking the last of the warm suds at the bottom of my cup. “It would be such a good day for swimming.”
“We can go later,” Katie said. “I think Jackie wants food after this. You guys want Chinese?”
Another pang of guilt hit me. Katie had been generous enough to buy me my drinks, but I couldn’t expect her to keep paying for everything. Plus, I felt totally guilty that I’d been so reckless even when she warned me not to. It really was an impulsive and dumb idea to bet what little money I had on such a stupid whim. This was exactly the kind of thing that I could picture my mom yelling at me about.
I slunk down low in my seat and tipped my sun hat over my eyes when suddenly, a loud cheer erupted from the crowds. People stood up and jumped up and down, screaming and waving their hands in the air. I sat up straight and looked around me to see what the commotion was about.
“Oh my god, Liv!” Katie shrieked in my ear. “You won! You won!”
“What?” I squinted at her. “Are you serious? No fucking way.”
“Number seventy-two. Number seventy-two. That’s your guy. You won!” Katie grabbed my hand and pointed at the jumbotron.
I gasped as the camera panned over a group of drivers. Jacob Teller, the gorgeous blonde, was standing straight and tall. There was a cocky, smug grin plastered on his face and his cheeks were flushed with excitement. He was even cuter on the big screen than in his picture. I bit my lip and blushed even though I knew he couldn’t possibly see me.
“Oh my God,” I murmured. “I can’t believe it!”
“So you bet everything you had on you?”
I nodded. “So how much did I win?” I asked.
Katie took the ticket from me and gasped.
“Oh my God, Olivia. You just won five thousand dollars.”
“No way!” I sat back down in my seat.
Holy Crap! Five thousand dollars might not be a lot of money to some people. But for me, it was life-changing.
CHAPTER TWO
Olivia
MY JAW DROPPED. “I don’t believe it,” I said in a daze. I grabbed the ticket from Katie’s hand. I wanted to see the winning numbers with my own eyes. I looked at the ticket and then again at the scoreboard. Sure enough, Katie was right. I’d bet on the guy least likely to win, and it paid off─big time.
“Come on,” Katie chirped. “We gotta get your money!” She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the aisle.
The crowd was beginning to settle down. Another race would be taking place shortly, but I didn’t care. My heart was thudding in my chest like a jackhammer, and I felt flushed and dizzy and strangely powerful, like I was the one who had just won an incredible race.
The betting counter was swarmed. Katie and I chatted excitedly as we waited in line. When it was my turn, I realized I was face-to-face with the same guy. When he saw me, he paled.
“Hi there,” he said smoothly, taking the ticket. “Collecting?”
I nodded smugly. “You bet.”
“Beginner’s luck,” the guy muttered under his breath as he handed me a stack of crisp, green bills. I watched his hands as he counted them, laying each of the bills on the counter. The metal wristband of his gold-tone watch pinched the hairs on his fat arm. My palms started to itch and sweat. I’d never seen that much money all at once before. It was hard to believe I wasn’t actually dreaming.
“So,” Katie said as we strolled away from the counter. “Whatcha gonna do with it? Bet it all again?”
I burst out laughing. “Hell no,” I said. I patted my purse, keeping it tucked close to my thigh. “I have half a mind to go home and bury this in the backyard until something else happens.”
“You wanna watch another race?”
The thought of going back into the sweltering, humid stands made me feel nauseous.
“I think I’m going to get another beer,” I said slowly. “Maybe I’ll go down there,” I pointed toward the Winner’s Circle. “I’m kind of tempted to thank Jacob Teller.”
Katie burst out laughing. “You totally should. He’s so hot!” she said, leaning in for a quick hug. “We’ll catch you later, Liv.”
As I walked away, Katie yelled my name again.
“What?” I turned around. “What’s up?”
“Bring me a beer when you come back,” Katie called. She winked. “You owe me!”
I smiled as I set off for Victory Lane. There was a crowd already clustered around a bunch of guys, talking and slapping each other on the back. Even though they’d been racing each other just a few minutes ago, it was easy to imagine them roughhousing one minute and then hugging the next.
Somehow, I managed to slip past security. I’m not quite sure how. It happened so quickly. I just followed the crowd until I was near where all of the action was happening.
As I got closer, I could feel the excitement in my belly grow stronger. There was no denying that Jacob was one of the hottest guys I’d ever seen.
“Hey, Teller!” I called out to him, waving my hand in the air to catch his attention. I was feeling pretty light-headed from the beer and the sun.
Jacob’s blonde head whirled around. When he saw me, he lifted his chin slightly and flashed a smile back at me. “Yeah?”
I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted so he could hear me over the din of the crowd, “I’m so happy I could kiss you right now!”
“Oh really?” he yelled back. His eyes lit up.
I pulled the envelope with my winnings from my bag and waved it in the air. “I owe you for this!”
Jacob made his way over to where I was standing. When he got close enough for us to talk without having to yell and scream, he chuckled. It was a nice, deep, and pleasant sound. “So how do you figure that?” he asked.
“I bet on you and I won!” I said. I was breathless with excitement.
“Well then, you must be my lucky charm,” He said winking at me.
Up close, he was sexier than ever. His blonde hair was tousled with sweat. His tan skin was flushed from being in the sun, and I could tell the win had worked magic on him too. He was grinning wide like a man who’s just been given a second shot at life.
He cocked his head lazily to the side and asked, “So, what’s your name?”
My God, he was a charmer!
“Olivia,” I blushed and looked down at my shoes. When I looked back up at him I held out my hand for him to shake. “But my friends call me Liv.”
“Jacob, but you can call me Jake,” he said reaching for my han
d. But, instead of shaking my hand like I expected him to, he pulled my fingers toward his mouth and gently kissed the back of my hand. The touch of his lips brushing against my skin sent a shiver crawling down my back, leaving me momentarily speechless and weak at the knees.
After what seemed like an eternity, I finally got it together and managed to break the awkward silence. “Umm… you did really well out there.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I instantly regretted having spoken at all. Here I was, standing with the hottest guy I’d ever laid eyes on and that was the best I could come up with. I looked away from him and scanned the track, shielding my eyes from the sun, trying my best to look like I didn’t care.
The next race was already starting and the loud whine of the cars suddenly seemed like one of the sweetest, most exciting sounds on Earth to my ears.
“Well, it was easy,” Jake said with an easy grin. He tipped his hat at me and winked. “I did have lady luck on my side.”
Before I could reply, Jake wrapped a muscular arm around my waist and pulled me close. He smelled like tobacco and grease. I wanted to melt into his body then and there. Jake’s eyes were sapphire blue and I felt like he could see all the way through me.
He leaned in for a kiss and when he pressed his lips to mine, I wrapped my arms around his neck and parted my lips and let his tongue playfully dart inside. He groaned into my mouth and I felt one of my legs pop into the air, just like in an old movie.
When we pulled apart, my heart was pounding faster than ever. Wow!
“Whaddya say we get out of here?” Jake whispered into my ear. He nibbled my earlobe and I squealed with pleasure. “Let’s go spend some of that cash we just won.”
Leaving the Daytona racetrack with Jake felt surreal, like I was walking on clouds. I was happy and excited and somehow nervous all at once.
“So, Lucky Girl,” Jake said as we walked into the afternoon sunshine of the parking lot. He draped his arm over my shoulder. “Do you like champagne?”
“I love it,” I nodded, putting my hand to my chest.
Sweat It Out: A Billionaire Love Story Page 13