Behind the Wheel (Hearts & Horsepower Book 2)

by A. K. Evans

  She paused a moment to allow that to sink in.

  It hadn’t quite fully penetrated when she continued, “When you guys showed up at the track together the next day, Logan told me there was a collective sigh of relief. And every day since then, I’ve been begging Logan to give me updates. I really wanted to know how things were at the shop between the two of you.”

  “You could have called me. You have my number,” I pointed out.

  Kendall’s features softened. “I know. Logan indulged me for a while, so it was okay. Of course, he eventually got tired of being a news reporter. I would have called, but I just didn’t know where things stood for you with our friendship. I try to remind myself frequently that not everybody is like my sister who shares freely.”

  “I don’t have anybody, Kendall,” I blurted.

  “Pardon?”

  Feeling myself grow somber, I asserted, “I don’t think you understand just how much it means to me that Logan hired me. Yes, it got me away from a less-than-desirable work environment, but it gave me something else. Those guys, in the very short time I’ve worked at LT Motorsports, have shown me what it’s like to feel like I belong somewhere again. I’ve spent so many years doing everything I could to prove my independence because I had no choice. And now I feel like I can finally depend on not just one but several other people to be there for me. That feels really good.”

  Kendall gave me a curious look. That’s when I went on to tell her about my dad and my nonexistent mother.

  “Oh, Avery,” Kendall sighed when I finished telling her everything. “I’m so, so sorry. I can’t even imagine how you’re still standing.”

  I let out a grunt and admitted, “There was a period of time when I wasn’t.”

  “Well, you are now. And you’re right. You’ve got the guys, you’ve got me, and best of all, you’ve got a man who is very intent to not be just friends with you,” she assured me.

  I gave myself a minute to let her declarations sink in. There was no question in my mind that everything Kendall said was true. But I’d be foolish to ignore that dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach that it could all be ripped away from me and I’d be right back where I started.

  Lonely and desperate to prove I didn’t need anyone else.

  Letting my fears get the best of me, I worried, “As long as I don’t screw it up.”

  “How could you screw it up?” she asked.

  “With Knox,” I answered. “If things don’t go well tonight or if down the road it turns sour, I would never expect everyone to just forget their loyalty to him and continue to be my friend.”

  “Avery,” Kendall called softly.

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re worried about something I don’t think will ever be a problem,” she started. “But if for some crazy reason things don’t work out with you and Knox, the rest of the guys can still remain friends with both of you. And if they don’t, they aren’t who I thought they were. And no matter what, I can promise you you’ll always have me.”

  “Yeah, I know you’re saying that and you believe it now, but you’re with Logan,” I argued. “I can’t expect you’d—”

  “I’m going to cut you off right there,” she interrupted me. “My sister-in-law literally had no family either. And there was a period of time when she and my brother went through a rough patch. They split up; she initiated the split. My sister and I were still there for her. So I get it, Avery, I get why you would doubt me, but I’m telling you that you don’t have to.”

  At that, I dipped my chin and decided not to argue. Only time would tell. And I could either sit and worry about everything that might happen or keep moving forward hoping for the best.

  “Thanks, Kendall.”

  “You’re welcome,” she returned. “Now, what are you wearing tonight?”

  “I actually hadn’t quite figured that out yet,” I told her. “But it needs to be good because Knox told me last night that me spending time to get ready for our date would be a waste because I’d be trying to polish a gem and that he doesn’t think I can get any better but was excited to see me try.”

  Her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. “Okay, time to raid your closet and figure it out,” she ordered. “And if we don’t find anything there that’s going to rock his world, we’re going shopping this morning.”

  “I don’t own any dresses,” I revealed.

  “Shopping it is.”

  At that, I burst out laughing.

  And as I let that good feeling flow through me, I said a silent prayer of thanks. Because if nothing else, I was grateful that I felt like I was finally finding my place with my people, and I was doing it feeling the best I had in years.

  There were four minutes left until Knox was set to arrive to pick me up for our date.

  I never felt more strange than I did now for several reasons.

  First, it took me a minute to realize it, but this was technically my very first date with a guy ever. I’d never officially gone out on a date. Sure, when I was working for Ricky, I’d occasionally run out for lunch and one of the other guys, or Ricky himself would tag along. I never considered those to be dates because, well, they weren’t.

  So, I had some nerves about the fact that this was not only my first date with Knox but my first date ever.

  The other, more obvious, reason I felt so strange was because I wasn’t accustomed to being all dolled up. My usual attire consisted of T-shirts, tanks, sweatshirts, jeans, and shorts. But since I was determined to, as Kendall put it, rock Knox’s world and win our little bet, I decided it was time to go all out and not cut any corners.

  And I didn’t.

  Following my shopping trip with Kendall, where she seemed to effortlessly whisk me through the mall to all the right stores, I came home and got started. I showered, shaved, plucked, and more. It was so outside the norm for me when it came to my routine, but this experience was also so far outside the norm. I figured it deserved the attention I was giving it. I figured Knox deserved it. I really wanted to do this for him. And, quite frankly, I really wanted to do it for myself.

  I only hoped Knox would love what he saw.

  Kendall insisted I couldn’t go wrong with a little black dress. Since I had no preference either way, I took her advice.

  And now I was standing here in said little black dress, the operative word being little. When I initially tried it on, I had some reservations about it, wondering if maybe I’d be going too far. Kendall promised that wasn’t possible and that I’d be thanking her tomorrow for her insistence that I get it. She reiterated that it would be tomorrow because there was no way Knox would see me in this dress and not want to see me out of this dress.

  I gave myself one last look in the mirror. The dress fit snug to my body, showing a little bit of cleavage and lots of leg. It stopped at mid-thigh, so it was what I considered to be seriously short. And with the stilettos I had on my feet, my legs looked even longer.

  Given that I almost always had my hair pulled back, I decided to leave it down while putting a bit of effort into styling it. Lastly, even though I didn’t typically wear makeup very often, I did end up putting a bit on. I kept it simple and neutral, wanting to make sure I still looked like myself, if only a little fancier.

  Staring at my reflection, I was half-tempted to reach out to Kendall now and thank her in advance. Because even I had to admit I looked good. Not only did I look good, I felt good. I felt confident.

  And if I was being completely honest with myself, I was going to need that boost of confidence should things head to where I was really hoping they would tonight.

  At that moment, the doorbell rang.

  Knox was here.

  Instantly, my belly was full of nerves. The last thing I wanted was to fall flat on my face. I could manage to walk in heels without falling, but it required a bit of concentration. Concentration I wouldn’t have if I was too busy trying not to throw up from my nerves.

  Needing to take cont
rol of myself and the situation, I decided to do a little bit to tease him. My thought was that maybe if I felt like Knox was thrown a little off kilter, it would make things much easier for me.

  Keeping my body hidden behind the door, I unlocked it, opened it, and popped my head around the side. Grinning at him, I said, “Hi.”

  Knox stared at my face a few seconds before he chuckled. “Hey,” he returned softly.

  Stepping back, certain to keep my body hidden behind the door, I allowed him to step inside. My eyes ran over him. He was still the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a black tee that fit snug across his broad chest and muscled arms and shoulders. And he smelled great.

  If I wasn’t so excited about going out on my first date with him and showing him my dress, I might have dragged him up the stairs to my bedroom.

  Instead of doing that, I returned my eyes to his face and asked, “How sure are you that I can’t get any better?”

  “If your face is any indication of what’s behind that door, I’m going to say I’m pretty certain I’m going to be eating my words,” he replied.

  That was a nice boost to my confidence.

  Still feeling playful, I slowly slid my left foot out to the side. Knox’s eyes dropped to my shoe. He took a deep swallow and cleared his throat.

  As soon as his eyes started to travel up my leg, which was only exposed to the knee, I pushed the door away and revealed it all. The door slammed shut, and I stood there waiting for Knox to react.

  That’s not right.

  He was reacting; he just wasn’t saying anything.

  His eyes were roaming all over my body. They moved up and down my legs several times before they came up over my hips, lingered on my breasts, and finally landed on my face.

  “You might think I’m a complete dick for this, but I’m going to ask you to turn around so I can see the back,” he said, his voice undeniably husky.

  Loving that I made him feel that way, I slowly turned to show him the back. There was nothing fancy about the back of the dress, but I had a feeling it wasn’t the dress Knox was interested in looking at anyway.

  “Fuck, Avery,” he cursed as I looked back over my shoulder at him.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked, a lightness in my tone.

  “You proved me wrong,” he said, his eyes still lingering on my booty.

  Turning around again to face him, I waited until his eyes were on my face again before I took two steps closer to him and pressed my palms to his chest.

  “You aren’t mad at me for that, are you?” I pressed him, my confidence surging.

  “Absolutely fucking not,” he answered.

  I shot him a knowing smile and asked, “Are you sure?”

  Knox reached his hands out to my hips and tugged me the rest of the way toward him so that my body was firmly planted against his, running the entire length. Once I was there, he countered, “Does that feel like I’m sure?”

  Oh my.

  I could feel that.

  And I liked it a lot.

  There was no denying Knox was absolutely sure.

  Now it was my turn to swallow hard and feel a bit off balance. All I could think about was how much I liked his hands on my hips and his body pressed against mine. All of his body. I wanted that.

  “You’re sure,” I rasped.

  “You look beautiful, Avery,” he said softly.

  “Thank you. You look really nice, too.”

  “I can see why you didn’t go into the shop today,” he started. “I’m guessing this took some time.”

  I shook my head. “No, actually. Getting ready wasn’t that bad,” I informed him. “It was everything that came beforehand that took some time. I don’t own any dresses, so I did have to run out to the mall. That’s where I got this dress and the shoes. Thankfully, Kendall came with me and helped me out.”

  His fingers pressed in at my hips before he shared, “Well, your effort is very much appreciated. You look amazing, babe. I’d kiss you right now, but I’m afraid if I do, we won’t make it to dinner.”

  A shiver ran down my spine.

  Knox didn’t miss it and cocked an eyebrow. “Do I even need to take you out to dinner?” he asked.

  Biting my lip, completely okay with him doing whatever he wanted with me right now, I lifted my shoulders toward my ears.

  He gave me one final squeeze, let out a laugh, and said, “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yeah,” I croaked. “I just need to grab my—”

  “You don’t need anything,” he cut me off. “I’ve got you covered. You think you’ll want to get a drink, grab your license. I’ll carry it for you. Same with your phone. I just want you by my side with your hands free.”

  “I don’t drink,” I told him. “And I wouldn’t be taking anyone’s phone calls tonight, so I’m good.”

  “You don’t drink?” he asked.

  I shook my head, suddenly worried this was a problem.

  He smiled at me. “Neither do I.”

  “Really?”

  Knox dipped his chin. “Yeah.”

  It wouldn’t have bothered me if he did. I didn’t have a problem with anyone who drank. It just wasn’t my thing. I was surprised to learn that Knox didn’t. And I had to admit I liked that a lot.

  There was a moment of silence as we both stood there staring at one another, and it was Knox who spoke first.

  Grab your keys so we can lock up,” he ordered.

  I walked away to grab my keys and vaguely heard him groaning. In all fairness, I had put a bit more effort into my walk as I left him standing there.

  Thirty minutes later, Knox and I were seated at a table at The Buffalo House. He was sitting kitty-corner from me, and he hadn’t been able to keep his hand off my bare thigh for the last ten minutes.

  I was doing my best to focus and concentrate, but his thumb kept stroking back and forth along the skin there. It was driving me wild. In fact, if I hadn’t been so afraid of getting caught and how Knox would react, I was seriously considering putting my hand on him, right on the prize. In my opinion, it would have only been fair.

  Instead of doing that, though, I found the strength to learn a bit more about him.

  “How old are you?” I asked.

  “Thirty-three,” he answered. “My birthday was back in March.”

  “Thirty-three,” I repeated as I slowly nodded my head.

  “Can I ask you the same?” he wondered.

  “I’ll be twenty-eight on August twenty-fifth,” I told him.

  I wasn’t sure exactly what went through Knox’s mind at that moment, but the glint in his eyes told me it was naughty.

  “I take it the age gap isn’t a problem for you,” I guessed.

  Giving my thigh another squeeze, he leaned forward and whispered, “Absolutely fucking not.”

  I looked around the restaurant to see if anyone else was paying attention to us. I was certain if anyone had been looking they’d notice just how turned on I was by Knox. Thankfully, nobody else seemed to be paying attention, but at that moment, our waiter walked up with our salads.

  Knox sat back but kept his hand on my thigh. It wasn’t until after our waiter walked away that he leaned in again and urged, “Eat up, babe. You’re going to need your energy tonight.”

  My lips parted.

  Knox gave me a wink.

  And it was then he pulled his hand away and picked up his fork.

  While he speared his salad with it, I struggled to regain control of my breathing.

  This was torture.

  Pure torture.

  For the last hour and a half, I’d been battling a hard-on because of her. Avery Sullivan. The woman of my dreams.

  I never thought I’d ever admit that to myself, especially not this quickly, but this was Avery. Something about her was just unexplainable.

  There wasn’t anything I didn’t like about her.

  And while I knew this was only our first date, I wasn’t convinced
I’d find anything I didn’t like about her as time went on. Avery was perfect in every way.

  She loved cars. She loved racing. She could turn a wrench. She was smart. She was funny. She was determined, courageous, and confident. She was also completely fucking gorgeous.

  All of that was what drew me to her from the start. It was what pushed me to ask her out on a date.

  What I didn’t expect was what I saw when she closed that door today.

  Christ.

  That dress on her beautiful body, a body I was finally getting to really see for the first time not in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, was enough to bring me to my knees. If she ever knew just how intoxicating she was for me, I’d be in serious trouble.

  Now, I was trying to figure out how I was going to wait any longer. I didn’t think this was how she ate because we had pizza together last night. She didn’t eat at what felt like a snail’s pace yesterday. Now, it seemed as though she was savoring every bite.

  And I wanted her to enjoy her dinner.

  But she was torturing me. Seeing her in that dress, watching her mouth open over each bite, and the occasional lick of her lips was sending me spiraling. I didn’t think I was going to survive it.

  Finally, she set her fork down and declared, “I’m done. This was wonderful, Knox.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” I told her. “Do you want dessert?”

  “I don’t think I could eat a whole dessert,” she answered.

  “We can share one if you’d like,” I suggested.

  “Okay.”

  I lifted my hand and called the waiter over. He brought a dessert menu, and Avery and I perused it.

  “You choose,” I said. I honestly didn’t care what she got. I’d buy her the whole damn dessert menu if she wanted it.

  By the time the waiter returned two minutes later, Avery had made her selection. And, I couldn’t have been more ecstatic when he returned quickly with the tiramisu Avery had ordered.