by Day Leclaire
“This is just the start,” he promised. “It’s only going to get better from now on.”
CHAPTER TEN
“HRI IS HOT, HOT, HOT! How hot, you ask? Well, let’s start with the youngest team member. Jinx Junior seems to have overcome the bad luck that dogged him at Bristol and Martinsville with his impressive second-place finish at Richmond. Following that up with a topten at Darlington has propelled the fan-favorite rookie into nineteenth place. Way to go, Jamie!
“When it comes to Jamie’s teammates, the score so far is Cole Whaling with one win and Bad Boyce taking first place in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup’s All-Star race. Granted, it won’t add to his points total. But it does make his banker smile and gives Bad a full year’s worth of bragging rights.
“Over the next several days, drivers prepare for the grueling six-hundred-mile race at Charlotte on Memorial Day weekend. Will Bad sweep both races? Or will his young teammate pull a Bristol on him? Will Cole continue to lead the HRI pack in points, or will last year’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Champion relegate him to second place, once again? We’ll find out the answers to all these questions when racing continues at Charlotte in just six more days!”
LUCAS WOVE BACK and forth down the backstretch of Charlotte’s mile-and-a-half quad-oval track, working the heat into his tires as he and forty-two other cars streamed toward the drop of the green flag.
“Okay, guys,” he informed his team. “If we can manage a repeat of last week, we’ll have this bad boy in the bag.”
“You want I should start the betting pool right off?” Dip drawled.
Lucas chuckled. “Let’s give it a few laps. Six hundred miles is a ways to go. A lot can happen before we get anywhere close.”
“Nah. All you need to do is avoid anyone stupid.”
That elicited laughter all around. And then it was time for him to gather up his focus and direct it toward the early laps of the race. To organize his strategy, consider various contingencies, and, of course, race the hell out of his machine.
The wrecks were more frequent than the week before. The current points leader, Hutch Matheson, was one of the first into the wall, turned by rookie Davy Ellis. Lucas shook his head. There’d be words over that one. And if Hutch got Davy alone off-track, more than words.
“Congratulations, Bad. According to our sources, that wreck just moved you into the top twelve in points again.”
Satisfaction filled him. “What do you say we stay there?”
“You’re on.”
And he did. It was as though Lucas were touched by magic that night and the entire team knew it, the magic rubbing off on them, as well. He loved the blistering speed. He loved the side-by-side racing. He loved how Charlotte fit his natural rhythm as a driver and how he seemed to have an instinct for knowing when and where a wreck would develop, and avoiding it. Best of all, he loved that they were able to stay on top of the adjust ments the entire night.
Every pit stop was sheer poetry in motion, their times consistently the fastest of all the competitors. There’d only been a few races he’d run where it felt as though he could do no wrong. This was one of those races.
During the daylight hours, he hung toward the middle of the pack. He didn’t worry. His car would come to him when night fell and the track cooled. The instant it did, he started moving forward.
Three quarters of the way through the race he had his closest call. “Wreck high. Stay low,” his spotter bit out.
“Lower. Snake low, Bad.”
He couldn’t see through all the smoke. All he could go on was the voice in his ear and his own gut instinct.
He slammed into the bank of smoke, cars wrecking on either side of him. He wove with the skill and precision of a surgeon, cutting between debris, cars and wrecks in progress. Shooting out the other side, he fought to breathe.
“Well, that was one hell of a ride,” he announced when he finally made it through.
“Way to go, Bad!” Dipstick howled. “They’ll be showing that on replays for the rest of the year.”
“How many laps left?”
“Fifty laps, seventy-five miles. You ready to put this baby to bed?”
“Sure am,” he confirmed. “Boys, it’s time to start the betting pool.”
“He’s going to do it,” Dipstick crowed. “I’ve got a feeling in my bones about this one.”
So did Lucas. Lap after lap he ate through the cars between him and the checkered flag. The race had taken on a long green-flag run and final pit stops were starting. “I want four. And loosen me up a tad, I’ve picked up a slight chatter in the front. Let’s get this last adjustment right.”
They did. The change allowed him to run his favored line, his speed picking up significantly. By the final ten laps, he was in second behind the leader, Rufus McCall, and bearing down hard. With three to go, they were running nose-to-tail, driving as hard as they could into each corner. On Turn One of the last lap, Lucas used his speed coming out of the corner to power down the straightaway and flat outran McCall going into Turn Two. He dove hard into the corner and came out onto the backstretch having snatched the lead by mere inches.
If McCall were going to get him, it would be in Turns Three or Four, where the track widened into two groves. Side by side, the two of them drove hard into Turn Three. Coming off Turn Four, McCall tried to pinch Lucas as they hit the corner where the track narrowed. They skated toward the finish line, leaning on each other. But in those final couple hundred feet, McCall couldn’t hang on to his car. His back end started around and Lucas shot ahead, taking the checkered flag while McCall snagged second in a flat-out spin that left him stalled in the grass in front of pit road.
Cheers erupted through his headset as Lucas rolled around the race track a final time while his fellow competitors came up alongside, giving him a wave or a light bang on the door. Jamie was one of the former, Cole the latter. But it was the one voice bubbling in his ear that made his victory complete.
“That was one of the best races I’ve ever seen you run, Lucas. Congratulations!”
There was undisguised admiration in Kellie’s voice that had to be more than his imagination. A warmth and intimacy that went beyond partners or owner/driver. He couldn’t help but wonder if anyone else interpreted it the way he had.
Even more, he wondered whether she’d admit as much the next time he kissed her.
THE PARTY WAS in full swing, lanterns strung around the huge expanse of lawn throwing a soft glow over the HRI employees who’d gathered to celebrate Lucas’s dual win at Charlotte.
Kellie was pleased at what the past few weeks had wrought, the teams finally pulling together, instead of apart. Maybe it was the fact that they’d managed to bring some of their various issues into the open. Or maybe they realized that they’d be in Dover next week. And Dover would mark the halfway point in the Race for the Chase, which ended back at Richmond in early September and determined who would be among the top twelve vying for the ultimate prize.
It was time to get serious. Time to focus on what was most important—a run at the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Championship.
Tonight, though, was an evening of celebration. The weather had cooperated, hovering in the low 70s and splashing brilliant sheets of sunshine down on them when everyone had first arrived. Now it had cooled slightly as evening set in. But most stayed warm dancing to the band she’d hired and feasting on the selection of barbecue and side dishes she’d had catered for their enjoyment.
“I can’t believe you’re here all alone.”
The voice came from the darkness behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder not the least surprised to find Lucas there. On some intuitive level she’d sensed him, had known he’d come for her. “But, I’m not alone,” she said. “You’re with me.”
“So I am.” He offered a lazy smile and took a seat next to her at the table. “Worn out already?”
She released her breath in a soft sigh. “Isn’t that what happens when you hit thirty-five? Everything starts breaking dow
n and wearing out?”
“Considering I have four years on you, I sure as hell hope not.”
She shrugged. “Then maybe it’s just me.”
“Or maybe you’re just overdoing.”
“Back to that, are we?” But her retort lacked heat. Tonight it took too much energy to work up a good mad, especially when she was in such a good mood. Besides, she was tired of fighting Lucas. There were so many other things she’d rather do with him, not one of them appropriate.
“I told you my solution to your problem.” The calm reason in his voice snagged her attention where a more demanding comment wouldn’t have. “Let me help.”
“Are you asking or telling?” She couldn’t resist the question, nor her interest in hearing his response.
He held up his hands in surrender. “Asking.”
“Then, yes. I suspect I am overdoing it and could use more help. There, I’ve admitted it. And as long as I’m being so informative, let me also tell you that now that I’ve had time to consider everything that’s happened over the past few months—” She broke off and shifted to face him. “I have a confession. You were right about Lucky. I didn’t want to hear it because he’d been with us for so long.”
“And because you’re softhearted.” He tucked a curl behind her ear. “That’s not a bad quality. It can just get in the way when you have to make the tough decisions.”
“It doesn’t get in your way, does it?”
He shook his head. “Not often.”
She couldn’t contain her curiosity. “When has it? When has your heart ever overridden your head?”
He took so long to respond, she didn’t think he would. “It’s only happened three times.”
“So many?” she marveled. “I’m shocked.”
“You should be, considering all three times involved you.”
Now she really was shocked. “I don’t understand. What? When?”
He reached for her hand in the darkness, lacing their fingers together. “The first time was years ago when we made love. I knew you were trouble from the first moment I laid eyes on you. There was a little voice warning me that something was off about the whole situation. But I didn’t care. That night I wanted you and nothing was going to stop me from having you.”
She fought to conceal her reaction from him, and the painful longing the memory stirred. “And the second time?”
“In the hauler at Daytona. I started to kiss you, remember?”
“But we were interrupted.” She was eternally grateful for the darkness that swallowed up the warmth stealing into her cheeks. “You did kiss me later,” she reminded him.
“Ah, but that was different. Daytona was pure impulse. All the other times, I’d already made up my mind to take whatever I could get.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss into her palm. “That day in your hauler, I was running on pure emotion, not a brain cell to be found.”
“All the other times we kissed, it was planned?”
She caught the flash of white from his smile. “Let’s say it was my head giving permission to the more desperate parts of my anatomy. I considered my choices and made the only logical one.”
“Which was?”
“To give in to my emotions.” He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “Considering I can rarely control them where you’re concerned, it seemed a reasonable option.”
The admission left her disconcerted, a ridiculous reaction given her age. “You…you said there was a third time. When was that?”
“Here.” He tugged at her hand, drawing her closer. “Now.”
She resisted the pull. “No. We can’t. People will see.”
“Is that your only excuse?”
The warmth of his breath caressed her face. He was so close she could almost taste him, could almost feel his lips on hers. And she wanted him. Wanted him as she’d wanted no other, ever. He’d been her first love. Her only love. He was Jamie’s father. How was it possible that after all these years, after all this time apart, that she’d still have such feelings for him? It defied understanding.
“You just want an affair.”
He didn’t deny it. “Yes.”
“I don’t do affairs.”
“You have with me.”
The reminder hurt. “Please.” She closed her eyes. “I was seventeen. Haven’t I paid enough for that foolishness?”
“Shhh.” He rested his forehead against hers. “It was foolish only because of your age and expectations. But that didn’t change what happened that night. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before or since.”
She shuddered at the confession. “Bridgette—”
“Was a pale imitation.” His mouth brushed hers. “Maybe that’s what I was to you, before you and Jinx got together. Maybe I was your pale imitation. If that’s the case, I understand why you wouldn’t want to go there again. Just say the word, and I’ll walk away. And I won’t bother you again.”
She’d told so many lies, tried so hard to protect herself and Jamie. But with those few words, he’d shredded her emotions and demolished barriers she’d thought she’d built so high and strong that they’d never be breached. Maybe she’d been making a mistake all these weeks. Maybe she should take what he offered and have one more night with him. Maybe, if she made love to him again, whatever insanity they shared would finally fade and she could get on with her life.
He started to pull away, misinterpreting her silence. “Wait,” she whispered.
“Be sure, Kellie. Be very sure.”
“Just this one night. Just like last time.”
“And then?”
“And then it’ll be the way you said. We’ll have it out of our systems and it’ll be back to business as usual. If anything, it should be a relief. We won’t have this—” Her hand fluttered. “Whatever this is. We won’t have it between us anymore.”
“Is that what you think?” A thread of amusement drifted through his voice. “You think one night will put out the fire?”
“It’s going to have to.”
He started to reply, then broke off with a shrug. “Time will tell. When and where?”
“Tonight after the party breaks up.” She couldn’t believe she was doing this. Or that she’d waited so long. “There’s a guesthouse on the opposite side of the property.”
“On the edge of the woods?”
“That’s the one. I’ll meet you there at…Would midnight work?”
“I’ll see you then.”
The rest of the evening inched by, the minutes feeling like hours. Finally, the party wound down. She lingered, joking with the stragglers and thanking each and every one for all their hard work. Finally, only Paps and Jamie remained and she walked with them up to the main house. Heading for her bedroom, she freshened up before slipping outside again.
Moonlight lit her path to the guesthouse. Just as she reached the front door, Lucas stepped from the shadows and, even though she’d been expecting him, she couldn’t prevent her start of surprise.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“I shouldn’t have been. I knew you’d be here.”
She sounded strained and breathless, a fact he took note of.
“Are you having second thoughts?” Lucas asked.
“No. Yes.” She started to laugh. “I guess I must be.”
“We don’t have to go through with this,” he said, though she suspected it cost him dearly to make the offer.
“No, we don’t.”
Instead of moving away from him, she stepped closer, curious to test her reaction to him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she slid her fingers into his thick, dark hair and drew his face down to hers. He let her take the lead, giving her full control of the kiss. The instant her lips warmed against his, all doubt fled. Maybe she had the same problem he did. She allowed her head to rule her emotions. But there was no containing this. One kiss and she was completely and utterly lost.
“I guess we do have to go through w
ith this,” she murmured against his mouth.
“No regrets?”
“Not a one.” She opened the door and stepped across the threshold. Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled. “We have all night to get whatever this is between us out of our systems. With any luck at all, by tomorrow we’ll be back to normal.”
Lucas shook his head. “Somehow that’s not my idea of luck.”
LUCAS COLLAPSED back against the sheets. “I don’t know about you, but this is definitely not out of my system.”
Beside him, Kellie fought to catch her breath. “I’m sure we’re close. Maybe one more time?”
Lucas choked on a laugh. “I’m not twenty-one anymore. One more time is likely to kill me.”
She sat up, drawing her legs toward her chest and resting her chin on her knees. “This isn’t working.”
“Funny. I’d have said it was working just fine.”
A helpless laugh escaped her. “You know what I mean. Now what do we do?”
He rolled onto his side to face her and traced the silken curve of her hip. “I suggest we keep trying to get this out of our systems.”
“No matter how long it takes?” she asked drily.
“Something like that.”
She escaped the bed, dragging the sheet with her. Winding it around herself, she shoved her hair out of her face and over her shoulder. It spilled down her back in a tangle of bed-rumpled curls. Lucas levered himself onto his elbow and waited while she paced off some of her inner turmoil.
Morning light slipped in through the windows, licking across creamy skin and providing a backwash that turned the sheet nearly transparent. She was so beautiful, slim-hipped, with long slender legs and a softly rounded figure. He wouldn’t call her coltish any longer, not the way she’d been at seventeen. What had been a suggestion of curves had ripened with age, making her even more appealing, if such a thing were possible.
She turned to face him, kicking the length of sheet from beneath her feet. “So, how are we going to handle this, Lucas? I hoped…”
“We both did and it didn’t work. Foolish of us to think it would.” He kept his gaze trained on her, trying to read her mood. Frustrated. Defensive. Wary. He fought back a smile. And still hungry. “There’s no going back to how we were before. You realize that, don’t you?”
