Only Amy had torn off his mask, opened him up, and here he was: gritty, and vulnerable. She had him by his heart.
“Guess you don’t like what you see.” He swallowed a lump, but couldn’t help leaning into her caress. “I’m just a regular guy doing the best I can. I want my grandmother to be proud of me and my father to notice me. I want to win the championship cup at least once. Then I’ll go out on top. I’m twenty-seven already and there’s more to life than racing. I want to live, fall in love, and have a family. I don’t want to be that shadow, the limping veteran with thirty screws in my leg and an artificial hip joint, a scrap heap of a man, aiming for one more race. I want more than racing.” I want you.
Her hands smoothed over both sides of his face and she tilted her head and kissed him again. Inhaling, she stood, leaving him kneeling in front of her.
Teo lowered his head and closed his eyes. Had she no response for the words he’d spilled from his heart?
“Come to bed, Teo. You have a race tomorrow. Come.” Amy beckoned from under the covers on the same sheets she and that actor had been romping on.
What the hell was wrong with her? Did she think every male was after one thing? She’d just broken his heart, and she wanted to offer him a consolation prize? No thank you.
He rose to his feet. “I’m not sleeping here. I’ll call downstairs and change rooms. You can stay.”
“Don’t go,” Amy said. “We still need to talk.”
“I’ve told you everything.” He gathered his laptop from the nightstand. Silently, he shoved his clothes into his suitcase and unplugged his cell phone charger.
“One last question.” Teo zipped up his suitcase and turned to Amy. “Where’s your heart? Do you even know what’s real? Or is life to you one big fucking stage?”
Chapter 26
Amy had a splitting headache. Heat rose from the asphalt at Indiana Motor Speedway. After all, it was mid August. Teo had to be broiling in his racing leathers. Not that he’d spoken to her. Not that she’d even needed to stay.
Her replacement, Desiree, was already in place, dressed in team-colored hot pants. She held a giant Team Suzuki umbrella and leaned against Teo, kissing him for the cameras.
Despite all of the turmoil, Teo had placed close to the pole position, well in the front of the grid. Amy tied her wide-brimmed hat and followed his sister Tasha to the hospitality tent.
“It’s too humid,” Tasha complained, fanning herself. “I’m going to buy one of those spritz bottles with the fan. Want one?”
“Sure. I hope Teo doesn’t overheat.”
“That’s going to be a problem today.” Tasha glanced at the sun, already well overhead. “The track itself is not convoluted like in Germany, kind of boring, so top speed’s the issue besides the heat.”
“Ought to be a good race,” Amy said mechanically. If only her head weren’t throbbing. Teo was through with her. His parting remarks showed what he saw, a phony actress who didn’t live life, only experienced it as a way to portray it on stage.
Even when she’d pleaded for him to come back and talk to her, only talk, he’d kept walking. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After this race, she’d go home. Silver Studios had paid out the rest of her contract. No doubt, it was Teo’s parting gesture.
“Hey, you okay?” Tasha shook her arm, handing her a water bottle and a sprayer with a fan. “Let’s sit at the covered bleachers over the starting line.”
“Sure, thanks. I’m good.” Amy tottered on the steps, glad she was wearing sensible flat sandals. Her flowery dress and white gloves and hat made her look like a girl on Easter Sunday. But it was what Mia had advised.
The cameras would no doubt pan on her, and she’d have to look like a Sunday school teacher. The only thing left would be the parting interview that losers of reality shows gave right before being sent home. She’d appeared gracious and disappointed. Her role was relegated to backup film in case things didn’t work out with Desiree.
Tasha selected seats within view of the large jumbotron screen, but not too close to a loudspeaker.
“Did Teo sleep well last night?” Tasha swiped her tablet, waking it. She had an online speed chart she used to enter the lap times.
“I wasn’t with him,” Amy admitted. “I don’t know how much you know about the reality show, but he’s replaced me.”
Tasha stopped playing with her tablet and stared at her. “Seriously? So they stopped filming?”
“No, they hired someone who looks like me.”
“Are you upset?”
“Not really.” Amy took a sip of water. “I got another part starting in a few months.”
“Good for you, at least you won’t be the one playing his girlfriend when Oba-chan finds out it’s fake.”
“Do you think she suspects?”
Tasha chuckled and swiped to a photo album on her tablet showing pictures of Teo with his grandmother. “Oba-chan isn’t stupid. She’s not letting on if she knows or not.”
“Wouldn’t she find out when they air Romancing the Racer next year?” Amy suppressed the chill wondering if Oba-chan would be alive in six months.
“It’s not going to air, they never planned on it,” Tasha said. “That was just to get people like you or that girl who replaced you to go along with the ‘dates.’” She made air quotes and shook her head. “My brother and Ronaldo are real rascals.”
“But the cost of the camera crew, the equipment, the hotels and expense. Mia’s salary.” Even as she spoke, she realized how naïve she’d been.
“Chump change for bad boy billionaires.” Tasha laughed. “If I wanted to, I could set up a reality show on a Greek island and find myself being courted by twenty-five hot bachelors, all competing for my love.”
“So, everything was fake?” Amy’s voice trailed as the realization hit her. Everything. The gifts, the sweet words, even Teo pouring out his heart last night, all part of the drama.
“What does it matter to you?” Tasha flipped through the program. “You got paid, went on a few awesome dates. I don’t know if you got to enjoy my brother’s sexual abilities.”
Amy flushed and turned her face away.
“They’re getting ready to start.” Tasha tapped her shoulder. “Teo got sixteen points for his third place finish last time. If he can finish within the top five, and the leaders fade …”
“Amy-chan, how nice to see you.” Helped by a pit girl, Oba-chan crouched into the seat next to her.
“Oba-chan!” Tasha rose to take her grandmother’s hand. “What a surprise. Teo’s going to win it today. I just know it. He’s in the front row.”
“Then he’ll have everything he wants,” Oba-chan said. “Standing at the top of the podium in the gold position and a girlfriend waiting in the stands.”
Amy glued a smile on her face. Sweat broiled under her hat and her tongue froze. She was in unscripted territory. No one expected Teo’s grandmother to make a trip. Wasn’t she ill? Would she faint or get dehydrated?
“Let me get you some water from the hospitality tent,” Amy said, hastily departing.
The crowd roared and the sound of motorcycles snarled from the starting line. The whirr of engine noises stirred the blood in her veins.
She stepped out of the bleachers and headed for the hospitality tent.
“Hey, you.” Desiree lowered her giant blue umbrella. “I thought you’d be gone.”
“We have a problem.” Amy pointed to the bleachers. “Actually, you have a problem. Teo’s grandmother’s up there next to his sister. You’re supposed to be me. What are you going to do about it?”
* * *
Teo wasn’t feeling it. His bike, the heat, the track. Desiree’s perfume itched his nose, and he couldn’t afford to sneeze. Not while zooming down the straightaways at over two hundred miles per hour. He’d started in the front row, but a moment’s inattention had cost him precious position.
He was stuck in a thick pocket of bikes, zigzagging through the esses, barel
y holding position. Everyone’s bikes went horizontal through the turns, dragging their kneepads on the track to shave a few milliseconds.
Curving past the second spectator mound, he hit the throttle for the passing zone. The asphalt was burning hot, hard on brakes and tire grip.
He accelerated quickly through the gears and went for a gap. Daylight. Just like the shine on Amy’s face beckoning him to shoot through. He couldn’t shake her so easily. Her eyes, her nose, lips, her sweet scent, her voice, the way she moved, kissed. Face it, he was lost without her.
His stomach ground gears, wishing it was Amy who’d kissed him before the race, not Desiree. He shouldn’t have shoved Desiree in her face, and he shouldn’t have walked away from her last night. Her father had been sick, and she was right. He couldn’t pay for everything he wanted. He’d have to let her love him, and if she didn’t, let her go.
He breathed deeply, in and out, focused only on his bike and winning the race. The noise, the dust, the heat, and the cheering crowd all blended with his heartbeat, and after a few laps, he was in the moment. His bike, the asphalt, and the guys around him were a part of him, as one body, on one track, interconnected as one fluid and organic being.
The laps wound and wound. Teo had a shot at winning. A serious one. He was in the pack, but he wasn’t out of the game. The pack had spread on the straightaway only to bunch up in the hairpins. He had to break away, make a move, not give up. Not on the race, and not on Amy. No one would expect him to pass a turn, but he was crazier than any guy on the circuit. He had to be.
He’d win it for Amy, and then, win her back.
Teo braked and cornered hard, focusing on the line of the turn. A flash and a shadow cut across his visor. Shit. The bike to his right touched wheels with his. Teo leaned to control the wobble, but his bike gyrated out of his control. Time stopped as he was propelled over a cloud of smoke. He tumbled head over shoulder, airborne over the curb stones, his ears roaring, his mouth dry, his heart frozen.
Zen is being aware, being in the moment and being mindful of the present, no future, no past. Aware of only one thing.
Pain. And not far behind it, Amy.
* * *
“He crashed. Thee mou!” Tasha screamed.
Amy pulled off her hat and clutched her chest. Her eyes were glued to the jumbotron screen.
“I can’t hear what they’re saying.” The rumble of motorcycles whirring around the speedway and the echo of the announcer’s voice made it almost impossible to understand the jumble of words. On her right, Teo’s grandmother latched onto her, trembling like a hurt bird.
“I have it streaming on my tablet.” Tasha’s voice warbled. “He’s not getting up.”
They replayed the crash in slow motion. Teo had been about to pass when the guy in front of him veered to cut him off. Their wheels touched and Teo flew over his bike, turning cartwheels before landing on the asphalt. He’d barely missed being run over, and the chain reaction caused three other riders to slide out to avoid the wreckage.
Medics crowded around him.
“He’s hurt. I have to be with him.” Amy ran from the bleachers toward the pit wall. She tried to climb it, but race officials dragged her back.
“Miss, miss. You have to calm down.”
“I have to be there. Teo Alexiou’s my boyfriend.”
A big man grabbed Amy and hugged her close. “There’s nothing we can do right now. I’ll make sure you ride with him to the hospital, but let them bring him in first.”
She collapsed in the man’s arms. “Oh, God. Let him be okay. He’s all I care about. Please, let him be okay.”
The stretcher approached the pit and an ambulance pulled up. The big man, who was the team manager, brought Amy to the doors.
Teo was strapped to a backboard. He raised his hand weakly and met her eye with a stoic expression. Amy was helped into the ambulance after the paramedics hefted Teo in place.
One of his arms was strapped in a splint and held straight at his side. She took his free hand as they placed the oxygen mask on his face. His eyes rolled back and he closed them, losing consciousness.
Beside her, the paramedics were calling it in. “Possible spinal fracture. Concussion, broken bones.”
Tears streamed down Amy’s face. The crash had been her fault. Why, oh why, had she gotten so jealous of a stupid reality show and allowed herself to wreak revenge on him with Johnny? She’d hurt him, knowing he had feelings for her. She was the one who deserved to be injured. Not him.
How could she ever make this up to him? How could he ever want to see her face again? Want anything to do with her again?
Assuming he made it.
* * *
The camera crew along with news teams were waiting at the hospital. A row of reporters stuck mics in front of Amy. Mia and Ronaldo directed their camera and sound guys to capture every angle of the scene.
The paramedics rushed Teo through the doors of the ER, but Amy was stopped by a guard.
A high pitched squeak jolted her ear. “I’m Amy Suzuki, Teo’s girlfriend.”
Amy charged toward the news crews, her jaw scraping the asphalt.
Desiree, the substitute, was giving an interview. Cameras flashed and a reporter asked her questions while Ronaldo stood in back of her, prompting her with answers.
Teo’s grandmother and sister arrived in a limousine. Fortunately, the paparazzi were gathered around Ronaldo and Desiree.
Tasha skirted the crowd and grabbed Amy.
“How is he?” Tasha asked.
“They’re checking him,” Amy said. “His heartbeat’s steady and blood pressure’s okay, but they’re worried about his spinal cord.”
“My Teo’s strong. He’s strong,” Oba-chan muttered, leaning against Tasha.
Oh no! The paparazzi had spotted Oba-chan. The news crew and cameramen charged them.
“You’re Teo’s grandmother, do you have anything to say?”
“Leave her alone,” Amy shouted. “Have some respect.”
“Who are you?” a reporter asked. “Are you Teo’s girlfriend’s twin sister?”
“Wait, she’s the one who rode in the ambulance,” another reporter said.
“I’m the girlfriend,” Desiree shrieked.
“Teo Alexiou has two girlfriends?” the reporter said.
Tasha grabbed a mic. “He doesn’t have any. Please leave our family alone. This is no time for a reality show. These two are both actresses, so if you want to speak to them, kindly leave the hospital.”
The reporters surged, but thankfully, the hospital guards drove them back.
Amy helped Oba-chan into the waiting room. “Is there anyone I should call? A driver to take you back to your hotel?”
“Here’s a bottle of water,” Desiree chirped from the other side.
Oba-chan stopped in the middle of the room. She jutted her jaw and shook her index finger. “Both of you. Fakes. Phony girlfriends. How ashamed you must be. Paid actresses. No better than whores. You’d both better leave before I call the police and get restraining orders.”
Her condemnation thundered like bombs on judgment day. Amy clasped her hands over her face and collapsed in a heap in the middle of the waiting room.
She would never see Teo again.
Oba-chan would make sure of it.
Chapter 27
Two days later, Amy sat with her father in their family room, playing chess. She had cried all the way back to San Francisco on a commercial airline. Even the relief of being home was not enough to sweep away her despair.
“Amy, darling. You have to snap out of it.” Her father moved a pawn. “He’ll be okay. It wasn’t your fault.”
“We don’t know if he’ll wake up. It is my fault. I lied to his grandmother and I played with his feelings.”
Teo was in a coma. Thankfully his spinal cord was intact and all he broke was his left forearm. But his head had been hit hard enough to cause bleeding in his brain. That last eye roll he’d given her was the las
t vision he’d had of her. What had he been thinking?
“As I recall, he was the one lying,” her father said in a soothing voice. “He hired you for a fake reality show. It wasn’t you who came up with the scheme.”
Obviously, her parents had read the news. Pictures of her and Desiree were paraded on blogs and gossip sites amongst the speculation on whether Teo would recover consciousness.
Amy plopped her pawn in the matching move. “What you don’t know is that he fell in love with me.”
“That could be some fancy acting on his part.” Her father quickly moved the second pawn.
“No, I felt it. It was real. But I kept playing with his feelings, distrusting him, trying to hurt him. It’s like I thought he was invincible. He’s a billionaire, so he couldn’t be hurt. He could buy his way out of anything.”
“Including your affection.” Her father moved a knight. “Look, I didn’t want to say anything earlier, but he didn’t exactly respect you. I can tell you as a man. The only reason he hired a fake girlfriend is because he planned to break up with you after his grandmother’s birthday party.”
Amy’s knight stopped in midair. “I don’t think that was the reason. He didn’t want complications, that’s all.”
“Exactly. Men don’t want to get trapped, especially rich guys like Teo. They want their freedom. He wants to please his grandmother, so what’s wrong with a little fun and games with no strings? Even if he marries you, he can always pay you to go away once he’s tired of you.”
“I don’t feel like playing.” Amy plopped the knight onto the coffee table. “My head hurts.”
“You should rest and study your part. Didn’t you say shooting for Dark Samurai starts after Christmas?”
“I can’t even concentrate right now, not knowing if Teo’ll be okay.” Amy slouched on the couch. “Why are you all gung ho now about my acting? A few months ago, you wanted me to work as a receptionist at your office.”
Amy’s father sighed. He shuffled around the coffee table and placed his arm over her shoulder. “I wanted you to be more successful than me. To go farther in life. Being an actress was so chancy. I pushed you and lectured you because I wanted you to be serious, to have the conviction that acting was for you. The medical office job was a backup, but I knew you’d never be happy. Now that you have that Dark Samurai part, you can’t let your personal life mess it up. Let go of this man. He doesn’t deserve you.”
Roaring Hot! (Contemporary Romance): A Billionaire Biker Romance Page 20
