by Hazel Parker
Because race car driving was mostly about reflexes and your total control over them, I get what the doctors were saying. I could only imagine the frustration of not getting to do what you loved, and I watched James now to see if that frustration was there. It wasn’t, and all I could see in him right now was a wistfulness that was more melancholy than most. Considering it was almost a year since the accident, I had to wonder what it did to him and how he changed because of it. I wondered how many months it took him to get over the frustration and anger that he must have initially felt and finally get to this stage, and how many more years it would take for the wistfulness to go away.
“Why watch this race of all the races?” I asked.
James shrugged. “I don’t like watching people I used to race with race. Call me odd.”
“It’s not odd,” I said. “And I’m here.”
“Didn’t know you would be.”
I chuckled at his begrudging smile. “Any plans for dinner?”
James nodded. “Yeah. My wife is back in the hotel. We’re just going to tour around and spend more time together.”
I remembered that James had separated from his wife a few years back, and this must mean that he’d gotten back together with her. Maybe something positive came out of the darkness, then.
We chatted a few more minutes before I remembered Kate. I bid James goodbye and told him I hoped to see him again, to which his answer was vague. But it left me pondering, and I noted down to check in on him back in the states from time to time.
I really hoped the guy would be happy someday.
* * *
I let James leave first before going back down from the stands to the track, which was somewhat emptier now. I didn’t spot Kate but headed in the direction of the garage, intending to look there first.
But my way was blocked by a female—a particularly familiar female, one I hadn’t seen in a while.
It was Darla, aka the extremely persistent woman I thought was Kate that day. Yes, I remembered her name now.
I stared at her incredulously, unable to believe she was here. I also couldn’t believe I hadn’t spotted or noticed her earlier, unless she was trying to initially hide or stay away from me. She was wearing a peach-colored summer dress, one that stopped mid-thigh, showcasing long legs. It was those legs that got to me when we first met, when I thought she was just a potential good time and I hadn’t discovered her obsession with me yet.
The upper part of her dress wasn’t any different from the lower part, with very thin straps and a neckline that showed off her cleavage to full advantage. She pushed them out in my direction, flipping her long brown hair when she saw me watching and flashing me a rather seductive smile.
“Hey, stranger.”
I raised a brow at the greeting, wondering if she figured out how ironic it actually was. She basically was a stranger to me, because other than our one time together and her obsession, I didn’t know a single damn thing about her.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, not bothering to greet her.
“I read that you would be in this race and decided to come to Spain and see the sights. I wish I’d bumped into you sooner, though, so we could have had an adventure.”
I shrugged, not saying anything. Undeterred, Darla sidled closer, eyeing me up and down. I watched as a gleam entered her eyes, one that was sensual and predatory at the same time. I didn’t make a single move, simply watching her without reacting.
“I came by your place, you know,” she said softly. “I was waiting for you, but you never showed up. What do you say we go out to dinner tonight and see where it leads?”
“I already know where it leads, Darla,” I replied without preamble. “And it’s not anywhere sexual or romantic.”
Darla laughed as if I said something really funny, placing a hand on my arm flirtatiously. “Oh, you only say that now. But you hadn’t even had sex with me. I bet I could blow your mind.”
“I bet not,” I shot back softly.
Darla didn’t like my answer, her smile wavering for a split of a second. But it steadied again. “Oh, come off it, Gray. I know you want to. How about I give you the old blow for now and see where it leads?”
Any other woman asking to give me a blowjob would have gotten a Sure, why not? without me really thinking about it, but I knew she would just blow it out of proportion—literally. I didn’t like playing with women that way and hurting them in the process, because that was just cruel.
“I know where it will lead and where you want it to lead,” I said. “I’m sorry, Darla, but this isn’t going to happen. You need to—”
“But that’s the thing!” she protested, interrupting me. “You don’t want to let me in. I told you, if you just let me have sex with you and—”
“Gray?”
The second female voice came all of a sudden, stopping Darla’s tirade right away. Because it was female, she shifted her attention to the third party with us, who happened to be Kate. Thank God, what a relief. Kate was eyeing Darla almost warily, yet with almost no hint of malice in her eyes—but Darla was a different story, looking Kate up and down with irritation that she couldn’t quite hide.
“I’m speaking with him,” Darla said, her tone full of derision.
Kate raised a brow, obviously not expecting the open hostility. She glanced at me, and our eyes met in silence. Her gaze alone was asking questions, though she didn’t voice them out yet. She settled for saying, “Are you ready to grab that dinner?”
Uh-oh.
As expected, the words had Darla’s eyes widening. Then she was flaring up, turning to Kate with a glare. Her brown eyes narrowed into slits.
“You’re not having dinner with him,” she hissed.
“Why not?” Kate asked.
“Because I am,” Darla announced. “Now take a hike and go back to your hellhole, you slut.”
Wow this chick was crazy. I have never been in this situation and honestly don’t know what to do.
“Unless Gray asks me to leave, then I’m going to stay where I am,” Kate said firmly. Looking at her now, she was such a contrast to Darla—shorter, cute, sexy, natural in her jeans and plain green shirt. But her vibrant personality more than made up for the lack of…whatever Darla was, and the way she went head to head with this nut job had me torn between amusement and concern. “So far, you’re the only one I hear talking.”
“Go away,” Darla repeated viciously.
“You don’t have a say in that,” Kate said.
I was wrong. I didn’t have to worry about Kate because she could handle herself fine.
Darla turned to me, looking very indignant. She placed her hands on her hips and stuck her chest out again, something that had Kate rolling her eyes.
“Gray, can you explain to her?” Darla demanded. “We’re going out on a date and she needs to get lost.”
I eyed Darla. Then I eyed Kate, who had both brows raised at the two of us. Finally, I decided to get right into it and finish this whole headache that was right in front of me.
“We’re not going on a date, Darla,” I said, my voice soft but firm. I was getting frustrated. I am done dealing with this.
“Why not?”
This was the hard part. If I said Kate was my friend, Darla would just continue to pursue me, which I was frankly getting tired of. She just didn’t seem to get the hint, and I was already too close to laying it out on her in a harsh way. So I opted for the second option.
I pulled Kate by the waist towards me, hoping she wouldn’t kill me for it and also noticing it felt really good. Then I wrapped my hand around her and turned as a unit towards Darla.
“She’s my girlfriend,” I said. I liked that way too much.
Silence filled my declaration.
Surprisingly enough, Kate didn’t protest, merely clamping her mouth shut. Unsurprisingly enough, Darla didn’t react well to this. She looked at where my hand was, outraged and shocked a
t the same time. She turned to me with pleading eyes.
“Please tell me you’re lying.”
This time, it was Kate who answered. “Obviously he isn’t,” Kate replied. As if to prove my point, she placed her hand on top of mine. “Now, can you leave us be to our date?”
Darla gasped. Then Darla cursed, hissing at Kate almost comically before turning to me. I kept my eyes on her but didn’t give her any leeway, keeping my arm around Kate, who was warm and soft. Then we both waited it out, watching as Darla made a fuss before realizing she was defeated and finally turning to leave—but not before flipping her hair one more time and warning Kate that it won’t last.
Then she was out of there, the sounds of her heels clacking loudly on the cement.
When she was completely gone, Kate shook her head.
“Wow.”
Her tone had no anger in it, which had me sighing in relief. I let go of her waist and turned to meet her curious gaze.
“Wow indeed,” I agreed.
“So was that your stalker?”
I nodded. “Darla. I didn’t realize she followed me here.”
“I knew something was wrong as I watched you guys conversing,” she replied. “You didn’t seem…into it.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I knew it,” she muttered. Then she brightened. “Next time, we really need to have some kind of code so I can interrupt you earlier.”
And just like that, she simply accepted and kept to her promise. I chuckled, watching as her eyes twinkled. Then I nodded my head. “We really should. And thanks for going along with it.”
“Of course,” she said. “I always keep my promises. And now you really owe me dinner.”
I smirked. “Any particular choice?”
“Paella,” she confirmed. “Definitely paella.”
Amazing, because that was what I wanted, too. I grinned at her, and she grinned back. Then we got out of there as fast as we could, relieved that we didn’t bump into Darla again.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
KATE
This was a disaster.
I scrolled through the web, watching my name pop up on almost every single tabloid there was. They didn’t name my full name, nor did they detail anything about my occupation, my previous home or my history. They didn’t even mention anything about me living with Gray, which just went to show how little they really knew about our relationship.
But there were pictures everywhere—particularly, pictures of Gray’s arm around my waist as we faced off Darla. I didn’t realize how intimate we looked that day until I saw the pictures, with Gray not taking off his arm right away even with Darla gone. It was easy for anyone to assume there was something going on based on the pictures alone, and it didn’t take long for the media to gobble it up and speculate all over it.
Who is Gray’s current woman?
Is this the start of something new?
Famous race car driver caught in a catfight!
This irked me. We are just friends. But the irritation disappeared almost instantly to be replaced by the feeling of being horrified. Instead of turning my laptop off and ignoring it, I found myself poring over the pages and reading every little thing, not sure whether to be mortified that some people called me his latest plaything or choking with laughter as they questioned if marriage was in the future for us. God, they were insane.
I’d stayed in my room while I watched the news on all the sports channels. Gray had left a while ago to go get in some practice laps. But the door slammed open a little later, and I was out of my bedroom before I realized there was someone with him. It was someone I wasn’t familiar with, a homely-looking guy with blond hair and silver-rimmed spectacles. They were talking but trailed off when they saw me standing there and staring at them.
The guy stared back, blinking a few times. Then he visibly brightened, a gleam entering his eyes that had Gray narrowing his eyes in turn.
“Mark…” he said in a warning tone.
I knew that name, as Gray mentioned it once or twice. I watched as he approached me, holding out his hand and ignoring Gray altogether.
“Hi,” he said. “It’s nice to finally meet you. My name is Mark Thompson.”
He was so friendly and pleasant that I couldn’t help but smile. I shook the hand he held out, noting down his strong grip. “Hi. I’m Kate Isaacs.”
“Yes, I know.” He beamed. “You’re Paul’s little sister.”
I raised a brow at the specifics but didn’t argue. I mean, I was Paul’s younger sister, after all. “And you’re his PR person, the one who gave him the love of his life.”
“Love of his life?”
“Chuck.”
Mark laughed at that, then looked around for the dog right away, to which I told him that Chuck was sleeping soundly beside my bed. “I knew he would warm up to the dog.”
“Oh, he loves the dog,” I confirmed. “He’s crazy about Chuck, and Chuck’s just as crazy about him.”
Mark looked amused. “See? I knew it. He kept grumbling about it the first few days, but I hadn’t heard any grumblings since. I guess I have you to thank for that?”
“Oh, no, don’t thank me. He loved the dog all by himself.”
“Will you quit talking about me like I’m not here, you two?” Gray grumbled.
We both ignored him, grinning at each other instead. I already liked Mark even if it was my first time meeting him.
“Gray has told me all about you,” he said after a while.
I gave Gray a puzzled glance, which he returned with a roll of his eyes. He went to the kitchen with some plastic containers, and it was only then I noticed the smell in the air. My mood immediately brightened, and I followed him in. Mark followed after a few seconds, and we gathered and watched as Gray opened the containers and made our mouths water.
“Wow,” I said. “I didn’t realize you had it in you to order delicious, processed food, Denton.”
“Oh, Gray has his fair share,” Mark confirmed. “It’s just his nutritionist telling him over and over to keep a healthy diet, so he’d have more years to go race cars in peak physical condition.”
“Again, quit talking about me,” Gray warned, though there was no heat to it. “Eat up while it’s still hot.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I said. “Eat up, Mark.”
The three of us gathered plates and sat down, then started scarfing the food down. It was a comfortable atmosphere, and based on how Gray and Mark chatted about stuff in front of me, I could tell they were good friends. I could also tell that Gray must have told Mark I could be trusted, because they didn’t hold back or look secretive. Sometimes they even asked for my opinion about certain news and gossip, and I did my best to contribute. I began to realize that Mark wasn’t as harmless as I first thought, and beyond his homely appearance, he was actually kind of cute behind those glasses, hiding quite a sharp mind and a brilliant wit. Only a few people really could handle Gray’s sarcasm, and it looked like Mark and I were among them.
When we were almost done eating, Mark leaned over and fixed me with a steady stare. Because our topic had kept on at gossips and their impact on reputations for quite a few minutes now, I had a feeling what was coming—probably some questions about my opinion on the rumors circulating about me and Gray, to start off.
He proved me wrong.
“I know you’ve read all about the gossip between you and Gray, so I’ll get to the point. Is there any chance you’ll keep pretending to be his girlfriend and to help save his reputation?”
I stared at him with surprise. But before I could answer, Gray was already answering.
“No,” he bit off, narrowing his eyes at Mark again. Mark ignored him, keeping his gaze on me.
I tilted my head, thoughtfully looking back. “What’s wrong with his reputation?”
Mark didn’t hold anything back. I listened as he explained all the gossip going around about Gray having
a different woman on his arm at every single event he went to, whether it was something as casual as going to the club or as formal as some big-time event. Then he went on to tell me about Gray’s company sponsor, whose owner’s son—now the owner—had it in for him and just really disliked the fact that he couldn’t stay with one woman. The son, Steve, thought it was messing up with his business and keeping Gray’s reputation steadily decreasing, which in turn would make him lose money. I didn’t realize car owners held reputation in such a high regard, especially when what was important was winning. But Mark explained that Steve was from a different breed, using the gossip as an excuse to threaten Gray that if it kept going on, then he was going to have to drop Gray and get a different race car driver for his company—someone fresher who could potentially surpass him, with a clean image.
“That’s seriously messed up,” I murmured once Steve was done.
“It is,” the PR agent agreed. “He’s a messed up man, but at this point, Gray has been with that certain car company for years, and changing everything would just result in him losing his momentum right now. We all know Gray wants to win this year, and we’re doing our best to make it come true.”
“I can damn well punch that guy in the face if I need to,” Gray grumbled.
Mark shook his head, then turned to me solemnly. “See? He’s turning to violence already.”
Gray cursed.
I nodded, ignoring Gray and not bothering to admonish him. Mark and I stared at each other, fuck Gray is handsome, and I wonder what it would be like to actually be his girlfriend… I knew he was waiting for me to respond. I tried to find the right words to say, feeling a bit flushed, finally settling for the truth.
“As much as I would love to help Gray out,” I began, “I still have to consider making a living here. Florida is a pretty expensive place, and I don’t want to depend on Gray too much for free.” Gray looked like he was about to protest and tell me he didn’t mind, but I shot him a look to let me finish. “Pretending to be his girlfriend in front of a vicious media would consume my time, and I really need that time to look for a decent job here.”
