Lo rolled with laughter in the background, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sasshole?”
“Yes. Sasshole. That’s what both of you are,” she huffed.
“I’ll try to fix that.” The pump turned off, the truck full of gas.
“I watched the race last weekend. I think I saw your back.”
“You actually watched the race?”
“Well, Lo recorded it. I fast-forwarded through ninety percent of it.”
“More like ninety-nine percent,” Lo added.
“So you watched a total of ten minutes.” I hung the pump back up and tore off the receipt.
“It would have been more if you guys would have lost to the McDonalds guy.”
“McDougal, Mom.”
“Sorry. I’m apparently hungry.”
Lo scoffed. “We just ate.”
I could picture my mom rolling her eyes. That was her and Lo’s thing. He chuckled and shook his head a lot, while she was crazy and rolled her eyes at Lo. They seemed to work well together, though. “I gotta get back on the road. Was there anything you needed to tell me?”
“Can’t I just call you because you’re my only child, and I gave up not only eighteen years of my life for you, but also my body?”
“Ain’t a damn thing wrong with your body,” Lo growled.
And this is where I hung up the phone. “I’ll call you when we get set up at the next race, Mom. Roc needs me.”
“Oh, your boss. You better go then. I love you, Remy. Stay out of trouble and try to call me before I lose my mind again, would you?”
“That might be debatable if you’ve lost your mind already,” Lo joked.
“Later, Mom.” I hung the phone up as I heard her tell Lo to shut his sasshole again.
“Got you some shit to eat.” Jay held up two bags. “I would have gotten more, but Roc came in, and he beelined straight to Frankie. I ditched her and managed to get out before he cornered me too.”
Jay slid into the truck, and I leaned against the bed, watching the front door of the gas station.
Jay didn’t want to be the person Roc went to when a problem arose, but I did. I knew with Frankie being the car chief, she would be the one he conferred with until they got an assistant crew chief, but damn if I wasn’t jealous as hell.
Roc and Frankie walked out the front doors and straight to their truck parked on the other side of the pumps. Frankie glanced over at me, rolling her eyes, but Roc didn’t even look in my direction. How I was going to earn that man’s respect, I didn’t have a clue, but I needed to figure it out quick.
*
Harlyn
“I don’t know why I never thought about doing it that way.”
I switched off the computer and looked up at a very pregnant Marion. “Fresh eyes. There wasn’t anything wrong with the way you were doing payroll. This just helps you get done a little faster.” I didn’t plan on coming in and changing everything, but installing a new version of payroll software was going to cut down the time it took to do payroll in half. After I had downloaded the software, Marion took over and I had watched over her shoulder while she reentered everyone’s information. I had used the software at my previous job, so she ended up doing all of the work.
“Well, for the next six months, it’ll help you out.” She rubbed her protruding belly and sighed. “I’m supposed to cook this baby for another two weeks, but I swear, he’s coming sooner than that.”
“I hope not,” I laughed nervously. While I had done most everything Marion did at past jobs, I didn’t want her to leave me just yet. “This is only day one. I’m sure there is a ton more you do every day than payroll.”
She sighed and gingerly sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the desk. “Most of the time, I’m wrangling the pit crew and ordering parts. Plus, planning their travel for the season.”
“Don’t they drive most everywhere?”
“The pit crew drives everywhere. Brooks does not. He comes home in between races while the crew drives the car and haulers to the next race.” She grabbed a notepad from the desk and flipped through a few pages. “Brooks is already at home. I gave him his flight info on Friday for Monday. He’ll be calling Wednesday or Thursday to get his info for California.” She handed me the note pad.
“So I just need to give him the flight number and times?”
“And also email and text it to him.”
“Verbal, email, and text?” Lord, have mercy.
She snickered and nodded her head. “Brooks is rather forgetful. If you give him the info between those three, he normally remembers.”
“Why do I feel like I’m going to be a babysitter more than anything, Marion?”
She touched her finger to her nose and smiled. “You caught on the first day, Harlyn. You are a glorified babysitter making half of what you should be.”
“I have a feeling I’m going to be cursing my dad by the time you come back.”
“You know you’ll stay on even after I come back. Cummings Racing is growing by leaps and bounds in the year to come.”
“Really? It’s only the second season for Brooks running.”
“You’ll see real quick with the Cummings that things don’t stand still for long. Brooks’ dad is always pushing him to do more and go faster.”
“I guess going faster is kind of the point of drag racing.” I shut down the computer and looked at the clock. “I can’t believe it’s already five-thirty.”
“Time flies when you’re having fun, right?”
I wouldn’t say it had been fun, but working with Marion had made it bearable. Doing payroll wasn’t exactly the most fun job. “So, when the pit crew isn’t here for me to babysit, what exactly are we going to be doing?”
“Taking a deep breath and preparing for their return.”
I pushed my chair back and rested my hands on my lap. “You’re not really selling this as an awesome job, Marion.”
She waved her hand at me. “Pish posh. Once you get used to everything, this is going to be your favorite job. Like I said, it’s a lot, but I can tell you can more than handle it.” She gingerly stood up and smiled. “I gotta get home and try to hold this baby in for a couple more days. Derk texted and said he was already home cooking dinner. I’m half happy and half terrified I’m going to walk into a war zone.”
I grabbed my purse from under the desk and hitched it over my shoulder. “I take it he isn’t a very good cook?”
She shook her head. “He’s a good cook. It’s just the man has no idea how to clean as he goes. I swear, it’s like a bomb exploded in the kitchen when he is done, and normally, I’m the one to clean it up.”
“Well, maybe you need to let Derk know if you have to lift one finger tonight, you’re going to end up pushing that baby out.”
Marion threw her head back, cackling. “Now that is exactly what I am going to do. Derk is absolutely terrified for this baby to come. I swear, if he could physically put his hand on my who-ha and hold it in, he would.”
“I’m sure once you have the baby, he’ll be fine.”
“One can only hope. Thankfully, my mom lives close by, so she’ll be around to slap some sense into Derk. He’s a good man, but he’s deathly afraid of babies.” She laughed and nodded toward the door. “You can head on out. I’ll lock up once I figure out where I put my keys and purse.” She looked around with her hands on her hips.
“Um, you dropped them by the door.” I pointed to the small table that had her purse and keys on top.
She tapped a finger to her head. “Damn pregnancy brain. I can barely remember my name these days.” She waved me off, and I walked out to my car.
After the short ride, I was back home. As I opened the bottle of wine I had stuck in the fridge this morning to chill, my phone rang.
“I was wondering if you would answer the phone or not.”
I tucked the phone between my head and shoulder and pulled open the cork from the wine. “Well, you were the one who made me give you
my number, so I figured I would take some mercy on you and answer at least once.” Hearing from Remy was a pleasant surprise.
“Your mercy is greatly appreciated.”
“I have to say I’m surprised you actually called.” I filled my glass to the top and put the bottle back in the fridge.
“Thought it would be nice to hear your voice.” His voice was low and intimate. His voice hadn’t been anything that had struck me as sexy when we had first meet, but now all I could do was listen to him and feel how the low timber sent shivers down my back. “How was your day today?”
I plopped down on the couch and kicked my feet up on the coffee table. “It went surprisingly well. We just went over payroll. But it was good.”
“That mean you’ll be staying around Leeds Square for a while?”
“It’s only been my first day of work, but I don’t think there is going to be anything that will send me running.” Although I wasn’t too sure about babysitting a group of grown men. Or being Brooks’ human calendar.
“So you’ll be there when I get back into town on Monday?”
“You haven’t done much convincing to get me to go out with you.”
“I just called you to hear your voice.”
I laughed and took a sip. “Any points you earned by saying you wanted to hear my voice have been taken away now.”
He burst out laughing. “So you’re keeping track of points now?”
“It’s only fair. I mean, how am I supposed to decide if we’re going out Monday?”
“You know you already decided you wanna see me again.”
“I didn’t detect this cockiness about you before, Remy,” I laughed.
“Not cockiness, pretty girl. I just know I want to see you again.”
I sighed lightly. “Points added back,” I whispered.
“So what does that put me at?”
I sighed. “That puts you at you can pick me up at seven Monday night.”
He chuckled low. “Damn straight, pretty girl. I gotta get some shit done before bed. I’ll text you in the morning, yeah?”
“Sounds good.”
“Sweet dreams.”
“Bye, Remy.” I hung up before I could beg him to call me pretty girl again. Or admit to him he really didn’t need to rack up points for me to agree to go out with him.
The man pulled me to him. I needed to know him better. Find out what made him tick.
I just wanted to get to know Remy.
*
Chapter 9
Remy
“How is it only Thursday?”
“Because that is what comes after Wednesday.” Frankie collapsed on to the ratty old couch wedged into the back corner of the hauler. She pointed her finger at Jay. “Although I’m not sure how you are exhausted. You haven’t done jackshit for the past three days.”
He held up his hands and leaned on the workbench against the wall. “I’m just doing what Roc tells me to do.”
“Making a parts run for six hours must be exhausting,” I mumbled.
He shrugged. “Not my fault they don’t have the parts ready when I get there so I have to wait.”
“I can’t stand you.” Frankie laid down on the couch and tossed her arm over her face. “Remy and I have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off while you sit on your ass doing nothing.”
“Hey, Jay!” Brooks stuck his head in the hauler. “Thanks for running to get those parts this week. We’d be dead in the water without them.”
Jay waved and nodded. “No problem, man. Anything to get the car running.”
Brooks pointed a finger at Jay. “That’s what I like to hear.” He moseyed off in the direction of the food trucks, and again, Brooks didn’t give Frankie the time of day.
Frankie slowly sat up, her jaw dropped to her chest. She was about to lose her shit. “We’d be dead in the water without Jay? Are you fucking kidding me? How about the thirty fucking hours I put into dialing in the fucking engine the past two days?”
A smirk spread across Jay’s face. “I can’t help it he recognizes the root of where things are.”
“The root of where things are?” she repeated slowly.
“Here we go,” I mumbled.
Frankie shot up from the couch and got in Jay’s face. “You think you actually do shit around here, Jay?” She stood toe-to-toe with him, her head tilted back. She may be six inches shorter than Jay, but that didn’t matter. “While Remy and I are working our asses off to get ahead around here, and earn some fucking respect, all you do is stand around. While you’re standing around, the fucking team owner comes in, and thanks you for all the hard work you do. ‘Hard work’ and ‘Jay Perez’ are four words that do not go together.”
“I work, Frankie,” he growled.
She threw her head back and cackled. “He works,” she shouted. “He works at hanging out with the people who are actually carrying this team on their backs. You manage to stick just close enough to Remy and me so you can take all the fucking credit. Fucking. Sick. Of. It.” She enunciated each word clearly, and a small sprinkle of saliva sprayed up in his face. She was pissed.
“Last I checked, you wouldn’t be anywhere if I hadn’t run to get those parts.” Jay was grasping at straws.
“Because you’re the only one around here who knows how to drive, right? Not like Roc or I could have gotten those parts, right? You were out the damn door before Roc even asked someone to run and get them. Should we go into the fact your dumbass should have called ahead to see if they had the parts ready before you left? No, why would you do that, right? If you would have called, you would have had to stick around here and do some fucking work.”
“Sorry I can’t be like you, Saint Frankie,” he spat. And now Jay was pissed.
It had been a rough week all around, and Frankie had evidently reached the end of her rope. Roc had been on the warpath, demanding the car be in top condition for qualifying Friday, and we had all been working tirelessly to do just that. Jay, not so much, though. “You both need to chill out,” I called. I agreed with Frankie that Jay seemed to always dodge actually working, but it wasn’t our job to be the ones to tell him to get to work. As of now, Roc didn’t have a problem with Jay’s work ethic, or lack thereof.
“My problem is you don’t even seem to try, Jay. The only thing you try at is finding the easiest thing to do. Do nothing, but take all of the credit. That’s how you live, right?” She poked a finger into his chest. “Your sister catered to your every whim when you were growing up, so now you think everyone is going to do that.”
Jay stood up straight and glared daggers at Frankie. “You don’t know shit about my life, Frankie. Don’t act like you fucking do.”
“I know a hell of a lot more than you think I do. Try taking that damn horseshoe you have shoved up your ass out, and do some actual work.” Frankie stormed out of the trailer, her long hair streaming behind her.
Jay grabbed a wrench off the bench and threw it at the wall of the hauler. “That’s fucking bullshit.” He ran his fingers through his hair and paced back and forth.
“Just chill out, brother. Frankie deals with a hell of a lot of shit.”
Jay flailed his arm to the back of the trailer. “And how in the fuck is that my fault? Maybe she could be doing more.”
Now the fucker was about to piss me off. “You just took credit for getting the car dialed in, when all you did was drive to get the damn part.”
“Now you too, huh? What the hell was I supposed to do?”
“Say thanks, and then tell him Frankie did all the work. She deals with Roc going over all her shit twice, and now the car owner doesn’t even recognize her.”
“Not my fucking fault,” he growled.
No, it wasn’t his fault, but he could try to help her out a bit. “Just stay away from her for a bit, Jay.” That was going to be the only thing that would cool her down.
He grabbed the wrench he threw off the floor and tossed it on the bench. “No fucking probl
em there.” He stalked out of the trailer and headed in the opposite direction Frankie had stormed off.
Half the time, I felt like I was babysitting those two, and then the other half, it was like a wrestling match about to break out. I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before they went at it. Frankie was dealing with a lot of shit just because she was a chick, and Jay should have been trying to help her, not taking credit for everything she was busting her ass on.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw it was already half past eleven. I hadn’t talked Harlyn since yesterday morning when I had sent her a quick message saying morning. Talking to her always seemed to make things a little better.
If I sat back and thought about it, it was damn baffling how a woman I had only met a little over a week before had turned into someone who could turn my mood around. I still didn’t know much about her, but each time I talked to her, I seemed to glimpse a little bit more of her personality.
On Tuesday, I had called her, and we talked for almost an hour. The thing was, we didn’t talk about anything important. She told me about where she was from, her schooling, and I did the same. Whenever she laughed at one of my dumb jokes, a smile crossed my lips knowing I was the one who she thought was funny.
You awake?
After five minutes of waiting for her response, I figured she must have been tucked in for the night. I turned off the lights in the hauler and shut the doors. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see Harlyn was calling me.
“Are you okay?” she mumbled into the phone sleepily. Add that to the list of things I liked about her. Her soft, sleep-laden voice in my ear was something I wouldn’t mind hearing every morning.
I leaned against the closed doors of the trailer. “Better now. I just wanted to say goodnight.”
She hummed low. “Then you should have called two hours ago.”
“Damn, baby. You were asleep before ten?”
“It’s been a long week. Everything kind of caught up with me when I pulled into the driveway, and I barely made it through dinner before I fell asleep.”
Burndown (Nitro Crew Book 1) Page 5
