by CM Foss
“Ah.” I scooted away a few inches, needing space. “Okay. Never reference that again. Ever.”
She cut her eyes to me, a sly grin on her face. “What do you mean, Jace? Sex?”
I stuck my fingers in my ears. “I can’t hear you.” Then I dropped them and faced her. “And you’re not legal.”
“Psht. Legalities are all a little different on the track.”
“Uh. No. No, they’re not. They’re actually just the same.”
“Oh, like you weren’t fucking every girl that passed by when you were seventeen.”
“As a matter of fact, I was not.”
She furrowed her brows.
“I was eighteen before I had any hope of getting laid.”
“Ha.” She patted my thigh, and I had to adjust my pants. Weird. “That’s very sad.”
“Yes, it was.”
Her hand lingered there just a little longer, just enough for me to really notice it and shake off the thoughts running through my head.
We fell back into silence, but I could see the wheels turning in her mind. I kicked a little water at her, making her yelp even though it only hit her jeans.
“This dude… he nice?”
She cocked her head to the side. “He was. I thought so anyway. I just—” She puffed up her cheeks and blew out a breath. “It’s hard being with someone who won’t hang out with my family. I mean, I know they’re loud and stuff, but there’s nothing to outright dislike. I’ve tried to think if anyone said something offensive or treated him badly, but really he’s only met them a couple of times. It’s weird.” She dunked her feet all the way into the water. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s just out of my league.”
I reared back like I’d been slapped in the face. “Out of your league? Seriously?”
She sent me a questioning look.
“I’m completely disappointed in you.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Is this a pep talk?”
“No. It’s a reality check. Everyone else is out of your league. They can’t even touch you. They shouldn’t touch you. And they should feel damn lucky to be included in your life and family.”
My chest heaved in my agitation, my fists clenched, my jaw tightened. The thought that anyone would take advantage of this girl, that they could make her feel less than worthy, less than anything, filled me with a rage like no other. In fact, it was an emotion I barely knew.
She was quiet next to me, her cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment.
I cleared my throat. “You know… you’re gonna need to get used to people blowing smoke up your ass. Once you’re winning races every week and kicking the tar outta all those good ol’ boys, you’ll be getting a lot of compliments thrown your way. You gonna blush each time?”
She elbowed me swiftly in the side. “Shut up. I’m not blushing.”
“Are too.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
She stilled, chewing on her lip again. “Thanks, Jace.”
I slung my arm around her neck, rubbing my knuckles on the top of her head in a noogie, making her squirm and fight. “Anytime, Midgie.”
“That the douche bag?” I cocked my head at the small but muscular guy holding on to Tessa’s hand and scowling at everyone who came near. He had dark, short hair and a vagina chin. You know, the kind with just the little patch of hair. Looked like a vagina. Not a nice one.
“Yeah. Cute little bugger, isn’t he?”
I snorted into my glass. “Come on. Introduce me.”
“Here we go,” Lawrence muttered, but I ignored him.
We walked up and looked down at the couple. And I’m sorry, I have no problems with people being shorter than me, but there was something extremely funny to me about this guy being such a tiny little prick.
Tessa looked at me with pleading eyes, but I ignored her, thrusting my hand out. Well, down and out.
“Hey, man. I’m Jace.”
He looked at my hand as if considering whether or not to take it. When he finally did, he gripped it with much more force than was polite. “Javier,” he said with a nod.
“Nice to meet you.”
He nodded again.
“You having a nice time?”
His mouth set into a thin line. “Sure. I don’t really know anyone here, but it’s nice.”
It didn’t sound nice.
“Well, you know Tessa. That’s about as good as it gets.”
She rolled her eyes at me.
“And the family. In fact, why don’t you let Lawrence take you around so you can meet more people? Then you’ll feel more comfortable.” I reached over and grabbed Tessa’s arm, pulling her stumbling toward me. “I’ll dance with your date.”
I dragged her off, leaving Javier sputtering some bullshit at my back.
“Jace,” she hissed. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“No, you are.”
We reached the middle of the floor and I turned her in my arms, stepping in tune to Ol’ Blue Eyes. Seemed fitting, looking at the shine in the blue eyes that were boring into mine.
But then she grinned, and the light in her eyes changed. “No, you.”
“Shit. You scared me there for a minute. I thought you were about to defend him.”
She lifted her shoulders, which I just sort of realized were bare. “There’s nothing to defend. He’s kind of a jerk.”
“Kind of?”
“He’s not always that way. He can be really charming.”
“Oh really. When was the last time that happened?”
She frowned, which was actually kind of cute and kind of sad.
“I mean it, Midge. You gotta let this one go.”
“It’s not that easy.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”
“We work together. That… complicates things.”
“It’s not like you share a cubicle. You can avoid each other, right?”
“He’ll spread rumors and talk shit and…”
“Yeah. Those are great reasons to stay with him. Real points in his favor.”
“Stop being so condescending. You don’t know what it’s like.”
“Then stop acting like a child. You never should have gotten yourself into this situation in the first place.”
She huffed and looked away. “I planned to break things off after the end of the work week, next week.”
My chest eased at her words. At least she had a plan. Not my kind of plan, but it was something. “Promise?”
She looked back up at me. “I swear.”
“That’s my girl.”
Chapter 8
2013
“You look really nervous.”
“Shut up.” I stared down at my feet, my program, other people. Other people was a bad idea. Why were there so many weird people?
“Why are you so jumpy?” I physically jumped when Lawrence’s words brought me back from looking at the skinniest guy I’d ever seen, wearing a completely white suit, holding hands with a rather large woman wearing, well, another kind of a white suit. Basically a bathing suit.
“How can you ask that? This is a big fucking deal.”
“She’s gonna be fine.”
“How do you know? She’s up against like twelve other dudes.”
“Stop being such a pansy. She’s tough.”
“Tough doesn’t much matter if you fall underneath fifty galloping hooves.”
“Fifty-two.”
“Whatever.” I jabbed his arm with my elbow.
“Hey, you’re the technical guy with the master’s degree. I’m just the idiot who never went to college but knows what thirteen times four is.”
I raised an eyebrow as I glared at him. “I hate you.”
He smirked and pointed. “There she is.”
Oh God. I couldn’t take it. “She looks small.”
“She is small. Hence”—he waved an arm toward the track—“just hence.”
“I can’t believe you all let her do this.
”
“Have you met her?”
I groaned as the horses were loaded into the gates. I’d been to probably a hundred horse races over the years, and none of them gave me this sort of rush. The bad kind.
“Did you bet?” Lawrence asked.
“Are you crazy? Of course not. It’s bad luck.”
He shook his head. “She’s gonna be pissed.”
“Why?”
“Because you didn’t bet on her. We all did.”
“You’re all crazy. It’s bad luck.”
“It’s not. And she’s still gonna be pissed.”
I couldn’t win. But I’d rather not be responsible for her wrecking.
I started to speak, but he elbowed me again in the same spot. It fucking hurt, but I didn’t let on.
“They’re about to go.”
The pain in my side was forgotten as I focused on the chestnut horse positioned four from the rail. At least she wasn’t number thirteen. That would have tipped me over the edge.
The bell rang and the gates clashed open and the announcements started coming so fast I couldn’t keep up. I would have preferred silence if I could have gotten the crowd around us to shut up. A tall, dark-haired guy just a little older than us walked up and shook Lawrence’s hand, nodding confidently toward the track. My eyes narrowed at the familiarity as I wondered who he was then at myself as I wondered why it left me feeling uneasy.
Up on the track, jockeys were still fighting for position, jostling and hollering, a mass of colors and arms and whips and muscle. And Tessa was smack in the middle.
The man next to Lawrence started yelling instructions to her, not that she’d be able to hear him. He had a yellow pencil stuck behind his ear and was waving a paper around, smacking it on his hand as she began to move forward. Everything he was saying she was doing, and it was working. The horse stretched out, found a gap between competitors, and sprang through, taking the lead in five strides. Tessa crouched even lower than before, essentially melding with the horse’s back, arms rowing back and forth in rhythm with his head. She ducked her head to look under her arm once or twice, ensuring her position, waving her whip by the horse’s eye to give her just that little bit of extra push. They took on an additional length and sailed under the wire ahead of the field.
“Did that just happen?” I looked at Lawrence, who had a big, goofy grin on his face. The man who’d been with him had disappeared into the crowd.
“Dude. It did. First race, first place!”
“Little shit.”
He clapped me on the back in a bro hug, both of us laughing and breathing heavily. I knew I wasn’t the only one who’d been nervous.
“Come on down to the winner’s circle.”
“Nah, man. I’ll wait. Let it be a family thing.”
“You are family. Get your ass down there.”
I didn’t waste time following him as we pushed through a sea of people to get to the fenced-off area reserved for pictures and trophies.
“Hey, who was that guy?” I asked to the back of Lawrence’s head as he led the way.
“Who? Drew?”
“I dunno. The dude you were talking to.”
“Yeah. Drew. Tessa’s agent.”
I nodded to myself. Agent. That made sense.
The winner’s circle was a blaze of flashes and smiles, laughter and congratulations. Tessa was beaming though, trying to play it cool. Drew was up close and caught her as she jumped out of the saddle, swinging her around in a hug. I gritted my teeth as his hands lingered longer than strictly necessary on her small waist. They seemed like they’d been there before.
She caught my eye, and a smile spread across my face at the sight of her, face brown with dirt except the rings where her goggles had been and her gleaming white teeth. She began to push away from Drew, but he held her steady, bending over to speak to her and tapping on his watch. Her smile faded as she grew serious, nodding as she listened, then made her way over to me, a little more somber than she was before.
“Hey, you came.” Her voice was still breathless from her exertion and excitement. Her eyes were the brightest blue they’d ever been.
“Of course I came.”
That spontaneous moment of excitement when she’d leap into my arms, or anyone’s arms, was gone, replaced by the awkward moment of my not knowing what to do. But fuck it, this was Tessa, so I bent down and hugged her, giving her a kiss on the cheek as usual. She returned my embrace until her name was called and she stepped back.
“I gotta go. Will I see you later? We’re gonna celebrate, and I’m starving.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
I saw them just in time to jump back out of the way, but not in time to warn her. A huge cooler of ice water was dumped over her head, her colleagues laughing and razzing her while she stood frozen from the shock of the cold. She sputtered expletives as she pushed dripping hair from her face, but her wide grin was impossible to hide. Her fellow jockeys surrounded her, jostling her and throwing her over their shoulders. Then she was gone with a wave, quickly swallowed from view as they headed back to the jockey’s quarters.
“What’re you staring at?” Lawrence appeared beside me.
“Huh?” I blinked rapidly.
“Your eyes are stuck.”
I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair, getting my fingers caught in a tangle. I needed a haircut.
“Nothing. Just thinking. What do you know about her agent?”
He shrugged, completely unconcerned. “Seems like a good guy, for an agent anyway.”
“He touches her a lot.”
He frowned. “I hadn’t noticed. He’s always seemed totally professional.”
“I don’t like him.” I had zero basis for that statement. I just didn’t.
Lawrence raised his eyebrows. “Well, you don’t really have to, I guess. Except tonight, ’cause he’ll be at dinner.”
I groaned like a five-year-old and he laughed, shoving me on the back. “Buck up, old man. She still has one more race for you to get through today.”
“I. Am. Starving.” Tessa growled as she shouldered her way up to the buffet table where an enormous but casual meal was laid out.
I laughed as she started shoving food into her mouth. Crackers, cheese, salami, bypassing the lettuce. “You want a plate?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. I’ll get there.”
“When was the last time you ate?” She was like a mini Hoover.
“This morning.”
“This morning? That’s crazy, Tessa.”
She shrugged. “The jockey weight thing is no joke.”
“Still…” That couldn’t be healthy.
Drew moseyed over, arms across his chest. “Easy now. Once you drop your bug weight, you can relax a little. But for now you better put the cheese away.”
Tessa rolled her eyes at him, which made me feel better, but he was looking down at her with undisguised affection.
I stuck out my hand, which he grasped firmly. “I’m Jace.”
“Yeah, Drew. Sorry we haven’t had a chance to actually meet yet. I know you’re tight with the family.”
“That’s all right. You’ve been busy.”
He nodded with a smirk. “It’s a lot of work keeping this one under wraps.”
Tessa glared at him, but her mouthful of food didn’t allow for any sort of a response. She looked at me with pleading eyes.
I held up my hands. “Hey, don’t look at me. I can’t actually defend you on that one.”
Drew let out a bark of laughter and clapped me on the back. “I like you. But I’m gonna need to steal our girl here for a minute. I’ll catch you later.”
He lightly grasped Tessa’s elbow, leading her away to speak privately, I assume about business. And all I could think was “our girl?”
Chapter 9
2013
“You’ll want cameras in these corners as well as over here to view the back alcove.”
I marked the locations
on a blueprint, pointing them out to my prospective client. My heart was racing and I was in serious danger of breaking out in a sweat. Mr. Donovan owned several high-end jewelry stores in the area and was fast expanding. Getting in with him would be a huge boost for my fledgling business.
“What about the sensors?” he asked, picking up a small rectangular device.
I took it from him, clearing my throat. “These will be placed at every possible point of entry as well as in potential fire locations. They can detect movement and smoke, alarm like crazy, and will wirelessly alert emergency services and whatever other contacts you would like, along with my office.”
Of course, my office was a laptop in the corner of my bedroom, but he didn’t need to know that.
“I don’t know, son. The wireless thing makes me nervous. What if it doesn’t work?”
“Wireless is the only way to go. How easy is it for an intruder to simply cut a wire and they’re in? You’d never know until it was too late. With this technology, they wouldn’t even know where to begin. There’s nothing to cut, nothing to remove. When I install these sensors, even your employees won’t be able to see them. Once the system is set up, I can show you how to easily disable whichever ones you want to during business hours. The others will stay active. It’s extremely simple to use, and my customer service is completely hands-on, twenty-four seven.”
Mr. Donovan studied my notes for long, quiet moments. He had a deep crease between his eyes and kept grumbling under his breath while I shifted back and forth on my feet. I’d worn close-toed shoes for the occasion, and I was dying to kick them off.
“I want to keep my current system in place while we test it out. Does that bother you?”
My body wanted to sag in relief, but I kept myself upright. “Not at all, sir. I fully support that and believe my product will stand on its own against your current one.”
He smiled and stuck out his hand, which I took gratefully. My phone sounded as I was about to speak. I cringed inwardly at the noise, kicking myself for not having it switched off.
