by Amelia Jade
***
In the morning she woke abruptly to someone pounding on the door of her little camper-top. She crawled over to the door and yanked the shade aside to see who it was. It was Amy.
"Yes?" she said blearily, trying to bring herself to an awakened state.
"Charlie wants to see you. He's going on about some sort of paperwork issue or something. You should probably go see him and sort it out before you compete," Amy said without preamble, turning and walking away.
Although she and Amy weren't all that close, they looked out for each other. There weren't too many women who worked with them, so they had an unspoken agreement over certain things.
Ruffling through her suitcase next to the little mattress that was her bed, she grabbed some new clothes, pulling on a fresh bra and tossing a white tank top over it. Her large, firm breasts were emphasized by the thin material, but she didn't feel like doing much else. A fall jacket and some clean jeans completed the ensemble. It was all she needed once she got into the circle anyways.
Besides, if Amy's tone was anything to go by, she might benefit from showing a bit more skin than normal around Charlie. He could be an arrogant dick sometimes, but often when he was alone with her, she could handle his presence, unless he'd been drinking.
I wonder what games he's trying to play now.
The thought echoed through her mind the entire trip from her truck to his command trailer. He had a big RV trailer that he used both as his quarters and for running the entire show. The big gold and purple paintjob made it an easy target as she zeroed in and walked up to the door.
"Come in," came Charlie's voice after a swift rap on the metal paneling.
She pulled open the lightweight door and stepped up into the camper. It was darker inside, and not just because the windows were tinted. The lights were off. She looked around in confusion, until she spotted Charlie, at the fold out dinner table. An entire meal for two was splayed across it, and two candles were all that lit the interior.
"Charlie, what are you doing?" she asked softly, shaking her head at the display.
"Come sit down, have some food with me," he said, gesturing at the empty chair.
She didn't move from the entrance, eyeing the setup apprehensively. The food smelled delicious. It looked home-cooked, which was odd. Where, she wondered, had Charlie gotten fresh eggs, bacon, sausage, what looked like home fries and under a plate what she suspected were some pancakes. It was a veritable feast, laid out before her eyes. It smelled heavenly, and her stomach grumbled, letting her know its opinion.
"Charlie..."
"You didn't hand in your intent to compete form yesterday," he said, his gaze never wavering from her face.
"My what? I've never had to fill in anything after I started working here. What are you talking about?"
"It's a new form, it had to be filled in and returned yesterday for all drivers looking to still compete in the remaining rounds." His hand gestured to a stack of paper on the counter beside him, as if inviting her to take a look.
"So what are you saying?" she said, suddenly filled with a sinking sensation in her stomach. Now she knew what this was all about.
"I'm saying, sit down and have breakfast with me."
He got up and pulled out the chair on her side as she walked over to the table stiffly. His hands were on her shoulders as she sat down, then he helped slide the chair in as she sat down. Feeling trapped, she decided to make the best of it and began piling her plate high with food. She rarely ate breakfast these days, and though it was closer to lunch than breakfast, she did not intend to let any of it go to waste.
"So, what do I have to do to be able to compete today?" she asked around a mouthful of bacon. The food tasted as good as it had looked and smelled. Her stomach was going to be very satisfied after the meal was over.
"Who said anything about not being able to compete? We couldn't get a hold of you yesterday, Robyn. We were worried about you. I was worried." He reached out with his free hand and put it on top of hers. She knew he cared about her, in his own, weird way. It was just nothing like what she had been told to expect from her peers.
"I thought you meant—"
"It'll be okay, I'll waive it this time, for you, Robyn," he said gently, pulling his hand back to continue eating. She dug in with gusto, not wanting to waste the opportunity of a good meal.
"You could eat like this all the time if you wanted," he hinted as they sat back a little bit of time later.
"Charlie," she said gently. "We've been over this."
This was the side of Charlie that she didn't mind. He treated her well, promised her the world and was never a pompous ass. It was that side of him that had prevented her from doing anything. That, and she didn't want any potential of taint when she won her competition either, by way of rumors about her sleeping with the boss to gain an advantage.
She stood up. It was past time she left as it was. What she was doing, while not completely improper, was not the way she should be acting.
Especially because she did not want Andy to feel hurt, as if she had betrayed him or anything.
Not that we're together.
The excuse sounded flimsy even in her head, where ideas usually sounded better than when she verbalized them. This, though, was just denial. She and Andy may not be married, but there was definitely a connection between them that she was abusing.
"Robyn," Charlie said, following her to the door.
"Yes?" she said, turning to face him as she stood at the top of the stairs.
Then he kissed her.
She froze, stunned by the sudden aggression of her boss. He had never done anything like this before! Even now, with his lips mashed against hers, she was still having a hard time realizing it.
The door opened behind her. Robyn pulled back abruptly. Eyes wide she still wasn't sure what to do. So she turned and fled the camper, pushing by whoever it was that had opened the door. She was in such a rush that the person didn't register to her, simply a blur in her vision as tears began to stream down her face.
Behind her, the person walked up the first step. "Here is the paperwork you asked for."
"Thank you," Charlie said, taking the sheaf of papers from Amy's outstretched hand.
***
Robyn ran across the park, taking refuge in her truck once more. She started to cry, the tears flowing down her cheeks with abandon as her shoulders shook.
What am I doing?
It was too much. For almost as long as she could remember, Robyn had been dead-set, focused on her goal, letting nothing stand in the way, not even a man. There had been plenty of opportunities, but she had shunned them all. Yet now, within the space of twenty-four hours, she had kissed two different men.
True, with Charlie it had been more him kissing her, but that was still more than she was used to. The anxiety of worrying about the men and their thoughts, what they thought of her, and the entire situation was more pressure than she could take at the time.
"No wonder I've been avoiding men," she snorted to herself as the tears began to dry up some time later. "I may have been doing it for a different reason, but fuck, they add nothing but complication!" she cried, slamming her fist into the side panel of the camper.
Her phone went off with her pre-race alarm. She managed to get her gear together and get off to the racetrack in one piece, without breaking down again. Even when she ran into Charlie by chance, she was able to keep her cool. In fact, as she buckled her seatbelt home and pulled her helmet on overtop of her hair, Robyn realized something.
Despite the craziness of her world outside the circle where she was about to go, she felt different. Her blood was up, flowing through her veins, like always, but there was a different characteristic to it this time. She realized with a start, that her blood was singing, alive with desire and drive. Her lips pulled back in a snarl of tempered rage as the lights flickered down. She turned the key over, reveling in the throaty roar as her engine sprang to life, empowering t
he machine around her.
The light turned green, and she roared out of the gate, a wild growl erupting from her throat as she spun the wheel sharply to the right, aiming right at the side of another car. The driver—she didn't care who at this point—was not expecting such an abrupt maneuver, and she slammed into the side of it mercilessly, never letting off the gas.
There was no remorse in her system as she used her momentum to slam the other car into one of the giant, padded concrete stones that outlined the circle, removing one of her foes from the fight in just a few seconds.
Bring it on motherfuckers! I'm baaackk!
***
"So, let me get this straight," the bartender said to her. "You're a professional demolition derby driver?"
"Yes, got a problem with that?" she all but snarled, snatching her drink off the table as soon as he set it down, taking a deep taste.
"That's fucking good," she said, slamming it back onto the counter with a tad more gusto than was needed.
"Thanks. But back to you, I didn't know that was a profession. I thought people just signed up for fun to compete in one every now and then with junked cars."
"Some people do," she said, sitting back and looking up at the bartender. He was another bear shifter, a little bigger than Andy, though not by much.
Andy.
She smiled at his memory, and the way she had channeled all her feelings for him, and the weirdness that surrounded Charlie, into a pulverizing force that had ended the second round in record time with her emerging as victor.
"I happen to be one of them. And I'm damn good at it, too," she said, letting herself boast just a bit. The win today had felt good.
"Hey, is there more than one female driver with you guys?"
"Yeah, there's a second one, actually," she said, eyeing him carefully. "Why?"
"Are you Robyn? Or do you know her?"
"Who's asking?" she said apprehensively, not wanting to give out her information just yet.
"My name's Jet," he said, sticking out his hand as it was supposed to mean something. "Andy's my best friend."
"Oh," she said, startled, belatedly sticking out her own hand. "Robyn."
"So you're the one, are you?" he replied, stepping back subconsciously to study her.
Robyn blushed under the scrutiny. She knew the bartender wasn't looking at her sexually, because his wife and child were sitting at a nearby table. The only other explanation, she thought, her mind racing, was that Andy had been speaking about her.
Why would he do that? Was he saying good things?
"Andy spoke about me?" she forced herself to ask, her earlier bravado gone at the thought that Andy was going around, speaking about her.
"At length, actually. You must have made some impression on him," Jet commented slowly, beginning to nod minutely.
"What do you mean by that?" she said, her heart hammering against her ribcage as she waited for the answer.
"How long after meeting Andy was it before he invited you inside?" Jet asked by way of answer.
Robyn thought furiously for a moment. "A couple of hours, perhaps? I wasn't really keeping track of time, I was busy working on my car."
Jet stared at her. She could see him trying to smile, and fighting to keep it off his face.
"What?" she pressed, anxious to find out.
"I'm Andy's best friend, Robyn, with the possible exception of Tanner. It took me three months before he invited me inside his den."
She rocked back in her chair at that, and the import that Jet had conveyed with that statement. Andy hadn't made it seem like a big deal to her at the time he had simply invited her inside for food. Insisting that it was the right thing to do, as if he hadn't thought about it twice.
"I—" she started, then stopping, then starting again. "I don't get it. He didn't make it seem like a big deal. He wanted to make sure I had some lunch, so he cooked a quick meal for us. He never seemed uptight or anything."
"He cooked for you?" Jet asked in disbelief, his eyebrows so high they were threatening to touch his hairline.
"Yes..." she said slowly.
"You must be someone special then, Robyn-the-demolition-driver. I don't know how you've done it, but you've gotten into his confidence far faster than any of the rest of us."
She blushed furiously, unsure of how to respond to the compliment. The truth was, she knew, that there was nothing all that out of the ordinary about her as a woman. The fact that she did stunt driving was likely the part of her that was most different from other women, but really, it wasn't that unheard-of as a profession. Andy was the one who had invited her in, all but forcing his cooking on her. She had made no advances, he had done them all.
Except for when you kissed him last night.
Her cheeks stung a little more at that reminder. Jet, meanwhile, was not helping the matter by laughing at her embarrassment good-naturedly. He topped off the drink she had finished as they talked, sliding back a cold refill of another house beer.
Later, after finishing the drink and waving off another, Robyn headed for home, her cheeks hurting from smiling so much. Jet and some of the other regulars, Tanner, and his two gay coworkers—she'd forgotten their names already—were great fun. Calan was a little more reserved, but overall the group of them had made her feel extremely welcome, even though they had not met her until a few hours earlier. She understood now how Andy had called them his friends, and why he had spoken so emphatically about them.
It was a perfect place to make a home, she thought remorsefully, backing her truck up to the trailer back at the park.
She was so caught up in her emotions, she almost missed the note on the door.
Robyn,
Sorry. Wish I could have seen you, heard you were a wrecking ball in there. Sounds like you kicked some ass. I also checked, and you don't compete again until next Saturday in the final round. With that in mind, tomorrow I will pick you up bright and early. Wear a bathing suit under your clothes. Bring work clothes as well. I'll provide breakfast.
Warmest,
Andy
She clutched the note to her chest, a huge grin on her face regardless of how much her cheeks hurt. Part of her wanted to know right away why she needed a bathing suit, and where he was taking her, but the note didn't say more, and she still hadn't gotten Andy's phone number.
Just before bed, she made a mental note to get it tomorrow, so she could talk to him whenever she wanted.
Chapter Seven
Andy
The sun was just beginning to appear over the mountains. The first rays of dawn's light were piercing through the clouds that hovered in parts of the sky. The weather had promised a warm day, and he intended to make the most of it. Even now, the temperatures in the early morning were warmer than they had been at midday the past handful of days.
He eased his way through the back gate, staring down anyone who even looked at him sideways. Technically he wasn't allowed to bring a vehicle inside without a pass, but he was nowhere near the ticket entrance, and he didn't have far to go. It helped that he was early, and not many people were up yet. Those that were did not show an overall inclination to tangle with a massive man.
"Who is it?" came the reply as he rapped softly on the door to Robyn's camper.
"I told you I would be here bright and early," he teased.
The sounds of rummaging came from inside, then several seconds of silence. Finally Robyn's face appeared as she opened the door, stepping out rather daintily for a tall woman, until she was standing on the ground.
"For your information," she said with a playful jab to his sternum, "I was ready an hour ago, then fell back asleep because you were late."
"Late? How am I late?" he said, pretending to be astonished at her words. "I never specified a time, m'lady, so in fact I am here exactly when I intended to be."
"That, good sir, is nothing but a farce," she said, rising up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek before she scrambled back into the camper to grab the rest of
her stuff.
"Truck keys," he said firmly, sticking his hand through the door. He was surprised when she didn't say anything, simply handing them to him. "Hold on," he rumbled loud enough for her to hear through the camper.
By that time, however, she had already exited it and hauled open the passenger door. "Where are we going?" she asked, sitting down.
"About ten feet to the right," he answered, pulling her truck up and out of the way.
"What? That's it?" she asked, confused.
"No, silly. Now, come hop in my truck." She stared at him as if he were out of his mind, but when she saw what he was doing, it all made more sense to her.
"We could always have taken my truck," she said as he finished attaching her trailer to his own.
"Possibly. But we aren't," he said. "The car is inside, right?"
"Absolutely. Every night," she confirmed. "So, now that that's done, how about that breakfast you promised? I'm starved!"
***
With breakfast fresh in their stomachs and giving them both renewed vigor to face the day, Andy started driving. After a quick side trip to drop the trailer off at his shop, they hit the road headed north out of town.
"So, where are we going?" Robyn asked excitedly.
Andy glanced at the display console. "Three minutes. Not bad," he said.
"What?"
"It took you three minutes to ask. That's about a minute and a half longer than I expected."
"I was just working some food out from my teeth first, if you must know," she said, sticking her tongue out at him in a completely immature manner.
"We're going to somewhere I like to go for fun and relaxation. I think you'll like it, and I think it will help you focus better," he said seriously, glancing over at her as they went over another rise.
"Okay," she said, sounding a little unsure.
"Give me the benefit of the doubt," he grinned, though he purposefully did not say 'trust me'. He didn't want to try pushing that just yet. She had, after all, just met him two days earlier.
