Out of Alignment (Hearts & Horsepower #5)

by A. K. Evans

  His very hard body.

  Everywhere.

  Suddenly, my belly was fluttering with what felt like a hundred butterflies. It was going to happen, and I couldn’t have picked a better man for it to happen with than Nash.

  As our tongues touched and glided against one another, tasting and exploring every inch of our mouths, our hands did the same. My hands were on his chest, his shoulders, his arms, and in his hair. His hands were in my hair, on my hips, and running up and down my sides.

  When they drifted down over my ass and squeezed, I moaned. He pressed his hips deeper into me. God, that felt good.

  So good.

  I wanted that.

  After kissing for such a long time that I knew my lips would be swollen, Nash had pulled back. He still had one hand planted securely on my ass while the other was gripping my hair at the back of my head firmly.

  “Yeah, you’re just as good at that,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

  I was soaring at his compliment. And I knew there was nothing that could knock me down from that high.

  Except Nash gave me another squeeze and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning at the office.”

  What? He was leaving?

  It was incredibly difficult for me not to react, but somehow, I managed to keep myself together.

  “Oh… okay,” I replied.

  “I really did have an incredible time with you tonight,” he told me as he loosened his hold on me and took a step back.

  Struggling with the disappointment I felt, I gave him a nod.

  Nash turned back toward the door, opened it, and stepped out. “Goodnight, Parker.”

  Forcing myself to swallow past the lump in my throat, I rasped, “Goodnight, Nash.”

  At that, he walked away.

  For a long time, long after he’d pulled out of my driveway, I stood there just staring at my closed front door.

  I couldn’t understand what happened. Why did he leave? Was he not feeling it? No. He was. I knew he was. I felt it. But maybe that was just the natural way of things when a guy kissed a girl.

  That couldn’t be it. If he hadn’t really enjoyed himself, he wouldn’t have asked me to join him at the track over the weekend.

  Unless… unless he was trying to save me from the embarrassment of needing to see him at the office when he came in for his adjustments. Maybe he was planning to take me on a few dates until it fizzled out.

  Oh, God.

  I couldn’t do this.

  This was all wrong.

  And I had absolutely no idea how to fix it.

  Eventually, I unstuck myself from my spot just inside the front door and dragged myself upstairs. I got ready for bed and climbed in.

  Suffice it to say that I got about as much sleep as I had expected to get that night. Unfortunately, the reason for my lack of sleep had nothing to do with being kept awake all night in the throes of passion like I had hoped would be the case.

  A growl tore up his throat.

  My back was pressed tight against the exam room door, and I couldn’t move because Nash’s solid body was pressed against my front.

  When I first walked into the exam room a little while ago, Nash had given me a chaste kiss as his morning greeting. Then he got on the table and allowed me to work my magic. Once he’d gotten the stim therapy as well as an adjustment, he wasted no time getting off the table and coming toward me.

  And now I was here.

  Loving and hating every minute of what was happening.

  I loved it because there really wasn’t much not to love. This was Nash, and he was kissing me. But I hated it for two reasons.

  First, I was not too fond of it because I was at work, and I knew that if Nash hadn’t taken that next step with me last night in the privacy of my home, there was no way he was going to do it now. But the other reason I didn’t like it was because it confused me.

  When he walked into the office on Monday and talked to me about what had happened on Friday, he made it clear that I had nothing to feel ashamed about. He also shared that he felt the same and that we would figure out a time that worked with both of our schedules so that he could take me out and give us what we both wanted.

  If that was the case, last night made no sense.

  And being plastered against the wall with his tongue in my mouth and his hard cock pressing into me made even less sense.

  Despite the confusion I felt, I couldn’t stop this from happening. I didn’t want to stop this from happening. Because even if all I was going to have were Nash’s kisses, that was still far better than the alternative.

  Deep down, though, if I was honest with myself, it frustrated me.

  Nash’s mouth left mine, and his lips trailed down over my jaw until his face was buried in my neck, kissing and licking me there. One of his hands that had been resting at my hip had started drifting up the side of my body. It stopped moving just below my breast. Then his thumb began stroking gently against the underside of my breast. Unfortunately, he never gave me what I wanted by running it over my nipple.

  And because I was growing even more and more frustrated, I breathed, “Nash.”

  The moment his name escaped, Nash pulled his head back from my neck. He looked down at me, gave me an innocent kiss on the lips much like the one he’d given me when I first entered the room, and said, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning at eight, so we can get to the track on time. Does that work for you?”

  He couldn’t be serious.

  All of that—everything he’d just given me—and he was just going to walk out of here. There was no way. How would he? I felt how hot and bothered he was. Was he planning to walk out there with a hard-on?

  I didn’t know what came over me, but I allowed my eyes to drift down his body. They settled on his crotch for an extended time. I was practically salivating, seeing how turned on he was and knowing he’d gotten that way for me.

  My eyes probably would have stayed focused on the prize, but the sudden flash of Nash’s hand had me moving quickly. His thumb and forefinger lightly touched my chin as a look of concern marred his features. It was there only briefly before it was gone. Then he asked again, “Does tomorrow morning at eight o’clock work for you?”

  With a slight downward jerk of my chin, I replied, “Yeah. Sure. That’s fine.”

  He nodded in return. “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow morning then. Have a good day at work today.”

  My throat was tight as I rasped, “You too.”

  A moment later, the door was open, and Nash walked down the hall toward the front reception area.

  I did the only thing I could do at that moment and walked to my office and closed the door. I would need a few minutes before I could go back out there and face another patient.

  If nothing else, it was becoming clear to me that as laid-back and carefree as Nash always seemed, he was the one that was completely in control of this situation.

  I hated it.

  I looked at the clock on the dash and saw that it was 7:58 a.m.

  With two minutes left before Parker was expecting me to arrive, I pulled into her driveway. And I did it feeling nothing but excitement about seeing her again.

  She had become the highlight of my day. She brought light into my life that I didn’t know I was missing. No matter what was going on, if I knew I would see her, my mood instantly improved. And for a guy who spent most days in a good mood, it was saying something that she could have that kind of an effect on me.

  I couldn’t get over how much I liked Parker.

  In fact, that feeling I felt when I was in the laundromat—the one I felt that caused me to turn around because it was so strong—was back and stronger than ever.

  Though I’d seen Parker frequently over the last couple of weeks since I was going into her office for spinal treatments, none of that compared to taking her out on a date on Thursday and spending time with her. It was nice to know every initial impression I’d had of her was wrong.

 
Of course, now I needed to fight the urge to rip her clothes off at every chance I got. As much as I enjoyed spending time with her, I loved kissing her even more.

  Since I liked what was happening between us and wanted it to work out between us long term, I was trying to take things slow. I didn’t want to ruin what we were trying to build by not giving us a fair shot.

  But for the last two days, it had been very hard.

  Walking away from her on Thursday actually had me questioning my sanity. Leaving after we’d had an amazing date, knowing she wanted more, and again at her office yesterday, I started to think that maybe I was wrong for kissing her in the first place when I knew I wasn’t going to follow through and take us to that next level.

  I couldn’t help myself. I liked her too much.

  Worse yet, I knew she was feeling something similar because she wasn’t very good at hiding how much she wanted me. I hated not giving in to her after our date on Thursday night, hated walking away knowing that she was not only confused by my need to leave but maybe even hurt by it. And again yesterday morning, I had to watch as she stared at my cock in the exam room. Fuck, it took every ounce of willpower I had not to bend her over the table and take her right there.

  By some miracle, I succeeded.

  Once I did, I managed to remind myself that I was doing the right thing by holding back. I truly believed that giving us just a little bit more time with one another before taking that step was going to be worth it.

  Something about her was so different, and it was throwing me a bit off balance. I didn’t mind. In fact, I actually enjoyed this new feeling. It made me believe that perhaps this was what people spent their lives trying to find when it came to a partner.

  Despite knowing that I had all the best intentions every time I kissed her and walked away, it was clear that Parker was struggling with my actions.

  I hated not talking to her about it. I knew if I did, it would have eased her concerns and fears about what was going on with me, but I wasn’t convinced I could hold myself back from her. If I told her that I just wanted more time with her before we took that step, there was no doubt in my mind that she’d say something that would make me forget why I wanted to wait.

  For that reason alone, I never said anything to her about it. And each time I walked away from her, it became harder and harder. I could see the initial surprise written all over her features, followed by the rejected look on her face when she realized I wasn’t going to give in to primal urges.

  Seeing the hurt and confusion on her face was difficult, and I probably should have communicated my intentions with her. I only hoped that if I continued to come around and kiss her, it would be clear how much I wanted her. I hoped that would be enough to ease her concerns.

  More than all of that, the fact that I had just arrived at her place to pick her up and take her out for a day at the track should have given her a clear indication that I wasn’t screwing her around. If I hadn’t cared what happened between us, if I didn’t want her to know that I wanted her to mean more than just some passing fling, I never would have done more than just taken her out for dinner before taking her home to fuck her.

  I didn’t want that.

  I wanted her in the fold. I wanted her to see what I did, meet my friends, and become part of a family that meant everything to me.

  Obviously, we were still only a few days into it, so it was too early to tell. But that didn’t change the fact that I wanted what my friends had found. And I believed that I could find that with Parker.

  Getting out of my truck, I made my way to her front door. As I did, I had to admit I could feel the familiar stirrings of excitement at seeing her again.

  I rang the doorbell and waited.

  The moment she opened the door, and I saw her beautiful face, I couldn’t help but smile.

  “Good morning, Parker,” I greeted her.

  She returned the smile and sentiment. “Good morning, Nash.”

  “Are you ready to go?” I asked.

  Nodding, she answered, “Yes. But did you have breakfast this morning?”

  I shook my head. “I actually didn’t,” I admitted. “I thought we could just stop quick and grab something to go somewhere.”

  Parker’s face lit up. “There is no need to stop, my friend,” she declared. “Unless, of course, you’re not into homemade bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches.”

  I tried to ignore the fact that I didn’t like that she was calling me her friend and instead focused my attention on the fact that she made breakfast for both of us. But the friend comment was easily taking up a lot of space in my mind.

  Did she kiss all her friends the same way she kissed me?

  Doing my best to ignore that image, I told myself she was just being playful and answered, “That sounds delicious to me.”

  “Perfect. I’ll grab them, and we can go.”

  There was a definite bounce in her step as she walked away, and I had to admit I liked seeing that. It was much better than the defeated look I’d witnessed when I left her office yesterday morning.

  I waited just inside the door until she returned. When she came back, she was carrying a bag with her that I assumed had breakfast inside.

  Ten minutes later, we were on our way to the track while we ate Parker’s sandwiches together. After I’d complimented her on how good they were, we ate for a few minutes in silence.

  But then Parker declared, “I don’t want to feel like a fool.”

  Shit.

  Was she going to bring up what had been happening between us for the last few days?

  “Why would you feel like a fool?” I asked, trying to keep the tone of my voice neutral.

  “Because I don’t know anything about racing,” she started. “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving me a quick lesson before we get there, so I’m not completely lost.”

  Relief swept through me.

  “I can definitely do that,” I replied.

  And for the remainder of our drive, I told her all about what she’d need to know so she would at least have some idea of what was going on when we were there.

  Not quite an hour after we left her place, Parker and I were walking through the pits toward where I knew we’d find the rest of the team. I was excited to get there and introduce her to the gang, knowing they’d all be happy to see us there together.

  The truth was, after what happened a week ago at Lou’s, I hadn’t told any of them about what happened between Parker and me at my appointment on Monday, nor did I tell them that I’d taken her out on a date Thursday night.

  I wanted things to happen naturally for us without the pressure of any outside factors. I’d seen my friends go through some tough situations with their women, and I was hoping to avoid all of that by just letting things happen as they happened.

  Plus, I didn’t want the added pressure from them to get it all worked out with Parker before I had a real opportunity to talk to her and get to know her.

  Of course, I wasn’t that far into it with her, and I was already introducing her to them. I didn’t know what it was, but I wanted nothing more than for her to be part of this. I hadn’t ever wanted that before with any other woman. That’s how, beyond what I’d already known about her, I ended up with no doubts about how special Parker was.

  As we approached the LT Motorsports’ pit I made eye contact with Kieran first. He grinned at me and was the first to greet us.

  “Hey, Nash,” he said before allowing his eyes to drift to Parker. “Good morning, Dr. Banks.”

  Putting my hand to the small of her back, I held the opposite one out toward Kieran and said, “Parker, you might remember seeing this guy that first day I came into your office. His name is Kieran. He’s our engine builder.”

  Parker held her hand out to him and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Kieran. Please, call me Parker.”

  He dipped his chin and shook her hand before he returned his attention to me and shared, “All the girls are in
Avery’s trailer.”

  “Okay.”

  I led Parker away from Kieran and started moving toward Avery’s trailer. Before we got there, we ran into Logan and Ryker. They were both working on Logan’s car.

  “Hey, guys,” I called, interrupting them.

  They both looked up, saw Parker, and grinned.

  Yes. Even Ryker, the shop grump, grinned. In all fairness to him, his moodiness has improved substantially since Scarlet came back into his life.

  “Nash, hey, how’s it going?” Logan returned.

  “Good, I wanted to introduce you both to Parker,” I told them. Gesturing toward each of them as I spoke, I stated, “Parker, this is Logan, the owner of LT Motorsports and our tuner. And this is Ryker, our mechanic.”

  Seeing their hands were covered in dirt, Parker waved at the two of them and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Logan returned. “Have you met the girls yet?”

  Parker shook her head, hesitantly.

  “Kieran said they were in Avery’s trailer,” I remarked.

  “Yeah,” Ryker confirmed.

  Nodding, I said, “Okay. I’ll be right back then.”

  Leading Parker away from them, we moved toward Avery’s trailer. As soon as I poked my head around the corner, Elise spotted me and bubbled, “Good morning, Nash!”

  “Hey, Elise,” I returned. Looking around at the rest of them, I greeted, “Ladies. I’d like you all to meet Parker.”

  The women responded with different acknowledgments, ranging from a wave and a smile to a verbal response and a nod.

  I went on to introduce each of them to her. “Parker, this is Elise, Kendall, Scarlet, and Avery.”

  “Hi,” she greeted them. “It’s so lovely to meet all of you.”

  “Nash, you’re here,” I heard a familiar voice say from behind me. “I need your help on Avery’s car.”