Happy Hour (Racing on the Edge) (27 page)

Jimi shook his head, and backed away from Jameson. “I have a plane to catch.” He turned sharply and walked away. This
also
happened often. “Try to stay out of trouble for one damn weekend.”

Jameson ran his hand across the back of his neck and then looked my direction. Again, I didn’t know what to do so I winked at him. Girls could wink, right?

I didn’t expect it given his mood but he winked back before turning to his torn up race car.

Emma walked up and sat down next to me outside the hauler. “Come shopping with me, I’m bored.”

“And miss
this
excitement, not a chance.” I leaned back in the chair and watched my hot head at work. It was almost as good as watching him drive the car last night.

“What happened?” Emma asked motioning towards the car.

The crew and Jameson were frantically changing out the engine.

“Darrin wrecked him when he was entering pit road.” I answered still staring at Jameson who was now bent over the fender providing me with a wonderful view.

“Seriously?”

I nodded, my eyes focused ahead.

“What an asshole!” she looked down at her phone in her lap and then grinned. “I heard you called Chelsea and Mariah lesbians.”

I whipped my head around. “How’d you know about that?”

“Dana.”

“Who’s Dana?”

“Another pit lizard in love with Jameson,”

“What? How did I not know about her?”

Emma waved her hand around dismissively. “She’s harmless, a little crazy, but ostensibly harmless. She doesn’t come around him though after Las Vegas. He found her in his motor coach one night and ended up calling the police on her because she refused to leave.”

I laughed. “I would have liked to see that.”

“Watch this,” Emma’s once amused smile took on a wicked edge. “Jameson?” she chimed towards him.

Jameson didn’t look up but grunted, “What?” as he tightened bolts down.

“Dana says hello.”

Slowly, he looked up at her, the color drained from his face while he stared at Emma with a wary expression.

We both burst into laughter, as did the rest of the crew working on the car. Emma was laughing so hard there were tears streaming down her face while she pointed at Jameson and laughed louder holding her stomach.

“Fuck all of you!” he shouted, slamming the door to the hauler.

Emma leaned closer to me. “The best part was she stole a pair of his underwear when she was in there.” She burst into laughter yet again.

None of us saw Jameson again until it was his turn to qualify.

Kyle went inside to let him know and then went down to the garage, leaving me the only one there at the hauler.

I wasn’t sure what he did in there for two hours but his hair in complete disarray when he emerged, appearing to have taken a nap. He walked over to me and sat down in the chair Emma had been sitting in to tie his shoes.

“I thought you would have come in there.” His voice was thick from sleep.

“I thought you could use a nap and I was spending some time with Emma. She left to go get some dinner with Aiden.”

Jameson accepted them being together but it didn’t mean he liked it by the look on his face.

“So you chose my sister over me?”

“You were being mean,”

“Was not,” He argued.

“Oh, sorry, you were being such a sweet guy.” I teased with a smile, rubbing his shoulder.

“That’s better. Now,” he picked me up from my chair and set me on his lap. “I have to go qualify but after that
...
” the tip of his nose swept along my neck sending tingles down my legs. “I’d like to take you somewhere.” He nuzzled me more, his face scratchy. His other hand slipped up the back of my shirt and traced circles over my bare skin.

“I have to check my schedule.”

Jameson leaned back giving me a warning look. “
His
determined benefits, remember?” he arched an eyebrow.

“Wow, I don’t even know what to say to that.”

“Don’t say anything, just go with me,” he didn’t give me a chance to respond before he was dragging me with him towards pit lane again.

Qualifying went better than practice. Jameson was surprised to find the back-up car was better than the primary car and ended up qualifying fourth for Sunday’s race.

After taking a quick shower and putting on some shorts, we made our way towards town.

Jameson refused to tell me where he was taking me. I asked if I needed to change out of my jean shorts and flip-flops, but he assured me I was dressed accordingly.

“Where are we going now?” I asked sometime after we picked up Chinese to go and got back in the truck.

He leaned his head back against the seat and slowly looked over at me with a grin. “Somewhere alone. Somewhere that I can have my way with you and
not
worry about someone walking in on us. Somewhere that I don’t have to worry about breaking furniture or
...
sticker burns.”

“That only leaves this truck and the middle of nowhere.”

“Exactly,” He nodded gesturing to the blankets he grabbed before we left.

“So we’re going to hump in the woods and eat Chinese food.”

“No,” he grinned. “we are going to hump and
then
eat Chinese food. We’re not doing it at the same time. I think there’s some kind of health code against that.”

I laughed, shaking my head at him.

Soon we found ourselves in a wooded area where there was a clearing and a beautiful view of Long Pond.

“This is amazing.” I told him climbing into the back of the truck.

Jameson had already laid out the blankets. “I came out here the last year when I was racing in the Busch series.” He told me pulling me onto his lap where he sat on the tailgate, the faint sounds of
Wicked Game
hummed over the stereo.

 “Really,” I gave a sidelong gaze toward Jameson. “who was the lucky girl?”

He let out a soft chuckle against my shoulder he was kissing. “I told you, I haven’t been with anyone in over a year. I came out here by myself. In fact, I actually spent the night texting you from this exact location.”

I couldn’t say anything to that.

What would I say?

He didn’t give me a chance to think about it before he turned me around so I was straddling his hips, my legs wrapped around his waist. His lips skimmed along my collarbone and then back again before he removed my tank top as the song continued.

How could one song fit our situation so perfectly?
 

I was stumbling through this, falling deeper in love with this man, yet he remained clueless.

He honestly had no clue how madly in love I was, or did he? I had no idea how he felt, his guarded expressions left nothing.

“You’re so beautiful honey.” He whispered before leaning in for the most passionate kiss I think I’d ever had.

When he pulled back to look at me his expression changed, softened even. His mouth opened as though he wanted to say something but he didn’t, he just stared back at me with his hand rested against my cheek.

I wanted to say so much in that moment, it seemed fitting.

I wanted to tell him how much I loved him and how much I’ve always loved him but just like him, I didn’t say anything, I just gazed back at him. I could feel myself nearing tears so I leaned in kissing him again, and then removed his shirt.

Jameson lied back against the bed of the truck closing his eyes. I skimmed my fingers across the muscles in his chest, down the ripples in his stomach to the sharp lines of his hips.

Rocking my hips against him once, the friction of our clothing caused him to moan and grab my hips securely with his hands, moving me the way he wanted.

I took everything he gave me that night, knowing I was falling deeper and deeper into whatever this was between us but I also couldn’t make myself care.

This was fun, this was exciting, and this was us.

Everything with Jameson and me was always so simple and easy that I couldn’t think of a reason why this couldn’t be too.

There was a change occurring, I knew that but I lived for the moment and enjoyable the simplicity of the undefined.

I knew the nagging feeling was a cast of what was to come but I couldn’t for the life of me stop.

7.
             
Air Pressure
–
Sway

Air Pressure – Mechanics can adjust a car’s handling by raising or lowering air pressure in the tires. Flex in the sidewall of a tire acts like another spring in the suspension. Increasing the air pressure makes the overall spring rate higher, while lowering the pressure will make it softer. This adjustment can be made much more quickly and easily than changing a spring or a shock.

The next morning, standing there staring at myself in a full length mirror was a sight to see. My hair resembled Rob Zombie’s—I had no idea how I was going to get those knots out. Seriously, it was some sort of cross between the frolic in the sheets and dreads. Nothing about it as sexy though.

My body
actually
had bruises on my upper arms, hipbones
and
my ass. I couldn’t remember a point when his grasp on me was too tight but it must have been, judging by the bruises.

Jesus, you’ve been manhandled.

Eh, I’m complaining, it was a good time, bruises or not.

I tried to remember how many times we’d bumped uglies in the past few days but I honestly couldn’t tell you.

It wasn’t really important to me so I shrugged to myself and stepped inside the shower. It felt so good to finally take a hot shower.

Rolling my sore neck around, the jets soaked blissfully over back. I was incredibly tender and aching everywhere from sleeping in the back of a pick-up truck last night, not that we really slept but I was still uncomfortable. Not only would I require a therapist when these three weeks were up, but a massage therapist was beginning to pull rank as well.

Besides being small, his bathroom was luxurious. It had everything you would need and then some with the cream tile floors, black granite counters, glass shower door and mirrors everywhere. It’s nicer than most people’s homes—including mine. Not that I have a home of my own, I still lived with Charlie but this was
way
nicer than Charlie’s house and a fucking mansion compared to that dorm I lived in.

Once I stepped out of the shower, I heard some commotion outside so I opened the door thinking Jameson had returned from the drivers meeting and could hand me a towel since I forgot.

Without thinking, I stepped outside completely naked. “Jameson, can you hand me a towel
...
” My voice trailed off when I ran into him. “Oh, hey, is there a towel over there?” I asked but when my eyes met his, they weren’t his.