Jesse's Soul (2) (25 page)

“I’m so sorry, Jesse.” Her apology was almost a whimper.

He tried to peel her away to look in her eyes, wanting to know what in the hell she was sorry for but she wouldn’t let go of him. “Don’t you
dare! That engine was not your fault, Emery. Don’t you—“

“Jesse, stop. It will always be my fault when something goes wrong with a bike.
Always.”

“You’re wrong as hell
, Emery Kincaid, but we’ll fight about that later.” Jesse blew out a breath, he hadn’t meant to raise his voice with her. “I’m sorry, honey. You have me worried.” He kissed her forehead. “In the meantime, I want to know why you think my bike is a girl?”

She laughed slightly and let him change the subject. “
My bike?”

“Uh-huh.” Jesse chuckled, relieved that she hadn’t immediately jumped on the defensive. “
Our bike.”

“Because everyone knows anything with an engine in it is a female. She just wanted to give me a run for my money tonight. She apparently didn’t think I’d been working very hard lately.” Emery snorted.

“You talking sweetly to her like that shows your Irish side a lot more, you know that, right?”

“What are you talking about?” Emery mumbled into his chest.

“Oh, I’ve heard how the Irish are into their folklore, traditions, and all that. You even had an Irish lilt to your voice. You were talking to the bike like you were in a trance or something. It was very sexy
.
”

“Oh good l
ord, I did not have any Irish lilt, or accent, or anything else.”

“You most certainly did,” hearing the crowd roar again, Jesse squeezed her tight. “We’ll get these races done and I’ll get you to bed as soon as I can, okay honey?”

She nodded as he continued to hold her. They were short on time and needed to get down to staging, but she needed a few minutes to recover and he was going to give it to her. From past experience, he could tell she was fading and had her eyes closed for just a minute. Emery turned her head, resting her other cheek against him. For several moments he let her just be, standing against him, letting the effects of the adrenaline dump fade.

“Oh my God.” The quiet defeated words left her in one breath.

Turning his head he saw them standing there watching. His parents. Jesse had completely forgotten all about them over the last few minutes. It killed him that Emery suddenly had embarrassment added to the list of all the things going wrong for her tonight.

“Sorry, baby.”

She shook her head and tried to push off his chest to stand on her own. When she swayed, he grabbed her back and held her tight against him. Unfortunately this time, he’d been watching his parents. His dad had his mother under his arm, so that told Jesse she’d been already been concerned about the whole fiasco they’d seen firsthand. As he had caught Emery, his mother’s hand went to her mouth, a gesture she only did when she was truly worried about something.

Chapter E
leven

It had gotten to that point where so much had gone wrong in one short period of time that everything slid into being so frustrating that all that was left to do was…laugh. Except, Emery didn’t slide on the crazy scale, she slammed head first into the other end.

She never let herself dare to dream too far into the future, but there had been a couple of times that she couldn’t
help it, a tiny piece clear in the back of her mind that wanted to wonder about Jesse. That maybe, just maybe, he was the one. She always shut it down as soon as those thoughts popped into her head. Those were dangerous thoughts. The kind that got a girl’s heart broken.

But damn, if that ever came true—then what the fuck? Was this any way to meet the people that maybe against all odds, were to become her in-laws?

Jesse still had her pulled to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her and it didn’t appear that he planned on letting go any time soon. She shut her eyes again…just on the off chance that this was a horrible, ugly nightmare, and if she woke herself up, none of it would have happened. That she wouldn’t be standing in their son’s arms, barely upright because, let’s face it, she gave all outward appearances of being drunk or high, or hell—why not both. That she wouldn’t be covered in sweat, oil, and fuel, with half her hair out of what was an already messy bun to begin with. And that maybe, if she’d been good in a former life, she hadn’t just acted like a damn lunatic talking to and cussing out a freaking dirt bike.

One…two…three.

Ah, fuck.

She apparently pissed off the karma bitch in that life too, because his parents were still standing there, staring at her. With her hands against his chest, Emery tried to push their son off of her so at least she didn’t look clingy and like she wanted to get him in bed for a bout of hot sex. It didn’t work.

She admitted there was an off-chance that Jesse was right to keep his hold on her. The room spun. She blinked a couple of times, trying to get her focus back.

His arm was strong against her back, his fingers pressed into her side, his grip unyielding. With a pounding headache and a slight wave going through her stomach, she did her best not to squint as he motioned for them to come closer. It wasn’t lost on her that he’d made them come to her and not the other way around.

“Em, this is my dad, Kevin, my mom, Janie, and my sister, Ally.” Jesse motioned to each person and then pressed a kiss to her forehead. “This is Emery Kincaid.”

Still holding her work gloves and the towel, she glanced down at her hands. Even though the gloves kept her hands mostly clean and cut free, she still felt gross.

“I’m so sorry, I’m a mess,” she said with a forced smile, totally embarrassed as she realized her shirt still had clutch oil on it and hurried to try to wipe it off as best she could. Before she could make a second swipe at the oil, Janie grabbed her for a warm and very welcoming hug.

“Uh, Janie…your clothes?”

His mother chuckled back at her. “Sweetie, they’re just clothes. You really think I’ve had a son in this sport for over twenty years without getting some grease or gas on me?”

Kevin was standing behind Janie, and Emery hoped he hadn’t seen the surprise register on her face at the shock of being swept into the arms of…well, basically a stranger. He must not have because he followed suit, with the additional force of a man’s strength.

“Okay, okay. Mom, Dad, let me have her back now,” Jesse teased.

Jesse had been joking with them, but there was an underlying current in his tone that Emery had heard several times. Like when he said she was going to eat, go get some sleep, or any other thing he thought she needed at the time.

Ally shook her head as Emery was pulled yet another direction. If she hadn’t already been nauseous before the pinball game, she would’ve been by now.

“Not fair.” Ally grinned after a quick hug, “It’s so nice to meet you. We’ve heard a lot about you.”

The glimmer in Ally’s eyes made Emery nervous. If she had been having a better night, she definitely would have grilled him on what he’d been saying, not caring if his parents heard or not. For now though, she didn’t care.

“I hope it was all good?” She turned to Jesse.

With her in his arms, he kissed her temple. “Every word.”

Patting his chest, she said, “I hate to be extremely rude, but I need to get my bag. We have got to head to the gate.” She turned to his parents and gave a cringed look, hoping they’d forgive her.

“Yeah, I know. We’re cutting it close.” He glanced to his parents. “You guys were planning on meeting us back here after the main, right?”

Before they could answer, Emery spoke. “Well, it’s so nice to meet you all. I’ll be able to visit more after the races.” With a tired attempt at a smile, she turned to go, Jesse grasping her hand until her fingertips no longer touched.

She set her black backpack on the ground and knelt down beside it. Not how she would normally pack it, but she was so wiped out, she was barely able to function. Her body just knew the routine enough to make it through the motions. Worse, she hated that it was so outwardly obvious. Up until now, she’d been able to do a pretty good job of keeping her front up until she collapsed into bed at night. The nightmare with Jesse’s bike changed that.

Holding the front pouch open, she eyed the set of tools, each in its proper slot while reaching up to the table beside her. Every tool had its designated spot, always the same layout, always the same distance between them. Without looking she could grab with one hand and keep working with the other. Her left hand went to her most used, oldest, most versatile—okay fine—lucky wrench. No one touched that wrench. It was part of the first set her grandpa had given her when she went to her first national race as Riley’s lead mechanic. That set was sacred. That wrench—her favorite. That wrench—missing.

What the fuck!

Someone’s head was going to roll. She had warned them all not to touch her tools. That alone was cause for a swift and immediate ass kicking. After the night she had had, it might just involve murder and any judge in their right mind would understand. Emery felt around the table as she fumbled around in her position to get to where she could use the table to pull herself up. She moved her hand to the left a tiny bit more until she came into contact with her wrench…that was in a hand. She turned and glanced at the hand holding the tool, slowly looking up the arm to the man.

“Riley!” Emery squealed like a little girl.

“Hey, Em.”

She tried to push herself up off the floor, but the excitement was too much, and she moved too fast. Swaying she gripped the first thing she could—the leg of his jeans. Holding her against him, Riley eased himself down, squatting beside her.

“Oh, God, Em, it’s bad this time, isn’t it?”

She and Riley had always been extremely close, but when she got sick, it changed their whole dynamic. He’d become fiercely protective of her, and she knew it killed him to see her struggle so much. Riley had been with her every step of the way, from getting the diagnosis, to the surgery, the treatments, and then dealing with this blood pressure problem. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her and Emery knew that. It also made her feel horribly guilty.

Emery closed her eyes and rested her head against his shoulder, trying to make everything stop spinning. “Shh. Please, no one knows, Riley.”

His arms tightened even more. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“My team, Riley, my team,” she said quietly then grabbed her forehead as it started pounding.

She felt Jesse’s palm run down her back as he bent down, sitting back on his haunches. “You okay, honey?”

Pushing off of her brother’s shoulder, she squinted at the man who could have been her twin, then nodded at Jesse. “Yeah.”

It’d be a hell of a lot better without the sound of bikes running and the bright lights overhead, but other than that she was just grand.

“So what do you mean your team doesn’t know? I talked to Dad on the way here from the airport. I know what has been going—”

Cutting off the acquisition, Emery sat back, sagging into Jesse’s open arms. “Riley, this is, Jesse.”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. Emery knew that look. It was a perfect copy of her own expression of pissy frustration.

“I know who he is, Em.” Riley turned his attention to Jesse. “I saw you race lites a few times before I retired, and we’ve met a couple of times when I’ve come in to see dad, but it’s good to see you again, man.” The two shook hands after Jesse shuffled her in his hold to free his right hand. “I’ve heard a lot more about you lately.”

Riley pulled her chin up with his finger. “You okay, sis? I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Riley, but why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at home with Lauren and the kids?”

“She’s okay.”

“Dad?”

He didn’t answ
er her. In other words, a clear-cut
yes
without throwing their dad under the bus. Accepting their help, Emery let Jesse and Riley get her up to an almost standing position if leaning on Jesse counted. From the corner of her eye, she saw her dad watching her.

She cocked her head to the side, glaring at him. “
Really?”

“Yes.
Really. You need help this race, and there is only one person you completely trust with that bike. I brought him in for you, and then you’re going back to Aubrey with him tomorrow. Riley’s going to drive you into Oklahoma City on Tuesday because I got you in to see Dr. Falson. He didn’t want to change anything without seeing you first. You know I want to be there with you, sweetheart, but at least Riley will be.

“I’ll travel with the team to
Phoenix, and then you’ll fly straight there and I’ll pick you up at the airport on Thursday. It will all work out. You’ve trained John well enough on the way you want the bike that he can handle it for Jesse’s practices this week. Mike can pull lead and take over everything else. You’ll be back in plenty of time to redo anything you think needs done on Friday before he practices in Phoenix one last time before the race.”

“You got me in?
Excuse me? What the hell? I don’t want to have this conversation here.” She eyed the guys on the team and lowered her voice, speaking through gritted teeth, “You don’t just make appointments and flights and plans for me like that. I am planning a rebuild on his practice bike Monday, and no, John is not doing it.”

Jesse just breezed over her argument and turned to her
father, her head dropping against his chest with a thud. “You got her in Tuesday? I’m going,” he said. He hugged her close to him. “Baby, don’t worry about the bike this week, okay? Please.”

Her world just shifted before coming to a grinding halt.

Emery blinked, trying to get her bearings. She pulled back to see Jesse’s face, the frustration with her father melted into confusion. “You want to go?”

Where?

To the doctor’s appointments, the hospital? The last time someone went with her—he left. Why would Jesse want—wait. No…what the hell was going on? She knew she was out of it tonight, but she wasn’t deaf. Her pulse spiked, searching his face, knowing he was waiting for an answer, but looking for one of her own. She was at a loss.

Basing it off assumptions, she thought he meant go with her for the tests. So what did she say to that? If she said
no, he’d be hurt, then he may or may not want to bother with her after that. If she said yes... Well, she’d seen that scenario first hand.

“Yes.
Please…can I?”

He interrupted her thoughts. She could see the desperation in his face, along with fear. “Why do you want to? You’ve got practice and you’ve got to be ready for
Phoenix. Jesse, you can’t miss.”

Emery felt a hand run over her hair and right then and there she wanted to die.

“Everything okay?” Janie asked.

She’d forgotten all about his parents because she thought they’d already gone to their seats. As far as first impressions went, she’d won a gold medal tonight for the worst, suckiest one ever on the face of the planet.

“I’ll be fine. I’d miss next week’s race if I had to, I don’t care. I want to go, Em. Please?”

Emery could feel Jesse’s father standing close behind, and his mother’s hand was lightly resting on her shoulder. Riley was on her other side along with her dad and she was
still in Jesse’s arms. He ignored his mother and had asked her again. She was aware of Mike walking the bike out of their work area, and she heard Lance and Nick talking as they started down with his bike, her other two riders following as well, all while the clock ticked. They needed to go.

Now.

Jesse put his palm to her cheek and she immediately grabbed it, holding it to her. She couldn’t believe he’d actually want to be there. Especially when Collin had chosen to leave. Emery hadn’t let herself fully believe that Jesse would stick around when it got down to it. The sex had been chart topping, but as for more? She couldn’t give him everything he should have in life, and the baggage she came with?

Her brow furrowed as she tilted her head.
“Why?”

“Because, Emery…I
love you.”