Legends and Lies (14 page)

ANNIE STARED AT HIM so intently he was afraid of what she was trying to see in his expression. Afraid that she might find that he wanted to bind her to him now before she found the thing that had made other women leave him in the past. Jared knew it wasn’t something unidentified, like he’d just thought. That thing that drove them away was his coldness, that inner core of himself that he never allowed any of them to breach.

“This is nice,” she said, as they danced around his living room.

“I know.”

“I’d forgotten how arrogant you can be.”

That didn’t bother him. He’d always seen arrogance and confidence as sides of the same coin. Success was driven by self-confidence.

“You don’t show it all the time, but you did when we first met and you are now. What’s up with that?”

There was something almost defensive in her tone. It wasn’t the reaction he expected from her. Annie just wasn’t good at hiding what she felt and he could tell he’d backed her into a corner.

“You have a way of bringing out that side of me.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” she said.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I think it only happens when I’m going to ask you something and I’m not sure of what your answer will be.”

“What are you going to ask me?”

He wasn’t as sure of himself as he’d been just a few minutes earlier. He was botching this up. He drew her back over to the table and asked her to sit down. He went to the desk where the computer sat and opened the top drawer. Inside was the velvet box he’d put there earlier. He removed the box, and then returned to the table, setting it next to his empty champagne glass.

“Our time apart made me realize exactly how different our relationship is from every other one I’ve had in the last few years.”

“Me, too,” she said, taking his hand in both of hers. “Being with you makes me feel good.”

“I’m glad,” he said, lifting her hand to his mouth to drop a kiss on the back of it.

He pulled his hands back and pushed the velvet jewelry box on the table toward her. He thought of the sapphire choker he’d gotten in Colombia. As soon as he’d seen it in the window he’d been unable to get the image of the necklace around her neck out of his head.

She smiled at him. “For once I have a gift for you, too.”

“What?”

She reached into the large bag she carried around with her. “This is for you.”

She passed a large square package over to him and he was dumbfounded. He’d received few presents since his parents’ deaths more than ten years ago. Most of his gifts had been from business associates.

“Open it,” she said.

He reached for the present. The wrapping was colorful, with whimsical penguins on brown craft paper. He ran his finger over the penguins, almost afraid to open it.

He removed the paper and set it aside, opening the box that held a framed picture of the two of them. One that had been snapped at her family’s picnic. There was an inscription on the bottom of the frame that read “I see a man of integrity when I look at you.”

“Thank you,” he said, touched beyond measure that she had gotten him a gift. That she had thought of him and their first meeting after so long apart.

“You’re welcome,” she said. “I’m not good with words, but it seemed important to underscore what I found in your face when I was looking through my lens.”

She couldn’t know that he’d always tried to live up to the model of a man his father had been. That integrity had been one of the cornerstones of Benjamin MacNeil.

“Open your gift,” he said. He needed to switch the focus off of him and onto her. He wanted to see her reaction to this gift. This time not as a test, but because he liked to see the joy on her face when he gave her things.

She pushed the ribbon off the velvet box. It opened with a small snick. She held her breath as she looked down at the box. He knew she was seeing six flawless sapphires set with diamonds in between them, strung together in white gold.

“Oh, my God. This is gorgeous. I’m almost afraid to wear it.”

Her reaction was priceless. Exactly what he’d hoped for and he knew without a doubt that he was falling for her. That he had already fallen for her. And that scared the crap out of him.

Any kind of emotional weakness was to be avoided. The loss of his parents had left a void in his life. The kind of void he’d carefully managed to prevent himself from falling into again.

But here was Annie making him feel things he didn’t want to. He swallowed hard and thought about her and losing her. God, he couldn’t do it.

Sooner or later she was going to want something from him that he couldn’t buy or arrange. Sooner or later she was going to look up at him with those wide serious eyes and ask him what he felt for her. Sooner or later he was going to disappoint her and she was going to leave.

Unless…

“Move in with me.” He said it plainly, forgetting about the words he’d planned and rehearsed. “I know we’re both away from home more often than not but I want us to fly home together on Sundays and then leave again on Thursdays. Together.”

Annie swallowed hard and he wasn’t sure that was a good sign. In fact the more time that passed the tighter his skin felt. She wasn’t going to say yes. What the hell had he been thinking to just blurt that out?

When she lowered her eyes, he had his answer and it wasn’t a yes.

“Why not?”

She pulled her hands away from the table, wrapping her arm around her waist and watching him with those dark brown eyes filled with tears. He hated to see her cry. He should be the gentleman and let this go, but now that he’d thrown the words out there he was going to seem like he wanted her more than she wanted him.

Jared knew that relationships weren’t about competition but when he’d bared his soul—or came as close to it as someone like him could—he wanted her to do the same. She was the one who’d pushed for them to be closer. She was the one who’d said that she wanted to know his secrets and share hers.

“I’m not ready. I’m just getting used to trusting you and being with you.”

“What does that mean?”

She seemed to get smaller as she sat in front of him and he knew he should just smile at her and go to Plan B, but to be honest right now he didn’t give a damn about his back-up plans.

“I’m not playing around with you. These last few weeks apart made me realize that I’m already falling for you. I mean, I knew it before you left but then I realized how alone I felt without you.”

Her words touched a nerve inside of him, echoing what he’d felt as he’d slept apart from her. “That’s why we should move in together. Then you won’t have to be alone anymore.”

“That’s not my concern. I can handle being alone. I’m just not sure that I’ll be able to pick up the pieces of living by myself again.”

“How about giving us a chance to succeed before you break us apart?” He understood her fears. Hell, he was battling them right now. How was he going to walk away from this with his pride intact? He glanced down at the photo she’d given him. The photo captured how they’d been together. He was staring straight into the lens of her camera.

He saw in his eyes that fear that had taken over his gut and made it knot up. That very apprehension that she was going to realize that he wasn’t the man she thought he was.

“Is that what I’m doing? I’m trying not to rush into anything the way I did with Malcolm. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.”

“It seems like it to me. I’m not your ex-husband, as I hope I’ve proven to you. If you need more time, I can wait,” he said, reaching across the table and taking her hands in his. “I’ve never asked a woman to live with me.”

“I’m flattered.”

There were no stars in her eyes and he had a feeling that those eyes of hers could see straight to his soul. He had the uncomfortable feeling that she knew he was trying to get her in his life in the easiest way.

“But you’re not ready?” he asked at last, realizing that he was willing to wait for her to be ready. He’d been doing a good job of keeping her happy. He’d just make it a priority to make her see what she was missing by not living with him.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He noticed that her nails were trimmed from the last time he’d seen her. “No, I’m not. I don’t think you are, either.”

“I’m pretty sure of what I want.” He’d never wanted anyone or anything as much as he wanted Annie. He was afraid he was pushing too hard and she’d see instead of a man worthy of her time and affection, a man who was desperate. But it wasn’t just that he wanted her in his house. He wanted the warmth that she brought into his daily life.

“Why now?”

Jared knew he should just stop the conversation now. He knew that she was going to ask him for something he couldn’t give her. And he wasn’t ready for that now. But he wasn’t above revealing what he’d felt. “These last few weeks apart made me focus on what I really wanted from you. And I wanted you with me.”

“I want that, too. Why can’t we just continue as we have been until Homestead and then…”

“Then, what?”

“Then ask me again at the end of the season when all the craziness in our lives has died down.”

He had a thought that wasn’t too nice and he tried to censor it, but it came out before he could. “Will your answer have anything to do with whether your brother wins the championship or not?”

ANNIE WANTED TO WALK away from Jared. His question was offensive. But the truth was, his question hit close to home. And she was done with running. She had made this her year to stop running and start living her life.

And Jared had made her feel more alive than anyone else had in a long time. She reached for him, but he kept the space between them.

“It’s not that I care who wins, it’s just that it will actually be so much easier for us to move in together when the season is over and we both have less going on.”

He refused to look at her. “I’m not going to be any less busy and neither will you. We’re both doing our jobs now while we travel with Tucker and Dave. Life isn’t going to be any less complicated than it is right now. But fair enough,” he said.

His capitulation should have made it easier for her to accept her own decision. Had she made the right choice or was it only her old fears talking?

“I’m sorry,” she said, but knew that the words were too little too late.

“It’s okay,” he said, but she knew it wasn’t.

She’d pushed for him to open up to her and when he had…she wasn’t shutting him down but she couldn’t see really living together.

There was an undertone in his voice that made her realize that he was a little angry over her answer. “Jared, my first marriage was a whirlwind romance. I knew Malcolm less than six weeks before we were married. I don’t want to make the same mistake again.”

“What mistake?”

She took a deep breath, so tempted to hedge or lie. But in the end she knew she’d only be cheating herself and refused to do that. “Believing that romance and fantasy can survive in real life.”

He stared down at her and she could tell that he was listening to her.

“I’m not romancing you,” he said.

“I know that. I need to make sure that I’m the right woman for you and you’re the right man for me. Does that make sense?”

He cupped her face in both of his hands and kissed her so sweetly she wanted to cry. There was so much in that kiss that it almost scared her.

“I understand. Your family hasn’t fully accepted me yet and that’s got to weigh on your mind.”

“My family will come around, but even if they don’t, I’m not going to let them keep me from a man I want. I just need more time.”

“DAVE, GOT A MINUTE?”

Dave was surprised to see his old friend Rob Mandelay in the garage area on Thursday when he was getting ready to do a few practice laps.

“Hey, man. Good to see you. What’s up?” Annie had mentioned she’d seen Rob in Tucker’s pit, but he hadn’t gone into enemy territory to find him.

“Do you have any openings on your team?”

“Not right now. I’ll talk to Vinnie later and see if he knows of anyone who has one. Aren’t you happy working with Aldridge and Toughton?”

“They’re cool and all, but I’m only the catch can man and I’d like to move up.”

“Jenner, we need you,” Vinnie yelled from the bay.

“I’ve got to run, we’re getting the car ready for inspections, but I’ll find some time for us to chat later.”

He waved over his assistant, Melissa. “Mel, this is Rob Mandelay, as old friend of mine. Will you find some time on the schedule for us to chat this weekend.”

“Yes, Dave. Your TV interview has been moved up. They want to do it live from down here, is that okay?”

“Sure.”

Dave said goodbye to Rob and then walked into the garage and found Vinnie. “What’s up?”

“I wanted a chance to talk to you about the track one more time before you went out.”

“I thought our strategy was for me to qualify on the pole so we wouldn’t have to worry about getting up front,” Dave said, grinning at Vinnie.

“Yeah, that’s our strategy, but I wanted to talk about the tires. I think we should scuff at least two sets.”

Scuffing was done during the practice laps. The team would mount sets of tires to be used during Sunday’s race on his car and he’d run on them during the practice laps. That way the tires would be scuffed by the track’s surface.

“Sounds good.”

Dave went out on his first set of practice laps and liked the way the car was handling, but he heard something in the engine that concerned him. The team checked it out while he got a quick drink.

“Hey, Dave,” Annie said, coming up behind him. She slung one arm around his shoulder, half-hugging him.

“Hey, yourself. What’s up?” he asked.

The past few weeks Jared had been absent from the race track and his sister hadn’t been herself. Her behavior wasn’t as somber as it had been when she’d been going through her divorce, but she hadn’t been as cheery as she usually was, either. And he was worried about her.

“Just wanted to see you before you hit your practice laps,” she said.

“Why?” he asked.

“No special reason. Just hadn’t seen you in a few days.”

“You still with Jared?”

“Yes. He asked me to move in with him.”

Dave was shocked. He hadn’t realized things were moving so quickly. “What’d you say?”

“I told him to ask me again after Homestead.”

There was confusion in his sister’s eyes. The kind of confusion that came from wanting something, but being afraid to go after it.

“Is it because of me? I’ve been riding him hard about taking good care of you,” Dave said.

“No, it’s not that. I mean it does complicate things that you and Tucker are rivals, but that’s not why I asked him to wait.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked. God knew he stunk at heart-to-hearts, relationships, but this was Annie, the one woman in the world that he’d do it for.

“Maybe later. I don’t want to talk about it right before you race.”

“Later then. I’m booked solid with interviews and stuff. I’ll text you when I’m free…?”

He didn’t want to think about Jared asking Annie to live with him. What if he asked her to marry him? He didn’t want the guy for a brother-in-law when he still hadn’t adjusted to him dating his sister.

“Okay, we’ll talk later.”

Dave watched her walk away. He glanced back at his crew where they were working to get the car ready. He should be over there with them getting his head in the game. The track here was different, comprised of mainly right turns instead of left ones. He knew that fans loved the race track because of the superb views it offered them, but to be honest, it wasn’t one of his favorites.

He closed his eyes, envisioning the track and feeling the Gs his body would pull while he was going so fast and whipping around the track. But a loud crack of laughter drew him out of his head and the race he was running.

He glanced over to see Tucker talking to Annie and laughing. Dave’s hands tightened into fists. He wanted Tucker out of both of their lives.

When he turned around he noticed Vinnie was watching the other garage as well. And the other man looked like he wasn’t too pleased, either. Vinnie treated Annie like his younger sister.

“Vin, you got a minute to talk strategy?”

Vinnie turned his back on Annie and Tucker and walked over toward him. “I thought we already had.”

“You look like you’re going to go over there and say something you shouldn’t.”

“I just might. He’s only being all buddy-buddy with her to annoy us.”

“And it’s working, isn’t it?”

Vinnie grew still and stopped glaring over his shoulder.

“Let’s just hope that Tucker’s distracted by his goofing around with Annie. The Glen doesn’t treat distracted drivers very well.”