Legends and Lies (8 page)

JARED TOOK HER MOUTH in his, letting his hands wander over her body. He was still amazed that she’d agreed to give him a second chance. A chance that he was determined not to screw up.

He hadn’t slept at all last night. Instead he’d spent the time planning out the next steps he’d take in his courtship of her. Having her accept the bracelet gave him confidence that he was on the right track.

He rolled over so that she was under him. Her legs parted and he settled against her. His arms were braced on either side of her body. Looking down into her serious brown eyes he saw something fragile there, and he knew that she was vulnerable to him.

He caught her head in his hands and brought his mouth down hard on hers. When he finally came up for air he said, “I promise you won’t regret this.

He hoped she’d believe him. Jared wasn’t the kind of man to make promises lightly. Oh, man, he’d just given her another promise. But with Annie he wanted to make promises he knew he would keep, no matter how hard it was on him.

She turned her head, reaching up with one hand to caress his face. “I promise you won’t, either.”

He stroked the long line of her cheekbones. Her skin was softer than anything he’d ever touched. Her lashes drifted down as he explored the angles and curves of her face. He traced the lines of her lips as they parted under his touch. He stroked his thumb over her full lower lip, watched the natural pink color of her lips darken.

She tipped her head back and leaned the slightest bit away from him. He knew that despite what she’d said she still wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t hurt her emotionally. But she’d been willing to meet him here. Seeing the implicit trust she’d just given him by turning to him affected him. He refused to analyze it, happy that she’d let him back into her life.

He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers, meaning for the embrace to be an apology—or perhaps even a thank-you for staying when no one else had. Even though he wasn’t sure if this would last.

Jared had never seen anything more beautiful than the woman in his arms. He reached between them, the backs of his fingers brushing her. She shook from the brief contact. She bit her lower lip, and he bent down to lick it.

He leaned back, bracing himself on one elbow so he could run his finger down the center of her body, down her sternum and between her ribs. He lingered over her, caressing her with long sweeps of his hands. She was so responsive to his touch, and he wanted more.

She was the best thing that had happened to him in a life filled with lucky moments. He thought about the story he’d told her earlier about the coffeehouse. He was one of those men who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time when it came to business, but this was the first time he felt like he was in the right place with the right woman.

But he wouldn’t say those words out loud. He wanted her, but until this moment he had not realized how fiercely.

She was exquisitely built, soft and feminine. Her breasts were full and her skin flushed. He ran his hands slowly over her torso, almost afraid to believe that after all his hard work, after all his planning, she was really here.

He’d barely explored her before, and he needed to now. He needed to find out how she responded to his every touch. But they were lying on a blanket in the infield, and though it felt like they were in their own private world, he knew they weren’t.

“Annie, you go to my head.”

She smiled up at him, a sweet, shy smile that made him feel ten feet tall. There was something very fragile inside this ultracompetent woman. He pulled her more fully into his arms, cradling her to his chest with one arm. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his neck. Each exhalation went through him. God, he wanted her.

But he was going to wait. Then he felt the minute touches of her tongue against his neck.

“Isn’t this sweet?” a voice suddenly said.

Jared glanced up and bit back a curse. Dave Jenner stood next to their blanket. Annie went totally stiff under him and turned red.

He rolled off Annie and got to his feet, drawing her up beside him and wrapping his arm around her waist. He refused to act like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have.

“What can we do for you?”

“Mom is looking for you, Annie.”

“Thanks for passing the message along,” Annie said.

Dave stood there, hands on his hips.

“Was there something else?” Annie asked.

“I want to have a few words with Jared here.”

“Dave…”

Jared had no problem talking to her relatives, but he could tell she was unsure of whether or not she should leave him with Dave. He tipped her head back and kissed her lingeringly, staking his claim on her in front of her brother. Then he gave her a small nudge in the direction of the RVs. “Go on. We’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

She shook her head. But she walked away, and he watched her go before turning to her brother.

“How many times are we going to do this?”

“However many it takes until you get the message.”

“What message is that?”

“That you’re not welcome around here.”

“Your sister seems to feel differently.”

Dave rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ll see about that.”

Dave turned to talk away. Jared appreciated the man’s sentiments and the fact that he was looking out for Annie, but Annie was his now. And he wished there was an easy way to let the Jenner men know that.

THE NEXT FEW WEEKS flew by. Dave won in Fontana, but Tucker beat him in Las Vegas. Dave had just lost to Tucker last Sunday. And their rivalry was really getting hot. Annie didn’t know if it was only because of Jared that she seemed more aware of Tucker, but for the first time she wasn’t just paying attention to her brother.

Annie had stayed in one of the hotels on the Vegas strip that was owned by a family friend. She’d had fun at the race, and gambling in Vegas.

She’d gone home for two days to her house on Lake Windemere in Orlando, Florida. The house had seemed too empty and quiet when she was there, probably because she didn’t want to be there. Jared had invited her to join him at his home in Atlanta for their days off, but she’d declined. Not for any good reason except that she was afraid to be alone with him. Afraid to take the next logical step in their relationship and sleep with him.

She wanted him. Had fallen to sleep almost every night in recent memory thinking of him, and had woken up to fevered dreams of making love with him. But she still wasn’t sure she wanted to take that final step.

Once she did, there’d be no pretending that she wasn’t falling for him. She glanced at the bracelet on her wrist—the one that she only took off once a week when Jared added another charm to it. It was a sweet reminder of all the time they’d spent together. And she wondered sometimes if the bracelet would be all she had left at the end of this NASCAR season.

Because no matter how close they were getting there was still a part of Jared that he kept private. The solid inner core of the man that he never allowed anyone to touch.

At first she hadn’t noticed the distance, but over time she’d started to observe it. She thought it was only because they were still getting to know each other, but she had observed the distance between him and Tucker as well.

Jared was careful to let people get only so close. With Tucker he did it by joking around with him and always using a kind of masculine bluster to keep from showing emotion. With her he fell back on the physical, to keep her from getting to close. He was always kissing or hugging her when she said something he didn’t want to respond to.

Her extended family had taken to arriving early on Thursdays for every race. Every one of her male relatives had at some point over the past few weeks taken Jared aside and spoken to him. She wanted to die of embarrassment but Jared had said only that she should enjoy the fact that they loved her that much.

The women in her family had all sided with Annie and were very supportive of Jared. The tension at Jenner Racing was reaching an all-time high. And if she hadn’t been falling for Jared, she would have called things off just to restore the peace.

She’d never thought of her family in that light. But there had been a hint of longing in Jared’s voice, which had made her very aware of the fact that not everyone had what she did.

Her father was recovering from his bypass surgery and would be attending the next race. She’d just gotten home from the airport and she wished…wished she’d gone to Atlanta with Jared.

She booted up her computer to download the pictures she’d taken at the race the weekend before. A feeling of sadness swamped her as she realized she was playing at having a relationship with Jared, she thought to herself. She was keeping him carefully in the NASCAR world and not letting him see the other sides of her life.

What bothered her the most was that he let her go. He wasn’t pushing to get into those corners she’d carefully kept him out of. It seemed to her that he had his own limitations on them, and her barriers just fit within his.

She put the memory stick from her computer into the flash drive and waited for the photos to download. They started to flash across the screen. She watched the familiar images of cars and tracks come up, and then the pictures she’d had no business taking appeared.

Images of Jared in the garage area watching Tucker’s crew work on his car. Even more images of Jared, standing outside Dave’s hauler talking to Vinnie. A close-up on Jared’s face, the sun and laugh lines apparent around his eyes.

She knew how his skin felt against hers. How his lips felt when he kissed her—when he was smiling, too. She’d traced his mouth as he’d smiled down at her this morning at the airport, saying goodbye.

Their relationship was marked with goodbyes. She knew he was a man with a lot of responsibilities, not just to the cars he sponsored in NASCAR. She’d caught a few glimpses of him in the society pages in the different cities they’d visited. He always had at least one social function outside of the race community that he attended.

Though her family had money, they didn’t socialize as much with the moneyed set. Jared had asked her to accompany him to the charity events, but she’d always declined because she was working.

Her phone rang and she ignored it. The last thing she wanted to do was make small talk with anyone right now.

The machine picked up and she listened to her voice telling the caller to leave a message at the tone.

“Annie, it’s me,” Jared said. “I guess I beat you home this week. I’m going to work out, but I’ll be home later if you want to talk.”

She reached for the phone. “I’m here.”

“Screening your calls? What would your mother say?” he asked, teasing her gently.

“She’d have a fit, as you well know.”

“I promise not to tell.”

“You make me a lot of promises,” she said.

He was quiet for a minute. “I do. And I intend to keep them.”

She knew he was referring to the other promise, the one about not hurting her. But she wondered if that was simply out of his control. “It might be hard. My parents are coming to Atlanta this weekend. My mom can crack even the toughest person.”

“I’ll do my best to withstand whatever pressure she puts on me.”

“I know you will,” she said. Because she’d seen him carry himself with panache and poise even when being grilled by Dave or Uncle Steve.

“Good. I want to be someone you can count on, Annie.”

“You are. Am I someone you can count on?”

“Yes.”

“Even though I make you stag it to those society dinners you always have?”

“If I say no, will you go with me this weekend?”

“I’m not sure. Why do you still attend them? You don’t seem to enjoy it.”

“It was important to my mom that we keep up the MacNeils’ position in society.”

She liked that about him. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. What will I need to wear? A formal dress, right?”

“Yes. The event is a Cancer Foundation dinner. I can book you a hotel room where the event if being held or…” “Or?”

“You can stay at my house with me.”

“I think I’d like to stay with you,” she said.

She heard his quick intake of breath and knew she’d surprised him.

ANNIE FELT MORE glamorous than she ever had before as she entered the ballroom at the hotel on Jared’s arm. He looked cool and sophisticated in his tuxedo. The dress he’d picked out for her was a slim-fitting, ankle-length sheath with a simple drop neckline. The dress had a slit on the left side that went to the top of her thigh.

He wrapped one arm around her shoulder, drawing her closer to his side as they entered the crowded room. There was a small jazz combo playing in the far corner, and three bar areas just inside the entrance.

“Do you want a drink?” he asked.

She asked for a glass of wine and stood by herself as he went to get it. She longed for her camera as she glanced around the room. She wished she had the barrier that only having the camera to her eye could provide—though in her mind she knew there wasn’t enough light for any natural shots.

As she glanced around the room and saw the high-society people filling it, she started to run through different light settings in her mind, rejecting them until she came up with the right one.

“Here you go,” Jared said, handing her a glass.

She took it from him, realizing her nerves had nothing to do with the room full of strangers and everything to do with the man standing next to her.

She lifted her glass toward his and her hand shook, a little bit of wine sloshing onto the back of her hand. Jared raised one eyebrow.

“Everything okay?”

“Sure,” she said, taking a fortifying sip of wine before any more spilled.

“Thank you for coming with me tonight.”

“You’re welcome.”

Silence grew between them as all she could think about was the king-sized bed in Jared’s bedroom, that lushly decorated room where he’d stowed her suitcase when she’d arrived this afternoon.

She didn’t know why she was having a panic attack about it now, why she was thinking about the fact that the last man she’d slept with had made her feel like… she was less than a woman.

Jared never had. And his embraces had left her with the fire of desire coursing through her veins. But at this moment, none of that mattered. At the end of the evening she was going to go home with him and go to bed with him.

And the last thing she wanted was to have him look at her with disdain or disappointment. She took another swallow of her wine.

Jared’s hand came to the small of her back. He led her to a quiet alcove tucked off the ballroom, where they were alone. He took the wineglass from her and bent to set it on the floor alongside his squat whiskey glass.

“What’s up?”

She shrugged her shoulders thinking of the all the ways she didn’t want to go there. But then he put one hand on her waist and one hand so gently in her hair. He blocked her from the view of anyone who’d pass by, and made her feel safe.

“I’m not sure,” she said at last. “I think I’m nervous.”

“Don’t be. This is a charity event. After the dinner we’re going to be entertained by Elton John.”

She loved Elton John’s music. Who didn’t? But tonight not even the thought of listening to him live was enough to distract her from Jared—the press of his large body against hers, the awareness she had of the space between their bodies. When she tipped her head back and met his eyes, she saw knowledge blooming there.

“Annie, honey, nothing has to happen that you don’t want to,” he said in that deep, sure voice of his, the one that was all confidence and caring.

She felt tears sting the backs of her eyes, and wished she was the woman she’d been before her marriage. The woman who would have enjoyed the heck out of this night and been quivering with anticipation when they returned to his place.

But she wasn’t.

“I want…”

He waited.

“…you,” she said. And in a rush, before she lost her nerve, she allowed words to spill out of her mouth. She explained about Malcolm and how she’d never been responsive enough for him. How he’d said she left him cold. Lastly she said, “He used to look at me with such disdain in his eyes. I don’t want you to ever look at me like that. But I don’t know what to do to keep a man happy in bed.”

He pulled her fully into his arms, bending to capture her mouth with his. His hands swept down her back and she felt her blood begin to flow a little heavier in her veins. She felt her skin tighten and every nerve ending tingle as he caressed the expanse of skin left bare by the back of her dress.

Then he swiveled his hips, his body brushing against the center of hers, letting her feel the proof of his desire. “You don’t have to try to make me happy,” he said as he lifted his mouth from hers. “You already do.”