Racing to Love - Brody's Love

Racing to Love ~ Brody’s
Love

Gift Novella

Amy Gregory

Copyright © 2012 Amy Gregory

All rights reserved. Except as
permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this
publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system,
without prior permission of the publisher.

Sapphire Star Publishing

www.sapphirestarpublishing.com

Smashwords Edition

The characters and events in this book
are fictitious. Names, characters, places, and plots are a product
of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to real persons, living
or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

ISBN 978-1-938404-43-6

Cover Image by Hidesay

www.sapphirestarpublishing.com/amygregory

Brody’s Love

He kept his eyes focused, watching
only her. The late afternoon sun glinting off the new-fallen snow
made it almost impossible to see, even with his Oakleys on. He
could only pray to God she wasn’t blinded while mid-air.

Brody watched her carefully ride the
bike through the small path he had cleared for her with the Bobcat.
This wasn’t exactly the best way to practice, but given the time
constraints that his dad’s last minute schedule change had put them
under, he and Molly didn’t have much of a choice. Their only option
was to freeze their asses off and hope to hell she didn’t get
hurt.

Secluded in the Pennsylvania
country-side, the quiet was his best tool, and he used it to his
advantage. Listening intently to the sounds of the bike, he paid
even more attention than he normally did. Any noise that sounded
like the engine was cutting out or having problems in the cold and
he’d pull her. Practice be damned. She wasn’t getting hurt on his
watch.

Placing a hand over his eyes, he tried
to block as much of the sun as possible while his gaze followed her
up the dirt take off ramp.

Shit. Goddamn
it.

The split-second he lost Molly in the
sun was way too long. His heart pounded as she finished out the
rotation, landing harder than he would have liked to have
seen.

“
Practicing in this
God-forsaken cold is fucking ridiculous.” There wasn’t any reason
to keep his mouth in check. It was only Molly and him braving the
freezing January—and she couldn’t hear him. Even if she could, he
knew for a fact she’d agree with him completely.

“
Tell me how you really
feel, honey,” the voice behind him teased.

Wool mittens slid around his waist,
followed by her arms. Just Erin’s presence was enough to bring his
anxiety down two notches. Brody turned to the side, pulling his
girlfriend under his arm.

“
Hey, babe. When did you
get here?”

“
I just pulled up. I went
inside, but your mom said you were trying to get in some last
minute practice before we load up?”

Groaning inwardly, Brody pasted on a
smile and nodded. He loved his job. Like most people, he
occasionally had to remind himself that he loved it, but he really
did enjoy it the majority of the time. Nonetheless, there were
times that just plain sucked ass.

This would be one of those
times.

Brody raised his hand in the air and
waved Molly over.

His name would be in the record books
for years to come. His freestyle career had been one that legends
were made of. Until one wreck too many. That last one decided his
fate without asking anybody’s opinion—especially his. In the blink
of an eye, it was over. The damage to his body tallied up, ended
his ability to compete aggressively. His back had been tweaked
badly and the compressed disk still bothered him, but it was his
hip that gave him the most trouble. Add in two blown-out knees and
he had the body of an eighty-year-old man.

But that was okay. Erin loved him
anyway. If she didn’t, well then she deserved an Emmy because she
was a hell of an actress. The brown-haired beauty sure made him
feel loved, and she took care of him on the days his body hurt so
badly he could hardly move.

Erin squeezed his waist again. Looking
down, he couldn’t help but smile back at the giddy face looking up
at him. Her chocolate brown eyes were crinkled at the corners,
happiness touching every part of her face. Having no idea why she
was so excited about this trip, he could only chuckle at her
enthusiasm.

Wiggling his eyebrows, he gave her a
wicked grin, one that held dark promises. “I can’t wait to get you
home.”

Pink immediately stained her cheeks,
but he knew it wasn’t from embarrassment. The flush was purely
arousal. Comebacks were normally quick to roll off her tongue and
usually with a sting of sass behind them, but he had been teasing
her since they awoke this morning, drawing out the anticipation of
their last night at home, in their own bed. For the next four,
almost five months, they’d be sharing the motorhome with Molly
while they were on the road for the exhibition tour she had been
asked to do.

Priding himself on his iron-tight
control, it was almost more than he could handle, seeing the warm
brown eyes staring at him full of longing and need. Quiet wasn’t
Erin’s strong suit, but there she stood, waiting, silently. When
her lips parted…his jeans instantly constricted him.

“
Sugar, you’ve gotta quit
looking at me like that.”

The way she blinked innocently in
response upped his pain level several notches. He was going to be
damned lucky to get them both home alive without wrecking on the
way. Fifteen minutes was a long time when one was in agony or
horny—or in his case, both.

Thank God Molly was near. The revving
of the engine as she downshifted her bike alerted him that she was
quickly approaching, interrupting the sexual tension that had grown
ten-fold since he’d started this little game with Erin this
morning. A plan that had spun around and bit him in the ass, and he
knew without a doubt, he’d remember this little lesson for a long,
long while.

“
Brody…” It was just a
whisper, but it was the way Erin said it—she was
begging.

“
Oh, God, Erin. You’re
killing me.”

Muttering under his breath, he
positioned her in front of him to hide the bulge in his jeans from
his sister, barely getting Erin in place before Molly rode up.
Keeping one arm around Erin’s waist, Brody spoke over her shoulder.
“You’re done. It’s not worth the risk. You felt your back tire,
right?”

A hiss escaped through his clenched
teeth. Fully aware of what she was doing, the little minx rubbed
her backside against his erection. Molly’s eyes were on Erin and
she was grinning unabashedly, just like a Cheshire cat. His
downfall? His girlfriend and his sister were best friends. Shaking
her head in what could only be amusement, Molly glanced back at
him.

“
You apparently didn’t hear
me cussing you up one side and down the other? Eh, yeah—I felt it,
all right. Plus, it’s just too damned cold out here.” Molly’s eyes
went back to Erin’s and her face lit up. “So, you ready for this?”
she asked, grinning like a damn fool.

What is it with
everyone?

This was going to be an experience for
all of them. Brody wasn’t ready yet to lay down money on just how
good of one it’d turn out to be. Four months was a hell of a long
time to be on the road, especially with only a couple trips home in
between.

When Molly had retired from racing,
then retired a second time from competing freestyle, she
transitioned into a money maker. It was both a blessing and a
curse. While Molly’s pretty face and killer body had modeling
contracts being offered to her left and right, it was the crazies
that Brody worked overtime to protect her from.

After he’d been forced to retire from
his own riding career, he slid into the full-time role of Molly’s
manager, relieving his father. Traveling with her to riding
exhibitions and photo shoots was not a hardship for any man, and up
until now, the longest they had ever been gone at one time was
barely over two weeks.

Now they were talking four freaking
months. Four months away from home, four months on the road, four
months away from his own bed and the privacy it allowed Erin and
him.

It wasn’t an option to turn down the
job request. A dear friend of the family had called last minute,
and without thinking twice, his father, James, said yes without
talking to either Molly or him regarding the details. Traveling the
men’s pro racing circuit with Molly as sort of a pre-show
exhibition rider was intriguing and daunting at the same
time.

Erin would be there with them, of
course, but four months was enough to make him question his
father’s sanity. It was a hell of a long time to be gone, but it
seemed like an eternity when he was solely responsible for Molly’s
safety. Their mechanic, Joey, was packing up to go too, but even
with Joey and Erin, his shoulders sagged with the weight of his
responsibilities.

Planning new routines and timing out
the tricks according to each track layout week after week, keeping
her bike running at one-hundred-percent, and trying to enjoy it
all—that was easy. Keeping her safe? After everything he’d ever
done on a bike, now was the first time in his life when he’d admit
he was scared shitless.

“
Go ahead and take that
bike on up to the shop. Joey is loading everything the way
Mr. Particular
likes. He
already has the other three in the semi. He’s just waiting on that
one, and he wanted to prep it first.”

“
Why don’t you go take it
up to him so I can finish packing?” Molly smarted back.

Brody raised his eyebrow
and tried like hell to keep the smirk from turning into a smile.
“You don’t want to start that…
little
girl
.”

“
You did not just call me
that!”

Erin shook her head. “It’s kinda
funny, don’t you think?”

He squeezed the arm around Erin’s
waist, pulling her closer to him. “What’s that,
sweetheart?”

“
Well, we’re all the same
age, yet I’m the only one who doesn’t act like a six-year-old.” She
laughed.

“
You want in on this too?
Trust me, I can take on you both. I’ve done it before and I can do
it again.”

Erin wiggled out of his hold, turning
to unite with her friend. She and Molly grinned at each other
before pivoting back to him, both with wicked gleams in their eyes.
Too many years spent together, too many times like this moment had
them prepared. Both girls sneered at him.

In perfect unison, they
over-enunciated their answer, “Bring it.”

Molly’s flippant ‘come
here’ motion had Brody wanting to tackle and punish her. He knew
exactly where to tickle to have her screaming
uncle
in seconds
.
However, he was a nice brother.
Standing there, holding a two-hundred pound bike up, had her in a
hell of a position. She was a sitting duck so he’d take mercy on
her—this time.

Reaching over the console of his
truck, Brody held out his hand, waiting for Erin’s.

A sweet smile touched her lips. “Thank
you for taking me out to dinner.”

“
You have no idea what
we’re in for. Hell…I don’t know what we’re in for, Erin. We might
not get a decent meal until we come home. It’s the least I can
do.”

“
Brody, you know me. I
don’t care what or where we eat, as long as I’m with
you.”

Pulling their laced fingers up to his
lips, he kissed the back of her hand, and then continued to brush
his lips over the satin smooth skin.

Turning into the private parking lot
of the upscale steakhouse, Brody maneuvered into a spot in the back
of the lot, away from other vehicles that could possibly scratch
his truck, backing in like he almost always did. He walked around
the front of the truck, opened Erin’s door, and was once again
reminded of how incredibly stupid he’d been to start teasing her
this morning.

When she turned and slowly slid one
leg out of the truck, it was bad enough, but she’d apparently
decided to get even. There was nothing but fire in her brown eyes
when she seductively moved her other leg so she was perched on the
seat of the truck, her fingers resting on his shoulders, waiting
for him to help her down.