BeForeplay (6 page)

When the pictures are deleted I hand it back
to him. “Wait up a second. I have one more thing to say. If I find
my picture taken at the track even without Derik anywhere near me
and I’m linked to his name I will find you and ruin you. Do you
understand?”

The look on his face is priceless. I’ve
shocked him. “You can threaten me all you want. I’m not afraid of
you.”

“Let me put it this way. You have no idea who
I am and that’s fine with me but you should be very afraid of me
and my reach. See, all I have to do is ask who you are and will be
told. It won’t be so easy for you to find out who I am.”

He has a pure evil smile. “You think? I have
my camera with your fingerprints all over it lady. Fuck with me and
see what I do with them. Not one single part of your life would be
private. Not even when you take a shit.”

I laugh at him. What a stupid little fuck.
“Alright sparky let me teach you how to play with the big dogs. I
had your camera and while I had it in my possession I wiped my
prints off of it and handed it back to you
by the strap
.
That’s lesson one. I also just pulled twelve grand out of my purse
like chump change, think about that for a minute. That’s lesson
two. Refer back to my earlier statement of not to fuck with me. Now
that’s a
rule
I expect you to follow. Are we clear?”

He’s gone pale while I was speaking. I think
he gets it now. He nods so I stand up, he does too and with that we
leave without another word being said.

When I walk out of the trailer the girls are
walking up to get me to watch the race. Perfect timing. Walking to
where we’ll watch I think about what I said to the reporter. I have
to laugh to myself because he has no idea I was bullshitting. I
have no reach. I don’t know anyone in the journalism field. If you
bullshit your way through something without tipping your hand
people will believe you. It’s true that I like my privacy though.
If those pictures got out and Jack saw them that would hurt him and
that’s not something I’m willing to do. If I didn’t care or have
love for him I would have stayed but that’s not who I am.

Jody hands me a little package and I realize
they’re ear plugs. As we get closer to the strip the girls still
can’t believe that I don’t know who Derik is. I explain to them
that they wouldn’t know who the star of cardiac surgery would be
but I would be fangirling. It’s still lost on them so I leave it
be. I get it. He’s a celebrity. I see him as a normal person with a
great talent. He was probably pissing himself last night when I
didn’t go spastic over him. Oh my god! I called him an ass and
Casanova too funny. I put my earplugs in because it’s loud right
here and only going to get louder.

Robin bumps me and points to the lineup. HOLY
HELL!! I’m in love with the car he’s racing against. I love old
cars but this one, wow. Derik’s car is a new Camaro. The light
turns and they take off. Derik is just a smidge ahead of the other
guy when something happens and the other guy is totally out of the
race. It seems like it only last five seconds for the whole thing.
Everyone is jumping and screaming so I join in. I’m happy he won.
Wait…he won! That means he gets the other guys car! “Wooooooooo!” I
had to let it out. Haylie grabs my arm and gives me a tug in the
direction they’re all walking. This is so cool. I’ll have to check
if we have these events when I get back home. Not just that but now
I want a race car to race too.

We get back to where the trailer and car are
when all of the sudden I’m in the air flying around in circles.
Instinctively I grab shoulders. I look and it’s Derik smiling so
big I think I can see every tooth in his mouth. “You’re my good
luck!”

He finally sets me down and I’m laughing he’s
so happy. I tell him, “You did that all on your own.”

“No way, Sidney. Last night and now today,
it’s all you sweetheart.”

“Do you race again?”

“Yep, so you can’t leave yet.”

“I wasn’t going to. Can I speak to you in
private for a minute?”

“Sure. You need to give me that kiss you’ve
been dying to?”

“Wrong, Casanova. I need to tell you about
the reporter.”

“Come on.” He takes my hand and leads me back
into the trailer. When the door is shut I explain everything to him
except the part of the threats that went back and forth. He even
agreed to do the interview. Hey the guy deserves something. I’m the
one who threatened first and he didn’t have to sell the pictures to
me. He could have been a huge dick instead he was a little
prick.

After the races are over Derik wound up with
the pink slip to the Chevelle that he raced first. The car I want.
The car I’m going to talk him into selling me. Then I’m going to
talk him into teaching me how to race it.

We’re all talking and I hear a child
squealing and it’s getting closer. My stomach flips even though I
know it’s an excited squeal. Derik reaches down and snatches up a
little girl and is spinning her around like he did to me. When he
stops spinning her he asks, “Did you see Daddy win?” Well fuck me.
I need to go.

She’s shaking her head yes and then she’s
plucked from Derik’s arms and into Drew’s. She throws her arms
around him and screams, “Daddy!” Then gives him a big kiss. She’s
not Derik’s but I still need to go, she reminds of what happened to
Sophia and I don’t want to remember.

I tell Derik I need to go because I’m not
feeling well. He comments on how pale I am and tries to drive me
back to the hotel. I refuse because I need to be alone. I do ask
him to have breakfast with me and he agrees to meet me at the
Grille in the casino at eight. I say my goodbyes and leave.

Chapter

11

When I get to my room I take a shower and
down a sleeping pill. I hate taking them but I need to shut down
and get some sleep. I set the alarm on my phone for seven, climb in
bed and turn the TV on.

The next thing I know someone is grabbing me
and I’m screaming and trying to fight but I can’t seem to get my
arms and legs to cooperate. When I wake fully I’m in someone’s arms
and they’re rocking me back and forth to soothe me. When I finally
come all the way out of it there are a bunch of people in my room
and Derik is the one holding me. What the fuck? I scramble off his
lap and look at everyone. I ask no one in particular, “What the
hell’s going on?” My voice comes out all scratchy and my throat
hurts.

A large man I’m assuming is security asks me,
“Ma’am there were reports of screaming and when we knocked no one
answered. You continued screaming, we assumed you were hurt so we
let ourselves in. Are you okay now? Would you like us to call
somebody?”

“What? No, I’m fine. I was having a nightmare
for god’s sake.” I grab the bottle of water off the nightstand and
drink some.

Haylie and Will are even here. She speaks
softly to me. “Sidney, you’ve been screaming for almost half an
hour. I called down and reported it because you wouldn’t answer
your door and you kept screaming. Then we called Derik because we
thought maybe he knew what was happening.”

Why the fuck would he know? Good grief. I
plop back down on the bed and that’s when I realize I only have on
lace boy shorts and a tank top. Great! I snatch the sheet and cover
myself, tell them I’m fine and ask everyone to leave. I look at the
clock and it’s six-thirty. What a way to start the day. I thank
them and they all leave except Derik. He’s just staring at me.

“What?” I snap at him.

He looks down and then back up at me. “I’m
sorry but, Sidney, those weren’t normal nightmare screams. Are you
sure you’re okay?”

I close my eyes to try and gather my thoughts
and calm down. I look at him and give him a tight smile. “I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you I’m just…I had to take a
sleeping pill last night. That’s why I was trapped in my dreams and
didn’t hear the knocking. I don’t take them often but I didn’t feel
well last night and just wanted to sleep. Thank you for your
help.”

He comes and sits on the bed next to me.
“Since we’re up how about breakfast?”

“That sounds good. Do you mind if I take a
shower first?”

“As long as you don’t mind me waiting in your
living room for you.”

I look him in the eye when I speak. “I really
am fine, you don’t have to stay here. You probably want to go get
cleaned up yourself. I can meet you down there in a half hour.”

He lifts his arm up and sniffs under it and
does the same with the other one. “I don’t stink do I?” He smiles
at me. “No worries, I was already up and ready for the day. I was
actually down in the casino when Haylie called. I only got a few
hours of sleep from being so excited about last night. I know it
sounds ridiculous but that’s what got me into professional racing,
so to go back to the root of it all is still exciting.” He jumps up
off the bed and says, “Okay, go get ready while I watch TV,” and
walks out of the room.

I go in the bathroom and take a quick shower.
When I step out my feet come out from under me. I try to catch
myself but wind up hurting my wrist. Of course when I fell I let
out a yelp. This is going to be one of those days. The bathroom
door flings open and Derik is running in, his eyes huge. All I can
do is shut my eyes and take a deep breath.

When I open them he spins around so he’s not
staring at me in all my glory. If I wouldn’t have been in such a
hurry I might have remembered to put down the bath mat and gotten
myself a towel too.

“Are you alright?”

“Kind of, maybe, no not really. Could you
please hand me a couple of towels so I can cover myself up?” He
hands me the towels without looking at me. I lay one on the floor
so I can stand up without slipping again. When I’m up I wrap the
other one around me. “Okay, I’m covered up now.”

He turns around and asks, “Where are you
hurt?”

I wipe my feet on the towel I’m standing on
so I can go to the bedroom. “My wrist. I slipped and tried to catch
myself, which was stupid to begin with.”

He follows me into the bedroom and sits in a
chair. “Not stupid. It’s an automatic reaction to try and catch
yourself.”

I go to my suitcase and pull out my first aid
kit. I also grab my robe and put it on. I sit back on the bed and
ask him if he can wrap it for me.

He’s looking at me like I’m crazy. “No. I
think you should go to a walk in medical clinic and have an x-ray
to make sure it’s not broken.”

“It’s not fractured, just a minor
sprain.”

“How do you know? I’ll wrap it and take you
to the doctor.” He walks over and sits next to me taking the first
aid kit from me.

“You do know I’m a nurse right?” His head
whips around with his forehead all scrunched up and shakes his head
back and forth. “I thought I…oh I told the girls not you. I’m
sorry. No, really it’s just a minor sprain. You wrap it, I’ll ice
it and take some ibuprofen. It’ll be good as new in no time.”

After we take care of my wrist, I dress and
we go down for breakfast. While waiting for our food to arrive I
ask, “So what are you going to do with the Chevelle?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “Probably sell it to
a classic car collector. I have enough cars at home and it’s not
the one I was hoping to win. Plus the engine is blown and I don’t
feel like messing with it.”

This puts a smile on my face. “Can I buy it
from you?”

“No.” He says this with a straight face so I
know he’s not joking.

My smile drops and so does my spirit. “Why
not? You’re selling it anyways.”

He smiles at me, fucker. “Because, I’ll give
it to you.” Okay so maybe I was being a little harsh in calling him
a fucker.

“No, I can’t let you do that but I will buy
it from you. Name a price.”

He leans back in his chair and his cocky face
returns. “Okay. A dinner date, just the two of us.”

I sigh and now his smile fades. “Derik, you
know I just ended a relationship. I don’t want to date anyone right
now. Why me? From what I understand you’re sought after by plenty
of women.”

He leans forward and rests his forearms on
the table. “Because you had no idea who I was and when you found
out you still treated me like a normal person. And you’re not
afraid to speak your mind and tell me when I’m being an ass. You’re
beautiful, funny and kind. Should I keep going or does that answer
your question?”

I can feel my cheeks heat a little. I don’t
take compliments easily. “Yes and thank you. If we would have met
at another time I would have no problem accepting the date but
since it’s not do you think we could take that off the table and be
friends?”

I can tell he’s disappointed. “Sure, we can
be friends.”

My smile comes back and it’s a big cheesy
one. “Good. Now let me buy the car from you and one more thing.
Will you teach me how to race it like you did last night?”

He scowls at me. “Is that why you want the
car so bad?” I nod my head excitedly like a child and he laughs at
me. “Okay here’s my proposal. I give you the car,” I start to
interrupt but he holds his hand up to let him finish, so I do. “But
you use my guys to rebuild it and pay them for their work. I will
teach you to drag race but I won’t be able to help very often
because of my schedule. If you give me some time I can find someone
to help and practice with you, someone I trust to instruct you, if
you want.”

After breakfast and more coffee than I should
have had we worked out all of the details. He has a friend that
owns a shop in his hometown that will be rebuilding the engine for
me. I will plan my trips to Texas when he’s home so he can help
teach me the ins and outs of drag racing. His words ‘so you won’t
just race you’ll also win the races’. When it’s all said and done
I’ll have a car and a NHRA Competition License. I’m so excited I
could swim the coast home plus I really shouldn’t have had all the
coffee I did.