Fast and Loaded: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (4 page)

T
he flag dropped
, and I felt the thrill race through my body as Theresa naturally took the lead out ahead of the pack. By now, it was almost second nature for me to be in front of everyone else.

I knew my car better than any racer could ever hope to know his own ride. We worked together like old friends, mostly because that’s what we were. This leg of the race was a two-mile stretch, longer than most but built to test drivers and their cars.

This wasn’t an endurance race, but it wasn’t your traditional quarter mile drag either. It was just long enough to see if your car could actually make it but still short enough that no help was needed from your crew. Unless, of course, something went wrong. Then everyone would jump into action. I was sure that a wreck made for good television, but that was about it. A wreck caused every driver's heart to give away a little bit.

It didn’t matter how much you wanted to win, or how badly you disliked another driver, harming their car was a cardinal sin. It was one of the reasons I despised Luke so much; he had no moral compass to speak of.

I had to cross my fingers and hope that Luke hadn’t done anything to the car while he was in my tent hitting on Amber. She was beautiful enough to distract any man, even one as evil as Luke.

As we passed the half-way mark, I smiled; it looked like this race was going to be another one for the record books. Amber’s improvements had once again proven to give me the edge that I needed over my competition. Just as my thoughts started to wander to Amber and her delicious lips, Theresa jumped violently forward without prompting.

“Shit,” I muttered to myself.

I knew that something was wrong as we passed the quarter mile mark. As I had anticipated, Luke was right on my heels. I had no choice but to let off the gas as my car started to sputter, a cloud of black smoke starting to roll out from underneath the hood.

It was like watching a disaster in slow motion. I knew that I could push her and hold onto first place, but it would probably make it so that she was never able to race again.

Cursing under my breath, I watched as Luke took the lead, his evil grin infuriating me as he drove past. I knew, at that moment, that he had done something to Theresa, there was no other explanation for it.

I could hear a shocked Glen calling out the race winner over my headset; he was obviously just as angry about it as I was. Fortunately, he also had a far more level head, and I knew that he wouldn’t say anything to get thrown out of the race.

As we limped into the garage, I glared at Amber, who was running towards us. She was the last person I wanted to see. Thankfully, she seemed to be looking right through me to Theresa. I scoffed, it was a little too late for her to try and fix things now; the race was over for the both of us. There was no way we would be ready in three days for the next leg. All I could do was storm over to the winner’s circle and give Luke a piece of my mind.

“Well, you know, it really isn’t just about who’s the better driver,” Luke was saying to a reporter. “It’s also about the team, some people are just cut out for this world, and others aren’t.”

I glared at him, my anger starting to boil over once again. I knew that if I didn’t turn around, I would get booted from the race also, for murdering him. I spun around and headed back into the garage, still fuming from the contest.

“Desmond!” shouted Amber.

I glared at her, “So was this your plan? Huh? To let that dirtbag into my tent to sabotage my car?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“You know it was Luke, you just loved being flattered didn’t you? So much you didn’t see him slip something into Theresa!” I screamed at her.

“What the hell is your problem Desmond? You looked over the car with me and found nothing! The only reason I knew what he did was because of the smoke and its color!” Amber screamed back at him.

“What do you mean?” my concern for the car greater than my anger over losing.

“Look, he must have slipped this screw into the turbine when I wasn’t looking, anything else would have started to damage things right away,” she replied.

I took the screw from her hand. It was smaller than anything I had ever seen. I couldn’t believe how she had ever found it to start with. It would have taken other mechanics days to find something so small and out of sight.

“He must have dropped it in while I was under the car.” she muttered quietly. “Desmond, I am so sorry. I had no idea he would stoop to such low levels.”

I sighed, unable to stop myself from forgiving her, “I know that you didn’t know any better. The damage is done, though, isn’t it?”

She nodded her head.

“I’m sorry I attacked you,” I said earnestly.

She shook her head, “No. Please don’t apologize, all this happened because of me. I can’t believe I was so foolish!”

“You weren’t foolish; no honorable person would deliberately sabotage a car like that. He’s a special kind of dirtbag though.” I replied. “Is there anything that we can do to fix it?”

She shook her head, “I honestly have no idea. I can’t do anything about it until the engine cools down either.”

I shook my head, unable to believe how quickly everything had taken a turn for the worse. One second I was on top of the world, and the next, things were falling apart. I knew that Luke would get his; people always got what was coming to them.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be soon enough. It was turning out to be one hell of a bad run of luck. I made the decision to stay in the shop while Theresa cooled down so I could try and see what had happened. Maybe it wasn’t too late to fix her.

“I’m so sorry I let this happen Desmond.”

I smiled softly at her, “I told you, it’s not your fault.”

“Yes, it is. I know you say it’s not but you’re wrong. I should have known he was up to no good. I saw the way you two interacted on television.” Amber muttered under her breath.

I sighed, “There’s nothing to be done right?”

“Sure there is, you can let me buy you a drink,” she replied with a smile.

I laughed, looking up at her for a moment, I thought she was joking. I could tell by the look in her eyes though that she wasn’t. She felt terrible about what had happened, and unless I let her make up for it in some way, she was never going to forgive herself.

I nodded my head, “Well, it’s the least you can do.” I said playfully.

Her eyebrow arched, ready to snap at me, “That’s what I said, so are you coming or not?”

She smiled at me, and I felt all the troubles of the day starting to drift away from me. Something about Amber had that wild effect on me. It felt like, no matter what happened she would always be there for me, rooting me on. That was something I had never known before with a woman. Especially one that I barely knew too. Still, there she was, ready to make me feel better in a way that I wasn’t accustomed to. She wasn’t after fame or money or the bragging rights of sleeping with Desmond Keys, she just wanted to be my friend. That was something I could get used to.

We made our way to the same little dive bar from the last time we had gone drinking and the memory of the kiss that we shared came flooding back. I couldn’t stop from licking my lips, thinking about her body pressed against mine. When we walked in, I mentally cursed, it was too busy for me to try and get her to dance again but it didn’t matter, the night was young.

We wiggled our way through the crowd to the end of the bar. Everyone was less than thrilled this time around, though. It seemed like everyone there knew that my car had been sabotaged. The feeling of comradery was abundant. I hadn’t realized just how many people on the racing scene knew what kind of a man Luke really was. It was refreshing to know that I wasn’t alone in my hatred for him.

As we waited for our drinks, one patron after another came over and paid their respects to the lost race, vowing to support me if I wanted to knock out #9, which was Luke’s number.

Each time, I smiled but didn’t reply, the wound was still too fresh and even with Amber sitting next to me, it was hard not to think about Theresa.

“Hey,” said Amber, as she placed her hand on mine, “We will figure it out tomorrow okay?”

I nodded my head and looked down at our touching hands, “I know, you’re the best mechanic at the race after all.”

She blushed and it was an intoxicating sight. I wanted to touch her cheeks and feel the warmth in them. I wanted to kiss her neck and tell her I wasn't just being nice, that it was the truth. I wanted to tell her that she was more woman than anyone I had ever known, and I wanted to see more of her, every single day of my life. The words fell silent on my lips though as she pulled her hand away and quickly looked away.

“Amber,” I murmured, hoping she would hear me.

She looked at me and smiled once again, “Let’s just get drunk and forget all about our problems for the night. What do you think Keys?”

I laughed, “That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day.”

“I’ll toast to that,” she said with a smile, holding up her beer.

Our bottles touched and I vowed to drink away my problems with the night that I was having. Nothing could beat spending a few hours in the company of a lovely woman who was as smart as she was attractive. I wouldn’t let anything ruin it, not Theresa, not the race and not Luke. It was at that moment I noticed that he was walking through the bar door.…

I
t was
like watching an actor playing two different people. One minute, Desmond was cheerful and even starting to relax. Then the next, his eyes darkened, and his smile turned into a snarl. I watched as he looked over my shoulder to the front door. Before moving to see who had made him so angry, I watched him as he chugged his beer.

I cringed. Only one person could make him that angry. Turning around, I confirmed my fear; Luke had just walked into the bar, followed by some loyal fans.

“I didn’t think fans knew about this place. Everyone I have seen here so far has been from around the track.” I said to Desmond, turning back to him.

“That’s how it’s always been, but Luke doesn’t play by the rules, now does he?” Desmond shot back at me.

I winced as if his words physically hurt me, which they did a little bit. I knew that he didn’t mean to keep taking digs at me. After all, he knew as well as I did that Luke was the one who ruined the race, not me. Still, his harsh words, somewhat directed towards me, stung. I caught his eye though and right away he softened. His hand covered mine for the second time.

Before he could apologize, I shook my head, “Don’t worry about it, okay? I’m getting us another round.”

I rose from the barstool and made my way down to the end. I was grateful when I glanced back and saw that another patron had captured Desmond’s attention, and they were now talking in what looked like a lighthearted manner.

As I leaned against the bar and waited for the bartender, I couldn’t suppress a smile. Watching Desmond, so light and friendly, warmed my heart.

“You know, a gentleman would never make a lady pay for a drink,” Luke said from behind me.

I had to suppress the urge to spin around and spit in his cheating face. Slowly, after gathering my composure, I turned to face him. He had two girls standing close behind him, glaring at me because I had his attention. I couldn’t believe any woman would ever want to be seen with such a person.

“I am sure you are many things, some of them I would love to call you right now, but a gentleman is not one of them.” I shot back.

His eyes narrowed, “Now that’s no way to talk to a potential client. Your services are for sale, aren’t they?”

I gasped, “Excuse me?”

“I mean, as a mechanic of course,” he replied with a sly grin. “What else would I mean?”

I glared at him, “I don’t know what you thought but my services, as a mechanic or as anything else to you, are not for sale. I don’t want to be associated with your kind of dirt.”

One of the girls behind him chuckled softly. His gaze, filled with bitterness, fell on her. She quieted right away, looking like a wounded child. I was sure she had some serious issues to be associated with a man so low on the food chain. Just then, the bartender brought over my drinks.

“Well Luke, it’s been fun catching up. Maybe next time you could try winning like an honest man?” I said to him as I turned away.

“You can’t prove anything.” he muttered under his breath.

I froze and spun back around, “I don’t need to prove anything, you are nothing more than a bottom feeder, and you will get what’s coming to you.”

I didn’t wait for a response as I walked away. My heart was racing, and my hands were shaking. I had never been one for confrontation, but it was more than that. I wanted to slap the smug look off his face. Everything about the man made my skin crawl. Somehow, I just couldn’t believe that someone so disgusting and cheap actually existed. As I made my way over to Desmond, I knew that I would have some ground to make up. He didn’t look happy at all.

“Having some sharing time with Luke over there?” he asked me with a dull tone.

I smiled. I knew that he was upset about the race. Desmond had every right to be. I wouldn’t hold his anger against him. At least not for the night, if he were still acting like a brat the next day, I would have to put him in his place.

As I sat down, I replied, “Not really. He was just hitting on me, again. I think I broke his ego, though. So that should make you feel a little better, right?”

Desmond laughed, “You’re right. That does make me feel better about a few things.”

“I thought it might.” I replied softly, “He really is a prick, isn’t he?”

Desmond nodded his head, and I looked away from him, over to where Luke was recovering from the rejection. In a tone loud enough for us to hear, he began to relive the race for everyone in the bar. He left out the parts that didn’t shine favorably on him of course, like the fact that he only won because Desmond’s car started to smoke. The patrons didn’t need to hear the whole story; they knew what had happened.

Most of them ignored Luke, but he still had a small but faithful following that encouraged him to go into great details. The more he talked, the more everyone else drank until finally, a few people warmed up to him. With each new shot he bought for the bar, I could see Desmond slipping farther into a new level of hostility.

I knew that if I didn’t do something to pull him out of it, we would both be in lots of trouble. I was worried that his trouble would land him in jail, then we would both lose the race.

At least as things stood now, we still had a chance of winning. If Theresa could pull through of course.

I looked at Desmond and knew what I needed to do, what I wanted to do also. I stood up, pulling his attention back to me and away from Luke whom he had locked eyes with. With my hands on his legs, I stepped forward to where he was sitting so that I was standing between his legs. My hands traveled up the length of his thighs, coming to a stop dangerously close to his shaft.

He caught my eye and grinned as his hands found my waist, pulling me the rest of the way to him. I didn’t try to stop him when he crushed my body into his. His scent was intoxicating. It was everything masculine and delicious that I had thought it would be. I wanted to touch him. I trailed my hands up his arms until they met behind his head, running through his hair and pulling gently.

He closed his eyes, moaning softly. It was all the encouragement that I needed to capture his lips with my own. My body reacted to his touch right away, my body fluttering and my core slashing around itself, begging to be filled with his rod.

I knew that this was going to lead to more and I was ready for it. When our lips touched, the passion was thick in the air. As my tongue darted in and out of his mouth, I tasted the beer on his lips and by body begged for more.

After several minutes, I broke away from him. I wanted to be undressed and laying with him. I no longer wanted to be in a crowded bar where people would stop me from stripping down. I wanted to be where I could feel his touch caressing every part of me.

I was panting and out of breath when I looked up at him, pushing him away from me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, breathlessly.

I shook my head. “Not a damn thing.”

“What was that about?” he asked again. “Not that I’m complaining.”

I smiled, “I just thought it would be fun. Hey, do you want to get out of here?”

He nodded his head and rose up from his seat, paying the tab and taking my hand. As we walked past Luke, I saw just how upset our little display had made him.

I knew that Desmond would see the jealous look on Luke’s face too, and I thought about how wonderful it must be for him to be able to rub it in Luke’s face. He didn’t seem like the type of man who got stood up very often. Of course, neither did Desmond.

As we made our way outside, he didn’t let go of my hand. We walked in peaceful silence back through the gates to the raceways and to the temporary garage. As we walked, I couldn’t help but wonder if he treated all the woman he slept with so kindly.

He was not just an amazing racer and wonderful person; his touch was like licking the hand of Aphrodite. I wanted and needed more of him like it was some kind of curse.

Whatever happened, I told myself that I would not let my emotions get the best of me. Just because I wanted to have wild and passionate sex with the man at my side, didn’t mean that we had to have some sort of long and drawn out relationship. He was still my employer, and it was still just sex to me. As least that’s what I told myself and it was a lie I was happy to keep alive.