Full Throttle (12 page)

When she fell silent, she found James staring at her. “Sounds to me like you were the one who needed to talk.”

She dropped onto the sofa. “I guess.”

“Been holding that in awhile?”

“Apparently.”

“Feel better?”

“I think so.”

“Good, 'cause here he comes.”

Now dressed in his uniform, Kane appeared at the end of the hall. “You all right, Lex? You look like you're gonna be sick.”

“I'm fine.” She rose and glanced at her watch. “We need to get going.”

When James trotted down the steps of the motor coach, Lexie snagged Kane's arm. “Are you going to defend him to the press?”

He stiffened but didn't turn to face her. “He's my father.”

“That doesn't mean he's always right.”

“I didn't say he's right.”

“He doesn't deserve your respect.”

“Yes, he does.”

“He's here to save face with the press, not support you.”

He finally turned his head. His eyes were glacial. “He came. That's all that matters to me.”

Meaning, he was grateful for his father's attention and didn't want to rock the boat. She'd watched the same thing happen many times in the past.

“Lexie, we're not going to agree here. Just let it go.”

“No. I'm tired of seeing him treat you this way. You need to confront him.”

He jerked his arm from her grasp. “We need to get to practice.”

“K
ANE
, I
UNDERSTAND
your father is at the track today. How do you feel about him being here in light of this morning's newspaper article?”

Kane smiled confidently at the track reporter, though he felt anything but. “My dad's my biggest supporter. Of course he's here at such an important race.”

“So there's no truth to the story that you and your father aren't close?”

“My father and I are as close as ever.”

“Do you have any idea who on your team was quoted for this article?”

“No, I don't. But it was obviously somebody who doesn't know me.”

“Thank you, Kane.”

As Kane nodded, the reporter turned to face his camera. “Back to you, Ron.”

Kane turned away and hoisted himself through the window of his race car. His stomach tightened. He hadn't lied. He'd respected his father. He'd kept his personal business to himself. A successful interview if there ever was one.

“Safe ride, buddy,” James said as he handed him his helmet.

Kane nodded. He didn't want to talk about his father anymore, and his closest friend realized that.

Unlike Lexie.

He was still furious with her for her interference. She didn't understand. She'd never liked his father, probably never would. The differences in the way they saw him had always caused conflict.

Still, he respected her opinion and her loyalty. She'd always been one of the few people his father couldn't impress or charm into liking him. She saw his father's self-centeredness as a slight against him.

She must care about him a great deal to—

He smiled suddenly. “She's crazy about me.”

“Who?”

Kane simply widened his grin.

“No. No way.”

Kane put on his helmet. “No more blondes, buddy,” he said, his voice muffled.

“I thought you were mad at each other. The temperature in the golf cart coming over here was frigid. And that's saying something for a vehicle with no doors or windows when it's eighty degrees out.”

“It'll thaw.”

“I really don't think—”

Kane cut him off with a thumbs-up and a flick of the master switch. He knew James didn't understand his focus on Lexie. Neither was he happy about the effect it might have on the team. Kane intended to prove his friend's fears were unfounded.

As he hit the track for practice, he put his personal thoughts aside. He concentrated on getting a feel for the car as it rolled around the wide, D-shaped track. He experimented with different lines, searching for the one that gave him the fastest lap times. He remembered to baby the brakes in Turns One and Three.

The car's setup was great, and he ran near the front the entire session. Harry and Lexie had really dialed this one in. Preparation, though, was only part of the battle.

They had to keep to their strategy for the race and hope cautions fell their way and wrecks didn't. It was a fun track for a driver to race, and he'd had more success than not in finishes there. But it only took one mistake on his part or another driver's—he recalled the Michigan wreck with a painful wince—to ruin everything.

The excitement of night racing and the beginning of The Chase hung in the air like the early-fall humidity. He was simultaneously nervous and exhilarated.

But he had miles to go before the race even began. He had a magazine interview to do, a meet-and-greet for another sponsor, the drivers' meeting, a team meeting and a meal or two to squeeze somewhere in between.

A pretty typical race day.

He'd barely get a chance to see his parents. It was no wonder they didn't come to races. He'd lost many relationships because of his job's time and focus and commitments, which made the married-with-children guys all the more amazing for finding a way to make their lives work.

“Any way I can squeeze in twenty minutes to see my mom?” he asked James as they walked away from the car after practice.

“I'm ahead of you there. Cookie, Inc. is catering dinner for the team in one of the sky boxes, so I put your parents on the guest list.”

“Good thinking.” He couldn't picture his elegant mother at an infield barbecue.

“That's what I'm here for.”

“Where are we doing this interview?”

“The hauler.” He glanced at his watch. “And we'd better get going.”

“Can I have a word with you first?” Lexie said from behind Kane.

When they stopped and turned, he noted her eyes were shadowed by sunglasses, so he couldn't gauge her mood. He didn't want to go round two with her about his father, but he was such a sucker for her presence he'd take what he could get.

“Sure,” he said, looking around in vain for a place on the busy pit road to talk.

“I'll go stall the reporter,” James said, then jogged off.

“Let's walk,” Lexie said.

It was still a little early for the fan mobs, but Kane still didn't see how they were going to stroll to the hauler without being interrupted twelve times.

“How about the pit box?” he suggested instead.

She shrugged, so he led the way.

They weaved through the crowd of mechanics, pit crews, reporters and other drivers—and got stopped twice by members of other teams—before they reached their pit and climbed the ladder to the box where Lexie and Harry watched the race and commanded the team.

He realized in that moment that his and Lexie's chemistry wasn't just personal. It extended to their relationship as driver and car chief. He'd spent a lot of the season aggravated when she pushed him, or told him he needed to find his passion before his career nosedived, but she'd been right about him suppressing his emotions too often. Her leadership was making him a better driver.

Smiling, he sat in the swivel chair next to Lexie. “Everything okay?”

“Yes. No.” She waved her hand. “Everything's fine with the race.” She took a deep breath and looked over at him. “I'm sorry I butted in earlier. Your relationship with your father is your business, not mine.”

He laid his hand on her thigh. “I'm glad you care enough to worry about me.”

She looked around apprehensively. “Kane, we shouldn't be doing this.”

“Talking?”

“Touching.”

“No one can see us up here.”

“Except the members of forty-two other racing teams.”

“They're not interested in us.”

“Or the 4,236 cameras at the track.”

“You're paranoid.”

“Yes.”

He leaned close and brushed his thumb along her jawline. “I thought we were discussing how much you care about me.”

“You're killing me here.”

He wished he could see her eyes. “I'm trying to arouse you.”

“We have a race in a few hours.”

“Don't we always?”

“I just wanted to apologize.”

“I'm accepting.”

“The flowers you left in my room were beautiful.”

He hadn't sent a note, but he'd hoped she would realize who the yellow and red roses were from. “Yellow is for remembrance. I looked it up. I added the red for luck—for the team and to remind you there are other couples in NASCAR who race together.”

There were wives and girlfriends who played significant roles in drivers' careers. Back in the day, a lot of the wives even kept the scoring books for the teams. Lexie's job might be even more critical, but if those guys could manage it, so could he and Lexie. “Have you thought about dinner?”

“I haven't really had time.”

“Especially since it takes so much effort to avoid me.”

“I haven't been avoiding you. We've both been busy.”

He stuffed his ego and reminded himself he couldn't expect her to spend every moment of the day thinking about him. She had as much, if not more, responsibility as he did.

She laid her hand over his, and his pulse jumped. “I'm trying to do my job.”

“And I'm making it more difficult.”

“Not on purpose. I just don't want our personal relationship to get in the way of the race.”

He reached out and slid her sunglasses off her face. When her gaze met his, he saw the same warring emotions he'd seen for weeks in his mirror. Desire and responsibility. Longing and caution. She wanted him. She just didn't
want
to want him. “Do we have a personal relationship?”

“We could, but—” She glanced off in the distance. “I'm scared of falling for you, Kane. I can't go through that again.”

“It'll be different this time,” he said, though he wasn't sure himself. He just knew he was different.

And while he was sure he'd never be smart enough or sophisticated enough to measure up to her, he wanted to try. He wanted to make up for the past and see if their future could be one to share.

“Instead of dinner,” he said, “how about a party at my house? To celebrate making the top ten.”

“When?”

Whenever James can get things together.
“Sunday night.”

“Is the rest of the team coming?”

“Sure.” A party with familiar people might take the pressure off their first official date in twelve years. “But I want you there
with
me.” When she hesitated, he continued, “I need something, Lexie. I need something from you that convinces me I'm not making a complete idiot out of myself.”

She had his body in a knot, his head spinning. He couldn't let her walk away from them again. They could make it work this time.

 

L
EXIE KNEW
she'd have to make a decision soon, and now the time had come. She'd been protecting herself—and the team.

But mostly herself.

“There's a lot at stake.”

“I know.”

She squeezed his hand. So many emotions rolled through her where Kane was concerned. They had a great deal of compromising to do to make their relationship work. A calmer, easygoing, more mature Kane would help make that happen. But could he be that man and still be a fierce competitor on the track? Could they have any hope of making a relationship work and still race together?

She thought of the warnings her father had given her earlier in the week, but ignoring her feelings certainly wasn't making them go away. And though no one would approve, and she might be making a serious career and personal mistake, she could no longer deny them a second chance.

If she got her heart broken again? Well, hell, it wouldn't be the first time.

“I'll come to the party,” she said quietly. “For you. Not just for the team.”

His eyes lit with pleasure. “Wear that black dress?”

She laughed, the warmth of his hand against hers infusing her with confidence. “I don't think so.”

“You can take it off anytime you want.”

It felt good to see his smile. The tension between them the past few weeks had made her forget how to relax with him. “No kidding. Anytime?”

He slid his hand higher up her leg. “Anytime.”

“Hey, buster, that's still your car chief's thigh. You have a race to run, so you'd better get your mind back there.”

His grin widened. “But my mind is happy where it is.”

“In the gutter, no doubt.” She stood. They both had a million things still to do. “What are we going to tell everybody?”

“Nothing. It's none of their business.”

Skeptical, she stared at him. “You're not going to say anything to James?”

“Maybe him, and everybody else will find out eventually. But let's avoid your father. He, uh, warned me off a few weeks ago.”

“Yeah? He did the same thing to me.”

“Hey, Oil Man! Nice run!”

Lexie turned and looked down to see driver Bobby Cashman, one of their Hollister Racing teammates, walking by with some of his crew members.

“Stay off my bumper tonight, dude!” Kane yelled back as he stood. “I'm winning this one.”

Cashman and his buddies burst into laughter.

Lexie watched them move farther down pit road, but she spoke to Kane. “You've
got
to beat him.”

“He's a teammate. Shouldn't I cut him some slack?”

“You shouldn't cut anybody slack tonight.”

“I know, I know. Fierce driving.”

“Definitely. And keep in mind that I bet a hundred bucks on you with Cashman's crew chief.”

He laid his hands over his heart. “Oh, baby, I'm so touched.”