Authors: Audra North
Ranger picked up on her teasing tone, because he quirked one eyebrow and gave her a deep, sensual kiss before asking, “What, exactly, does Lee’s version of celebrating entail?”
“He likes to go dancing.”
“Like, at a club? Isn’t he a bit young for that?”
“Well, not quite. I checked with the hotel this morning, just in case. Their ballroom is free and the manager said he’d open it up for us if Lee won. It’s a thing we do before every race, just in case. I just can’t believe it’s actually happening! He’s going to invite all the other drivers, and we’re gonna have ourselves a breakdancing party, baby.”
“Whoa, what? How much is that going to cost us?”
Her jaw dropped, elation turning to anger. “Please tell me you are not worrying over the tiny amount of money this’ll cost.”
“That’s not—”
“Youngest winner
ever
, Ranger. Are you kidding me that you’re not going to let him celebrate this?”
She’d pulled away from him now, arms crossed over her chest.
“I wasn’t going to shut it down, I promise. Kerri…” He reached for her, but she jerked away, still angry.
A light flashed nearby, and they both turned to see a photographer turning away, immediately swallowed up by the crowd.
Shit.
Damn her temper! She should have held it in check until they were in private.
She sighed. Nothing they could do about it now.
Ranger must have had the same thought, because he turned back to her. “I’m not trying to ruin his celebration. But I am trying to manage the finances of the team, and I need to know these things. I’m sorry it came across as though I was trying to call it off. I was just surprised.”
She fumed for half a second longer, then conceded that, fine, he had a point. “I’m sorry. I just—”
I still worry that we’re nothing but numbers to you.
“I got carried away.”
He reached for her again, and this time she went to him, snuggling against his chest.
“So … Lee likes to
breakdance
?”
She could hear the smile in his voice, and she nodded. “He’s really good, too.”
“I’m not going to have to dance, am I? Because I really, truly, don’t mind paying for it. But I draw the line at dancing.”
She kissed him again, then gave him a mischievous grin. “Don’t worry, we can have our own private celebration afterward, up in my room.”
“In that case, what are we waiting for? Let’s get the party started.”
* * *
Buzz buzz.
Ranger’s phone was vibrating. He pulled his attention away from where Lee was tearing it up on the dance floor—Kerri hadn’t been kidding when she said Lee was really good at breakdancing—and grabbed the phone out of his pocket.
Aw, fuck.
Al Colt’s picture took up the entire display. Ranger scowled at that same too-big nose his father had passed on to him, stalked out of the ballroom into the quieter hallway, and answered with a terse “Ranger.”
Al didn’t waste time, either, not even bothering to greet Ranger. “What’s going on between you and Kerri Hart?”
Ranger almost responded as usual to Al’s brisk tone, but something in Al’s voice caught at him. This project with Hart Racing was making him question what he thought he’d known.
Still, he proceeded with caution. If Al was treating this like business as usual, Ranger couldn’t afford to tip his hand. “Everything you need to know is in the press release,” he replied, but he kept his voice easy. Nonconfrontational.
“I disagree.” Al’s response wasn’t exactly friendly, but it wasn’t scornful, either. It gave Ranger pause. Maybe Al’s past actions meant that he didn’t deserve his son’s regard, but Ranger was no longer willing to behave so badly, despite that past. Whether that was Kerri’s doing or the larger spirit of the racing world, he wasn’t sure. But he knew it didn’t feel right anymore.
Al was asking for more, even if he hadn’t actually
asked
. And he was still Ranger’s boss. He deserved to know.
Ranger blew out a frustrated breath. “We’re still doing damage control for the Earl situation. The worst of it has died down, but we need to maintain this steady, uneventful image for a while.”
“Is that so?”
Talk about testing his new resolve. He hated that superior, challenging note in Al’s voice. It made Ranger’s adrenaline start rising, wanting to take that challenge and crush it. All thoughts of Kerri and the enviable closeness she had with her family fled as Ranger’s blood pumped harder. Was Al up to something?
Calm down. Stay respectful. Even if you don’t feel that way.
“Yeah. I’ve got it under control.”
Al continued to push. “There a photo of the two of you looking fit to be tied on the landing page of
Sports Monthly
’s website. Caption says it was taken earlier today at the track. Is that what you call control?”
What the fuck?
Ranger scanned his memory, trying to figure out what photo Al could possibly be talking about. There had been fewer and fewer reporters hovering around them lately, since they’d been behaving exactly like a boring, staid couple with nothing to hide. No drama to reveal. When would—
Oh. Wait. That flash that had interrupted the discussion he’d had with Kerri earlier about the cost of renting out the ballroom. Ranger could still feel the thudding vibrations of hip hop music coming from behind the doors. Lee was probably still on the dance floor, spinning, rolling, and doing all sorts of maneuvers that Ranger hadn’t even known were physically possible until tonight.
That photographer had taken a snapshot in that one instant that he and Kerri had looked like they were deep in a major fight, then thrown it up on the site without a second thought.
God damn it.
“It’s trivial. Already yesterday’s news.”
As long as nothing else comes up to cause any more problems.
“It’s not trivial and you know it. You’re already deep enough into the season that you should be making sure Hart’s image is spic-and-span, son.”
He tried not to cringe when Al called him that. But Al’s dad voice had gentled, and the entire exchange was throwing Ranger off. His emotions were being pulled in too many directions, confusing the situation even more. He blew out a breath and looked up at the ceiling. “What are you suggesting I do? Make a stir about it, insist that we weren’t fightin’? That’ll have ’em practically breathin’ down our necks for the next few months.”
There was a moment of silence, and then, “That redneck way of talking is really rubbing off on you, son.”
Aw, hell, no.
Ranger nearly exploded with rage. “Don’t you
dare
talk about them like that.” His voice was barely audible, he was gritting his teeth so hard. “You have no idea who they are. You have no idea who
I
am. They work hard and so do I, and if you have a problem with the way I’m running this project, quit fucking around and just say so.”
Damn it.
He’d lost his cool despite his resolve to be cautious.
To his surprise, though, Al just chuckled, the sound scratchy and strange even through the phone.
“Fine. It’s your project. I trust you. But a few more photo ops of some hand-holding, meaningful looks, any of that crap, wouldn’t hurt.”
Al trusted him? He’d never said anything like that before. What the hell was happening to the sonofabitch Ranger had always known Al to be?
“I’ll take care of it.” Ranger was suddenly exhausted. All he wanted was to get off the phone and pretend this conversation had never happened. “I’ll keep you posted if there are any
important
developments.”
With that, he hung up, not bothering to say good-bye, and headed back into the ballroom to find Kerri.
Kerri had been keeping an eye on the door since she saw Ranger slip out of the ballroom ten minutes before. He’d been staring down at his phone, frowning, and from the set of his shoulders she could tell he wasn’t happy. Ten minutes later, she was about to head out into the hallway to find him when the door cracked open and he slipped back inside.
He looked even more tense than when he’d left.
Damn. Had he lost a sponsorship opportunity or something? Or, God forbid, had something gone wrong at the garage?
No. They would have called Grady for that. It had to be something to do with money. That’s what Ranger cared about.
Although … not really. Of course there was so much more to what he cared about than just dollar signs. She’d thought that enough times before already. But his feelings toward his dad were getting in the way of the man he could be. The man she wanted.
Aw, who was she kidding? She wanted him, anyway, flaws and all. She wanted him now. She wanted to wipe that frown from his face and make him relax again. On a sigh, Kerri pushed her way through the dancing crowd of Lee’s friends, over to where Ranger was leaning against the wall, brooding.
“Hey.” She had to pitch her voice louder to be heard over the music, but he leaned his head toward her, somehow creating an intimate space in the middle of a raging dance party.
What had happened? This close, she could see that his mouth was drawn tight, his eyes sharp and bright with something unpleasant. She stole a look at the dance floor. She couldn’t even see Lee, he was so deep in the crowd, but Grady was standing on the fringes, keeping an eye on their little brother.
She turned back to Ranger. “Wanna get out of here?”
He still didn’t speak, just nodded and followed her out the door.
The relative silence in the hallway seemed to magnify every emotion. They were barely two steps away from the ballroom when Ranger put one arm around her waist and dragged her toward him, kissing her hot and open-mouthed and making her feel so boneless that she practically melted backward, her body draping itself over his arm.
So this is how it was going to be.
He needed to blow off some steam, that much was clear. She’d been hoping he’d talk to her, but from the hard, insistent ridge in his pants—the one she could feel pressing against her thigh—she knew that trying to draw him out now would only drive him away. She’d handled enough men in her life, on and off the track, to know that much.
And she didn’t want to drive him away. She wanted him. Flaws and all.
Somehow they managed to get on the elevator, and as soon as the doors shut, he was on her full force, yanking her to him, digging his fingers into her hair, and taking her mouth so hard that it almost hurt. She winced a bit, more in surprise than pain, but he immediately pulled back and drew in a ragged breath.
“Fuck, Kerri. I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”
No. No, you didn’t.
Hearing his voice all of a sudden was too much. It made her go silent, and she didn’t say the words. She put her finger to his lips and shook her head before pulling him back to her, untucking his shirt and running her fingers up his chest, pinching at his nipples. He growled and backed her against the far wall of the elevator, pushing his erection between her legs, then hesitating there for a moment, as though asking her if she really wanted this.
Yes. Yes, I do.
The elevator dinged and came to a stop, and reluctantly she disengaged herself from him, stepping out into the corridor. But he didn’t let her go for long. He grabbed her hand and pulled her forward, toward the door of his hotel room. He didn’t release his hold on her even as he grabbed his wallet from his pocket and took out his keycard with one hand before unlocking the door.
Impressive.
She liked a man with deft fingers.
He pushed the door open and tugged her inside, kissing her deep and wet while his fingers worked open the button and zipper of her jeans. It was rough and fumbling, but she didn’t care. She wanted him too much, was so ready for this.
They practically fell against the wall of the small entryway, stumbling over each other’s legs in their urgency to touch and lick and—
“
Oh.
” The word came out on a breathless moan as he pressed her back against the plaster wall and pushed his hand inside her panties, his fingers rubbing over her clit with just the right amount of pressure to make her knees go weak. How did he do it to her? Slow or fast, in the darkness of night or bathed in the bright light of a sunny morning, every time he made love to her, she responded with an intensity that she’d never felt with another man. He knew just where to touch her to make her writhe and moan and plead for more.
Just like she was doing now.
Now he was stroking through her curls, sliding down to caress the soft skin around her opening, and it was driving her crazy. So good, but not enough.
She brought her hands up and threaded her finger through the short strands of his hair, then pulled gently.
“I want you
now
.”
He took her mouth again and continued to tease between her legs, until she pulled away and repeated, “
Now
, Ranger.”
And then she pushed her hand between them, pressing her palm against the bulge in his pants for a moment before stroking up and down through the fabric.
His breath hitched and he froze, his eyes closing for just a second as though reveling in the sensation.
And then suddenly, it was like a switch had been flipped, and she found herself lifted and brought to the bed, where he dropped her without a word, grinning as she bounced with the impact.
But before she could even give him a suggestive
look
, he reached out one strong arm and flipped her to her stomach, then pulled her back toward him until her feet were on the floor with her cheek resting on the bedspread.
Neither of them even bothered to undress all the way. She helped him to push her jeans to her knees before he unzipped his pants and shoved his boxers down. She could feel the fabric brushing against her as it slipped down his thighs. It made her so eager that she actually whimpered, and thankfully he didn’t tease her. Instead, not even a second later, she felt the broad head of his cock at her opening. He grunted as he thrust inside, and the animalistic sound had her moaning in response.