Authors: Audra North
He could feel her grip relaxing. She took a half step forward, smiling into the mic.
“Not only am I going to qualify, but it’s going to make it even sweeter when I beat him.”
The room laughed.
“Seriously, Ty is a great racer and a good friend. We grew up together and cut our teeth on aluminum wheels. We’ve both got high octane in our blood. I think it’s fair to say that either of us could take the Rookie of the Year title.”
“What about the series cup?”
“Well, again, I think it’s anyone’s race. I wouldn’t be surprised if even some of the Coate Tailers got beat out by us rookies.”
Grady leaned forward at that and whispered, “Ringers.”
Kerri nodded. “Right, sorry. Ringers. You know how it is with old racing families.”
Oh, she was good.
He had no idea what the hell a Coate Tailer or a Ringer was in the racing world, but she’d taken the perfect opportunity to remind the press that she came from racing stock, that she was one of them, and that she deserved to be treated with respect.
And it hadn’t been just an act. What she’d said, and the charming way she had delivered it, had been as natural as breathing. He could tell. Neither she nor Grady were good at hiding what they felt. Even more incredible was just how strongly they seemed to feel—well, just about everything. How long had it been since he’d experience that depth of emotion? That
passion
?
Kerri had it, whether she was kissing him or talking about racing. She poured herself into things with a fervor that no one could fake. For a moment, he wondered what it would be like to really taste that passion … to kiss her and taste it, not because she was obligated to kiss him but because she really wanted to.
Don’t be a fool. This is just a pretense, remember? You don’t need Kerri when you have everything you worked for. Money, prestige, the chance to deliver a comeuppance to the man who took it all away from you in the first place.
He pushed the feelings aside. Probably the insanity of this day doing things to his brain. One more day, maybe two, getting acclimatized to this inconsequential little world and he would be back to normal.
And then nothing would distract him from getting what he wanted.
“I think that went pretty well. Right? What do you think? Do you think it went okay?”
Kerri was going to smack Grady if he didn’t stop bounding along next to her and Ranger, talking a mile a minute, as they all walked back to the pit after the press conference. She knew that Grady was trying to work out his nerves, but at this point, her own nerves were pretty frayed, and all she wanted to do was wrap up and get back to the hotel for some rest before tomorrow’s race.
A few photographers were still trailing alongside them, but fortunately not too close. Most had gotten their shots while they’d still been in the media building. No doubt a photo op of her looking sickly adoring of her new “fiancé” was much more interesting than their walk back to the pit.
“Yeah, it was good.” Next to her, Ranger gave Grady that slow easy smile Kerri had already come to think of as his I’m-about-to-ask-you-to-do-me-a-favor smile. “Listen, Grady, can you do me a favor?”
Bingo.
She was tempted to tell her big brother not to listen to the suit-clad devil, but that would probably result in Ranger causing a scene of some sort, and no doubt he’d blame it on her.
Unless he decides to kiss you. You wouldn’t mind taking the blame for that, would you?
Traitorous libido.
But there was no denying that Ranger Colt was hot. There was no way she’d be forgetting any time soon how his body had felt against hers back in the pressroom. They’d fit together so perfectly, she’d almost wanted to suggest that they take things a bit further to see if the sex would be as good as she suspected.
Not that there was going to be any sex. They were pretend engaged. It was only for the media. Behind closed doors, they’d probably end up just snarling at each other, anyway.
“What’s that, Ranger?” Grady sounded so eager that, for a moment, Kerri wondered whether her older brother was actually desperate to get away from them. She narrowed her eyes at him, but he wouldn’t look at her, just stared at Ranger all goggle-eyed and expectant.
Ranger pitched his voice low and nodded his chin toward the pit. “Can you run ahead and let Bit and the crew know what’s going on? You don’t need to go into details, just warn them not to be surprised if Kerri and I need to perform a little from time to time. I want all this excitement to die down within a week. Two, tops. All right?”
Grady nodded enthusiastically. “Got it. Yeah. Roger that. On my way.” With that, he practically sprinted off toward pit road, leaving Ranger and Kerri behind. She was staring after him when Ranger reached out and grabbed her hand, making her jump in surprise.
“What are you—”
“Showtime, sugar,” he whispered, lacing his fingers through hers. She stiffened while he tightened his grip, both of them using infinitesimally tiny movements so that no one would realize that there was a game of tug-of-war going on between them.
He stopped and turned to face her. His eyes on her were hard, boring into her as if willing her to understand. “We’re public now. Grady just left us alone—well, almost alone…” he glanced around at the reporters, photographers, and other people milling about on the infield, then he gave her a grin, like he was sharing a private joke with her.
Damn. That grin should be illegal. And he was definitely a good actor.
Not that she was surprised. He probably had a lot of practice pretending to be something he wasn’t, since he was a money-grubbing, power-hungry asshole who had somehow wormed his way into her life and was making her suffer for it.
Although … despite that it galled her to have to go along with this stupid plan, she had to admit that he was nice to look at.
She forced herself to relax, and her fingers wrapped around his, too. His eyes softened to match his smile, and some instinct she couldn’t control had her smiling back. His hand was big and warm and solid, and when he gave her a gentle squeeze, all those feelings he’d inspired in her earlier, when his lips had been on hers, came rushing back. She leaned toward him without even realizing, her own movement surprising her and making her stumble a bit.
Ranger reacted immediately. His free arm went around her back, her breasts landed against his chest, and she found herself at eye level with his incredible, alluring lips.
This time, there was no coaxing. No asking. They both moved in harmony, her head tipping up and back as he brought his chin down. Their lips met, her eyes fluttered shut, and then there was only Ranger’s mouth, Ranger’s body, Ranger’s vibrator …
Wait.
Vibrator?
Kerri broke the kiss, frowning at his chest. She could feel something buzzing there. Her mind still felt a bit fuzzy from the intense kiss, and it took her a second to realize that cameras were snapping and flashing all around them. The photographers who had been following them from the media center were having a field day with that kiss.
Damn it. What had she gotten herself into? That was part of the show, not something real. She didn’t even like him!
Yes, but you like his kisses.
His chest was still buzzing.
Ranger blinked, looking as confused as she probably had a second ago, then he grimaced and stepped away from her, opening his suit jacket and grabbing a phone from the inside pocket. He glanced down at the screen, and a shadow passed over his face before he slid the phone back into his pocket, ignoring the call.
And he didn’t try to kiss her again.
She couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or relieved.
Relieved! Of course you’re relieved. This is all a setup, and he’s not the kind of guy you need to get involved with for any other reason than business. That’s all he is.
Right. She needed to remember that the next time he kissed her as part of their “performance.” Guys like Ranger Colt didn’t belong in a family sport like car racing. She’d made him a deal, and she’d deliver, and then he’d be gone.
That’s
what she wanted. That’s what was best for the team.
This time, when he took her hand and started walking toward the pit again, she was careful to watch her step.
She wasn’t going to let herself fall.
* * *
“I’ve got five minutes.”
Ranger tried to keep his voice neutral. Professional. But all the history between him and his old man made that pretty fucking difficult. Not to mention finding out that Al had been sniffing around Hart Racing months before and hadn’t told Ranger.
He was still reeling from that discovery. Hadn’t he warned himself to keep his guard up around Al? The very first day he’d started at Colt International, three years ago, he’d looked himself in the eye in the bathroom mirror and promised he wouldn’t let that foolish old hope get in the way.
Hope, all during grade school, that his dad would show up in his classroom one day and apologize, in front of all the other kids, for staying away from his son for so long. Hope, through the rough years of middle school, when he hadn’t filled out yet and was still skinny and gawky, that Al Colt would call and take Ranger to a baseball game and explain why it had taken so long to get in touch.
Hope that had finally died when Ranger turned eighteen and money was no longer a reason for Al to stay away … and still he hadn’t come.
But it seemed that, in the past three years, since Colt International bought out the company where Ranger had been and he’d ended up right under his sonofabitch father, that stupid hope had been creeping back in.
Until today.
So when Al rang just as Ranger had walked into his hotel room after this long, exhausting day, he hadn’t trusted himself to say more than those four terse words.
I’ve got five minutes.
Nothing like a tender heart-to-heart between father and son.
Of course, Al shot back with a shitty greeting all his own.
“Why didn’t you answer my call earlier?”
Ranger snorted. In all the years that he had worked for Colt International, Al had never called him during a project. Before and after, yes. But he’d never intruded on Ranger’s turf.
It was one of the few things Ranger actually respected about his father. One of the things that had probably contributed to him letting down his guard too much.
The fact that Al had taken away even that small amount of trust shouldn’t have been surprising, given his track record. But for some reason, Ranger couldn’t help but feel … let down, somehow. So he didn’t bother to answer Al’s ridiculous question. Instead, he snapped out, “Now I’ve got four minutes.”
A deep sigh, and then the line was silent, but after a second, Al spoke again, his tone still just as brisk and business-like as Ranger’s. It was almost comical, how similar they sounded.
“What’s the status of Hart?”
“The family or the company?” Ranger knew he was being too antagonistic, but he couldn’t stop himself.
“Surprise me.”
“Doesn’t matter. They’re both a wreck. I’m meeting Kerri in”—he checked his watch—“three minutes to go over the deal. Seems she hadn’t been looped in on
this one
.” He emphasized those words to make it clear to Al that he knew about the first deal that fell through, and allowed himself a smug smile before adding, “Not that it matters, anyway. She’s already agreed not to fight me on this. Besides, it’s obvious that the financials aren’t good. But you already knew that.”
Al didn’t even bother denying it. Instead, he latched on to something else. “What do you mean, she agreed not to fight you? Does this have anything to do with the photos all over the sports sites of the two of you making out like teenagers?”
Goddamnit.
He was not having this conversation with his father. No matter what had happened between them, there were some boundaries that should never be crossed. He looked at his watch and said a silent prayer of thanks. “Time’s up, Al. You wanna know more? Read the press release. If there are any significant developments that I think you need to know directly, I’ll call you.”
Without bothering to wait for an answer, he disconnected and headed out of the room to meet Kerri in the lobby. He hoped she’d keep her promise and not fight him on the terms of the deal—even though she was sexy when she was angry. And the way she kissed—with everything she had—made him want to push a little harder, a little faster, to see just how deep that passion ran. Each time he’d kissed her today, he’d been so caught up by her response that he’d lost track of everything around him. Those kisses had been intense, like nothing he’d ever felt, even when he was younger and inexperienced with girls.
Making out like teenagers.
Al’s words rang in his ears as he ran down the stairs to the first floor. The thought brought him up short, just before he reached the lobby.
That intensity he had with Kerri was too distracting. Forgetting himself to the point of getting hot and heavy in the public eye? Forgetting himself to the point where making Hart Racing a raging success was second priority to holding Kerri in his arms and exploring her body with his mouth?
No. It couldn’t be. He had to cool it with her. Keep the kisses chaste and only for the cameras. He couldn’t let himself be tempted by the way she’d felt in his arms, or the way her eyes had sparked with fire and lust and made him
have
to have her.
She might be fast and furious behind the wheel, but he wasn’t about to let her drive him crazy off the track.
Lee Hart was an angry, sullen, annoying sixteen-year-old whose hands and feet were too big for his still-growing body.
He reminded Ranger of himself at that age.
Last night, after the team had finished up at the track, Ranger and Kerri had sat down at a table in the hotel restaurant to talk. The media coverage of their engagement had been overall positive, with only a couple of sentences about Earl’s stunt, but that was the only remotely positive moment between them. He’d spent the next hour reviewing the terms of the Colt buyout deal, watching as her expression became tighter and tighter. But she’d stayed true to her promise and hadn’t objected to anything in the contract. By the time she had read the last paragraph of the agreement and understood that Colt had full management of the team, though, her entire body was tense.