A stupid riding camp. That was all it was supposed to be—only one week at that. How it snowballed into something so much larger, she had no idea.
“Let’s get him into the kitchen, I want to get some water in him, now,” James said, ignoring Dallas’s assurances that he could get out of the Gator and into the house himself.
Her mind kicked in and her heart pounded as she hurried up the path to the French doors off the kitchen, opening them wide for James and Dallas. The smack talk and sketchy passes on other tracks back home had been the extent of it up until now. Mac chalked it up to being
just a part of racing
. Now she had no idea what to do as she watched James assist her son through the doors.
Hearing voices, she turned to see the others nearing the garage with the bike. Eli broke off from the group and headed her way.
“I’m so sorry, Honor.”
His desperate apology was unwarranted. “No, Eli. It’s not your fault.”
Pulling her into his arms, he stroked her back. Accepting his comfort, she laid her cheek against the steel beneath it, willing herself not to break down. Not there, not in front of everyone.
“He’s my responsibility,” he said, his lips pressed against her hair.
“No, he’s not, Eli. He’s mine.”
His movement stopped and he drew back stiffly. “On that track—he’s my responsibility.”
The tone and sureness in his words stilled her, leaving her unable to argue. She gazed up at the hazel eyes, and the worry. The anger and fear swirling through them sent a wave of prickling heat over her skin. Without preamble, he tucked her back into his chest. She felt the pounding of his heart. Not wanting to take him on, she shook her head. This was her mess to figure out, her problem to handle.
For a second time, she shook her head no, with little fight in it, more of a movement against his strength, a silent argument with her conscience.
Her mother had been wrong before. She said she’d never leave and she’d done way worse than that. She also said Honor didn’t need a man. Honor let out a quiet snort. Here, right now? She needed Eli’s help, his opinions, his friends, his strength.
She needed Eli.
He tucked his mouth close to her ear. “You will let me help you with this.”
His whispered words were quiet in her ears, but he might as well have shouted them from the mountaintops.
Honor tried to ease back, wanting to see his face again, needing to read him. His muscled arms relinquished control, but marginally. He was keeping his hold on her, and the movement wasn’t lost on her. She was able to read the power for what it was.
She’d been strong her whole life…she had not had a choice. The last two years, she’d been resolute. Regarding the hazel eyes once again, she saw the warmth and promise he’d been showering her with day in and day out.
This man was going to be her downfall. Honor wilted against him. His arms tightened, stroked, soothed and ultimately, proved her need for him. Honor let the sensation wash over her. She needed him. Her women’s-libber mother was probably rolling over in her grave, but Honor didn’t give a damn.
Eli’s warm breath came closer to her ear. “I’ve got you, sweetheart. Trust me.”
Those were the same words he continued to beg with. He wasn’t asking for the moon, or her only child, just…trust. Honor knew if she chanced a look up, she’d lose it. Instead, she let out a breath, pulled him closer, and nodded.
As her need for him continued to climb, the clock was running out. It was almost time to go, back to a house that was no longer home.
Once they were seated around the Noland’s kitchen table, James cocked his head, his concerned gaze falling on Emery. “Well?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, James.
Dallas is right, that bike has been tampered with.”
Eli squeezed Honor’s thigh under the table. “How? I don’t get it.”
He felt the guilt coming from Emery, and Joey too, who had come up from the shop when James called. This wasn’t their fault, but Eli knew how attached Emery was to Dallas. He also knew how personally she was taking the incident. She was as tough as nails, but he’d watched her green eyes pool twice while trying to explain.
“The bolt that holds the swingarm came loose.”
Honor titled her head, the confusion evident on her face. “But…that can happen. It works loose sometimes. Right?”
Emery shook her head. “Not on my bike. If it was anybody else, especially a lesser caliber rider, I could believe it. On a beginning racer, yeah. One that doesn’t have a trained mechanic, yeah. Very easily. But not on my bikes, and no way in hell on that bike.”
“But accidents happen, Emery. It’s okay.”
Eli could tell Honor was trying to make Emery feel better, but there was the bigger picture she had no clue about.
Eli watched Emery. She glanced around at the men surrounding the table before her face settled back on Honor. “Not on his bike.” She smiled at Dallas, the love and sweetness visible.
“I personally rip his bike down and build it back up every night. There’s absolutely no way that bolt worked loose on its own. I’m not perfect by any means, but that bolt was purposely loosened, and the chain locked up. It could have been,” Emery rubbed a palm up her face and through her bangs, “so much worse. It wasn’t an accident, Honor. I’ve been doing this too many years. I know what’s been going on around the track. I’ve seen the dirty passes, heard the snarky comments. That Highlends kid is responsible. I just don’t know how he got into the shop.
“I don’t think he meant for Dallas to get hurt. If he’d just been riding to or from the track, the chain would have locked up, he’d have been done for a bit while Joey or I fixed it. But, unfortunately, that isn’t what happened, and I don’t know what else has been messed with until I break it back down.”
Jesse nodded his head and rubbed his wife’s back. “The chatter around the track has been constant and talk spreads quickly. When the two Highlends brothers and their buddy showed up, jealousy reared its ugly head. Scott Highlends has been trying for two years already to nail that triple. He’s fourteen and
Dallas is the only one here right now able to do it. His ego’s bruised.”
“I know.” Carter shrugged. “Word I’ve been hearing is that he was telling everyone he was going to do it this year when he got here for his week at camp. You were on the track when their RV pulled up. I saw the look on his face, and his father’s as well, when
Dallas sailed across it like it was nothing.” Shaking his head, he continued, “You add that to what happened the other day and—”
“What happened the other day?” James interrupted.
Eli exchanged looks with Carter and Jesse. “Well, Highlends was being an ass—”
Carter stepped in. “He started in on Dallas,” he tipped a smile in his direction, “and then he mentioned Alex, and our boy here made sure Scott knew what would happen if anything happened to her.”
“I want them gone! They are no longer welcome. I want them off the track today, their shit packed, and off my property immediately,” James replied. The fury radiating from him filled the large home.
“No!”
Dallas whipped his head to meet James eye-to-eye.
“Son…?” His voice instantly lowered, the anger not directed toward
Dallas. “I have to. I want to hear more about what he said regarding my granddaughter, but I cannot and will not have racers on that track jeopardizing the safety of others. Not only is what that boy did wrong, it’s against the law. I don’t think you understand how hurt you could have been. I can tell by the way you’re sitting how sore you are. He’s a liability that I can’t have on my property.”
“Please…James…Sir.”
Eli leaned around Honor to see Dallas on her other side. That was his fatal move. The gray eyes the boy laid on him were heart stopping.
It was one thing to have Alex flash her big blue eyes for a second cookie, or Jack’s dimples work their magic to stay up later when they spent the night with him. The desperation written on the face of the son of the woman he’d fallen in love with, hit him like a sucker punch. He wanted backing—
his
backing. Dallas tilted his head, waiting for Eli to speak up.
For a second time, Eli nodded at
Dallas.
Dallas
turned his argument back to the man with the final say. “Please…? Can I have a chance, James?”
“What’s going on, Eli?” James asked with a narrowed eye on Eli.
Wow, he didn’t expect James to pick up on it so quickly.
Shit.
James’s years of expertise of being not only Brody’s father, but Molly’s with her heart-twisting blue eyes, were no match for Eli. Swallowing hard, he tried to pick his words wisely before blabbing them all out randomly. His calmness and siding argument was Dallas’s only defense.
“Well, ah…he’d like the chance to even the score, so-to-speak.”
James’s eyes went wide. “Oh hell, no!”
“Are you kidding me?” Honor asked with her grip tight on his upper arm.
Eli didn’t know which way to look first—he had James’s putting his foot down on one side and Honor’s mother’s panic on the other.
Oh holy hell
.
How in the freaking world did he explain the boy’s side when he and Dallas had never spoken a word out loud about it? It was just a feeling he got. He knew what
Dallas was after, he knew the boy could handle it, and Eli knew he needed to do so.
“Okay, wait…wait. Hear me out. Please.” Eli placed a palm flat on the table, his other hand mimicked the same stressed action on Honor’s leg. Feigning the need for air, he paused after pulling in a deep breath while he racked his brain for an answer that might, God help him, bring down the anxiety level in the room a couple of notches.
“All right. How about this? Clear the track, let them have five laps. I want Matt, Mike, whatever Highlends dad’s name is, standing at the finish. Then when Dallas kicks his kid’s ass, we’ll all be standing there to make them leave. We’ll all be trackside so he’ll know there won’t be any unseen dirty shit going on out there. Emery can work on the bike up here, so it’ll be guaranteed safe and locked up.”
James raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like you’ve put some thought into this, Hunter?”
Eli glanced down at the grains in the wood table in front of him. The same table he’d sat at countless times. The table that had always seen good times when he’d been seated at it. Never, in his wildest nightmares, would he have pictured sitting here, discussing what was going on around him at that moment.
“No. Actually I haven’t. I pulled that one out of thin air. I just know my boy can do it. And I know he wants the chance to prove himself. Word’s going to spread about this, one way or another. Kids talk. It’s bullying, plain and simple, James. He can’t afford to walk away, and I know he can handle it. Right, son?”
Dallas’s proud face was answer enough, but he nodded at Eli also. He winked back then caught a glimpse of Honor’s parted mouth, her expression was split with confusion and what Eli assumed was approval. The tears forming in her eyes though, he couldn’t begin to decipher.
For several moments, James studied Eli then Dallas, and like Eli had done, he lowered his head and stared at the table.
The ice in James’s glass rattled as he picked the almost empty drink back up. “Well,” he paused, “I guess if I’m going to allow this and we’re all sitting here, we might as well go ahead and discuss everything else.”
Eli’s eyes went wide. “James.”
He wanted to stop him, but it was too late. Eli wanted to talk to Honor privately first, ease her into the idea. He knew she was going to spook the minute James started.
“Honor, has Eli talked to you yet?” James asked, his tone perfectly reasonable, ready to move on to business.
“No, I haven’t.” Eli grabbed her hand.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Flopping from side-to-side and front to back, he ended up flat on his back, his hands clasped behind his head. Eli sighed and studied the shadows on his bedroom walls. His thick curtains were drawn, but the light of the full moon spilled in from Honor’s room, and given his eyes adjusted to the dark almost an hour ago, he could see perfectly. Sleep was eluding him tonight.
He wished like hell he knew what Honor was thinking.
Eli tried changing the subject a handful of times, but they discussed the Highlends kid in-depth. They all knew the game plan, the risks, the gains, and they ended up in total agreement. Well, once they got James to quit trying to talk Dallas out of it. James kept reverting back to his original idea of just kicking them the hell out. Personally, Eli liked that idea too.
But damn, James was determined. Eli had to give Honor credit though. She had not one, but two major bombs dropped on her in one day and she hadn’t run screaming at either one.
With all the progress Dallas made in the short time he’d been at the academy, his natural talent, his determination, the lack of money for his racing, and the fact that time was running out on their month…they’d made him an offer. The offer was to him, but everyone knew Honor made the final decision.
A contract.
A simple piece of paper, black and white print with a fine black line for her to sign. Technically, it had several lines. When James came back from his study with the crisp document, laid it flat on the table, and slid it toward her, little nuances swept across her face, betraying the nerves she tried so hard to hide. The quick flare of her eyes, a forced tug at the corner of her mouth, and the way her gaze darted between James and the piece of paper in front of her made her appear even more skittish.
Eli could tell she was nervous even without reading the document first, but when she glanced up at him, wide-eyed, she appeared pained. Not only did it have the academy logo at the top, but everyone else at the table had already signed it. He squeezed her thigh, watching as she ran her finger over the blue ink on the second line. His signature.
They wanted Dallas.
Simple.
He needed funds to continue to race.
Easy.
Eli knew she didn’t want to accept any more help.
Problem.
She had sat through the rest of their impromptu meeting with a steady grace, never wavered, never got flustered. She listened to their proposal, to the ins and outs, to the extreme offer they desperately wanted her to say
yes
to. More than once, she gripped his hand under the table. Given her sharp, quick breaths, Eli could only assume it was shock each time. Especially when James mentioned they’d like to have him
on property
as much as she would allow.
When James’s selling points had been all laid out, she quietly asked for time to think about it.
After voicing her response, the hopeless look on Dallas’s face broke Eli’s heart. Judging from the rest of the table, he wasn’t the only one. He had to hand it to the kid, he didn’t throw any sort of fit. But his words from previous talks kept haunting Eli. He knew Dallas was certain his mother would say no, and at the beginning of the following week—they’d head home.
Dallas
had already been favoring his right shoulder and elbow, but his mother’s request seemed to hurt the child more than any wreck could.
It was scary as hell for Eli to think he felt the same way and that in such a short time, he could become so attached to a young child.
Dallas was just a good kid—respectful, kind, good with the younger children, and funny. It really had nothing to do with racing or his mother. Eli just liked him. They’d become friends.
After living with him and Honor for an extended time, he’d become used to having them in his home. He like the company. He liked the joking, sneaking downstairs to play X-Box with
Dallas when Honor thought her son was asleep, the constant laughter, and helping Dallas with the reading techniques Karen taught them all. He wanted them to share meals with, or simply to hang out with and watch television. It didn’t matter what they were doing, he just wanted them to remain in his space.
Then he flipped the coin over, and the thought of losing Honor ripped his heart out. She’d become so much more than just
Dallas’s mom. It was more than just her incredible cooking and soft voice. It was how she understood his world and the quietness about her. She was content to stay in with a simple meal and sometimes a glass of wine, or cup of coffee after dinner. He liked when he was able to take her in his arms and hold her tight. How her hair smelled of lilacs. The way her eyes danced with pride when she watched Dallas on the track.
His breathing picked up and his chest tightened. He hadn’t recognized it before. Hell, he’d never felt it before. Eli had been telling Honor the whole time to trust him, that she was his, that he’d take care of her. He felt like he’d been punched and kissed silly at the same time. His head was spinning at the knowledge, wondering when it happened.
But he knew.
It was stepping out of the rental car in
Tennessee. He turned to see her standing on the porch and that was it. He’d fallen in love.
Eli could have called it lust, and even close friendship, but he knew the truth. It was love the whole time.
Suddenly, that contract meant more than just Dallas staying through the end of the summer, giving him the option of more time. It meant more than a paid ride and more than provided gear and bikes. It meant they’d be his. He needed her to stay more than he needed his next breath.
Scrubbing his hands over his face, he blew out a breath. Knowing he was not going to fall asleep anytime soon, he threw back the covers. He was too wide awake to lie there any longer and figured he’d grab a glass of milk. When his feet hit the cold wooden floor, he decided two fingers of scotch sounded better.
In his standard morning dress of boxers, pajama pants and nothing else, he quietly padded across his bedroom floor. Reaching the doorway, he heard something. Inching his way closer to Honor’s opened door, he stopped to listen.
Hearing the tell-tale sign of soft crying, Eli tapped on the
door frame and slipped in without waiting for an answer.
“Honor?” he whispered into the darkness.
She didn’t move.
“You can play possum all you want, sweetheart, but I heard you. Are you okay?”
Eli sat on the edge of the bed close to her head. She said nothing as he softly brushed the hair from her face. At last, a hand poked out from under the blanket and slid across his thigh. Eli grasped it with his free hand.
“I’m okay, Eli. Really.” Her voice was timid and choked.
“Why don’t you be honest and talk to me. Let me help.”
She sniffed.
He could tell his words, although he’d meant them to be kind, started a fresh wave of tears. With the hand he’d been running through her hair, he tried to wipe away a tear, but for every one he wiped, a new one fell.
“Are we still there, honey? I know you hadn’t agreed yet, but I thought you understood that we see something special in him.”
“I do, Eli. I understand. The offer is beyond amazing, it’s everything I could never give him. But—”
“But you can see where this is heading, can’t you?”
Eli felt her head nod under his hand.
It wasn’t some secret plot against her to steal her son. But Eli could see how it might feel that way. The contract was open-ended. They had started off easing her into the end of the summer time frame. In all actuality, everyone at that table, including
Dallas, wanted it to flow into a permanent plan.
Everyone except…maybe Honor.
Karen could continue to homeschool him, the guys would concentrate on his training, his needs would be provided for, and he would be the start of their own race team.
When the school had taken off, it was something Jesse had thrown out one day while they stood watching a couple of riders on the track. Since then, the idea had become a serious concept. They weren’t going to rush it, they had no need to try to prove to the world they could be a success with an amateur race team. They would just sit back and wait for the perfect racer.
Dallas was that racer.
Eli knew they had thrown a lot of information at her this afternoon, bombarding her with the advantages. Without embellishing, they listed every positive aspect. It was just that no one wanted to talk about the downside.
She had a life in Tennessee. One that she couldn’t just leave for weeks and months at a time. Honor had her own small company to run, bills to pay, people who counted on her. In order for Dallas to continue to train in Pennsylvania, as much as they would like that, she’d have to send him—alone.
He couldn’t even comprehend how bad she must feel, how many directions she felt pulled. That was without the stress of
Dallas’s crash weighing into the equation.
With no agenda, Eli laid down beside her.
He hadn’t even realized what he’d done until it was too late. Expecting her to object and roll to the other side to escape him, Eli was bowled over when she curled into him instead.
He pulled in a breath and tucked her closer. The hot drip of her tears rolled down his bare chest as she continued to silently cry. Kissing her head, rubbing her back and arms, whispering soothing hushes into the dark were all he could do. After a long while, the tears slowed, the sniffles quieted down, and the jerks of aftershock stilled. Eli assumed she had drifted off to sleep in his arms.
“Dallas’s teacher called me this morning during her planning period.”
Her words were so quiet Eli had to replay them in his head to piece them together.
“And…?” he whispered in return.
“And we’ve been scanning and emailing in his homework from Karen’s computer. Everything she’s helped him with has come back with A’s and B’s.
Dallas has never fought me to go to Karen and James’s for his schoolwork. Actually, he loves going over there.” Honor paused for a long while, but Eli waited.
“Mrs. Cavanaugh said his work has never been better, and to keep doing whatever it is we’re doing.”
Eli wanted to jump up and down because that was good news, something to be celebrated with a nice dinner. Honor’s reaction was far from being celebratory. He knew that added weight to her decision. It was becoming harder and harder for her to fight to take him home, especially when her two biggest struggles were going to be wiped away if she let Dallas stay.
“He hasn’t left the property since we arrived from the airport. It’s easy to get lost here, Eli. It’s perfect for him. He has the best trainers in the world and the most cutting edge technology that money can buy in order for him to ride. Which, by the way, I put two-and-two together and figured out that little piece about the bike you provided for him. No one else has a bike provided for them.”
She shook her head slightly. Eli felt it against his chest, but didn’t add details to what she already assumed—correctly.
“And now his grades are improving drastically. You were right, you knew immediately what was wrong. Karen knows how to reach him, and he’s responding unbelievably well. It’s an answer to my prayers. God, you just have no idea how many nights I’ve been just sick about him, worrying about it, fighting through each year just trying to keep his head above water. Maybe you do, with your brother, but… It’s not home.”
Eli heard her take several steeling breaths.
“How do I accept that kind of help and that kind of money? I couldn’t afford to pay what any other child’s parents would have to pay. It’s charity, Eli. I have always made my own way. I’ve always taken care of his needs by myself. I don’t know if I can do this. It’s too much. And he’s—he’s my baby. I just… Oh God, do you know how much I’d miss him?”
Eli understood. He felt the same way about his own life. He appreciated that need to be self-sufficient. If he answered her questions, she would gain strength and a certain battle would begin. So he let it go for now and changed directions. Eli had been waiting for the right moment. He gathered her closer.
He counted to ten before he said the words. “Stay here with me, Honor. I-I need you.”
She stiffened for half a minute, then melted into his hold. Honor gave him no words, but she stayed tucked in his arms and for tonight, that was enough.
****
A wall of heat and muscle lay behind her from head to toe. Honor felt his warm breath on her neck. Her hair was swept out of his way, and he was placing feather soft kisses along the slope. With only a tank top and pajama shorts on, her shoulders, neck, and arms were exposed to him. Blinking her eyes open, she could barely make out the shapes of the furniture in the dark room. The dim green numbers on the clock beside the bed let her know it was almost five in the morning. Her heart started to race for a quick moment when she became conscious enough to know Eli was still in her bed. Then it sped up more as his palm eased down her side, across her cotton shorts to her bare thigh.
Her worlds were colliding. She knew what she needed to do. She knew what she wanted to do. They were nowhere near one and the same. Then she felt the tip of his tongue make a quick sweep across her skin, leaving behind a wake of fire in its place.