Sultry in Stilettos (21 page)

“Jesus, Ricca, you look tense. Why are
you so nervous?" Lila indicated her hands. “You don’t have to watch
Roberto drive, you know."

Yeah, that’s what you
think
. "I'm always around on fantasies. It
makes me feel better if I can monitor everything myself. To be
sure..."

Lila's eyes softened as she gave Ricca
a small smile. "There was nothing you could have done to prevent
Roberto from driving that day. He wanted to be behind that wheel.
It was a total freak accident. Preliminary checks of the car
wouldn't even have revealed anything. He’s fine, and he had a great
time. Today you’ve taken every precaution. Just let the guys have
fun.” She drew in a breath. “He says Beckett can be his wingman any
time. And I agree." Lila nodded enthusiastically. "Beckett saved
his life."

Ricca gazed out across the track as
the guys put on their identical protective jumpsuits. The two of
them grinned like idiots as they clapped each other on the back.
What was it about men's sports? There was always some kind of
homoerotic element. "Oh I know. He does stuff like that all the
time. Not saving lives, but risking them. He'd be the one to know
what to do in that situation."

Ricca felt Lila's gaze on her face for
a second too long, and her skin grew hot and prickly under the
scrutiny.

"Oh my God, you’re in love with him.”
Lila squeezed her arm, and Ricca winced with pain. For such a
little thing, Lila sure was strong.

"No. Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m
not."

Lila's eyes narrowed. "Don’t lie to
me. I see the way you look at him. You’re tracking his every
movement. You can’t take your eyes off of him." Lila chortled. "And
who can blame you? He's got a great ass."

Ricca turned on her new friend, mouth
agog.

"Oh come on. You can’t tell me you
haven’t noticed."

"Well, of course I have. He runs
around flaunting it every chance he gets, but you're married.
Eyeballs to yourself."

"Married ain’t dead." She laughed.
“But to me, Roberto is hunk on a stick."

Ricca smiled and ignored the twinge of
jealousy. She’d love to have that kind of relationship with someone
one day. “You two make a great pair."

"Just like you and Beckett. I heard
how he took care of you yesterday when you were sick."

Ricca blushed, thinking
about how she and Beckett ‘took care’ of each other. "Lila,
honestly. You’re only going to be disappointed. He’s not that kind
of guy, and frankly, I know better." As she uttered the words, her
heart gave a tug. If she really knew better, then why were Lila's
words ringing true? Who the hell was she kidding? Any way she could
have him, she wanted him.
Pathetic
. "We’re
friends."

"Honey, if I had a friend like that,
who looked at me the way he looks at you, I'd be in a whole mess of
trouble. Not to mention Roberto would lock me in a tower with
dragons and vampires to guard it."

Ricca chuckled. “Beckett’s not the
marrying kind."

Lila shrugged. "You might
be right there. Guys like him were meant to be enjoyed by the
masses. No one marries
that
guy."

For the next hour and a half, Ricca
watched Roberto and Beckett race along the banked track. Beckett
even looked like he was having fun—really enjoying himself. It was
moments like this, when Ricca watched him from afar, that she
wondered how they'd ever managed to become friends. He looked like
the natural athlete he was, perfectly natural sliding into the
Bugatti as if he were made to sit behind the luxury super
car.

As the final race ended, she breathed
a sigh of relief. No incidents. Nothing. Everything was fine. Maybe
Serena was right and they had overreacted. But still, her gut told
her something wasn’t right. She wouldn't do anything about it now.
All she could do was prepare for their big finale and hope she
didn’t lose her heart or her life in the process.

"I’m not in love with him,"
Ricca mumbled under her breath.
Yeah
right.
The lies we tell
ourselves
. But she'd gone into this like a
big girl, and she'd been having fun. But they wouldn't be able to
go on like this for much longer. She’d already spent years in love
with him. If she didn't stop soon, she'd be too far gone to ever be
able to let go.
Just a little
longer.
She could keep it light and free
for just a little longer. She’d stop before she got too deep, fell
too hard.

In a heartbeat, her whole world went
into slow motion. As Roberto and Beckett did another loop on the
track, the Veyron’s tires screeched. Tires smoked. Immediately, the
Karma slowed and did a U-turn in the opposite direction. Every tech
on the track ran toward Beckett and the Veyron. At the speed it was
going, Ricca worried he’d hit the sides. Or worse, that the car
would flip.

Beckett held fast, drifting
the car to a full stop. As he shoved open the driver’s side door in
a cloud of smoke, he stumbled out, yanking at his suit. Ricca
watched in horror as the techs reached him and the car and he
shoved them away. All she could hear from her vantage point were
his shouts of pain. Shit. Something was wrong.
Very wrong.

The stands erupted. Ricca was on her
feet and running down the stairs as fast as she could with
four-inch heels on. Lila was right behind her. "Ricca, I'm sure
he'll be fine."

Ricca hoped so, but as soon as she
reached the track, she watched in muted terror as Beckett yanked
off his suit. His arms were red and blistered as were his hands.
Lines of panic etched on his normally handsome face, as he
hurriedly tried to step out of the suit. As he finally got the suit
off, he leaned against the Veyron for support, before sliding down
to sit with his blistered palms facing up and his eyes fluttering
closed.

Not even thinking, Ricca judged the
distance to center of the track. Slipping off her shoes, she handed
them to Lila. "Do me a favor and hold onto these for me, would
you?"

Without waiting for an answer, she
scooted back onto the railing, then swung her legs over the side
and jumped. Limbs flailing, she freefell, nearly landing flat on
her ass. Ignoring the looks and shouts, she sprinted over to
Beckett’s prone form and elbowed between two paramedics. When she
laid eyes on him, not giving a shit who saw her or thought he was
weak, she wrapped her body around his. "Beckett Mills, you wake up
right now, do you hear me? You are officially not allowed to give
me any more scares. I'm not interested. Wake up, you
moron."

His voice was low as he muttered, "You
always were a bit melodramatic."

Ricca sat back and stared at him. He
was okay. "Seriously, you’re fine?"

He nodded. "Yeah, relax I’m okay. Just
a few blisters. Mostly on my hands and arms I think." He grinned.
“Could have been worse and been my face.”

Ricca stifled an eye roll. "You scared
the shit out of me. I thought we had a deal about that. You agreed
that you wouldn't scare me anymore. Remember that?"

"Seems to have slipped my
memory."

Lila ran over. As she reached the
group, she handed Ricca her shoes. "You’re very trusting to hand me
your three thousand dollar shoes. You’re lucky I'm an honest woman.
I could have made out like a bandit.”

Ricca wrapped her arms around Beckett
again. "I was worried.”

He sat up and gave her an awkward hug
back, taking care with his hands. "Yeah me too. I don’t know what
happened. On that last lap I felt like my suit was on fire. I could
see it wasn’t, and I didn’t smell any smoke, but my skin...” His
voice trailed. “I would have sworn I was in an inferno.”

Roberto came over and knelt beside
them. “Well that was one way to throw the race so the client
wins.”

Beckett managed a weak smile and
focused on Roberto. “You’re okay? Your suit and car?”

Roberto nodded. “Yes. Mostly. I
started to get overheated on the last lap as well, but nothing like
that.” He indicated Beckett’s burned hands and arms. “I think
perhaps because I was wearing long sleeves.”

Beckett slanted her a look, and Ricca
kept her mouth shut. They’d deal with what happened once they were
out of earshot of the clients. The paramedics came back over with
what looked like a vat of cream, and they moved Ricca aside. She
eyed Beckett, taking in a full inventory of his prone form. "You’re
sure you’re okay?"

His brow furrowed as if doing a mental
check of his vitals. "Just the blisters and burns. That’s about
it."

Stepping aside to let the paramedics
work, she hugged herself tight. Someone had tampered with both
driving suits, and she had a good idea who.

Beckett rooted around the pile of
wood. Grabbing a long 2x4, he turned toward the table saw. If he
could get this last row of doorframes done, he’d be calling it a
day. He still had to grab a shower before he hit the engagement
party tonight for Jaya and Alec.

The last week had been such a blur of
activity. He hadn’t been able to see Ricca since the polo fantasy.
They’d spoken briefly, but that was it. His body already craved
hers. He’d been such a bear the last couple of days. And since no
one else knew about them, even though they’d hung out with their
friends the night of the polo fantasy, they hadn’t gotten any alone
time with everyone around.

He had it bad. He had two other
adventure fantasies to think about, and his brain had been
completely preoccupied with Ricca. He’d considered telling her
after the polo fantasy how he felt about her, but knew that would
complicate things. He also considered breaking things off between
them. He was far from the no strings attachment she said she
wanted. How the hell had it happened? In the few short weeks since
the gala, he’d fallen in love with her. Who the hell was he
kidding—he’d been half in love with her for years.

“It’s nice to see you still honor some
commitments.”

Beckett whirled around at the sound of
his brother’s voice. “Braedon. Where the hell have you been? I’ve
been calling you.”

Braedon gripped the top of the
doorjamb to the locker room and let his body hang forward. “Well
that’s the thing about not wanting anyone to find you. You sort of
have to make it difficult for them to call.”

Beckett turned off the table saw and
sighed. “Are we going to talk about this?”

Braedon tipped his chin up, indicating
Beckett’s face. “I see you’re still pretty. I must not have hit you
hard enough.”

Beckett shrugged. “You sort of hit
like Grandma, but you got your point across.”

“You mean the part where I told you I
was displeased with you fucking my ex?”

“Not quite how I remember you saying
it, but yeah. I get why you’re mad.”

Braedon’s eyes narrowed. “You still
don’t seem particularly sorry.”

Beckett shoved his hands in his
pockets. “That’s because I’m not.”

“You’re an asshole, you know
that?”

“Trust me, Braedon, when I say, you’re
not the first person to tell me that. But listen up. I never
intended for it to happen, it just did.”

“And when the fuck were you going to
tell me? After you two had a couple of kids on the way?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like, baby brother?
You knew how I felt about her.”

Beckett paced between the locker
banks. “That’s just it, Braedon. If you really had a thing for her,
you would have never cheated. You’d have done everything in your
power to get her back. But you didn’t. You never even told her you
were sorry. I’ve been carrying around your secret for years because
you asked me to. If you wanted her back, you’d have been honest
with her then.”

Braedon scoffed. “You think you can
make her happy? Shit, little brother, you’re worse than I am. I’ve
never seen you stick with anything, not even a pet. If you think
I’m a pussy hound, what the hell do you think you’re going to do to
her?”

The truth sliced deep and wide.
Braedon knew he had no business screwing around with Ricca. But
she’d said she didn’t want a relationship. Her terms. Her rules.
Problem was, he wanted to change the terms. “It’s not a
relationship. It’s a little comp—” Why the hell was he trying to
explain his fucked up situation to Braedon? “It’s
complicated.”

Braedon stared at him for several
heart beats, then broke out into a wide grin. “Holy shit. You’re in
love with her.”

“No. I’m not.” The lie tasted like
copper.

“Oh yes, you are. I can see it. But
she isn’t down for the serious thing. Oh, wow. This is priceless.
Almost makes up for you fucking my ex.”

“Get over it already. You don’t
actually want her. You’re just pissed off because she doesn’t want
you.”

Braedon shuffled his feet. “I, uh,
might have overreacted the other day.”

Beckett knew that was the closest
thing to an apology he’d get out of his big brother, so he tried to
be gracious. “You ready to get off your lazy ass and actually do
some work now? We’re way behind schedule on the renovations to this
part.”