She dumped her phone beside the bed and collapsed back.
How would she handle another phone call like that? The man was killing her, slowly. Could you die from overactive hormones? ’Cause if you could, she needed to get to the emergency room stat.
Reid turned to Dom, who looked close to jumping out of his goddamn seat, and grinned. The kid was in his element.
The roar of engines filling Homestead Speedway was deafening, their ears would be ringing for days, but after the shit Dom had been through lately, Reid was glad he could do something for him, take him out of his own head for a while. A lot of the guys at R.I.P. were into NASCAR, and even though it wasn’t his thing, he’d tagged along, managed to score a couple extra tickets for the final race in the Camping World Cup Series. It meant the shop was several men down, but fuck it.
Of course he’d had to lie. He’d told Dom that Law was supposed to come but bailed, and the ticket would go to waste if he didn’t take it. Dom would see it as charity otherwise and would’ve turned him down flat. He was stubborn that way.
Reminded Reid of himself at that age.
“You want a drink?” he yelled. Dom spared him a glance and nodded, reaching for his pocket. “I’ll get them.” Dom opened his mouth to protest, but Reid shook his head. “I’m getting ’em.” He gave in, but Reid suspected only because a race was about to start.
Reid made his way to the concession and bought a couple Cokes. He was heading back down the stands when he spotted a pair of distinctly tattooed arms going up in the air, not to mention the fiery red ponytail waving about like a race flag as she jumped around in her seat.
He headed Rusty’s way. She was on the end of a row, so he didn’t have to shuffle past a whole bunch of people. Her sister, Piper, was sitting beside her.
He leaned down. “Hey.” She didn’t hear him, so he tapped her shoulder. “Rusty.”
She spun to face him, scowling. When she realized it was him, her face went from ready to tear his balls off to fucking gorgeous smile in a heartbeat.
Pulling her earplugs from her ears, she stood. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
He pointed a few rows across. “I’m here with some of the guys from work.” Jesus, she was beautiful. She wore shorts that showed off her long legs and a black T-shirt that hugged her gentle curves to perfection.
Her mouth quirked up on one side, and she leaned in—close enough he could feel her breath on his skin—so he could hear her. “I’m shocked to see you here. Thought you were a Caddy man?”
His scalp tingled, followed closely by his balls. He turned into her, doing the same, letting his lips brush her ear. “Dom’s the NASCAR freak, not me.”
The smile on her face widened, tits brushing his arm when she turned into him again. “Well, it’s nice of you to bring him.”
He shrugged. He was no good Samaritan. He just knew what he’d needed at that age, in that situation. Nothing could change what Dom was going through, but time away from his life, the pressures and stresses, even for just a few hours, would have been more than welcome. “You wanna meet after? Grab a burger or something? I’ll text you, and we can meet up?”
She gave his forearm a squeeze, followed by another stunning smile. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
Two hours later, Reid rounded his car, Dom hot on his heels. “So Rusty, she’s your woman?”
“Yeah.” Or soon would be, even if it could only be temporary.
“Nice work, bro.”
He grinned at the kid. “Thanks.”
“We’re meeting up with her and her sister?”
“Yep.” Rusty said she was bringing Piper, so no alone time with “his woman” yet. Though he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out.
“How old is she?”
“Too old for you.”
Dom waggled his eyebrows. “Maybe she has a thing for younger guys?”
Reid chuckled. “You can always live in hope.”
He pushed open the door of the Burger Shack and searched them out. Piper spotted them and stood, bouncing and waving them over.
“Shit,” Dom muttered beside him. “Red’s sister is built…just the way I like ’em.”
Reid shook his head. Dom talked a big game, but put him in front of a beautiful woman and he blushed and stuttered every damn time.
Rusty stood when he approached. “Hey.”
“Hey, baby.” She blushed at his greeting. Shit, he loved that. How could she be sexy and innocent, all at once?
“Hey, guys,” Piper called, beaming up at them.
Reid smiled at her and tilted his head to Dom, who was now suspiciously quiet. The big talk well and truly over when faced with these two. “This is Dom. He works with me.”
“Nice to meet you, Dom. Why don’t you come and sit by me and tell me all about your job at R.I.P.”
Dom’s gulp was audible. Reid nudged him, trying not to smile. “No giving away our trade secrets.”
The kid just nodded and parked it by Piper.
They ordered and ate. Piper kept Dom busy, which meant he could focus on Rusty. She chatted away about cars, the business. While she talked, she came alive. Rusty loved what she did…and she also knew her shit. Her face fucking lit up when she talked about her garage, about the cars they were restoring. It twisted something inside him, an emotion he didn’t want to name right then, or what it might mean to his plans.
He bumped her thigh with his, deciding it was time to change the subject. “Never thought you’d be the type to skip work for the Speedway?”
She chewed the decent-size bite she’d taken from her burger and swallowed. He liked watching her eat. She didn’t pick at her food, or nibble at it, she took pleasure in it, the way he suspected she did with a lot of things in life. No half measures.
She grinned. “Deke got tickets for me and Pipe. It’s not Alex’s thing, so he took the day off to help her at the garage. Which makes Alex his boss for the day.” She snorted. “I’m kinda sad I’m not there to watch.” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I didn’t expect to see you there, either.”
He swallowed his mouthful and took a sip of his drink. “I had the tickets, Dom’s into it…”
She stared at him, expression thoughtful, knowing. “You decided to just hang around a noisy race track for something to do?”
He glanced over at Dom, who was listening avidly to Piper talk about an engine she was rebuilding. The kid looked like he’d come face to face with his equivalent of the Holy Grail. A beautiful woman, who not only knew about cars but worked on them for a living. He sure as hell wasn’t paying him and Rusty any attention.
It wasn’t his place to tell anyone the kid’s troubles still, he wanted to give Rusty something. “He’s going through some shit. The guys and I thought he could use some time out.”
Her hand went to his knee, green eyes wide, sincere. “That’s a really nice thing to do.”
Trying to keep his dick under control around this woman was hard enough, but when she put her hands on him? Not happening. He wrapped his fingers around hers, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin on the inside of her wrist. “I’m no saint, Rusty.”
She licked her lips, gaze dropping to his mouth. “Don’t worry, I’d never mistake you for that.”
He chuckled, and his dirty thoughts came through loud and clear, the sound rough and low. “That’s good. I’d hate to give you the wrong impression.”
She leaned a little closer. “And what impression is that?”
“That I’m a good guy.” Jesus. He wanted to kiss her, badly. “I go after what I want, babe, and I don’t stop till I get it.”
Her fingers trembled a little under his, breath coming faster. She licked her lips again. “And what happens when you get it?” she asked.
“You’ll have to let me catch you to find out.”
Chapter Seven