Текст книги "Ignite"

Автор книги: Kelly Elliott

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I slammed my body back into the seat of the truck as I let out a frustrated moan. “I’m not going to the damn dinner. I just got in a few hours ago. Daddy, the least you could have done is given Emmit a heads up that I was coming to the race. If he wasn’t thrilled to see me standing in front of your bus, he sure as hell isn’t gonna want to see me at a dinner.”

“Nonsense. Like I said, he’s always this way before a race. Wait until he sees’ you in the beautiful gown your mother had brought up to your room. It means the world to me to have you here, Adaline.”

I tried to push away the guilty feelings that swept across my body. My parents had begged me to come to races over the years, with Daddy being Emmit’s crew chief, I just couldn’t do it.

I need a Diet Coke.

I’d given up Diet Coke over a year ago. Why in the hell I needed one now was beyond me.

“Daddy, can you stop at the store? I need something.”

Making a left turn instead of right that would have taken us to the hotel, Daddy crossed the highway and pulled into a gas station. My mother was still going on about the dinner.

“What do you need sweetheart?” Daddy asked.

I opened the door and jumped out as I said, “I’ll get it. Be right back.”

Less than two minutes later, I was back in the truck and drinking my Diet Coke like it was a drug I needed to keep breathing.

Leaning back, I closed my eyes as my mother continued on about the dinner and how lovely it would be for me to be there. Clapping her hands, she said, “It’s blue. Your favorite color, Adaline.”

I looked between my parents with a confused expression. “What’s blue?”

My mother turned to me and gave me a funny look as my father pulled up and stopped in front of the Marriott. “Why, your gown, of course.”

I gave my mother a stupefied look. I asked, “Are you both crazy? Seriously, have you lost your minds? You didn’t even tell me about a dinner! All you said was you wanted to take me out to celebrate me graduating nursing school.”

My father got out of the truck and grabbed my suitcase from the back of the truck bed as he opened my door and helped me out. “We’ll be back in two hours to pick you up, Adaline.”

Oh. My. God. Was he seriously ignoring me right now?

I scrubbed my hands over my face as I said, “Fine. Fine. You want me to be the dotting daughter for one evening, I’m more than happy to do it. If you can pretend Emmit isn’t pissed off I’m here, I guess I can pretend too.”

I grabbed my suitcase and stomped off like a five-year-old girl. “Two hours, sweetheart!” my mother called out as I lifted my hand and waved her off.

After finding out my parents had already checked in for me, I made my way to the elevator as I pulled up my voice messages on my phone.

I had two voice mails. One from a guy named Kurt who my best friend Elle set me up with. The guy was a class-act asshole.

“Hey, Adaline. I enjoyed dinner the other night. How about you come on over to my place tonight and I make you something to eat. I already know what will be for dessert.”

“Ohmygod. He didn’t just say that!” I said as I hit delete. The only reason I went out with him was because he was Elle’s cousin and she begged me.

The second message was from Clark, another nursing student who had been in a study group with me most of the year. He was nice, but I got the feeling he wanted more than a friendship with me.

“Hey. It’s me, um, Clark. Just seeing if you were going to be free next Wednesday. I have tickets to that art museum you mentioned you wanted to check out. Got a great deal and would love for you to join me.”

Hitting save, I chewed on my lip as I pressed the elevators up button. Clark. Could I see myself dating him?

I closed my eyes and tried to picture Clark and me, but all I could picture was Emmit’s gray eyes looking into mine as he made love to me.

With a sigh, I tossed my phone into my precious purse, the only thing left in this world that loved me as much as I loved it. My purse.

How sad is my life? Pulling my phone out, I quickly sent Clark a text message.

Me: Awe thanks so much, Clark, but I’ll have to pass.

Yep. My life is sad indeed.

The elevator doors opened directly in front of me as I kept my eyes fixed on the floor and walked into the elevator, only to hit head-on with another person.

“Oh! I’m so very s—sorry.”

Gray eyes captured my blue as I sucked in a breath. “Emmit?”

I quickly noticed the blonde standing next to him.

Emmit walked around me as I stood there like a fool. Giving me a weak smile, the blonde whispered, “Excuse me,” as she made her way around me.

As I got my wits about me, I turned around. My shaking hand lifted as I pushed the number seven.

My eyes landed on the back of Emmit’s head as I heard him talking to the front desk agent. “Miss Elliot will be needing to extend her stay for another day.”

The doors shut, and I fell back against the wall as I whispered, “Holy shit, Emmit.”

“I know. He’s dreamy isn’t he?”

I turned to my left only to see a girl my age was standing there wearing a goofy smile. “Excuse me?”

“Emmit Lewis. He’s dreamy as hell. Believe me, I had the same reaction when I saw him get on the elevator. I mean look at me. I was supposed to get off on the lobby floor and here I am riding it back up because I was so taken by him I couldn’t think straight! He totally had me wetting my panties!”

I stared at the girl. “What?” I asked, not even sure why.

She giggled as she rolled her eyes. “I know, I shouldn’t even say things like that. I heard he’s nothing but a player. Hasn’t had a girlfriend in a few years. Word on the circuit is he was about to ask his long-time girlfriend to marry him, but she dumped him because she didn’t like all the traveling or something like that. Wanted him to walk away from his career because she didn’t like racing. What a bitch, right?”

The doors to the seventh floor opened. “It’s your floor. Nice talking to ya!” she called out as I made my way out. Turning to look at her, she waved as the elevator doors closed.

By the time I made it to my room and sat down on the bed, I was full on crying.

“Why in the hell did I ever come here?” I whispered as I fell back onto the king-size bed and stared at the ceiling.

Why?

FINALLY, THIS DAMN DINNER LYNN had thrown was winding down. I walked up to the bar in the restaurant as I motioned for another water. When Jack told me about the dinner his niece had decided she wanted to throw the team, I knew I was stuck for the night. It had been my job to fucking babysit her for the next two days. The only time she wasn’t by my side was when I was practicing or qualifying. All I wanted to do was sit in my bus tonight and watch movies.

The moment I saw Adaline out on the bus pad, I had to keep myself from walking up to her and taking her back to my bus. All I wanted to do was kiss the living shit out of her. She looked beautiful. Her honey-brown hair had been pulled up into a ponytail and those damn blue eyes stood out the second she looked my way.

Of course Lynn noticed my reaction to Adaline and decided to try to dig deep within me for the answers to why I was so angry when I saw her.

I wanted to apologize to Adaline for my behavior towards her, but then when she ran into me inside the elevator and my body came to life with just the small touch from her, I got pissed all over again.

Why in the hell was she even here? She never comes to the races. Ever. This wasn’t her thing anymore.

I sat down as the girl behind the bar gave me a wink. “Here ya go, Emmit.”

With a smile, I looked her over. She looked familiar. “Have we met before?” I asked.

She let out a nervous laugh as she looked down and then back up through her eyelashes. “Last November. You came back to my place for a few hours.”

My smile grew bigger. How in the hell could I forget that night? Fucking hell. “That’s right. You and your roommate . . . what was her name again?”

“Casey was her name.”

I nodded my head. “Yeah. If my memory serves right, seems to me like you and Casey don’t mind sharing.”

She tilted her head and licked her lips before saying, “I can call Casey and we can have a little . . . private party later.”

I felt her presence before I saw her.

Glancing to my left, Adaline stood at the end of the bar dressed in a beautiful light blue dress. Her hair was pulled up with just a few loose curls framing her face. Her lush, sensual lips were covered in a light shade of pink as I watched them move while she talked. Her eyes quickly found mine, and she gave me a smile.

I wanted to smile back, but my pride was still hurt. She turned me down. Walked away from the life we had always talked and dreamed about.

Pulling my eyes from hers, I glanced back at the bartender standing in front of me. “I’ll take a scotch, and I’m afraid I’ll have to take a rain check on the other thing.”

With a pout, she shook her head. “Well damn. That’s a disappointment. Let me grab that drink.”

Adaline laughed at something the other bartender had said to her as I looked back over at her.

As I watched her every move, something hit me. In all the times I talked about becoming a NASCAR driver, Adaline had always told me how proud she was of me, but she never once really said she wanted that life. Sure, she said she wanted to be with me, but was it really fair that I had expected her to be with me from the very beginning? She had every right to pursue her own dreams.

I set the scotch down in front of me as I gave the bartender a nod and threw two twenty’s down on the table. “See ya around, sweetheart.”

“I hope sooner rather than later.”

Not even bothering to look back at her, I took another look at Adaline as she walked away from the bar and back over to her parents. It felt as if the world wobbled on its axis.

Holy living hell, my dick couldn’t possibly get any harder. Adaline had always had an incredible body. It was clear she was no longer a nineteen-year-old girl, but a curvy, sexy as hell, twenty-two-year-old.

“If you eye fuck her any harder, her daddy is going to pound your ass into the wall.”

With a quick turn, I saw Malcolm Wallace leaning against the wall as he watched Adaline move across the room.

I took a step closer. “Maybe you should stop eye fucking her, asshole.”

Malcolm held up his hands and laughed. “Whoa, settle yourself down there, top gun. Even if I wanted to get into Adaline’s pants, she’d never let me. And believe me, I’ve tried.”

I grabbed onto his shirt and pushed him against the wall. “You motherfucker,” I said as I reached back to knock the shit out of him.

Waldo ran up and grabbed me as he pulled me off of Malcolm. Laughing, Malcolm shook his head as he fixed his shirt and tie. “You always were hot headed, Emmit.”

I tried to bust out of the arms of Waldo to go after Malcolm again. “You’re lucky Waldo saved your ass again, you prick.”

Malcolm walked up to me and whispered, “Maybe I’ll take another shot at her.”

Breaking free of Waldo, I reached back and went to punch Malcolm when Adaline stood in front of me and placed both hands on my chest, giving me a hard push.

“Emmit! Stop this now. Don’t let him egg you on. He’s trying to get you to punch him on purpose.”

My eyes landed on Adaline’s pleading face. It killed me to see that look of disappointment in her eyes. “Please, let whatever it is go. He’s not worth it.”

I pointed to Malcolm. “This isn’t over.”

Malcolm threw his head back and laughed. “I’ll be waiting whenever you’re ready, Emmit.”

I turned to Waldo. “I’m sorry. I’m headed back to the bus. It’s been a long day.”

With a nod, Waldo said, “I think that’s for the best.”

I made my way over to Jack. “I’m sorry, Jack; he knows how to push my buttons. I’m a little on edge this evening.”

Jack looked over my shoulder and I knew he was looking at Adaline. “I’m glad she stopped you before you did something you would have regretted.”

My hand went through my hair as I let out a sigh. “Yeah, I’m tired and I think I’ll head back to my bus.” Glancing over to Lynn, I asked, “I can stay if you’d like me to escort you back to the hotel?”

With a sweet smile, Lynn nodded. “I’m tired myself, and I think I’ll take you up on that offer right now.” Giving Jack a kiss on the cheek, Lynn said, “Do you mind if I bug out, Uncle Jack? I can probably catch Brandon if I get back in time to call him.”

Jack gave Lynn a warm smile. “Of course. I’m sure this is all overwhelming.”

Lynn lifted her hand and said, “Nonsense! I’m loving it. Night, Uncle Jack. I’ll see you first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Welcome to Elliot Racing. Never a dull moment.” Jack kissed her back.

Lynn laughed before glancing my way. “I see that.”

Lynn took my arm as we said goodnight to a few people and made our way to the elevators.

“She can’t keep her eyes off of us. You do know that, right?” Lynn asked me as I hit the down button and waited for an elevator.

Taking a quick look back into the room, Adaline was staring at us. She looked away when I caught her stare. “Well, I’m no longer her concern. She made that clear three years ago when she turned down my marriage proposal.”

“Oh,” Lynn said under her breath. “Did she have a reason?”

I cracked my neck from side to side as I let out the breath I had been holding. “Yeah, she didn’t want to be a NASCAR wife. Seems she didn’t love me as much as I loved her.”

Lynn turned and faced me. “Really? Because the fact that she hasn’t been able to take her eyes off of you all evening says different.”

My heart dropped at Lynn’s comment. Had Adaline been watching me all evening? Shrugging my shoulders, I wanted to change the subject. “She wanted other things. Things I couldn’t give her. It is what it is.”

Lynn was silent as we rode the elevator down and out to the limo that was waiting for us.

We rode to the hotel in silence. The limo pulled up and I smiled at Lynn. “Would you like for me to walk you up to your room?”

Lynn stepped out of the limo and then leaned back in. “No, thank you. Hey Emmit?”

“Yeah?”

Lynn’s face turned serious as she said, “Don’t do something you’ll regret tomorrow morning.”

With a half hearted smile and a quick head nod, I said, “Night, Lynn. See you tomorrow.”

“Night. See ya tomorrow.”

The door to the limo shut, and the driver asked, “Where to Mr. Lewis?”

I pulled my phone out as I searched for the number I was looking for.

“One second please,” I said as I hit her number.

“Hey, Emmit!”

Closing my eyes, I shook my head. “You busy?”

Hearing the noise in the background, I knew my baby sister was most likely at a party somewhere in Dallas. She’d been up since yesterday and watched my qualifying run, hung out with Lynn and me for a bit and then took off to hit the nightlife of Dallas.

“Nope! Just met up with some friends, but I’m totally down with leaving.” My sister just turned twenty-one, and I knew she had been looking forward to this trip with her two best friends. “Your girls with you still?”

With a laugh, Ashley asked, “Which one you interested in?”

“Tell me where y’all are and I’ll meet you.”

“Billy Bob’s, so wear your boots!”

I shook my head as I let out a chuckle. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“See ya then, big brother!” Ashley shouted as I hit end.

“Will you please take me to Billy Bob’s?”

“Yes sir, Mr. Lewis. Billy Bob’s it is.”

I leaned back in the booth and scanned the dance floor for my sister. “Fucking hell, this place is huge. And dark.”

Ashley had told the club I was coming, so they reserved a booth toward the back. It wasn’t totally private, but it was good enough and it still allowed me to look out for my sister, who happened to be hanging on some tall cowboy while they danced around on the dance floor.

One of Ashley’s friends gave me a sexy smile as she slid into the booth. “Ashley told me to come keep you company, Emmit. Said you needed to loosen up before your big race tomorrow.”

With a lift of my mouth into a half smile, I knew all it would take was a full-blown smile, one dimple, and one wink of my eye and I’d have this girl riding me right here in the damn booth.

“What did you have in mind?”

Her eyes lit up as she moved closer and I slide a bit further over so that the wall was blocking us more. “Let me just say this, I discarded my panties just now in the restroom.”

Giving her a full on smile, she ran her tongue along her lips and moved her hand across the growing bulge in my pants.

“What do you want me to do for you, Emmit?”

I pushed her long blonde hair behind her ear and then grabbed onto her neck and pulled her closer to me and whispered against her lips. “Make me forget her.” Pulling out my wallet, I grabbed a condom and tossed it on the table.

Her hand moved quickly to the button on my dress pants; she had my dick exposed and was priming it.

Fuck, I hadn’t even caught what this girl’s name was. If she told me, I had already forgotten. “What’s your name?” I asked as I grabbed her hand and stopped her.

“My friends call me Cookie, cause I’m a baker at a popular restaurant here in town.”

My eyes went to her shaking hands. “Cookie. Okay,” I said with a fake smile. “Cookie, do you want to fuck me?”

Her eyes widened. “Yes.”

“Your hands are shaking. I don’t want you doing something you don’t want to do.”

She let out a giggle and said, “My hands are shaking, because I’m about to fuck the best NASCAR driver in the country. Here’s hoping you aren’t fast at everything.”

A memory of Adaline smiling at me after one of my earlier races as she kissed me and whispered, “Let’s not be so fast with our celebration later,” popped into my head. My eyes glanced at the condom on the table and then down to my exposed dick.

What in the fuck am I doing?

I pushed Cookie away from me and zipped my pants back up.

Quickly getting out of the booth, Cookie gave me a funny look. “W-where are you going?”

My hand went through my hair as I sighed. “I’ve got a race tomorrow. I need to get back.”

With a sexy grin, Cookie asked, “You don’t want me, Emmit?”

I glanced back out to the dance floor and searched for my sister. Seeing her dancing with the same cowboy, I turned back to Cookie. “Ashley’s got full passes for each of y’all, so maybe I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

Her face lit up. “You mean I get to see you, like . . . like down on Pit Row?”

With a fake smile, I forced out a, “Yep.”

“Cool!”

I gave her a quick wink. “Yeah, cool.”

Not even bothering to stop and tell my sister I was leaving, I sent her a text.

Me: Heading back. See you tomorrow

Sis: Okay! Did you and Cookie have fun!?

I rolled my eyes as I headed out of the club. I called the limo driver to swing back around and pick me up.

The entire drive back to the speedway, I stared out the window as I wondered what Adaline was doing. Dropping my head back against the seat I balled my fist. “Fuck!” I shouted as I closed my eyes and prayed I could make it through one more day.

One more day and then I’d be pulling out and heading to the next race while Adaline would be headed back to Austin.

Just one more day.

WALKING INTO THE GARAGE, I grinned seeing everyone hustle about. I had forgotten how amazing the atmosphere on race day was. Daddy was talking with Emmit as I approached them. It was almost as if Emmit knew I was there. Glancing up, he looked at me and then quickly looked back at Daddy.

I blew out a breath and decided I was going to have to talk to him before he pulled out tonight and headed to the next race. Malcolm had told me last night what he had said to Emmit to get him so upset. Then he of course tried to make a play on me to which I promptly turned him down.

Stopping behind Daddy, I glanced around as I watched all the teams get ready. They couldn’t work on the cars because they were in the process of getting pre-inspections done.

“Just don’t scare the piss out of them okay, Emmit?”

Turning to look at my father, Emmit gave him the same smile that I fell in love with so many years ago. My stomach fluttered as I watched Emmit talk to my father. No wonder I could never go out with a guy more than a few times. It was obvious I had never moved on from Emmit. I never wanted to move on.

With a quick glance around, I searched for the blonde who had been with Emmit yesterday and last night. Malcolm said it was Emmit’s latest arm candy, which made me wonder how many women he had dated since we broke up.

Daddy slapped Emmit on the arm. “Go have fun.”

Emmit started to walk off before he stopped and looked at me. “You want to take a lap with me before I get started with the fans?”

My heart dropped at the idea of being in a racecar on the track with Emmit again. But I couldn’t help but think of the girl who had been with him yesterday. “Are you sure?”

With a smile, Emmit said, “Like old times.”

Grinning like a fool, I nodded and said, “Yes!”

Emmit had driven me around tracks plenty of times, but I’d never had him drive me around one of the tracks NASCAR used.

Making our way over to where there was a line of people, Emmit lifted his hand and waved while people cheered and called out his name.

This was the part of the day where dignitaries of the sport, media people, or one or two lucky fans got to drive with the drivers. Most of the time it was former drivers, but sometimes current drivers like Emmit did it. Glancing to the group of people, Emmit said, “Before we get started, I’ve got to impress a girl.”

Laughter erupted as Emmit helped me slip into the car and get buckled in. A few minutes later he was driving a hundred miles an hour as he inched his way closer and closer to the wall. My heart was racing and I was sure my face was going to freeze in this position as I grinned from ear to ear.

“God, I’ve missed this!” I shouted into the mic as Emmit laughed.

I knew he stayed out longer than he should have and I knew he did it for me. When he came to a stop, we sat in the car for a few moments as I got my breathing under control. Looking over at him, I said, “I didn’t think you could ever get better than you were before. But holy shit . . . that wall was less than an inch from my window, I swear!”

Emmit laughed as he motioned for someone to come and help me out of the car.

As I stood off to the side, I watched as Emmit gave each person a ride of a lifetime. Every one of them said it was the biggest adrenaline rush they’d ever experienced. Adrenaline rush was Emmit’s middle name. Everything he did was fast. Everything except making love. That he took his sweet time with.

Biting down on my lip, I thought back to the last time Emmit made love to me. Closing my eyes, I was taken back to the moment.

Slow. Passionate. Full of love.

And I walked away from him. Stupid idiot.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were day dreaming about old times.”

My eyes snapped open at the familiar voice. Ashley, Emmit’s younger sister, stood in front of me. “Ashley!” I shouted as we both embraced each other with a scream.

“Oh my God! Did my big brother shit his pants when he saw you or what?” Ashley said as she looked me over.

I let out a chuckle as I shook my head. “Something like that.”

Ashley smiled. “Uh-huh. Well, that explains last night.”

With a confused look, I asked. “What do you mean?”

With a wave of her hand like it was not worth repeating, Ashley said, “Nothing. So, have you missed the scene?”

“Yeah. I didn’t really realize how much I had been missing it.” My stomach dropped slightly knowing what all I had missed out on these last few years.

Emmit had pulled up and the last person got out the same time Emmit climbed out.

After taking some pictures and signing a few things, Emmit gave his sister a wave and excused himself. Walking up to Ashley, he pulled her into his arms and whispered something into her ear. Ashley nodded and then raised her eyebrows.

“So, you and Adaline catching up?”

There was my full name again. For some reason, every time Emmit said Adaline instead of Addie, it felt like a knife sinking deeper into my heart.

“Yep! We just got here and walked up when I saw her.”

Emmit nodded. “She’s graduated nursing school. A year early on top of that.”

Ashley wiggled her eyebrows. “She always was a smarty pants.”

I let out a chuckle as I looked at Emmit. I wanted to tell him I had pushed myself hard and took extra classes so that I could finish and be with him. Of course, I’d use the excuse of seeing Momma and Daddy, but the real reason would always be Emmit.

“Well, I wanted to try and finish up as fast as I could,” I said before I even knew it was out of my mouth.

Emmit’s eyes pierced mine, and I swore it looked like he was holding his breath.

“Really? How come?” Ashley asked with a huge shit-eating grin on her face.

I glanced down to my feet and kicked an imaginary rock. “I guess I wanted to be able to catch a few races . . . see . . . um . . . my parents more often.”

Ashley gave me a you-ain’t-fooling-anyone look as she said, “Is that so?”

My eyes met Emmit’s as we both seemed to get lost in each other.

Dropping my mouth open, I fought for the words to tell Emmit how foolish I was, but nothing came out.

“Addie,” Emmit said as he took a step closer to me but stopped when some girl called out his name.

“Emmit!”

Emmit looked over my shoulder and frowned. Ashley attempted to intercept the two girls, but failed. The one threw herself into Emmit’s arms as she said, “I couldn’t wait to see you again.”

My stomach twisted into a knot as I imagined what she was talking about. Her arms were wrapped tightly around Emmit’s neck as he reached up and pried them off of him. Giving her a slight push away, Emmit gave her a polite smile. “Yeah. The club was fun.”

Club? When did he go to a club? And where is the blonde who was related to Jack?

“Oh, it was more than fun,” the young bleach-blonde said as Ashley grabbed her arm.

“Cookie, let’s go check out some other places.”

Cookie lifted her finger in a motion to get Ashley to wait as she took a step closer to Emmit. “So, are we going to finish what we started last night? Maybe in your bus?”

Oh God. He slept with her.

My head was spinning. But what about the blonde? What about the way he just looked at me?

With a shake of my head, I tried to clear my thoughts. I looked into Emmit’s eyes and it was clear to me, he had been with this girl last night.

Trying to find my voice, I finally said, “Excuse me, I’m ah . . . gonna go . . . somewhere.”

Quickly turning, I heard Emmit call out my name. Picking up my pace, I tried like hell to get as far away as I could. The idea that Emmit was out fucking some girl while I laid in my bed last night dreaming of his hands on me made me feel sick to my stomach.

Emmit clearly had moved on and no matter how much I tried to get him to talk to me, he’d never forgive me for leaving him.

Bumping into someone, I wiped my tears away and mumbled, “Excuse me.”

“Adaline, sweetheart, are you okay?”

I looked at Jack and attempted to smile. “Jack, hi how are you?”

My eyes immediately looked at the woman who had been on Emmit’s arm the last few days.

“It’s race day. It’s always a good day!”

I let out a nervous chuckle and nodded my head. “Adaline, I don’t think you and I had the chance to talk much last night. I know my uncle was introducing me to everyone on the team. I’m going to start working for him.”

Trying to be polite and cheerful, I couldn’t help but think how convenient that would be for Emmit. A girl who would be traveling with him to each race.

“How exciting,” I said as looked between Jack and his niece. “Lynn, isn’t it?” I asked, as I tilted my head and tried to seem like I gave two shits about this woman.

“Yes. My Uncle Jack was telling me you and Emmit used to be high school sweethearts.”

I swallowed hard and barely said, “Something like that.”

“Emmit was nice enough to show Lynn the racing side of the business. She’ll be working in the main office back in North Carolina, marketing is her thing.”

Wait. What?

“Oh. Really?” I asked as my voice sounded a tad bit too chipper.

Lynn looked at Jack and nodded. “My fiancé just left for a long tour of duty and my Uncle Jack thought coming to the race would keep my mind off things.”

“Your . . . your fiancé?”

Lynn smiled a bright smile as she nodded. “My high school sweetheart.”

My hand went over my stomach as I let out a chuckle. Emmit wasn’t dating her. He was babysitting her!

“The drivers’ meeting is about to start, Lynn, why don’t you head on over with Emmit and take it all in. I want to talk to Adaline for a bit.”

Pointing to myself, I asked, “Me?”

Jack took me by the arm and led me toward the bus pad. “Yes. I have a business proposition for you.”