Flat-Out Sexy (20 page)

“Nothing’s wrong with Suzanne that a little sex couldn’t fix,” Ty said with a grin.

“Hey, that’s my ex-wife you’re talking about,” Ryder said, giving Ty a punch on the bicep.

“That’s my point … I think she’d be a lot happier if you two were still sharing a bed. Why are you divorced anyway?”

Tamara figured that was an uncomfortable subject for Ryder, given that his face was turning a vivid eggplant shade.

“Well, I’m glad everything is fine and it’s so good to see you both. Come on in. Did you drop by for a specific reason or were you in the neighborhood?”

“We heard the kids have the chicken pox and that you’ve been stuck in the house, so we brought a crap-load of sugary candy.” Ty held up a large bag that definitely had more candy in it than Tamara ever wanted in her house at one time.

“Wow, well, that was sweet of you guys. The kids will be so glad to see you.” Tamara led them down the hallway to the family room. “They’re getting quite a lot of company today,” she said, willing herself not to blush, unable to say Elec’s name out loud, knowing that Ty and Ryder both knew exactly what she had done at the dinner party.

“Look who’s here,” she said cheerfully to the room at large, noting that Hunter had now climbed onto Elec’s lap and was taking her car out of the box. Trust her daughter to not be even remotely shy.

Tamara knew the minute Ty and Ryder spotted Elec because Ty muttered, “Well, well, check out the rookie,” and Ryder responded right back, “Guess no grass grows under his feet.”

They were both grinning at her when she turned around and glared at them.

The men greeted each other. “Hey, guys, what’s up?” Elec said, Hunter snuggled into his arms.

“We brought candy for the kids.” Ty held up the potentially eight-pound bag of sugar and told Elec, “Maybe if you’re good, we’ll let you have a piece.”

“I’m always good,” Elec said.

“That true, Tammy?” Ryder asked her with a grin.

She refused to respond to that. Her kids were jittery with excitement at all the company and Hunter was already begging for candy. “Tomorrow, Hunter, when your fever breaks.”

Her daughter pouted, but got distracted by the tattoo she found on Elec’s inner wrist. She traced the numbers of his car over and over with her finger and he let her, clearly amused. “What if you change cars?” Hunter asked. “Then this is stuck here.”

“Doesn’t matter. Fifty-six will always be my first cup car, so it’s special.”

And what Tamara was learning was that so was Elec. He was thoughtful, sentimental, loyal. She appreciated all those things about him, even at the same time it scared the hell out of her. Watching her daughter with him was equal parts exhilarating and heartbreaking.

Petey came over and showed off both his ant farm and his various pox.

“That’s a good one right there,” Ryder said, pointing to a pock on Petey’s forearm. “It’s oozing like crazy.”

“Oh, Ryder,” Tamara said, grossed out by the glee with which he said it.

“What? It’s true. It will probably scar, kid, and you can tell all the chicks you got scratched wrestling a bear.”

“Yeah,” Petey said. “I’ll say I took him down with my bare hands and had him pinned when he swiped me.”

The words were accompanied by a visual demonstration by Petey, which Ryder took as an invitation to act out the part of the bear, and in the blink of an eye, Petey was upside down laughing, his T-shirt over his face.

The doorbell rang yet again and Tamara went for it, warning Ryder, “If he pukes, you’re cleaning it up.”

Wondering if it was her in-laws or Suzanne, because she couldn’t imagine who else would show up at seven o’clock on a Monday, and praying it was Suzanne, Tamara opened the door. It was neither of her guesses, but was her teaching assistant, grad student Imogen Wilson, who had become a friend since she’d joined the program. Imogen was from New York and somehow managed to look like she was pounding the pavement in Manhattan even standing on Tamara’s front porch in North Carolina. Imogen had dark brown hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail, stylish designer glasses, a black pencil skirt and ivory sweater set, and an expensive handbag that she was pulling a stack of papers out of.

“Imogen, hi, how are you?”

“Hi, Tamara, I’m sorry for dropping by unannounced.”

Tamara noted Imogen was the only one who had bothered to apologize for that.

“I tried to call you but you didn’t pick up and I figured I’d chance it and stop by anyway. I brought you …” She held up the stack of papers with a flourish. “Final exams to grade. I’m sure you’re thrilled.”

Tamara laughed. “Oh yeah, ecstatic. Come on in. I tell you, I’m kicking myself for not doing the chicken pox vaccine.”

“Isn’t it mandatory for kids now?” Imogen asked.

“Not if your kids were born before a certain date. And since it’s two doses, and both kids would have to get the vaccine at the same time, I never quite got around to it. I figured what were the odds they would be exposed to it?” Tamara shrugged. “Serves me right, I guess.”

“Well, I’m sorry it’s such bad timing with exams.”

“Me, too. Do you have a minute?” Tamara asked. “I wanted to discuss how we’re going to handle the summer classes.”

“Sure, I have a minute.” Imogen rolled her eyes and gave a sheepish shrug. “I have a lot of minutes actually, since I have zero social life.”

“Now why is that? Too busy studying?”

“It’s been hard to meet people. I’m a bit of a fish out of water here.”

Tamara could see how that might be an issue. Imogen was more likely to eat sushi than barbeque and she probably didn’t know a single verse of “Redneck Woman,” which was a requirement if you were going to go out dancing or sing karaoke.

“You should come out with my friend Suzanne and I sometime. We’re older than you, but we’re not totally awful company.”

“Thanks, I’d like that.”

Tamara kicked the same laundry basket out of the way yet again. Why wouldn’t those damn towels just fold themselves? “I have some friends over visiting my kids, so don’t be startled. The level of testosterone in my family room is at an all-time high right now.”

“Oh, okay, no problem.”

Though Imogen did look startled when they entered the family room. Petey was on Ryder’s back going for a gallop around the room, while Ty was juggling dime-sized pieces of candy in the air in front of him, occasionally leaning over and catching one with his mouth. Elec was still on the couch, but Hunter had moved around to his back and was on her knees, her arms around his neck, leaning over his shoulder as she informed him she was going to be the first girl to win the cup series championship.

Tamara was about to call attention when Petey slid, Ryder lost his balance, and Petey’s foot kicked over the ant farm on the coffee table. And the lid popped off.

“No!” Petey shrieked.

“Oh, shit,” Ryder said, sliding Petey to the floor.

“It’s alright,” Elec said calmly, dropping to the carpet and righting the farm.

“Holy crap!” Hunter said.

“Hunter Danielle Briggs!” Tamara said, absolutely horrified. “You do not use that kind of language. Ever.”

“But that’s what Suzanne says when she’s upset. And Ryder just said sh—”

Tamara cut her off. “That doesn’t give you the right to say it. When you’re an adult, you can speak however you want, but for now, you follow my rules and there is no swearing in this house.”

“Sorry,” Ryder said, joining Elec and Petey on the floor.

“Are there ants crawling all over my family room?” Tamara asked, a little fearfully. She did not want to have to call an exterminator over this.

“Nope.” Elec shook his hand over the open farm. “Just a few and we’re getting them picked up. Most of them stayed in the tunnels when it tipped.”

“Good.” Tamara turned to Imogen. “Anyway, let me introduce you to the madness. The man who had my son on his back is Ryder Jefferson, Petey’s godfather, and a professional race car driver. That boy is my son Petey. The monkey on the couch is my daughter Hunter. The other man crawling on the floor is Elec Monroe, also a race car driver. And standing here eating candy instead of scooping up ants is Ty McCordle, Hunter’s godfather, and yet one more race car driver. Everyone, this is Imogen Wilson, my TA at the university.”

“It’s nice to meet all of you,” Imogen said with a nervous smile, pushing her glasses up on her nose.

“I’m sorry, what did Tammy say your name is?” Ty asked Imogen, tossing the colored candy discs back and forth in his hands. “I didn’t quite catch it.”

“It’s Imogen,” she said, fussing with the buttons on her sweater set.

“Come again?” Ty tilted his head like he couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t quite getting it.

“Imogen.”

“Oh.” It was clear Ty still had no idea what the hell she had said and he wasn’t willing to ask her a third time. “It’s a pleasure.”

“So you work with Tammy?” Ryder asked from the floor, giving up on ant retrieval and falling onto his back. Petey took the opportunity to launch himself onto Ryder’s gut and a playful wrestling match ensued.

“Um …” Imogen said, because clearly the person who had asked her the question was now engaged in horseplay and wasn’t going to hear her answer.

Before Tamara could save her, Elec did, still calmly picking up ants one by one. “So you’re a grad student, Imogen?”

And bless his heart, he’d actually gotten the poor girl’s name right.

“Yes. I have one more year. I need to start working on my thesis but I haven’t found a topic that appeals to me yet.”

“Masters in sociology? Maybe you should do a thesis on the culture of stock car racing.” Elec grinned at her. “Plenty of material there.”

Tamara was fairly certain he meant it as a joke, but Imogen looked thoughtful.

“There might be something there … huh.”

“You can interview me,” Ty said, holding his bag out to Imogen. “Candy?” Ty actually looked annoyed that he couldn’t figure out what the grad student’s name was, like Imogen had intentionally taken a difficult moniker just to trip him up.

“No, thank you.” Imogen shook her head. “I’m allergic to red dye.”

“Oh. Sorry. Wasn’t trying to kill you or anything.” Ty turned and Tamara saw him roll his eyes at Ryder.

Hoping Imogen hadn’t seen the rude gesture, Tamara said, “Well, we’re heading into the kitchen for a few minutes to discuss some school business. Can you all try not to burn the house down or destroy anything for five minutes?”

“Actually, Tammy, we’ll head on out of here,” Ryder said, peeling himself off the floor. “We just wanted to say hi to the sick rug rats.”

“Yep.” Ty dropped the bag of candy on the coffee table. “Don’t eat all of that tonight,” he said with a wink at the kids. “We’ll talk to you soon, Tammy. See ya, Elec.” Then he said to Imogen, “Nice to meet you, Emma Jean.”

Tamara sighed. “Her name is—”

But Imogen just shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“What?” Ty said. “Look, I’m sorry, I admit it, I can’t figure your name out. I’ve never heard that name before and I can’t wrap my brain around it. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try or that you shouldn’t expect me to learn it.”

Before either of them could say anything to his speech, he added, “It’s really not Emma Jean?”

Imogen actually pressed her lips together to contain a grin. “No, it’s not. It’s Imogen. I-m-o-g-e-n. It’s Shakespearean, and I’m very aware it’s a difficult name for the average person, so I appreciate you trying to learn it.”

Ty grinned at her. “You calling me average?”

Imogen blushed. “No, no, of course not.”

Ryder leaned in to Tamara. “So, uh, what exactly is going on with you and number fifty-six over there?”

Tamara looked at Ryder, not sure what his reaction to her dating Elec would be, knowing how close he had been to Pete. “I don’t know,” she told him in all honesty.

“Well, just so you know, I’m all out of properties for you two to get it on in, unless you want to do it in my car.”

Yep, that was a blush flooding her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I know I’m being tacky …”

“Hey, sometimes you just can’t wait and I can appreciate that. I think it’s great that you’re having fun. Just be careful. Be sure of what you’re doing, you know? What you want.”

That was the problem. She had no clue what she really wanted. “Thanks, Ryder. Now will you take Ty out of here before he has my TA running back to Manhattan with her hands over her ears?”

“Sure.” Ryder gave a whistle. “Hey, McCordle, train’s leaving. I’m in need of a cold one. Let’s hit the bar.”

“I’m there with ya,” Ty said, giving a wave to Imogen.

They said good-bye to the kids, then they were gone, slamming the front door behind them. Tamara looked at Elec. “Do you mind if I talk to Imogen for a minute?”

“No, not at all.”

“Are you okay with them?” she asked nervously. She didn’t want to foist the responsibility of watching her kids onto him.

“We’re fine. Aren’t we?” he asked Hunter, who was still hanging on his back.

“Yep,” her daughter said.