Hard and Fast (27 page)

Suzanne had, in fact, made eye contact with the waitress already and ordered another drink, and she didn’t intend to waste it. “You go ahead. I’m going to stay here and make a couple phone calls, then head out in about ten minutes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.” Suzanne got up when Imogen did and gave her a hug. “Maybe you need to give some thought to what you really want from Ty, hon. It sounds to me like you’re falling for him.”

Imogen’s dark blue eyes were wide and troubled. “I am.”

What the hell did she say to that? There was no sense in telling Imogen to put the brakes on; that never worked. So she might as well enjoy the drive before they crashed. “Then have fun! Enjoy it, and think about what that means and where you want this to go.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

They hugged, then Suzanne sat back down with her newly delivered fresh margarita and pulled her cell phone out. With a sigh big enough to rival the ones Imogen had been letting loose all night, Suzanne went into her contacts list and pressed
R
. Ryder’s number came up and she pressed a button to call him, hoping he wouldn’t answer.

He did.

“Well, hello, darlin’, how are you this evening?”

Suzanne closed her eyes for a second. God, definitely PMS, because she was damn near on the verge of tears again at the sound of his voice. It was fucking ridiculous.

“Hey,” she said with a forced cheerfulness. “I’m good, how about yourself?”

“My day didn’t suck too bad,” he said, and there was a pause where she could tell he was drinking something. She’d bet her condo it was an ice-cold Bud in a bottle. “But there’s always tomorrow.”

“No joke.” Fiddling with the cocktail napkin in front of her, Suzanne got to the point. “Listen, I know I asked you to host that dinner party with me to give us an opportunity to see Imogen and Ty together, but I think we need to cancel.”

“Good, because I was having serious doubts about this plan.”

“Me, too. Maybe we always knew on a subconscious level it wasn’t a good idea.”

“Oh, I knew on a conscious level it wasn’t a good idea.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, I just talked to Imogen, and it turns out that she and Tammy and the kids are all going down to Texas next weekend, so it seems kind of pointless to drag everyone together for a dinner party on Monday when they’re all spending the weekend together. And clearly she and Ty are digging each other if they’re hanging out like this, and I don’t think I should really interfere.”

There was a giant pause, which irritated Suzanne.

“You don’t think you should interfere? Are you feeling okay?”

Now she shredded the napkin. “I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth. There was no point in getting into an argument with Ryder.

“Does this mean I won’t get my three months’ worth of desserts?”

“I’ll make you the pineapple upside-down cake, but that’s it.”

“Fair enough. My stomach thanks you. Are you going to Texas, too?”

“No. I have plans.”

“A hot date?” he asked, and there was an edge to his voice.

“Yes, with a bride. I’m reviving my wedding planning business, and I have a meeting with a potential client.”

Another pause. “Why are you doing that? I didn’t think you enjoyed wedding planning all that much.”

Dipping her finger in her margarita, not giving a shit how tacky that was, she sucked her fingertip. She so did not want to have this conversation, but it was inevitable. Might as well get it over, and do it in public, where she might actually be able to control her hormonal emotions. “It’s time to go back to work.”

“Why? You’re plenty busy with the charity work.”

Damn it, he was going to make her spell it out. “I need the income. There are only two alimony payments remaining.”

“Are you serious?” Ryder sounded as shocked as she felt that it had been two whole years since their marriage had been puked out and flushed down the toilet. “If you need more time, I don’t care, Suz, you know that. You want another year or two?”

Of course he would offer. And of course it would make her feel even shittier than she already did. “No, thanks, that’s okay. I’ll be fine. Why postpone the inevitable?”

“But—”

“Gotta go. I’ll talk to you soon. Take care.” Suzanne hung up and sucked in a deep breath.

Lord, she was shaking like a puppy pooping peach pits.

She was starting her life all over again for the third time at the age of thirty-three and it sucked donkey dicks.

 

 

IMOGEN was easily bouncing with as much excitement as Tamara’s seven-year-old daughter Hunter when they pulled up to the entrance of the motor coach park at the track in Texas. Elec had sent a car service to collect them at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, and Hunter had been talking nonstop about stock car racing the entire drive. Tamara’s older child, Pete, was much more subdued, reading a book on insects and occasionally glancing out the window.

Feeling a burble of excitement ready to burst forth herself, Imogen sympathized with Hunter’s impatience when the girl declared, “Man, it’s about time we got here!” Then the little girl added, “This ride lasted longer than Viagra.”

Imogen hadn’t seen that one coming.

Tamara’s jaw dropped. “Hunter, we really need to talk about your language. You should not be using words when you don’t even know what they mean.”

“But Suzanne—”

“I know,” Tamara said grimly. “And the rule is, if Suzanne says it, you are not allowed to repeat it. End of story. Now hop out of the car. I see Elec right there waiting for us. You, too, Petey. I’ll be right there.”

As Hunter yanked open the door and took off running toward her stepfather, her brother following at a more leisurely pace, Tamara grimaced. “Good Lord. My seven-year-old is talking about Viagra. I think I’m going to have to have another chat with Suzanne about little ears.”

From Imogen’s perspective, it was actually rather amusing, but she wasn’t Hunter’s mother. She also knew Suzanne would never intend to be causing problems for Tamara. “You know Suzanne doesn’t mean for Hunter to overhear.”

“I know she doesn’t. But she also has a voice that carries three rooms.” Tamara hesitated with her hand on the door handle. “I feel terrible that she didn’t come with us. I tried to talk her into it, but she was adamant.”

“She was the same way with me. But I don’t think anyone can talk Suzanne into anything.”

“That’s true.” Tamara stepped out of the car. “Let me go get my daughter before she maims my husband.”

Exiting out the other side, Imogen saw Hunter climbing up Elec’s legs, her ponytail bouncing and her mouth moving a mile a minute.

Then Imogen spotted Ty heading toward the entrance, and if she could have gotten away with it, she would have crawled up
his
legs, she was so excited to see him. It had been a long ten days since their camping trip. She had been inundated with work at school and he had been equally busy both prepping and racing, plus he’d done several sponsor appearances. They had talked every day on the phone for a good hour, but aside from a quick dinner on Monday, they hadn’t seen each other, and there had been no other communications. She had been hoping for random brief contact throughout the day, but she’d quickly figured out he didn’t like e-mail or text messages. When she’d sent an e-mail, it had been his assistant who had responded, letting her know he almost never checked his mail, which had been monumentally embarrassing since Imogen had made an offer of fellatio in the body of the message. And whenever she texted him, he always called her back instead of just replying.

When they had talked, it had been fun and interesting, very much the type of conversations where you explored getting to know someone. They had discussed movies and books and their families and a multitude of other topics, and they had more in common than she would have ever suspected. It was also gratifying to discover that her interest in Ty didn’t wane, it actually increased. It was definitely more than simply a physical attraction she felt for him.

Though the physical was quite important, she must confess. Other than a quick up-against-the-wall encounter after dinner, she hadn’t touched him in five days, and when she saw him, she wanted to do nothing more than press her body up against his and kiss him like crazy.

Hunter had beaten her to the punch. When Ty had reached the child, he had tugged on her ponytail as a greeting, and she had immediately launched herself from her stepfather’s arms to Ty’s, and was now settled on his back with her arms around his neck.

Suddenly feeling awkward, Imogen pushed up her prescription sunglasses and adjusted her handbag on her shoulder. “Hi,” she said in an act of verbal brilliance.

“Hi,” he said back with a smile. “I’m glad you all made it here safely. And in case you were wondering, you look very pretty in that dress.”

“Thank you.” She suspected it was a stupid thing to wear a babydoll dress with ballet flats to a racetrack, but it wasn’t race day and she was comfortable in it. And okay, she had wanted Ty to think she looked good after not seeing her all week.

“Hey, Imogen,” Elec said, his arm wrapped around Tamara. “How are you?”

“Good, thanks, and you?”

“Fabulous now that my family’s here,” he said. “Thanks for suggesting this trip.” He squeezed Tamara tighter and kissed her cheek.

“You’re cracking my ribs,” she protested, but the grin on her face said she didn’t really mind.

Tamara turned to her husband, and the look they gave each other was so tender, so private, so loving, that Imogen felt a lump rise in her throat. She looked away, toward Ty, and felt that lump threaten to choke her when she saw the way he was staring at her, a smile on his face.

Who the hell was she kidding?

Imogen had spent the past two weeks interviewing drivers and their wives, and after every interview she had told herself that they had something she didn’t, that there was a connection and a rightness to each of those couples that didn’t exist with Ty and that she couldn’t allow herself to fall for him.

But she had.

And it had been altogether too easy.

There he was, standing there in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with a beer ball cap on his head, Hunter climbing all over his back, and giving her a secret, sensual smile. He made her feel and want more than she ever had before in her life.

“What’s Viagra?” Hunter asked him, arms around his neck.

“Not anything I need,” Ty told her.

Elec coughed to cover up a laugh, while Tamara looked flustered to have the subject brought up again.

“Well . . .” she said, clearly struggling with how to handle it.

Imogen decided to jump in and help her. “It’s a prescription drug taken orally by men suffering from the medical condition erectile dysfunction. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of the drug is that it can last longer than is desirable, resulting in discomfort, which is why you did in fact use the word contextually correctly when referencing the ride as lasting uncomfortably long. Good job, but it is actually adult humor, and not something your friends are going to understand, though, so where’s the fun in that?”

She had been banking on Hunter’s eyes glazing over, and they did.

“Oh. Okay,” Hunter said. She jiggled to readjust on Ty’s back, and knocked his hat askew. “How’s your car looking? Can I see it?”

“It’s up to Elec. He’s the one who’s got to get you a garage pass since he’s your stepdaddy. You know the rules—no kids in the garage unless they belong to a driver.”

Tamara had moved from Elec to Imogen’s side. “Thank you,” she murmured. “I consider myself a capable mother, for the most part, but Hunter’s language leaves me speechless. I don’t know how to handle it, and I think you did an amazing job. You told her the truth in a way that wasn’t inappropriate and you shut down the subject.”

“Big words tend to bore kids,” Imogen said. “And if you say something like
erectile dysfunction
fast enough, they can’t process it enough to retain or repeat it.”

Tamara laughed. “Let’s hope that’s the last of the Viagra conversations. For any of us.”

The thought of Viagra led to thoughts of Ty’s penis, which led to thoughts of it fully erect and buried deep inside her. Imogen shifted in her flats and crossed her arms across her chest to hide her suddenly tight nipples.

“No joke.”

But Tamara was already distracted. “Petey, what’s in your hand?”

Her son stood up, a fat worm dangling from his fingers. “Nothing.”

“Oh, Lord.” Tamara turned to her husband. “Did Evan find somewhere to stay for the weekend, or do we need to get a hotel?”

Imogen had forgotten that Elec’s brother Evan shared his motor coach, which had made sense in their mutual bachelor days, but was now probably less than convenient.

“He’s crashing with Ryder,” Elec said. “No big deal. Unless you want a hotel, darling. It makes no difference to me.”

“I want to stay in the coach!” Hunter yelled.

“The lady wants to stay in the coach,” Elec said with a smile for his wife. “But it’s up to you.”

“That’s fine. The kids can sleep in Evan’s room. That’s probably better than all of us sharing one hotel room anyway.”

“Oh, yeah,” Elec said with a look so hot that Imogen almost blushed witnessing it.

Imogen was so busy studying Tamara and Elec’s marital and family dynamic with something she would categorize as jealousy, she didn’t notice Ty had moved much closer to her.

“Glad I don’t have a roomie,” he murmured to her. Then he reached out and kissed her, Hunter still on his back. “I’m also real glad to see you, Emma Jean.”

“Sick!” Hunter proclaimed, making gagging gestures with her free hand. “Let me down.”

“Sure thing, monkey.” Ty squatted and she scrambled off, running over to her brother to inspect the worm.