Jacked Up (5 page)

Eve reached into her purse and pulled out more money. She played two more rounds, and this time, she hit all the targets, which was sexy as hell. Even sexier was that both times she gave away her prize to one of the kids standing around her in the growing crowd. He had known she had a kind heart, despite her blustering. Eve was a good woman and he really enjoyed watching her.

He did feel a little lonely standing all by himself with his arm out. The guy next to him was sweating profusely, his arm shaking. He didn’t look up for a chat. The strongman contest coordinator was staring at the three remaining contestants intently, her glasses slipping down her nose, her arms crossed against her enormous chest. Now there was a battle-ax. She was waiting for one of them to lower his arm, even for a split second, but it wasn’t going to be him.

Now it wasn’t even about the barbeque restaurant. It was the principle of the thing. At least he had Eve to watch. She won two more times, tossing a stuffed penguin to a little boy, then keeping the other white thing for herself. He thought it was a cat, but he wasn’t sure. Figuring she must have dropped a wad of cash at this point, he wasn’t surprised when she turned and strolled back toward him, her sweatshirt tied around her waist, purse across her body.

“Amazing job,” he told her, meaning it sincerely. “You’re a regular Annie Oakley. Remind me not to piss you off.”

“And you’re a strongman apparently. The guy next to you just caved.”

Nolan turned. The man who had been shaking had quit the field. “Good job, man. This isn’t as easy as it looks, is it?”

He shook his head and laughed, his face red. “Hell no. Though you don’t look like you’re struggling too much. Guess I don’t hit the gym enough.”

“I probably wouldn’t if my job didn’t depend on it.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a jackman for stock car driver Evan Monroe.”

The guy’s face lit up. “No way? Are you serious? That’s so freakin’ awesome!”

“It’s a great job, I love it. This here’s his sister.”

“You’re Evan and Elec Monroe’s sister?” He stared at Eve like she was a goddess. “That’s so cool.”

Nolan expected she’d be annoyed, and he was already regretting having said something. But fans were fans and it was a cool job. He shared the guy’s excitement. Eve impressed him.

She smiled and said, “I sure am. And their PR rep. If you want to give me your name and contact info, I’ll send some autographed gear your way.”

“Really? That would be sweet.”

“It’s the least I can do after you stood here holding a beer out for thirty minutes.”

“Thanks!”

A couple of minutes later he was on his way, perfectly happy with the end result of the strongman contest. “That was nice of you,” Nolan told Eve.

She shrugged. “That’s what it’s about—the fans. Without them, there’s no sport, no money. I remember being a kid, that thrill you’d get when you got to meet your favorite driver. It’s cool that I can do that for someone else now.”

A thought hit Nolan, one he was surprised hadn’t occurred to him before. Eve’s father had been a driver. Her two brothers were. She was very competitive. He’d seen that already multiple times in the limited contact he’d had with her. Some of her unhappiness just might make sense. “Did you race as a kid?”

“Yep. I won the quarter midget championship at fourteen.” She looked proud of that fact, as well she should.

That was no small feat. Nolan was impressed. “Damn, girl. That’s quite a title. So what made you quit racing?”

There it was. Her expression changed, became guarded. A tinge of sarcasm crept into her voice. “Because girls don’t drive professionally, don’t you know?”

“Is that what your daddy told you?” The thought troubled Nolan. Facts were facts, and it was damn hard to break into pro-racing as a woman. But he hated to think her father might have squashed her dreams.

“No, my dad was all for me. But the rest of the world wasn’t. You can only hear no so many times before you start to think they might have a point.”

“So you did the practical thing and went to college.” It was a decision that he was getting the feeling she had regretted every day in one way or another for the last ten-plus years.

“Yeah. I did. And now my sister-in-law Kendall is the first female driver in the Cup series.”

A title he imagined she had always wanted for herself. His heart hurt just a little for the girl she’d been, and the woman she was—-both disappointed, both betrayed by men. “I’m sorry, Eve. That is a tough pill to swallow.”

She hurried to amend what she had said. “Kendall deserves it. And I love her.”

“I’m sure she does. And I’m sure you do. Doesn’t make it sting any less.” With his free hand he reached out and stroked her cheek. Her skin was soft, her eyes vulnerable.

For a split second their gazes held. Nolan was shocked at both the heat and the tenderness he felt coursing through him when he looked at her. Lord, she was beautiful and sweet and so underestimated.

“You could still do it, you know. Drive.”

His words shattered the moment. She stepped out of his touch and snorted. “Yeah, right. I’m past thirty and I haven’t driven in a dozen years. That ship has sailed, strongman.”

Damn it. He hadn’t meant to upset her. She looked tense again, and it was his fault for pushing a topic that brought her pain. But before he could say anything, she shoved the stuffed animal at him.

“Here. I won this for you.”

Touched, he looked down. Then frowned. “A white kitten? Thanks. I think.” What in the Sam Hill was he supposed to do with a plush animal? Growing up, his sisters had owned them by the tens of thousands it seemed, and he’d spent a hefty amount of time holding them for ransom and threatening to tear their eyes off and stuffing out if the girls didn’t meet his demands. Somehow he didn’t think that would have the same thrill now.

“I was going to give it to you with some incredibly inappropriate double entendre, but now I’ve realized that’s not a good idea.”

A double entendre involving a cat? Gee, what could that be? Nolan felt an erection immediately spring to life. “No? Why not?”

“Because telling you I’m giving you my pussy sends the wrong message.”

Oh, shit, she’d said it. Nolan gave a strangled gasp. His jeans were suddenly so tight he felt light-headed. “Why is that the wrong message? I really like that message.” He really, really liked that message. Like that was the best message he’d ever gotten in his entire life.

“Because it’s a bad idea, and I’m not even sure you really want me that way.”

He nodded so hard he almost gave himself whiplash. “Oh, I do. I really, absolutely do.”

“Your beer stein is drooping,” she said in alarm.

“I don’t care.” What he cared about was losing the stuffed cat and the beer and hauling her sweet ass right up close to him and kissing the daylights out of her. But the competitor in him instinctively raised the glass up to the appropriate level.

She sighed in relief. “After all this, I want that BBQ now. The last guy is about five seconds from losing.”

Irrelevant. Didn’t she see that? He wanted to get back to the part where she offered him her kitty.

Eve monitored Nolan’s hand, her heart pounding. It had been a welcome distraction from the way he had been looking at her. For a second, she had thought he was going to kiss her, right there in front of the beer booth at the Oktoberfest.

“Just tell me the second I’ve won,” he told her, still staring at her.

Nolan Ford confused the hell out of her. Eve wasn’t a moron, she knew when a man wanted to get her naked, and she definitely got the impression Nolan fell in that category. She wanted to get naked for him. Hence the naughty little thoughts that had run through her head about offering him her pussy when she’d won the stuffed cat. But she didn’t understand him, which was why she’d changed her mind, only then she’d gone and said it anyways. What did he really want from her? So far she hadn’t even been particularly nice to him, yet she didn’t get the impression he was turned off by that or that he was just looking at her as a one-night stand or a booty call. He seemed actually interested in getting to know her, and that weirded her out.

It also disturbed her that she was telling him things about herself. Legitimate, honest answers to his questions were coming out of her mouth without hesitation and that was so not her. It took a crowbar to pry her feelings out of her normally, and here she’d told him she had wanted to be a driver. It made no sense.

“I want you more than I want the barbeque.”

Eve didn’t even know what to say. Nolan wasn’t saying it in a wheedling way. Or in a charming, playboy tone. It was just direct. Sincere. Maybe even a little heartfelt.

When she didn’t understand something, it made her angry. Scared.

So she stepped back, away from the temptation of his body, but most of all, the temptation of what she saw in his green eyes.

Fumbling in her purse, she pulled out her phone. She held it up, wanting to capture the image of him holding the stein and the stuffed cat. And more to the point, needing to change the charged atmosphere in the air between them to something more lighthearted.

He caught on to what she was doing. His head went back and forth. “No. Hell no, you are not taking a picture of me right now. If I see that online I will—”

She took it. “Got it.”

Glaring at her, he said, “Don’t save that.”

Then what would have been the point? Grinning, she saved it to her phone. “Just one more.”

He dropped the cat onto the ground, just letting it fall out of his hands. “At the very least, let’s leave the stuffed animal out of it. I can’t explain that easily.”

“Oh, come on.” Eve held her camera up, moving back and forth, searching for the best angle. “You’re about to win a strongman contest. No one is going to doubt your masculinity.”

“I don’t feel the need to chance it.” He put his foot on the cat’s back, like he was squashing it. “Just in case.”

With the one arm up with a beer, the opposite foot on a ball of fluff, and a grimace on his face, it was a confusing, albeit hilarious picture. “That’s it,” she told him. “Make love to the camera. Work it, girl.”

The expression on his face was priceless. Eve started laughing so hard her hand shook, making the image of him on the camera screen blurry.

“Eve. The minute I get to put this beer down, I’m going to tan your hide.”

Now why did that both amuse her and send a jolt of heat to her inner thighs? Eve steadied her hand and got another shot off. She didn’t doubt for one minute that he was going to come after the camera. It’s what she would do.

“We have a winner!”

The woman with the glasses who had been monitoring the contest stepped in between Eve and Nolan and congratulated him. The other remaining contestant was bent over, massaging his arm muscles. Nolan looked impatient, but his arm was steady. The woman took his free hand and raised it up in the air in a fist pump. Eve clapped and cheered, admittedly proud of him. She was competitive by nature, so she understood his drive to win even something as simple as a contest at the fair. It was why she’d blown two twenties at the shooting gallery.

“Woo hoo! Go Nolan! Strongman, yeah!”

He turned his attention away from the woman and met her eye. He lowered the beer mug and excused himself from the judge.

“Oh, shit.” He was coming for her phone to delete the pictures. Eve tried to shove it into her purse, but the latch was caught and she couldn’t cram it inside fast enough. She started backing up, dropping her sweatshirt in the process. Leaning over, she snagged it and tried to haul ass, but Nolan was already in front of her, a devious gleam in his eye.

“Delete those pictures.”

“No.”

“Give me the phone.”

“No.”

He grabbed for it. She feinted to the left, dodging his reach.

“You’re not putting those pictures online, Eve Monroe, or I will bust your behind.”

He was grinning, so she couldn’t take him particularly seriously, but she wasn’t about to just hand the phone over to him either.

Nolan tried again and this time he got her arm. Eve shrieked, laughing, and tried to yank herself out of his grip. But of course, he was the strongman and she couldn’t escape. So she punched him in the gut. Not hard. Not to hurt. Just to startle him. It worked. He let her go.

“I can’t believe you just punched me! That’s dirty pool, girl.”

“Dirty pool would be pantsing you.” She tried to stuff the phone into her front pocket, but Nolan got a hand on it, too.

She was shoving, he was pulling, they were laughing.

Then suddenly, as his hand slid down into her jeans pocket along with the phone, they both seemed to realize how he was touching her. His palm was alongside her thigh, perilously close to an area of her body that Eve seemed extra aware of when Nolan was around.

His eyes darkened. Her laugh died out.

There was a hand on her other thigh suddenly, his thumb caressing the front of her leg through the denim of her jeans. His head tilted. His mouth moved toward her.

Eve felt the most intense anticipation she’d ever experienced. It was like the moment was occurring in slow motion, her breathing loud and echoing in her own ears, his expression sexy and feral.

When his lips finally touched hers, she sighed into the kiss, opening her mouth fully for him. They moved together, the touch more raw than tender, more hot than sweet. His hands caressed across her thighs and Eve slipped her tongue in to tangle with his. She wasn’t sure when she had done it, but at some point, her hand had lifted to his head, and she buried her fingers in his hair.

A deep wet ache throbbed inside her core and she was contemplating doing him behind the beer booth when he broke the kiss and stepped back.

His lips were shiny, his breathing ragged.

His erection huge.

Then he held her phone up in the air, swinging it back and forth. “I can play dirty pool, too, precious.”

That took some balls of steel. Instead of being angry, Eve was impressed, the corner of her mouth turning up.

And for the first time ever, she thought it was possible she just might have met her match.