Jacked Up (6 page)

CHAPTER

FOUR

NOLAN
was pleased to see Eve fighting back a smile. It had been a gamble, teasing with her. She might have gotten pissed that he’d stolen her phone while they were kissing and just left the fairgrounds altogether. But he’d wanted to tweak her back. She had punched him in the stomach, after all, and he was fairly certain that was the first time a girl other than one of his sisters had done that.

“Nicely played, Ford. You did distract me.”

He’d distracted himself. That kiss had been off the charts. Eve had a volcano of passion inside her, and he didn’t think it would take much for it to erupt. He definitely wanted to be the one around when it did.

“It wasn’t easy. I almost forgot what I was doing when you started in with your tongue. We’ve got some chemistry between us, just like I suspected.”

“Maybe. But you don’t taste like fudge ripple.”

“No?” Nolan figured this was going to be good. “What do I taste like?”

“Jackass.”

Yep. That was good. He laughed. “I guess you’d know.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m about to delete these pictures.” He hit the picture icon on her phone to bring up the shots.

“You’re a sore loser.”

“How am I a loser? I have the phone and I’m about to go collect my barbeque gift certificate. That sounds like a winner to me.” He scrolled through the pictures. They weren’t that awful actually. He only deleted the one where he was clutching the kitten and his eyes were closed. That one was awkward.

“You’re no fun. I wasn’t going to post those online.”

“You swear to it?”

“Yes, I swear to it.”

He gave her the phone back. “I only deleted one. The rest you can keep for your personal amusement when you want a good laugh at my expense.”

Her jaw dropped. “You didn’t delete them all?” She took the phone and checked for herself.

“No. I can be a good sport, and you gave your word you won’t show them to anyone else.” He wasn’t uptight and he could take a joke.

“Oh. Wow.” She looked genuinely surprised, like she wasn’t used to people being reasonable. Which maybe she wasn’t. “You da man.”

Which made him laugh. “Yeah, I’m the man about to pick up my prize.”

They headed toward the booth the judge had directed him to. “So Eve, you know I can’t eat all that barbeque by myself. Would you care to join me for dinner sometime?” He liked spending time with her. She continued to intrigue him and he wanted to hang out with her.

“Are you asking me on a date?”

Apparently he needed to spell it out. “Yes.”

“Do you really think it’s a good idea for us to date? It’s basically a conflict of interest. We work for the same company.”

“I didn’t give it much thought.” He hadn’t. Sure, Rhett and Jim had said something to him, but he didn’t see why it mattered. They weren’t on the pit crew together. And he’d yet to end a relationship with a woman and been unable to remain civil to her after. “You’re frowning again. Stop worrying.”

She was. That line in the middle of her forehead had reappeared.

“I can’t help it. It would be a disaster if we were a disaster and it affected our work.”

“It’s one date for some ribs and maybe a pulled pork sandwich. Why would that be a disaster? And we are both mature adults who see each other at the track like once a month. I think we can handle it.” He did. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he rocked her back and forth a little. “It’s okay. Chill out. Have some fun. Hug a kitten.” He handed her the stuffed cat she’d won for him.

Eve rolled her eyes, but she did smile at the same time. “God, okay, fine, whatever. Let’s go out on a date. But if this goes horribly wrong I’m blaming it on you.”

He wasn’t about to point out that technically they were currently
on
a date. “I’ll be the fall guy. That’s fair. Not. But I’ll take the blame.”

“When are we doing this? I need to get it on my calendar.”

Nolan pulled a face. She had no idea how to have fun. He was catching glimpses like when she danced or wrestled with him, but man, she was wound tight. It felt like he’d been given a personal mission to loosen her up. Which gave him an idea.

“I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” he told her truthfully. “But this weekend I’m competing in the demolition derby. You should come with me, drive a car in it.”

Eve paused in the middle of pushing buttons on her phone, probably checking out her calendar. She gave him a look that showed precisely what she thought of that idea. “Now why would I do that? And how? I don’t have a car.”

So she was considering it. “You would do it because it’s fun. Because knocking around on the track banging into people is a great stress reliever. Think about it—you get to smash up a car and no one’s going to get pissed.”

She seemed to be debating the idea. But then she shook her head. “Again, I don’t have a car. And I don’t drive anymore. It’s a crazy idea.”

“You can use my car and I’ll drive Rhett’s. He hasn’t driven it in six months or more. And you drove for years, you can handle a derby. Come on, it’ll be a blast. Hell, you may even win.”

That got her. He could see the competitive fire spark to life in her eyes.

She snorted. “There’s no way I’d win. But yeah, it might be fun. I’ll think about it.”

“Think about it fast, that’s only three days from now.”

Staring hard at him, she jammed her phone into her purse, then pulled her sweatshirt back on over her head. It was a stall tactic that he recognized clearly. If she decided to drive, she’d need a practice session behind the wheel, just to get the feel of the car, and he wasn’t sure when they were going to squeeze that in if she didn’t make a decision tonight. But he wasn’t about to tell her that. If he put too much pressure on her, she’d just say no.

“Okay, fine, I’ll do it. Only to prove to you that it’s a bad idea.”

“Well, as long as you’re going in with the right attitude.” Nolan slung his arm over Eve’s shoulders and pulled her in close to him. “You want your own brat or do you just want a bite of mine?”

“What?” She looked up at him in confusion. “What the hell are you taking about?”

“I’m buying myself a bratwurst to eat. You want your own wiener or just a bite of mine?” He smiled at her. Two could play the double entendre game. It was only fair. He still hadn’t fully recovered from that pussy comment. It was a game she was good at.

“I’ll just take a big old bite out of yours, thanks.” She gave him a challenging smile.

Yeah, she was good at this game. Nolan felt a stirring down south. A call to arms. He wanted to kiss Eve again while imagining her biting him.

But when he leaned forward to do just that, she took a step back. “On second thought, I’ll take a rain check on the wiener. I’m going to head out for the night.”

It took him a second to process what she was saying. “No wiener?”

“No wiener.”

Disappointed, he tried to regroup. No wiener. That sucked. “That’s a shame, but alright. I’ll walk you to your car.”

“No, you go ahead and collect your prize and get your bratwurst. My car is only a few spots from the gate, I’ll be fine.”

With any other woman, he would insist on walking her out. But his gut told him if he insisted, it would just piss Eve off. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

She was already taking a few steps back. She was done and she was bolting. Best to let her go. “Alright, I’ll call you tomorrow about the derby.”

“Great. Enjoy your sauerkraut.”

“Thanks. Night, Eve.”

“Bye, strongman.”

As he watched her go, his eyes automatically dropping down to check out her stellar curves, Nolan had a feeling his car might not be the only things getting smashed up this weekend.

His ego and his libido might be taking a beating as well.

But he was willing to risk the bruises.

Because if he won, well, he had a feeling the prize was going to be well worth it.

* * *

“YOU
want to do what?” Elec stared at her in surprise.

Eve fought her annoyance, which was directly related to the fact that she was embarrassed, and took a deep breath. “I want to drive in the demolition derby. And I was wondering if I could borrow a car. I know you have a bunch of beaters laying around.”

Elec had been amassing a car collection for years, and last time she’d counted, he had about seven or eight, most in storage since his house with Tammy only had a three-car garage. Some were vintage stock cars, some sports cars, and one or two were rescued from the scrap pile.

“I have a couple, yeah. Sure you can borrow one.” Elec leaned back in the rocker on his front porch and made it tip off the floor. “So what made you want to do this all of a sudden?”

Eve had been over for dinner with Elec and Tammy and the kids, and now they were sitting on the porch in the crisp fall air in the dark. Only a porch light was illuminating their faces, which was good for this conversation. Eve was thoroughly embarrassed and not sure why.

Though there was no denying it was easier to talk to Elec than it was to Evan. She and Evan were too similar, too competitive. They both wanted the last word. Elec had never had a lot of words, period. When he had spoken when they were kids, she and Evan had drowned him out. But it had never seemed to bother him. He had a naturally content disposition. It was like there’d been no sass genes left by the time their mother had given birth to him.

So it didn’t really surprise her that, outside of his career, he had chosen to marry a woman with children and a house, and settle down into a domestic routine. He had never been the party type, even when he’d been trying to live the playboy lifestyle.

Rocking on his porch looked natural for him, and Eve sometimes found herself a touch jealous. Not that she saw herself as domestic exactly, but Elec had his own family, people to come home to who were happy to see him. She had an empty condo that wasn’t a home—it was just a place she owned and had had decorated.

“It’s been pointed out to me,” she told Elec, “that I am a little uptight.”

He snorted, letting go so the rocker slammed back down to the porch. “Maybe.”

“So having a way to let some steam off might be a good thing. Fun.”

“I think that’s a great idea. Seriously.”

“You do?” Because she wasn’t really sure it was all that brilliant, but she couldn’t come up with a good reason to say no to Nolan without just sounding bratty.

“Yeah, I do. You always loved to drive. I’m sure you miss it. And you don’t have to worry about wrecking the car—that’s the point. No sponsors to please. Just slamming into people. Bumper cars for grown-ups.”

“I always did love the bumper cars.” She remembered the thrill of going full throttle at another kid’s car and knocking him off course. Good times.

“Of course you did. You’re one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met. And you’re not competing. That’s bound to make you antsy. You can’t fight your nature, you know.”

Was that what she was doing? Fighting who she was? Maybe he had a point. “Huh. Maybe you’re right.”

“When is the derby?”

“Sunday.”

“Too bad. I’d come watch you if I wasn’t racing myself.”

“That’s okay. I don’t know if I can even do this. I don’t think I want anyone watching me just yet.”

“Cool.” Elec took a sip of his beer. “So you dating anyone?”

She was instantly suspicious. Had he heard something around the garage? He and Evan’s teams worked mere feet away from each other, and there was always gossip. Plus Tammy had been there for the margarita night when Nolan had called her. “Why?”

“Just making conversation.” He put his hands up. “Geez Louise, don’t tear my face off. My wife asks all the time why I don’t know more about your life, so I’m trying to be a good brother and inquire.”

“Oh.” Her wariness dissipated. “There’s nothing to know about my life. It’s a boring life.” With her heels, she made her own rocking chair zip back and forth vigorously, debating how much she should reveal. She did trust Elec not to mock her. “Tammy might have mentioned I had someone ask me out.”

“She might have.”

“Do you think it’s stupid to date a pit crew member?”

“It’s only stupid if he’s stupid.”

Eve brought her chair to a halt. “That’s the only reason it would be stupid?”

“Best as I can figure, yep.”

“I can think of a lot of reasons it would be stupid. Like bare minimum, a hundred. But no, he’s not stupid.”

“Does he have a name?”

“Nolan Ford.” Saying it out loud gave her a weird tingling feeling in her nipples and her girl parts. Thank God it was dark because she had the sneaking suspicion that she was actually blushing. Something she never did outside of anger, and that red color on the cheeks wasn’t called blushing. That was called pissed off.

But right now, talking about Nolan, she was blushing. Ridiculous. That’s what that was.

“He’s a good guy, from what I’ve seen. A hard worker. You should ask Evan more about him.”

“Hell, no.” Was Elec crazy? “Do you know how much shit Evan will give me?”

“I don’t know. He’s mellowed a bit.”

“I went to Oktoberfest with his jackman. He’ll never let me hear the end of it.”

Elec’s head swung in her direction. He looked astonished. “You went to Oktoberfest? You hate those things.”

She did. Didn’t she? It hadn’t been so bad. It had actually been kind of fun. “I don’t
hate
them. That’s a strong word.”

“I believe your exact words when Mom and Dad invited you last year were, ‘I’d rather arm wrestle with a king cobra.’”

She didn’t remember saying that, but it was entirely possible that she had. It sounded like words that would come out of her mouth. Having it pointed out to her, though, was entirely unnecessary. “I’m trying new things, okay? Geez, you’d think that was a crime.”

“I’m all for you trying new things. In fact, I think if you could try a new attitude in general, we’d all be a whole lot happier.”

Eve bristled. It felt like her whole life she was always being criticized by her family. Nothing she did was ever good enough. She didn’t want it to hurt, yet it always did. This was a particularly painful sting, given that it came from Elec and it was when she was trying to share personal tidbits with him.