Sand Angel (21 page)

Life changed, but some things never did—like a parent’s unconditional love or the fact that Josh was mooching another meal. He showed up just as the table was set.

Zoë couldn’t remember anything tasting as good as her mother’s cooking. Josh reminded them of the time that he and Drew glued the principal’s front door shut and laughter filled the dining room. It sounded like old times. Her mother reached over and covered Zoë’s hand with hers. She glanced at Drew, a question raising her brows.

Zoë didn’t need words to understand that her mother wanted to know if all was well. Zoë nodded. “I love him, Mom.” Her words were said quietly, meant only for her mother, but the room got deathly quiet. She could have heard a pin drop from a mile away. All eyes were narrowed on Drew.

The moment could have been awkward. It sure as hell was for her.

Drew appeared unaffected. He turned to her father. “Sir, I’d like your permission to marry your daughter.”

Zoë’s heart stuttered. OhmyGod. The air in the room disappeared, felt like it had been sucked away by a vacuum. For a moment she couldn’t breathe and things got hazy. Dammit. Tears. She was looking through misty eyes.

Her mother slapped her palm across her mouth to muffle her cry. Josh sat there beaming like the toad he was, while her father cleared his throat. He solemnly faced Zoë. “Angel, is this what you want?”

She gazed at Drew, seeing love reflecting in his eyes. “Yes, Daddy.”

Her father was a big man, standing six-two, but in her eyes he seemed to grow several more feet when he turned to Drew. “Boy, if you don’t treat my baby right, I’ll hunt you down and beat the living tar out of you.”

“You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Davis. I plan to make your daughter very happy.” When the conversation returned to something close to normal, he leaned into Zoë. “Starting tonight. Are you ready to go home?”

Chapter Eighteen

The crowd loved Zoë.

The roar and energy in the stadium rose with the complexity of each of her jumps. The fact that she was a woman just added to the excitement. The scent of gas and oil as one bike after another zoomed by made Drew queasy, or maybe it was his anxiety as he stood beside Josh in the pit watching his bride-to-be.

Like an angel, Zoë soared off the ramp, flipping the bike up and over to complete a full somersault. Drew’s knees went weak. His heart lurched into his throat, making it difficult to swallow. His skin shrank two sizes too small. Another stunt like that and the paramedics standing by would have to revive him.

The throng jumped to their feet. Their cheers were like thunder, echoing in the arena.

The tightness in Josh’s face softened as Zoë landed safely. His relieved exhale matched Drew’s. Josh shook his head, a weary smile lifting the corners of his mouth. “She’s either amazing or fuckin’ nuts.”

Guess the jury was still deliberating the answer to that question, but Drew thought she was amazing.

Several other riders took their jumps as Zoë made her way around the moist dirt track. She raised her hand, motioning one of the factory riders she performed with to join her. Together they hit the ramp, and with a choreographed move they did a simultaneous somersault. After Drew’s heart started to beat again, he took a moment to recall the beauty of machines and riders defying gravity. No one could do what Zoë did with such precision, agility and control and not possess the necessary skills required. Even the knowledge of her aptitude didn’t reassure him as she hit the ramp for another jump.

This time, instead of going around the track, Zoë skidded into the pit, spraying dirt from her tires. She ripped off her goggles and helmet. Her eyes were glassy with the apparent adrenaline rush she was experiencing. The grin on her face beamed with pride. There was no doubt in Drew’s mind that she loved to ride and perform.

“Water,” she said breathlessly. Josh handed her a cold bottle and she squeezed a stream of water into her mouth. After she wiped her sleeve across her face, she glanced at Drew. “Having fun?”

“Fun?” He pressed his lips to hers, tasting woman beneath the light film of dirt that covered her face. “I’m wondering how to clip your wings after that last stunt.”

“Gotta fly,” she said. “Life’s too short.” Suddenly, her grin faltered. “I know what I’m doing. You believe me, right?” He could hear the plea in her voice—her need for him to have faith in her.

Before he could answer, two large semi-trucks with box trailers attached crashed through a makeshift wall, splintering wood and tossing it about as they barreled into the arena. With the low, rumbling release of their jake brakes, the crowd sprang to their feet, their voices ringing loud throughout the stadium as the trucks aligned end to end. Like the audience, Drew’s pulse began to race.

Four men from Zoë’s pit-crew ran past him, splitting into pairs as they headed in separate directions toward two large ramps. As they rolled one behind the last semi and the other in front of the first semi, Drew and Josh both pinned their wide-eyed gazes on Zoë.

“Zoë?” The overture in Josh’s voice expressed Drew’s feeling exactly. She wasn’t going to jump two semi-trucks?

She turned to Drew, her eyes misty. “I need you to believe in me.” He heard desperation in her tight voice.

All color drained from Josh’s face. “Don’t do this.” He looked helplessly toward Drew. “Don’t let her do this.”

Anxiety crawled across Drew’s skin as both siblings trapped him between their gazes. He knew Josh expected him to stop Zoë. She just wanted him to believe in her. Was she asking too much of him? He pushed his fingers through his hair. If he tried to stop her, he’d lose her. If he didn’t stop her—

Drew didn’t want to think about the outcome. He glanced at the trucks blowing black smoke from their chrome stacks and the crowd who came alive as the announcer introduced Zoë. It didn’t help calm him as the paramedics started their vehicle’s engine.

His hands began to shake as he sucked in an uneasy breath. “Can you do this?”

She didn’t hesitate, replying, “Yes.” He looked deep into her eyes and saw fearlessness and the same self-confidence she spoke with. At that moment he knew, Zoë could do anything she put her mind to. The woman was remarkable.

Drew let a smile slip across his tight lips. “Break a leg, baby.”

“Ahhh, shit.” The breath Josh held released in a single gush, his shoulders drooping. “Did you have to put it like that?”

“Come here.” Zoë wadded her gloved fingers in Drew’s shirt, dragging him to her. She planted a firm kiss on his lips. Her eyes sparkled like diamonds as she rubbed her nose against his. “I love you.” She released him before donning her helmet and goggles. With a twist of her wrist, she revved the bike’s engine. When she popped the clutch, her front tire came off the ground and she made a grand entrance that had the audience once again on its feet.

“Think she can do this?” Josh asked.

Drew’s heartbeat began to thrum in double-time. Yet as Zoë sped around the arena, teasing the crowd, optimism embraced him. “I have no doubt.”

Josh shook his head. “Why?”

Drew turned to him, a warmth filling his chest. “Because she loves me.” He spied her lining up to take the jump. “Now that we’ve found our way back to each other, she wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our life together.” As the words left his mouth, he knew it was the truth.

Josh’s fingers curled into tight fists beside his thighs. “Man, I hope you’re right.”

It was spellbinding as thousands of people grew quiet. The only sound was Zoë’s bike as it hit the ramp. In mere seconds she was airborne.

Josh’s sharp intake of breath echoed Drew’s own. Instead of soaring across the trailers as they expected, her lithe body parted from the dirt bike, hands gripped tightly on the handlebars, her legs extended above her head as she performed the death-defying Kiss of Death. Within seconds she landed the bike atop the first trailer, racing down the roof.

“StopStopStop,” Josh ground through clenched teeth.

There wasn’t time to say a prayer, it happened so quickly. A flutter of apprehension tightened in Drew’s stomach. The bike came to a screeching halt. He stared at her bike’s front tire hanging slightly over the edge of the trailer. Another inch—

Drew gulped down a much-needed breath.

“I’m going to kill her,” Josh growled even as relief crept across his face. “She played us. Knew damn well we thought she was jumping both trucks and trailers.”

That was Drew’s woman. Unpredictable—and he loved her.

Slowly she eased her bike backward down the roof of the trailer, and then she gassed it. Easily, she cleared the distance between the two semis, soaring over the last one to land on the top of the ramp and race down it.

When she rolled into the pit area, Drew was waiting for her with open arms.

Zoë was riding high on the adrenaline of the night. She had signed autographs earlier, but several more people approached her. While she spoke to a couple of hopeful young girls dreaming of riding, she marveled how different this event was to previous ones. Before, she couldn’t wait to get out of the stadium and start partying, but tonight she had Drew beside her. All she wanted to do was share a glimpse of her life with him.

When she glanced over her shoulder at him, pride glimmered in his eyes. But what was more important was that he had faith in her. She could have eased his anxiety by telling him she’d done the act with the semis multiple times and that she wasn’t stupid enough to try to jump both trucks, but she needed him to believe in her…and he had.

“Baby, it’s getting late,” Drew whispered in her ear.

He was right. They had plans to meet at her parents’ house after the exhibition. It was already pushing ten and she still needed to take a shower and change her clothes.

While Zoë signed two more autographs and made her apologies, Drew retrieved her bike. She picked up her gloves and stuffed them in her helmet and moved quickly to his side. Several more people stopped her, congratulated her on a great show. Fifteen minutes later they were finally headed out of the stadium and into a starlit night. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as they crossed the parking lot toward her rig.

“It’ll save time if I shower here instead of at your place,” she said, lowering the ramp to her toy hauler. Drew rolled the bike up the ramp and she followed, switching the light on.

“Go. I’ll lock everything down. Unless you need some help?” The roguish grin he flashed her sent her spirits sailing. She loved this man.

“Mmmm…sounds inviting.” Without delay she began to unsnap her boots. Next to go was her jersey. As she dropped her pants, she heard Drew raising the ramp. The shower door groaned as she opened it and then turned on the water. She didn’t wait for the water to warm. She walked beneath the spray and let the cool water cover her. In short order she had her hair washed and was rinsing off. After grabbing a towel off the rack, she dried off, wrapping it around her, before she pushed open the bathroom door and entered into darkness.

“What the heck? Drew?” Zoë wondered if the generator had quit, but she heard it switch on. A small scratching noise startled her. She jerked her attention to where it came from. The scent of sulfur rose, followed by a bright flame.

Drew had struck a match to light a candle sitting on her counter. When he moved to the one positioned on the table, she noted he wore not a stitch of clothing. A smile touched her lips. She inhaled the warm fragrance of cinnamon as it filled the trailer. Through the dimly lit room she saw rose petals sprinkled on the counter, the floor, all over everything.

Candles and rose petals. How romantic. She had stopped being a girly-girl some time ago, but she had to admit this thrilled her to the core.

Shadows played across his firm body as he moved forward, each step slow and sensual. There was something mysterious and predatory in the way he looked at her—as if he meant to devour her. When he cupped the nape of her neck, drew her close to his lips, her nipples tightened beneath the towel.

“I want you naked,” he whispered, tugging the towel free and letting it fall to the floor. The coolness of the night chilled her still-moist body. Drops of water falling from her wet hair only added to the effect. Yet his warm touch was heating her up quite nicely.

Zoë moved her mouth across his and murmured, “I am naked.” Then she nipped his bottom lip. “Now what?” With a hand in the small of her back, he pulled her firmly against his body. His hard erection pressed to her belly. She chuckled. “Happy to see me?”

He stole her laughter away with a fervent kiss—one that made her hungry for more. When they parted she was breathless. Her body thrummed to the tune of desire.

“I need to be inside you.” His words were the catalyst to the flood of moisture between her thighs. Like always, he made her wet and horny.

Without waiting, she headed to the bedroom, stopping abruptly when she saw a little white box surrounded by a dozen long-stemmed roses lying on the comforter. Her heart stuttered as she stood there staring. He moved past her, lit another candle on the nightstand, and then he climbed upon the bed.

Damn, the man was sexy.

With a snap, he opened the box and a beautiful diamond ring twinkled in the candlelight. She couldn’t speak. Was this really happening? Did she dare believe that all her dreams were coming true?