Zero To Sixty (BWWM, Sports, Billionaire) (4 page)

Six

              She'd let him drive. Why had she done that again?

              Oh right, because she'd taken a taxi to the track from the airport. It had seemed silly to get a rental car for less than thirty hours. Now she felt like she could have used the car.

              As armor.

              Denise looked around the place Ansel had taken her. It was a tiny little juke joint on the edge of town, not far from the track. It oozed authentic charm and the smells of down home cooking were making her mouth water.

              Maybe Ansel did have some good qualities after all. Other than his eyes.

              Or his ass.

              She'd been trying to avoid staring at it ever since she'd met him. Seeing his cute little ass wiggling out of his race car this afternoon had made that impossible. His bottom was in fact, just as cute as she'd thought it was.

              Darn it.

              Now he was watching her while she perused the menu. Except it looked like he already knew what he wanted.

              Her.

              She closed the menu and decided to tackle her accidental dinner date head on. Her stepmother had always said that bravery took the day. She also said that discretion was the better part of valor. Conflicting advice to be sure.

              She sighed, deciding to go with a bit of both.

              "What's good?"

              He leaned back in the chair and grinned at her.

              "Everything. But I recommend just going for the classics. Ribs, greens and a side of slaw."

              "Sounds great."

              "Oh, and beer."

              "I don't usually drink. And you shouldn't the night before a race."

              "Oh but it's a law."

              "A law?"

              "Uh huh. The law of barbecue. You have to have a beer. No choice."

              She laughed and nodded.

              "Okay, I'll have one. But you're driving."

              "A couple of beers and all this ribs equals no beers for a lesser man."

              "Ansel…"

              He held up his hands.

              "You win. One beer each. And extra biscuits. There's no way you can get drunk and eat biscuits at the same time."

              "Well, I can't argue with that logic."

              Ansel didn't say anything, he just watched her as they waited for their food. As soon as the pitcher of beer was set down, he poured them each a glass and went back to staring at her. It was discomfiting to say the least.

              She tried to sip her beer and ignore him but it was impossible. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She leaned forward and put her elbows on the table.

              "Alright Ansel, what is it?"

              He smiled and sipped his beer.

              "What do you mean?"

              "The probing look you are giving me?"

              "Probing… interesting choice of words."

              She threw her hands up in exasperation.

              "Never mind. Let's just review the schedule for next week."

              "That can wait. Besides, when I win, the schedule is gonna change anyway."

              "If you win."

              "When."

              He sipped his beer and leaned forward, matching her position.

              "I'm just trying to figure you out. It's not easy for a poor little country boy like me to understand a sophisticated city lady like you."

              She burst out laughing. He was so over the top flirtatious it was insane. How was she supposed to take anything he said seriously? But he did look strangely serious as he leaned forward and continued buttering her up.

              "Sophisticated, gorgeous and much, much smarter than me."

              She took a sip of beer to cover her reaction. He was getting to her. She wasn't as immune to his flattery as she'd hoped.

              "I'm not so sure about that Ansel."

              He was grinning again when he leaned back.

              "I love the way you say my name darlin'. I surely do."

              "You are incorrigible, you know that?"

              The waitress brought their food over and Ansel picked up a rib.

              "You have no idea sweetheart."             

{}{}{}{}{}

              As slowly as he could manage, he walked Denise through the hotel lobby. He didn't want the night to end. Well, not unless it ended up with them in bed together.

              He had a sneaking suspicion that it was a long shot. Even if she did like him. Which she did. He knew she did. At least a little.

              The hotel was packed and people were starting to notice him. But he didn't want to glad hand anyone right now. He had other, much more important things on his mind.

              It was a mid range place, the best you could do out here in the sticks. The only reason a half way decent hotel existed in this area was due to the race track to begin with. It had been built in the mid 90's so there was an overabundance of soothing waterfalls and mauve and peach tones.

              But he didn't notice any of that.

              Ansel's mind was working over time, trying to figure out how to get into Denise's hotel room.

              Or get her into his.

              "Nightcap?"

              She shook her head at him primly. She really did look like a playboy bunny styled as a sexy librarian, even dressed down in her jeans. A sexy librarian, right before she took her clothes off.

              "No, thank you."

              He followed her into the elevator.

              "What floor?"

              "Sixth."

              He pushed the bottom and grinned at her.

              "Me too."

              Of course, he would have said that no matter which floor he was on. He took her arm and escorted her down the hallway. With every step he felt himself getting more and more desperate to put a crack in her armor. Just enough to let him in...

              "Are you sure you don't want a nightcap? Might help you sleep. I heard the beds here are terrible."

              Her eyes opened wide in dismay.

              "You did?"

              He nodded his head slowly.

              "No."

              She rolled her eyes and pushed open the door to her room.

              "What time do you need to be at the track in the morning?"

              "Ten, but I like to come in early. I usually can't sleep before a race."

              "You get nerves? I never would have guessed."

              "Think of it more as… anticipation."

              He grinned at her.

              "Besides, I can think of lots of worthwhile things to do in the middle of the night."

              Denise rolled her eyes at him.

              "I'm sure you can. Good night Ansel. See you tomorrow."

              "Denise…"

              She turned to look at him. He stepped in and that was it. They were kissing each other. Not just kissing,
devouring.

              He held her face with both hands, slanting his lips over hers. That lasted about ten seconds. Her mouth opened under the subtle pressure and their tongues were swirling against each others in an erotic dance.

              He pressed her against the doorjamb, bringing their bodies into intimate contact. He was getting harder by the second and the feel of her luscious breasts against his chest tipped him over the edge. He moaned and gripped her hips, grinding into her as he kissed her with everything he had. Denise gave it right back to him, matching his intensity and then some.

             
Damn but the girl could kiss.

              Ansel tried to slow down, to control his breathing. The way things were going he was afraid of what he might do next, like start humping her in the middle of the hallway. He felt like a teenager, trying to get a girl to lay down with him in the back of his car.

              Not that it had ever been hard for him to get any girl to lie down with him. Not ever. Not until
her.

              But he could tell she wasn't ready. No matter how she was kissing him. This was not in her precious schedule, that much was certain.

             
Suddenly he realized that it mattered to her how she felt in the morning. If he went into her room now, she would regret it. And he wasn't going to mess this up.

              He forced himself to step away. It wasn't easy. Hell, it was one of the hardest damn things he'd done in his life. Denise was staring at him, her beautiful mouth slightly ajar.

              "Goodnight m'am."

              He reached out and picked up her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. Then he turned and started to walk away. He refused to turn around to see if she was watching.

              Besides, he could practically feel her eyes on him.

              He was pretty sure Denise was staring at his ass.

Seven

              Denise rolled over on the uncomfortable hotel bed. Ansel hadn't been lying about that. He also hadn't been exaggerating his desire for her.

              What she hadn't counted on was
her
desire for
him
.

              When he'd kissed her in the hallway her mind had cleared of all thoughts, all the reasons she should step away, turn her head, close the door.

              That was a laugh. She'd been struggling not to drag him inside her room and throw herself at him. And thank God she had restrained herself, because apparently all he'd wanted was to prove that he
could
kiss her.

             
Boy, had he ever.

              As much as she'd have liked to blame that kiss on Ansel she couldn't lie to herself. Yes he had grabbed her, surprised her, taken her off guard. But she hadn't stopped him.

              She hadn't
wanted
to stop him.

              Denise could still feel his lips on hers, his tongue, his hard, hot body. The man felt like a furnace! But somehow, even in the southern heat, that was appealing.

              She sighed and picked up her phone.

              U up?

              It only took about thirty seconds for Sasha to ping her back.

              U know it

              Denise smiled. Thank Goodness for her night owl friend. She just knew that Sasha would put things in perspective.

              He kissed me

              WUT

              And I liked it

              Oh no baby girl, you got problems

              U r the one who told me to go for it

              Yeah but u better just hit it and quit it

              Seriously?

              Give him what he wants and then U OUT

              I don't know if I can do that Sash

             
Dennie girl u have worked too long and too hard to let a man mess things up for u

              I know

              But that doesn't mean u shouldn't have one night of nookienookie

              LOL u r terrible!

              Everybody needs at lease one friend who is a bad influence. U lucky its me

              Yes i am

              Love u

              <3

              Denise snuggled back down under the covers and closed her eyes. She didn't fall asleep for a long time though. By morning, she knew what she had to do.

{}{}{}{}{}

              Ansel was stretching and pacing before the race. He'd already gone over all the checklists with his crew and glad handed with all the corporate types. He'd even exchanged some good natured ribbing with the other drivers.

              Now it was nearly go time. As cocky as Ansel was in his abilities, each race did bring a strange sort of energy with it- not nervous so much as frenetic. He used to consider it a high. But adding it to the crazy way he was reacting to Denise was making him feel like he was about to get into a rocket, not a race car.

              Plus something was different today.

              He'd expected Denise to be stand offish or uncomfortable this morning. To his surprise she seemed perfectly at ease with what had happened between them. Or, rather, what had almost happened.

              But it wasn't just that. He felt different.

              He felt… hopeful.

              Ansel grimaced and did a set of pushups. He knew that if anyone could hear his internal monologue they'd think he was a teenager.

              Not just any teenager.

              A teenage
girl.

              It was embarrassing if he was honest with himself. He stood up and flexed his muscles, hoping that Denise was impressed. He glanced around and saw her busily tip tapping away at her smart pad. She was not paying him any attention at all. That irked him. It irked him a lot.

              Of course when she'd said good morning to him earlier there had been a strange look in her eyes. A warm, inviting look. He definitely was not imaging it.

              "You good?"

              It was Mac, one of the guys who'd started out with him on this crazy ride all those years ago.

              "Yeah man, ready as ever."

              Mac grinned and gave him a thumbs up sign, before hurrying off to prep the car. The backup ride was in here, that had already been prepped earlier this morning. Before he got to the track.

              Ansel closed his eyes and thought back to the first race he'd even drove in.

              His Gran has been there of course. She'd aided and abetted him in pulling the wool over everyone's eyes in regards to his age. Besides, she'd said from day one that Ansel was an old soul.

              He sure as shit drove like one.

              He'd been jittery then too. And just as sure that he would win. Today he knew in his gut that he was going to get the trophy and the girl.

              And what a girl she was.

              He just wasn't sure what he was going to do with her after. Ansel had a strong suspicion he was in far deeper than he'd ever gone before. He could handle it. It was just like a new road and a different, longer kind of race.

              Maybe even a life long one.

              He opened his eyes. Today Gran was at home, enjoying the luxury ocean front condo he'd gotten her in Virginia Beach. Denise was here. And he had a strong feeling that Gran would approve.

              "It's go time Ansel."

              He nodded at Mac and stood. Without hesitation he strode over to Denise. She looked up at him, clearly taken off guard. He didn't even think about it. He just pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Damn if she wasn't kissing him back.

              "Good luck Ansel. Not that you need it."

              He grinned and climbed into his car.

              She was right about that.