In the distance she saw Jared and Tucker talking to the folks from one of the television stations. She lifted her camera and zoomed in on Jared’s face. She saw the sun lines, evidence of the time he spent outdoors, the hard line of his jaw and the intensity in his eyes.
Jared glanced up and right at her. They were a distance from each other so if she hadn’t had the lens zoomed in his expression would have been unclear. Instead she saw the question in his eyes.
Something in his gaze made her realize he might be vulnerable, too. And that reassured her as little else could. She wanted to cut him a little slack on the mistrust thing, but deep inside she knew she wouldn’t because she refused to get her heart broken again.
Annie had the feeling that it was too late. No matter how many hoops she made him jump through or how hard she tried to protect her heart, Jared MacNeil was already finding his way into her affection.
THE PRERACE BLOCK PARTY was crowded with race fans, drivers, crew members and celebrities. Jared moved easily through the crowd toward the table where Tucker and D. J. Owens, the other driver on their team, sat.
“Yo, MacNeil, wait up.”
Jared could think of only one reason why Alan Jenner would want to talk to him?Annie. Ah, hell.
“What’s up?”
“That’s what I want to know. What’s doing between you and Annie?”
“None of your business.”
“Ah, Jared, that’s not the answer I wanted to hear.”
“Too bad. She’s an adult?she can make her own decisions.”
“No kidding. Just make sure you remember she’s part of the Jenner family and we take care of our own.”
“We’re dating, Alan. Most people don’t get hurt?”
“Annie’s not most people.”
Jared knew that, but he wasn’t going to discuss this any further with Alan. She had warned him her family was protective. It surprised him to some extent because Annie didn’t need a man to protect her. She did a good job of it herself with those steel-gray eyes of hers demanding truth from a man.
“Was that all?”
“Don’t make light of this, MacNeil.”
He nodded at the other man and walked away, working his way behind the table.
“Hey, man, you want to hang for a while?” Tucker asked as he finished signing the last autograph and posed for one last photo.
“Got nothing better to do,” Jared said.
“I thought you were dating Jenner’s sister.”
Everyone wanted to know about his love life, he thought, and right now there wasn’t anything to tell. “Yeah, that situation is complicated.”
Tucker raised one eyebrow at him. “That’s odd. Don’t women usually throw themselves at you?”
He punched Tucker in the arm. “She’s not like other women.”
“No?”
Jared didn’t want to talk about Annie with Tucker. Jared rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the man who was probably closer to him than anyone else. They were like brothers.
“No,” he finally answered.
“Oh.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Nothing…it doesn’t mean anything.”
They stopped in front of the stage where the Jenner Racing team was signing autographs. He scanned the crowd, looking for Annie, and caught a glimpse of her long dark brown hair as she moved through crowd, snapping pictures.
“Yeah, right,” Tucker said. “Why are we hanging out in a rival team’s crowd, then?”
“We’re not hanging out,” Jared replied, walking again. He couldn’t explain to himself why she was always on his mind. She was like an obsession that he couldn’t shake himself of.
Tucker’s next event was with a group of Boy Scouts of America. Their top box-car racers were waiting for him. Jared left Tucker with them and moved back through the crowd telling himself he wasn’t looking for Annie, but nonetheless he was standing in the shadows of the Number 153 car’s fans watching for her. He couldn’t spot her and felt like an idiot for hanging out, looking for her.
He walked back through the crowd toward the stage set up at one end of the street. A local band was playing covers of Jimmy Buffett hits.
“Hey, Jared,” Annie said, coming up next to him. She had her camera hanging around her neck.
“Hello. Working?”
“No. I’ve been hanging out with one of the musicians who will be performing later.”
“Who?”
“Stevie Taylor.”
How did she know him? And why did he care? He tried to come up with something to say but frankly he couldn’t. “That’s nice.”
She arched one eyebrow at him. “He and Dave are poker buddies.”