Traction (The Driven World)

But with Kayden, I don’t know how I’ll be able to handle it.

The ride home is silent. I don’t even want to turn on the radio because all that keeps replaying in my mind is his promise, and that was most certainly confidence brimming in his voice.

I meant what I said, though. I’m not some floozy who’s going to swoon over him no matter how sexy he is. It’s his personality that seems to need a lot more work.

I pull up at home, and the house is silent when I step inside. Mom must still be at work. I race up to my room and shut the door. Opening my laptop, I quickly tap out Kayden’s name, adding race car driver to the search, and wait for the results.

When the photos pop up, I realize he’s the guy I saw at the party last night. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a house like that. It was enormous, but one of the girls who dates a street racer invited me, and I figured why not.

I’ve never been one for things like that. I grew up fairly sheltered, but knowing I’d have to get used to the life soon enough, I agreed. While I was in the hot tub, I felt eyes on me, burning into me. When I turned around, I saw him watching, but he had a blonde practically draped over him, so I didn’t pay that much attention.

I click on the first image to enlarge it, the photo taken when he won some race. He’s standing on the podium with a large bottle of champagne. His smile is bright, nothing like the one he offered me earlier. But when I click on the second photo, one of him walking out of a store dressed in casual clothes, I recognize him immediately.

It was definitely him last night.

And my heart kicks against my ribs while my stomach flutters at the handsome photo of him going about his day like a normal person.

Only, he’s not normal. He’s one of the best male drivers after Colton Donavan. And I can’t deny I find him more than attractive.

Bad news.

Heartbreaker.

Kayden Mercer.4KaydenFucking ridiculous.

I was meant to race today, to forget the threats that came from the phone call, and then she walked in and fucked my world over. Pushing my bedroom door open, I step into the darkened room and make a beeline for the shower. Once inside, I turn on the taps and strip off while the steam billows in the vast room.

The cool tiles underfoot send shivers up my spine, and when I step under the spray, the heat prickles my skin. Placing both palms on the wall in front of me, I drop my head, allowing the water to massage the tight knots in my shoulders. I wanted to lose my cool with the board. I want them all fired and build a team I can trust, who I know will have my back, but I know it’s a bad idea. Some of them are good at what they do, they know the business, but the fact that they want me out has me rethinking everything.

My life has become a shitshow. All I’m waiting for now is my mother to call and tell me what a bad job I’m doing with the company. She never wanted to step up and be CEO. Her focus is on spending the money that comes in, but she has no desire to work for it.

Years of allowing Dad to do everything has ensured her laziness skyrocketed, and even now, she’d rather spend her days lounging in the sun than to ask about how things are going. But make no mistake, she would’ve heard through the grapevine that something is going down.

Perhaps I should call Sadie tonight. Maybe she will be able to stop my thoughts from raging out. But when I picture the blonde, I feel nothing. No stirring of desire like I used to. That shocks the shit out of me. I used to enjoy having women throw themselves at me. I basked in the attention they offered and the ease with which they would spread their legs.

But after my interaction with a certain tanned beauty, my mind is on her and nothing else. The curly hair, those pouty fucking lips, and her curves. God, she has the most delicious figure I’ve ever seen. Her tits, even though they were hidden by her sweater, I knew they were a little more than a handful from the night I gawked at her at the party. And I was fucking gawking.

Perfect.

However, it’s not only her physical appearance that captured me. It’s the fucking sass in her words. She has fire, which comes across even though she is shy. I can tell she doesn’t allow herself to be spoken down to. And that earned my fucking respect.