Ignite

I felt her presence before I saw her.

Glancing to my left, Adaline stood at the end of the bar dressed in a beautiful light blue dress. Her hair was pulled up with just a few loose curls framing her face. Her lush, sensual lips were covered in a light shade of pink as I watched them move while she talked. Her eyes quickly found mine, and she gave me a smile.

I wanted to smile back, but my pride was still hurt. She turned me down. Walked away from the life we had always talked and dreamed about.

Pulling my eyes from hers, I glanced back at the bartender standing in front of me. “I’ll take a scotch, and I’m afraid I’ll have to take a rain check on the other thing.”

With a pout, she shook her head. “Well damn. That’s a disappointment. Let me grab that drink.”

Adaline laughed at something the other bartender had said to her as I looked back over at her.

As I watched her every move, something hit me. In all the times I talked about becoming a NASCAR driver, Adaline had always told me how proud she was of me, but she never once really said she wanted that life. Sure, she said she wanted to be with me, but was it really fair that I had expected her to be with me from the very beginning? She had every right to pursue her own dreams.

I set the scotch down in front of me as I gave the bartender a nod and threw two twenty’s down on the table. “See ya around, sweetheart.”

“I hope sooner rather than later.”

Not even bothering to look back at her, I took another look at Adaline as she walked away from the bar and back over to her parents. It felt as if the world wobbled on its axis.

Holy living hell, my dick couldn’t possibly get any harder. Adaline had always had an incredible body. It was clear she was no longer a nineteen-year-old girl, but a curvy, sexy as hell, twenty-two-year-old.

“If you eye fuck her any harder, her daddy is going to pound your ass into the wall.”

With a quick turn, I saw Malcolm Wallace leaning against the wall as he watched Adaline move across the room.

I took a step closer. “Maybe you should stop eye fucking her, asshole.”

Malcolm held up his hands and laughed. “Whoa, settle yourself down there, top gun. Even if I wanted to get into Adaline’s pants, she’d never let me. And believe me, I’ve tried.”

I grabbed onto his shirt and pushed him against the wall. “You motherfucker,” I said as I reached back to knock the shit out of him.

Waldo ran up and grabbed me as he pulled me off of Malcolm. Laughing, Malcolm shook his head as he fixed his shirt and tie. “You always were hot headed, Emmit.”

I tried to bust out of the arms of Waldo to go after Malcolm again. “You’re lucky Waldo saved your ass again, you prick.”

Malcolm walked up to me and whispered, “Maybe I’ll take another shot at her.”

Breaking free of Waldo, I reached back and went to punch Malcolm when Adaline stood in front of me and placed both hands on my chest, giving me a hard push.

“Emmit! Stop this now. Don’t let him egg you on. He’s trying to get you to punch him on purpose.”

My eyes landed on Adaline’s pleading face. It killed me to see that look of disappointment in her eyes. “Please, let whatever it is go. He’s not worth it.”

I pointed to Malcolm. “This isn’t over.”

Malcolm threw his head back and laughed. “I’ll be waiting

whenever you’re ready, Emmit.”

I turned to Waldo. “I’m sorry. I’m headed back to the bus. It’s been a long day.”

With a nod, Waldo said, “I think that’s for the best.”

I made my way over to Jack. “I’m sorry, Jack; he knows how to push my buttons. I’m a little on edge this evening.”

Jack looked over my shoulder and I knew he was looking at Adaline. “I’m glad she stopped you before you did something you would have regretted.”

My hand went through my hair as I let out a sigh. “Yeah, I’m tired and I think I’ll head back to my bus.” Glancing over to Lynn, I asked, “I can stay if you’d like me to escort you back to the hotel?”