Ignite

I couldn’t help but giggle. “Really, Malcolm! What’s his name?”

Malcolm turned and walked backward; he gave me a wicked smile and said, “Deuce. Since he’s second in command.”

“I like it!” I called out as I started Lola back off on a walk. I was quickly consumed by thoughts of a future with Emmit as Lola and I wondered around for a bit before heading back to the bus.

As I stepped into Emmit’s bus, I went to call out for him when I came face to face with Stephanie. Emmit hadn’t had an assistant three years ago when we were together, so seeing her still caught me off guard.

“Hey, Adaline! It’s so good to see you.”

I gave her a polite smile. “Hi, Stephanie. It’s great to see you again too.” Looking back toward the bedroom, I asked, “Um, where’s Emmit?”

“Oh, he is off to do some interviews and then they have the drivers’ meeting.”

With a nod, I walked around to the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator. “Would you like something to drink?” I asked as I grabbed a water.

“No thank you. Emmit had asked me to stay behind to let you know where he was. Will you be watching the race in here, or with your father?”

My eyes took in Stephanie. She was beautiful. Her hair was pulled up and done in a neat bun. She had on super tight jeans and a T-shirt that had Emmit’s name on it. Her perfectly done nails and designer shoes rounded out the whole package.

Taking in a deep breath, I gave her a grin as I said, “I’m going to sit with my father.”

She looked over at me surprised and asked, “Do you like racing? I got the impression from Emmit that you didn’t. That’s why you broke up with him.”

Emmit talked to her about us? I couldn’t help but wonder when and why Emmit would talk to his assistant about us.

“Emmit told me about you one night when he was pretty drunk. Mr. Elliot had called me to ask if I would come pick him up. He talked about you the whole way back to his house.”

As I stood a little taller, I asked, “When was this?”

Stephanie looked up and thought about it for a few seconds. “Let me think, I had just started working for him not too long before that so maybe two years ago.”

“Huh, well to answer your question, I’ve been around racing all my life. I love it. My life happened to lead me in a different direction before. It had nothing to do with my feelings toward Emmit.”

Stephanie held up her hand and said, “Adaline, I didn’t mean anything by it, and I shouldn’t have even said anything. I was out of line and for that please forgive me.”

Giving her a weak smile, I said, “No worries at all.”

“If you need anything, please be sure to let me know.” Pulling out a piece of paper, Stephanie wrote down a number and handed it to me. “Here is my cell phone number. I have it with me always.”

I glanced down at it and then back at Stephanie as I reached for it. “Thank you so much, Stephanie.”

With a small nod, she started toward the door. “Emmit has a few interviews, then the drivers’ meeting. After that he is open until about an hour and a half before race time. More inte

rviews and then driver introductions. If you would like for me to have food delivered, just let me know.”

“O-okay, thank you,” I said as Stephanie called out goodbye and shut the door behind her. Looking at Lola, I smiled and said, “She seems nice.”

Lola barked and ran over to the sofa and growled. Walking over to her, I bent down and laughed. “I take it you don’t like sharing your man.”

Lola licked me as I fell backward and she jumped on me. It didn’t take long for her to start covering me with slobbery kisses.

“You better hope she doesn’t eat shit.”

I smiled when I turned and saw Hank, Emmit’s driver. “Hey, Hank!” I said jumping up. “What’s up with you?”

With a concerned look, he looked around the bus. “Not much. I take it Emmit’s already headed out?”

Brushing off Lola’s hair from my shorts and T-shirt, I said, “Yeah. Stephanie said he had some interviews.”