Not Tucker. The man was a loner and he liked to play by his own rules. That was it, Dave thought. He’d been brought up in this world. And he expected the rules of fair play to be observed by everyone.
The next few laps were better. The car was running smoothly and his times were faster. He pulled into the garage. Vinnie and the rest of the team went over the car one more time.
Annie was still moving around the garage snapping photos. Dave climbed out of the car as Vinnie came over to him.
“Great time on that last lap. I think we’re good for now. I’m going to tape off the grille,” Vinnie said.
“Are you going back out for any more laps?” Annie asked, coming up behind him.
“No, I’m done for now. Why?”
“I wanted to get a few shots of you on Turn One from the other side of the track, but I’ll catch you during qualifying.”
Annie followed him out of the bay and across the alleyway toward his hauler. Jared MacNeil saw the two of them and waved. Annie waved back and then she blushed a little.
“What’s up with you two?”
“You know we went out.”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m asking. Are you going to go out with him again?”
“Yes.”
“Annie?”
“Stop it. I don’t want to hear anything else from you about who I date.”
“Fine. Stevie Taylor is going to be stopping by later today to check out the car. I think some pictures with him would be good for the book.” Stevie was the lead singer of a hard-rock supergroup and over the years he and Dave had become good friends and poker buddies. They often played in high-stakes games in Vegas together. A lot of celebrities attended the race in California since the track was only forty minutes from Los Angeles.
“Dave, I didn’t mean to sound rude about Jared. I just don’t need you doing the protective brother thing.”
He nodded. “I can’t help myself, Annie. Something about that guy still rubs me the wrong way.”
“What?”
“I wish I could put my finger on it,” he said.
THE OWNER’S SUITE high above the track was luxurious and had a great view. Annie stood at the window. The NASCAR Busch Series drivers were qualifying now so the track wasn’t quiet, but the skybox was soundproofed and there was music playing in the room.
Jared had escorted her here and then left to take a call. A table had been set in front of the window. A small present sat in front of the chairs. She felt a little weird thinking that he might have bought her something.
“Sorry about that,” Jared said as he entered the room. “Are you ready for lunch?”
She shook her head. She needed a few answers from him. She was almost afraid to ask but she had to. “Why are you going to all this trouble? Is this what you normally do?”
He pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants and leaned back on his heels. “What brought this on?”
“Well, for one thing, my brother isn’t too keen on me dating you and I don’t want to upset him if this is just some kind of game to you.”
“What makes you think this is a game?” he asked.
She gestured to the table. “This feels like a setup.”
He arched one eyebrow at her. “How do you mean?”
“Like this is something you’ve done before.”
“It is. A lot of women like to come down to the track and have a private lunch while the NASCAR Busch Series qualifying is going on.”
A lot of women, she thought. Well, that told her exactly how he felt about her. She was one of many. Not one of a kind. “I’ve been in owner’s suites before.”
“I’m making a mess of this,” he said, crossing the room to stand in front of her.
“Yes, you are,” she said, unwilling to cut him any slack.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “This is the world you grew up in…I think I wanted to show you that I was part of it.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Annie,” he said, cupping her face in his hands, “I don’t do this for every woman I date.”
“Then why me?” she asked.
“I can’t explain it. Why are you here with me? I’m not your normal kind of guy.”
“How do you know that?” she asked.
“I read a few articles on you, too.”
That made her feel so much more his equal. He was into her, she thought. Then his words sunk in and she realized he’d have read about her marriage.
“Uh…that stuff that Malcolm said… Our marriage didn’t really end well. We wanted different things.”
“What did you want?” he asked.
She hesitated to say it. What she wanted was a little too deeply personal for this early in a relationship, but if she had any chance at something real with Jared then she wasn’t going to lie about things that were important to her. She’d compromised herself too often for Malcolm and that had made them both miserable.