Jim nodded, his expression solemn. “Tough break.”
“I’ll have the rest of the year to get her rebuilt and be back better than ever in January.”
Ming contemplated the hours Jason and the Stover brothers would have to put in to make that happen and let her breath out in a long, slow sigh. If she’d seen little of him in the past few months since he’d made it his goal to take the overall points trophy, she’d see even less of him with a car to completely rebuild.
“The Stovers will get her all fixed up for you.” Jim thumped Jason on the back. “They’re tops.”
As Jim spoke, Jason’s car was towed up to the trailer. The men in question jumped off the truck and began unfastening the car.
“What happened?” Jason called.
“The strut rod pulled away from the helm end,” Gus Stover replied. “I told you the setting was wrong.”
His brother, Kris, shook his head. “It’s so messed up from the crash, we won’t know for sure until we get her on the lift.”
“Do you guys need help?” Jason called.
Jim waved and headed off. Ming understood his exit. When Jason and the Stovers started talking cars, no one else on the planet existed. She stared at the ruined car and the group of men who’d gathered to check out the damage. It would be the talk of the track for the rest of the weekend.
“Looks like you’ve got your hands full,” she told Jason, nodding toward a trio of racers approaching them. “I’m going to get out of here so you can focus on the Mustang.”
“Wait.” He caught her hand, laced his fingers through hers. “Stick around.”
She melted beneath the heat of his smile. “I’ll just be in the way.”
“I need you—”
“Jason, that was some crash,” the man in the middle said.
Ming figured she’d take advantage of the interruption to escape, but Jason refused to relinquish her hand. A warm feeling set up shop in her midsection as Jason introduced her. She’d expected once his buddies surrounded him, he wouldn’t care if she took off.
But after an hour she lost all willpower to do so. Despite the attention Jason received from his fellow competitors, he never once forgot that she was there. Accustomed to how focused Jason became at the track, Ming was caught off guard by the way he looped his arm around her waist and included her in the conversations.
By the time the car had been packed up later that afternoon, she was congratulating herself on her decision to come. They sat side by side on the tailgate of his truck. Jason balanced an icepack on his injured knee. Despite the heat, she was leaning against his side, enjoying the lean strength of his body.
“What prompted you to come to the track today?” he questioned, gaze fixed on the Stover brothers as they argued over how long it would take them to get the car ready to race once more.
The anxiety that had gripped her before his crash reappeared and she shrugged to ease her sudden tension. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you race.” She eyed the busted-up Mustang. “And now it’s going to be even longer.”
“So it seems.”
“Sorry your season ended like this. Are you heading back tonight?”
“Gus and Kris are. I’ve got a hotel room in town. I think I’ll ice my knee and drive back tomorrow.”
She waited a beat, hoping he’d ask her to stay, but no invitation was forthcoming. “Want company?”
“In the shape I’m in, I’d be no use to you.” He shot her a wry smile.
As his friend, she shouldn’t feel rejected, but after accepting that she was in love with him and being treated like his girlfriend all day, she’d expected he’d want her to stick around. She recognized that he was in obvious pain and needed a restful night’s sleep. A friend would put his welfare above her own desires.
“Then I guess I’ll head back to Houston.” She kissed him on the cheek and hopped off the tailgate.
He caught her wrist as her feet hit the ground. “I’m really glad you came today.”
It wasn’t fair the way he turned the sex appeal on and off whenever it suited him. Ming braced herself against the lure of his sincere eyes and enticing smile. Had she fallen in love with his charm? If so, could she go back to being just his friend once they stopped sleeping together?
She hoped so. Otherwise she’d spend the rest of her life in love with a man who would never let himself love her back.
“Supporting each other is what friends are for,” she said, stepping between his thighs and taking his face in her hands.
Slowly she brought her lips to his, releasing all her pent-up emotions into the kiss. Her longing for what she could never have. Her fear over his brush with serious injury. And pure, sizzling desire.