Caught(10)

“Look, Mr. Cage,” she began.

“Jarod.”

“Okay, look, Jarod,” she said, her voice still unsteady. “I’m very good at what I do. Very good. Please don’t hold those snarky comments against me. Please stay for the presentation before you write me off.”

She walked around the desk toward the door, not meeting his eyes. That damn Yank thought he’d follow her. Well, she was in for a surprise. She wasn’t getting off that easy. Not by a long shot.

Before Viv could get her hand on the doorknob, Jarod’s arm struck like a python, wrapping around her waist to hold her still. The connection sent a jolt riding through him that made his scalp tingle and cock ache. Slowly, carefully, he walked her backward to the chair. She didn’t question the move; her body simply went along with his wishes.

He caught her sweet scent that reminded him of his gran’s garden of wildflowers, and felt the slightest tremble where his arm held her. He tried to speak, but his throat went as dry as a dirt track after a long race, sending a clear message to his brain: do not touch this woman. For once, he tried to listen and released her, motioning to the chair so she’d take a seat.

“I’m not listening to anything, or putting myself on display in front of a dozen strangers, until you tell me why I should give you another second of my time after what you said.”

“Because we all make mistakes,” she told him, this time without the excuses. “And we all deserve a second chance?”

Jarod knew she probably meant that last comment as a statement, rather than a question. For some reason, the way it came out only made her seem more sincere. He truly believed what she had to say. Still, that didn’t mean he had to take it easy on her.

He scratched his jaw, making her suffer and wait. It felt like the temperature in the room shot up at least ten degrees. Viv blew the bangs off her forehead, but he still didn’t say anything. She leaned over the desk, waiting. All Jarod could think about was how the position offered an amazing view of her tempting cleavage. He admired it with each rise and fall of her chest, and he hated himself for it. How could he be thinking with his dick at a time like this?

“Okay,” he finally said, before he could stop himself. He needed to escape this office and get Henry’s read on the whole thing. His judgment obviously could not be trusted at the moment.

“Okay?” she asked, looking hopeful. And annoyingly adorable.

“That’s what I said.”

“Okay.” She finally exhaled. “Why don’t you follow me and we can join the others?”

…

The two of them met Henry in the hallway, and Vivian led the way to the conference room. Henry looked over at Jarod and shook his head as if he could read his mind. He probably could. Henry had been with him since the beginning, and with Jarod’s father even longer than that—Tony Cage, aka the General. Racing was in Jarod’s blood. It was the one place he connected with his father, and Henry Hayes, top crew chief in NASCAR, was the best gift Jarod’s dad ever gave him.

Once Jarod started racing, Tony Cage sent his crew chief to work for his only son’s organization. It wasn’t a good career move for Henry, but he never balked. Instead, he focused all his efforts on making Jarod the best driver he could. He managed everything for the younger Cage. He was always present, even when Jarod’s own father wasn’t.

Henry grimaced as they walked down the hall. Deep shadows under his eyes made him look much older than his fifty-five years.

“Okay there, old man?” Jarod, said under his breath.

“I’m just sorry for you, J,” Henry said, but it seemed more than that. He wasn’t looking so hot. Jarod would need to find a way to give him some time off. Guilt swirled deep in the pit of his gut. He’d let him down so many times, and he knew that managing the fallen golden boy of racing had to be the worst of all jobs. Right up there with the guys in charge of the sewage lines for all the motor coaches that sat in the infield during the races. Yet Henry always had his back.

Even before the sex tape, Jarod didn’t exactly have the best reputation. But in his defense, it wasn’t easy to look good standing next to Tony Cage. His father was the pillar of the racing world. Everything NASCAR stood for.

Jarod could never measure up. Truthfully, he never wanted to. During his childhood, he watched his father kowtow to the owners, perform for the press, and shell out every last bit of personal time he had to the fans. Jarod wasn’t cut out for that life. So he steered clear of all of it, and that put a target on his back.

After Tony Cage was killed during the Sprint Cup Contender Round, the media took it easy on Jarod. Gave him a free pass. But it expired after a year, and then things went back to normal. Tony was declared a saint, and his son was marked a sinner.