Big fucking mistake that was.
Actually, everything was going fine until he ran into his old friend, Candace. That girl could tempt a preacher on Sunday. And Jarod Cage was no preacher. So after his little reunion in the bar bathroom, the team had another drink, and then Henry drove him back to his place. No harm, no foul.
A few hours later? Henry was busting down the guest room door to show Jarod the result of his indiscretions.
It was not his best moment. Sadly, it wasn’t his worst, either.
He spent the day working with Henry. They held calls with the lawyers, the owners, and even the sponsors. It was a brutal, demeaning day. Anytime the sponsors stuck their noses in his business, the outcome wasn’t good.
Henry was the only person holding him together. “We’ve been in messes before and we’ve managed to get out of ’em,” Henry had assured him. “Just let me handle it, J-boy. Let me handle it.”
Of course by that point, Jarod had already worked himself into a state. So he went a few more rounds with his manager, for no reason other than he was pissed with himself. He yelled and threw a few things around before he was finally resigned to let the people who worked for him do their jobs.
The result? Hiring a PR firm to help repair his image. It was a demand that came from on high. And if the Atlanta spin doctors couldn’t fix it, his sponsor would pull out, leaving him without a car, pit crew, or money. Not to mention zero chance of qualifying for the Chase—the last run to win NASCARs biggest honor, the Sprint Cup. In racing, you worked for your sponsor, plain and simple.
So here he was in Atlanta, of all places, doing penance for his sins.
Viv fiddled with her pen, clicking it over and over again, while her eyes burned into the door as if it could help her. “Here.” Vivian leaned over her desk and picked up more papers. “Let me get you set up in the conference room and I’ll come back for my computer.”
“That’s all right,” Jarod said, not letting on that he was about as far as you could be from all right.
How the hell was he going to be able to do this with all the depraved thoughts running through his mind? Especially once he had an unobstructed view of that sweet ass. His gaze traveled farther down her legs and he felt the zipper in his pants strain.
Pull it together, Cage.
Christ, this was what the bar fuck was supposed to take care of. He couldn’t be dealing with his hormones during the racing season. He thought one good lay would set him right, at least for a few weeks. But that wasn’t going to hold him. Not when he was supposed to be working with a woman whose body screamed sex.
He worked desperately to keep his shit together and took a seat in one of Viv’s guest chairs. “I’ll just relax for a moment while you gather your things.”
“Ah—” Viv said, her voice shaking.
Good. He wanted her as unbalanced as he felt. “Take your time.”
“O-okay,” she said. “I won’t take long.”
She rummaged through her desk for all of her materials while Jarod snatched a racing magazine from the coffee table. He chuckled to himself. It was time to cool things off a bit.
“Hmm,” he said. “Sure wish I could read this here periodical, but I guess I’ll just look at the purdy pictures.”
Viv glanced back at him, her eyebrows knit together. Still, she didn’t say a word.
“Ma’am.” He pointed to a page inside Racing Week. “Can you tell me what this word means?”
There. That was much better. Asshole on offense was much better than dumbass on defense. He could deal with her anger; what he couldn’t deal with was silence…or her close proximity.
“Mr. Cage—” Viv began.
“It’s Jarod,” he said.
“I know what you heard earlier sounded pretty bad, but I was just goofing around. With my mother. On a personal call.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“And you came in unannounced,” Viv accused.
“True.” He gave her a wicked look, unable to control the next words out of his mouth. “But in my defense, I always come unannounced.”
It was her fault; she threw him a softball.
Viv’s hands stopped rummaging. It looked like her heart may have stopped beating as well. Her face flashed various shades of red. Oh, this was fantastic. Now time to go for the kill.
“It’s more exciting that way, don’t you think?”
Viv’s teeth dug into her bottom lip so hard, he was sure it’d leave a mark. But he had to hand it to her, she quickly shook it off and focused back on the matter at hand.
That seemed to make him want her all the more—want her or want to fire her, he hadn’t made up his mind yet.