Flat-Out Sexy(29)

This was what her son had lost when Pete had spun out and hit the wall  at Talladega. Easy, comfortable moments like this. Rolling around on the  floor. Bugs. Guy stuff. Something she could never give him no matter  how much she wanted to. Partly because, well, she wasn't a guy, but also  because there was only so much time in a day, and she was responsible  for everything. There just hadn't been a lot of spare time for lolling  around and enjoying the moment.

Petey spotted her, and he nudged Elec. "Shhh," he said in a stage whisper. "Mom's here."

That brought an unexpected stab of pain. Her son was cutting her out,  preferring Elec's company over hers. Maybe that wasn't entirely  rational, because Petey had just spent an entire week at home with her,  but it still tweaked her.

Elec nodded to Petey then gave Tamara a sheepish smile. "We're going to  check out Pete's room and give the ants a permanent home there."

And now Elec had taken it upon himself to shorten her son's name. Pete  was her husband, Petey was her son, and it bothered her, but she wasn't  about to say something in front of Petey.

"Petey, hold up a minute on taking Elec to your room. Hunter wants her  program signed, and I'm not sure how much longer she can stay awake. The  fever is wearing her out." She addressed Elec. "Do you mind?"

"No, of course not." He had stood up and was holding the ant farm carefully in one hand.

When he walked past her, he murmured in her ear, "You changed."

Tamara blushed. "No, I didn't." It was still the same pajama pants and pink T-shirt.

"You added something to the outfit," he said, pulling the racing program out of her hand and continuing on to the family room.

Yeah, a bra, and damn him for noticing. Though of course he had noticed  she wasn't wearing one before. They had both been aware of that fact,  which was why she'd been walking around with her arms crossed. When  she'd dashed upstairs for the program, she'd tossed a bra on since her  arm muscles were tired from the effort to cover her nipples jutting out  in the cotton shirt.

Mixing her kids and Elec and all her sexual wants was not at all  enjoyable. She really wanted him to just go home and she would catch up  with him later, alone, when she was feeling at least marginally sexy.

But there was no hope for him leaving anytime soon. Hunter was chatting  his ear off while he signed her program, asking him questions about his  driving history and where he hoped to place for the season. Sometimes it  was downright frightening to listen to her daughter-

she was like a miniature female version of her grandfather, Pete's  father. Even Hunter's hand gestures were straight from Johnny, the way  her index finger came out to tick off points she was making.

It was interesting that Petey was more her child, with her interests in  science and sociology, and Hunter was a Briggs through and through.

Hunter held up her program, with Elec's sprawling signature across the front. "He signed it!"

"I see that. That's awesome. Did you say thank you?"

"Yeah," Hunter said, with eye-rolling annoyance.

"She was very polite about it," Elec said. "And I'm sure she'll be equally polite when I show her what I brought for her."

Her daughter's eyes lit up. "You brought something for me?"                       
       
           



       



"Of course. I brought Pete an ant farm. You didn't think I'd leave you out in the cold, did you?"

"I don't know," Hunter said with the honesty of a seven-year-old. "I didn't even know you until today."

"True. But the answer is yes, I brought something for you, too."

Tamara watched Elec pull a box out of the bag and hand it to Hunter.  Even from where she was standing, Tamara knew it was a die-cast stock  car.

"Whoa!" Hunter said, turning the box around and around. "It's your fifty-six car! Thank you!"

"Yep. Can't get these in stores because, well, I'm a rookie, and I ain't  all that yet." Elec grinned at Hunter. "But my father had a few of  these made as a gift right before I hit the track in Daytona for my  first cup race."

"Your dad gave this to you?" Hunter said. "I should give it back then," she added, even as she clutched it to her chest.

It did a mother proud to have Hunter say the right thing, even though  she looked like she wanted to die at the mere thought of having to  return it.

"He gave me ten. I don't need ten of my own car lying around. One for my  condo, one for my coach, and one for my office, then I'm out of display  places. So I'm happy to give one to you."

"Thanks." Hunter studied the minicar. "I like your colors. Red and silver are good colors."

"Yeah, I like them just fine. I lucked out with my sponsor." He pointed  to the car in Hunter's hand. "The hood and trunk open and the engine has  manufacturer specific details."

"Cool."

The doorbell rang again and Tamara went to answer it, wondering if she  was ever going to get to eat the food Elec had brought for her. But all  the distractions had certainly eliminated the whining. From the kids and  from her.

The phone was ringing in the kitchen, but Tamara ignored it, figuring if  it was important they'd leave a message. A quick glance through the  peephole showed Ty and Ryder standing on her porch. Now that surprised  her. They weren't known for randomly showing up without a phone call.  Actually, she couldn't remember the last time they'd been over.

They were both good guys, remembering her kids' birthdays, and sending  her gifts or flowers from time to time to let her know they were  thinking of her. Ty had even sent her roses on the first Valentine's Day  after Pete's death with a card that had said, "Because Pete would have  sent these if he could."

They were definitely good guys, but they just didn't show up at her  house on a Monday, and being a worrier, she started to panic. Throwing  the door open, she demanded, "Okay, what's wrong?"

But they both looked startled. "Nothing, why would anything be wrong?" Ryder asked.

"Nice outfit," Ty commented, gesturing to her pajamas.

"I just thought since you were both here . . . maybe Suzanne . . . I  don't know." Tamara clutched her chest and let her heart rate return to  normal.

"Nothing's wrong with Suzanne that a little sex couldn't fix," Ty said with a grin.

"Hey, that's my ex-wife you're talking about," Ryder said, giving Ty a punch on the bicep.

"That's my point . . . I think she'd be a lot happier if you two were still sharing a bed. Why are you divorced anyway?"



Tamara figured that was an uncomfortable subject for Ryder, given that his face was turning a vivid eggplant shade.

"Well, I'm glad everything is fine and it's so good to see you both.  Come on in. Did you drop by for a specific reason or were you in the  neighborhood?"

"We heard the kids have the chicken pox and that you've been stuck in  the house, so we brought a crap-load of sugary candy." Ty held up a  large bag that definitely had more candy in it than Tamara ever wanted  in her house at one time.

"Wow, well, that was sweet of you guys. The kids will be so glad to see  you." Tamara led them down the hallway to the family room. "They're  getting quite a lot of company today,"

she said, willing herself not to blush, unable to say Elec's name out  loud, knowing that Ty and Ryder both knew exactly what she had done at  the dinner party.

"Look who's here," she said cheerfully to the room at large, noting that  Hunter had now climbed onto Elec's lap and was taking her car out of  the box. Trust her daughter to not be even remotely shy.

Tamara knew the minute Ty and Ryder spotted Elec because Ty muttered,  "Well, well, check out the rookie," and Ryder responded right back,  "Guess no grass grows under his feet."                       
       
           



       

They were both grinning at her when she turned around and glared at them.

The men greeted each other. "Hey, guys, what's up?" Elec said, Hunter snuggled into his arms.

"We brought candy for the kids." Ty held up the potentially eight-pound  bag of sugar and told Elec, "Maybe if you're good, we'll let you have a  piece."

"I'm always good," Elec said.

"That true, Tammy?" Ryder asked her with a grin.

She refused to respond to that. Her kids were jittery with excitement at  all the company and Hunter was already begging for candy. "Tomorrow,  Hunter, when your fever breaks."

Her daughter pouted, but got distracted by the tattoo she found on  Elec's inner wrist. She traced the numbers of his car over and over with  her finger and he let her, clearly amused.