But that wasn't going to stop him from saying what he needed to. "Tamara, I want you to know that I'm in love with you. I love you."
Her eyes went wide, then filled with tears.
Good tears, or bad tears, he wasn't sure, and he started to panic as he took his thumb and wiped them away when they slid down her cheeks. "Don't cry, darlin'. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." He felt like a complete jackass. He knew she had gone to bat with her in-laws, admitting their relationship so she could come with him, and that had taken a lot of courage. She was already risking a lot to be with him, and then he had to go and dump the L word on her?
It was likely he had just overloaded her.
She shook her head, and just cried harder. "No, no."
What did that mean? Elec started to pull back, to go where he didn't know, but to give her space, to let her put clothes on, something.
"No, don't go." She reached out and grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm crying. It's just, I wasn't expecting you to say that." She sat up and touched his cheek.
"Elec."
"Yeah?" He was going to get dumped, he just knew it. He had crossed the line into emotional and now she was going to bail because she couldn't deal with his moony-eyed adoration.
He was a royal fuck-up.
"I love you, too."
Come again?
"What?" he asked, because after all the anxiety that had just churned through him, he found it hard to believe he was actually hearing her correctly.
"I love you."
He expelled the breath he'd been holding. Wow. She loved him? She loved him. He had heard it. She had said it. And it was awesome.
Then she made it even better by sighing, a pretty little sigh of wonderment. "Oh, God, I do.
So much. I love you."
Elec rested his forehead against hers and kissed her softly. "I love you, too," he said again, just for good measure.
She kissed him, a long, trusting kiss that was the same but was different. It had the same taste, the same passion, the same intensity as before, but now they knew. Now they were saying they shared love, a relationship, a life.
They were going to be together.
And he needed to show her all over again how much she meant to him.
CHAPTER SIXTEE
ELEC was aware his cell phone was ringing but he was choosing to ignore it. He and Tamara had stayed up way too late considering he had to be at the track for test-drives that day, but he wasn't going to regret it.
How many times in his life did a guy confess he was in love and spend all night making love to the woman he could now legitimately call his girlfriend?
It was a first for Elec, and if the phone would stop ringing, he could grab ten more minutes of sleep.
"Shouldn't you get that?" Tamara asked, rolling over onto his chest and yawning. "That's the second time someone has called."
"It is?"
"Yes." She kissed his chin. "Just see who it is."
Elec felt around for his phone, held it in front of him, and squinted. "It's my sister."
"Maybe it's important. She is your PR rep."
"You want me to answer it, don't you?" He could personally care less what Eve had to say.
"Yes, you should answer it."
"Yes, ma'am."
Tamara smacked his arm. "Do not call me ‘ma'am.' Ever."
Elec laughed and answered his phone, "Hello?"
"Where the hell are you?"
"In bed in my hotel room."
"Turn on the TV, the computer, something. They're doing coverage for the race this weekend and your name has come up."
Eve sounded angry. "Come up, how?"
"Oh, you don't even want to know."
"Then why should I turn the TV on?"
"Don't make light of this!" Eve snapped. "Just tell me the truth . . . can you get a woman pregnant?"
"What?" Elec lost all remnants of sleep and sat straight up in bed, knocking Tamara in the shoulder. "Sorry," he whispered to her.
Eve heard. "Who is with you?"
"Tamara Briggs."
"Oh, my God." His sister was groaning on the other end of the phone. "Elec, I'm serious, can you or can you not get a woman pregnant?"
He didn't know why she was asking when she knew the truth and it was making him both angry and unnerved. "No. I absolutely cannot. Why? What the hell is going on?"
"Some blond woman named Crystal has contacted the media to let them know she is pregnant with your child, and that you're refusing to accept responsibility."
"What?" he said again, feeling completely blindsided. "You can't be serious!"
Tamara was looking at him in concern. "What's wrong?" she asked him.
He couldn't even answer. He felt sick to his stomach. He had known Crystal was aggressive, but how could she claim she was having his baby? Even if he could have children, which he couldn't, they hadn't even had sex. It was totally insane.
"Oh, I am so serious. I take it you know who I'm talking about?"
"Yes. We went on three dates. That's it. Three dates. We didn't even, um, you know."
"Are you telling me the truth?" his sister asked him sternly.
"Yes! Why would I lie? And you know the truth about my situation. It couldn't be possible anyway."
"Alright, alright, I need to think about this. We need to come up with a strategy to combat this crap. I'm going to think about it and call you back. Turn on the TV and watch this tramp at work."
Did he have to? "Okay. I'll wait to hear from you."
He hung up the phone and turned to Tamara, who was clutching the sheet to her and looking extremely worried.
"What's the matter?" she said.
"My sister says that Crystal contacted the media and told them she's pregnant with my baby and that I'm refusing to accept responsibility." Just saying the words out loud made him want to throw up. If he could get a woman pregnant, even someone like Crystal, he would never, ever turn his back on that child. In fact, he would probably want full custody if the mother was Crystal.
Tamara's mouth dropped open. "Oh, no. Are you serious?"
"Unfortunately." Elec fished around for the remote and turned on the TV, trying to find ESPN.
"Could it be true? Could she be pregnant with your baby?" Tamara asked, biting her fingernail.
He wanted to snap at her, frustrated with the whole crazy situation, but he realized it was a legitimate question. He stopped on the sports channel and turned back to Tamara. "No, it's not true. I told you I did not have sex with her."
"Yeah, but sometimes women can get pregnant just from being in the area . . . from pre-ejaculate next to the vagina."
Elec rubbed his temples. This so wasn't the conversation he wanted to be having with her the morning after they had admitted they were in love and were going to be a couple.
"Tamara, I know you're just trying to be thorough here, but trust me. At no point in her presence did I ejaculate, have pre-ejaculate, or take any of my clothing off. What she's claiming is physically impossible."
And the word ejaculate in relation to Crystal was kind of grossing him out.
"There it is." Tamara pointed to the TV.
There was a caption that said "Baby Daddy News from Daytona."
Baby Daddy? Yeah, he was going to throw up.
The reporter was talking and Elec tried to focus on what she was saying.
"A lingerie model has stepped forward today to say she is suing rookie race car driver, Elec Monroe, for paternity and child support of her unborn baby. She claims the driver is refusing to pay for her medical care and is denying the child is his. Crystal Collins has been diagnosed with an incompetent cervix and needs thousands of dollars in medical care in order for her baby to come as close to term as possible. In a sport that strives for a family image, this calls into question the possibility of retaining major sponsor-ships for the driver."
"Oh, Lord," Tamara whispered.
Elec prided himself on being calm and rational, but he exploded. "There was not one goddamn word of that that was true! Incompetent cervix, my ass. She's not even a lingerie model! She's a bartender. Why would she do this? All of this can be proved a lie, including that she's not suing me, nor is that alleged baby mine. She's probably not even pregnant!"
"I'm sure she's doing it for attention. And to punish you for rejecting her."
"Just because I wasn't interested in her, she's going to drag my name through the mud?"
"It gives her the fifteen minutes of fame she's looking for. People make careers out of scandal." Tamara tucked her hair back. "And I might have contributed to the problem. I actually ran into her last week and I, uh, made it known that you were with me now."