Hard and Fast(43)

"Good, thanks, and you?"

"Fabulous now that my family's here," he said. "Thanks for suggesting  this trip." He squeezed Tamara tighter and kissed her cheek.

"You're cracking my ribs," she protested, but the grin on her face said she didn't really mind.

Tamara turned to her husband, and the look they gave each other was so  tender, so private, so loving, that Imogen felt a lump rise in her  throat. She looked away, toward Ty, and felt that lump threaten to choke  her when she saw the way he was staring at her, a smile on his face.

Who the hell was she kidding?

Imogen had spent the past two weeks interviewing drivers and their  wives, and after every interview she had told herself that they had  something she didn't, that there was a connection and a rightness to  each of those couples that didn't exist with Ty and that she couldn't  allow herself to fall for him.

But she had.

And it had been altogether too easy.

There he was, standing there in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with a  beer ball cap on his head, Hunter climbing all over his back, and giving  her a secret, sensual smile. He made her feel and want more than she  ever had before in her life.

"What's Viagra?" Hunter asked him, arms around his neck.

"Not anything I need," Ty told her.

Elec coughed to cover up a laugh, while Tamara looked flustered to have the subject brought up again.

"Well . . ." she said, clearly struggling with how to handle it.

Imogen decided to jump in and help her. "It's a prescription drug taken  orally by men suffering from the medical condition erectile dysfunction.  Unfortunately, one of the side effects of the drug is that it can last  longer than is desirable, resulting in discomfort, which is why you did  in fact use the word contextually correctly when referencing the ride as  lasting uncomfortably long. Good job, but it is actually adult humor,  and not something your friends are going to understand, though, so  where's the fun in that?" She had been banking on Hunter's eyes glazing  over, and they did.

"Oh. Okay," Hunter said. She jiggled to readjust on Ty's back, and  knocked his hat askew. "How's your car looking? Can I see it?"

"It's up to Elec. He's the one who's got to get you a garage pass since  he's your stepdaddy. You know the rules-no kids in the garage unless  they belong to a driver."





Tamara had moved from Elec to Imogen's side. "Thank you," she murmured.  "I consider myself a capable mother, for the most part, but Hunter's  language leaves me speechless. I don't know how to handle it, and I  think you did an amazing job. You told her the truth in a way that  wasn't inappropriate and you shut down the subject."

"Big words tend to bore kids," Imogen said. "And if you say something  like erectile dysfunction fast enough, they can't process it enough to  retain or repeat it." Tamara laughed. "Let's hope that's the last of the  Viagra conversations. For any of us." The thought of Viagra led to  thoughts of Ty's penis, which led to thoughts of it fully erect and  buried deep inside her. Imogen shifted in her flats and crossed her arms  across her chest to hide her suddenly tight nipples.

"No joke."

But Tamara was already distracted. "Petey, what's in your hand?" Her son  stood up, a fat worm dangling from his fingers. "Nothing."

"Oh, Lord." Tamara turned to her husband. "Did Evan find somewhere to stay for the weekend, or do we need to get a hotel?"

Imogen had forgotten that Elec's brother Evan shared his motor coach,  which had made sense in their mutual bachelor days, but was now probably  less than convenient.

"He's crashing with Ryder," Elec said. "No big deal. Unless you want a hotel, darling. It makes no difference to me."

"I want to stay in the coach!" Hunter yelled.

"The lady wants to stay in the coach," Elec said with a smile for his wife. "But it's up to you."                       
       
           



       

"That's fine. The kids can sleep in Evan's room. That's probably better than all of us sharing one hotel room anyway."

"Oh, yeah," Elec said with a look so hot that Imogen almost blushed witnessing it.

Imogen was so busy studying Tamara and Elec's marital and family dynamic  with something she would categorize as jealousy, she didn't notice Ty  had moved much closer to her.

"Glad I don't have a roomie," he murmured to her. Then he reached out  and kissed her, Hunter still on his back. "I'm also real glad to see  you, Emma Jean."

"Sick!" Hunter proclaimed, making gagging gestures with her free hand. "Let me down."

"Sure thing, monkey." Ty squatted and she scrambled off, running over to her brother to inspect the worm.

"You're good with her," Imogen told him.

He just shrugged. "I like kids. They're impulsive and honest."

"Much like you?"

"Maybe." He grinned. "Would it be impulsive to drag you away to my coach right now?"

"Inappropriate more so than impulsive."

"I'm paralyzed," he said. "I can't think of a single thing to do right now that isn't inappropriate in front of kids."

She had to really admit she loved the way he wanted her, the way he  acted like it was a serious struggle to contain his desire around her.  It was something entirely new for her, to have a man so passionate about  her that every encounter resulted in sex. In her experience, most of  her previous boyfriends had been perfectly content with once a week, and  they had never allowed lust to enter their eyes in public.

Maybe she could place it in the category of "Poor Taste" and be ashamed  of herself, but she liked that Ty didn't care who saw his interest.

"We could talk," she told him, feeling a smile creep over her face.

"No matter what you say, I'll take it dirty," he said. "I can't help it.  Even hearing the words erectile dysfunction come out of your mouth gave  me a boner."

"That's ridiculous."

His hand brushed across her hair. "What's ridiculous is that we're still standing here. We could have been naked by now."

Hunter suddenly wiggled in between them. "Can you take me to the garage? Elec says Mom needs to





take a nap."

Imogen would bet her own mother's life that Tamara was not the least bit  sleepy. She glanced over at Elec, who was trying to look innocent and  failing miserably.

"Oh, really?" Ty asked Hunter, then turned to Elec. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Tamara said she needs to lie down. I can't argue with that. It was a  long flight." Imogen saw Tamara clear her throat, her cheeks pink.

Elec held his hands out. "I told Hunter she could watch TV for a while, but she'd rather hang out with you."

"I haven't seen Imogen in four days," Ty said pointedly. "When was the  last time you saw Tammy?" They stared at each other in a battle of  libidos.

"Three days ago," Elec finally admitted. "But you can see Imogen  whenever you want all weekend. Our ability to see each other is  hampered."

"Fair enough," Ty said. "But you owe me."

Elec grinned. "Whatever you want."

"Is that okay?" Ty asked Imogen. "You want to go to the garage with me?"

"Sure. I'd love to." Like Elec said, they had all weekend to see each  other. Even if her inner thighs wanted to be seen immediately, if not  sooner.

"Alright, if your last name is Briggs, you're going with me," Ty said  loudly. He pointed to Hunter and Pete. "That means you and you. Let's  move 'em out."

"Whoop, whoop," Hunter said, doing a victory dance. She ran up and gave  Elec a kiss. "Love you! See you later." She then hugged her mother's  legs and said, "Have a good nap, Mom." Tamara hugged her back and said,  "Have fun, baby. Listen to Ty and don't touch anything." She touched her  son's shoulder. "You, too, sweetie. Have fun. Thank you, Ty. And you,  too, Imogen."

"Sure thing, Tammy. Where are the passes?" Ty asked. "Do I have to go  get them? You know they'll give me crap if you're not standing right  there."

Elec handed a bundle over to him.

"You were just all sorts of prepared, weren't you?" Ty asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Just efficient," Elec said.

"Uh-huh." Ty reached for Imogen's hand, but Hunter popped up between  them and took his hand in her left and Imogen's in her right.                       
       
           



       

"Let's go."

Ty shot Imogen a look of frustration over Hunter's head, but Imogen just  smiled. The man was a nice guy, and that did interesting and  thought-provoking things to her insides. Being with him, with Tamara and  her family, it all felt so right, so normal. Imogen had never thought  of herself as lonely, but this was something she definitely enjoyed.