Hard and Fast(46)

"Victory Lane is the most awesome-ist place ever," Hunter said. "We have  to go or I'll die." Imogen's logical mind couldn't come up with a  legitimate argument for not going, and all three of them wanted to,  including herself, so she just shrugged. "Okay, let's go. Lead the way."

"Whoop, whoop!" was Hunter's opinion as she dragged Imogen and her  brother down the stairs at a speed to rival the racing itself.                       
       
           



       





TY climbed out of his car and pumped his fist in the air. Hell, yeah.  Winning had never felt so goddamn good in his life. He'd been having a  good season and was in the Chase, but it had still been a long time  since he'd passed under that checkered flag, and nothing beat that  excitement. Add to the win the fact that his girlfriend, his first,  honest-to-God, "I love this woman with all my heart" girlfriend was  there to witness it.

The only thing better would be if she were standing there in Victory  Lane with him, but they had never discussed anything like that, and Ty  knew Tammy would never suggest it to Imogen, not wanting to interfere.

His crew congratulated him and there were handshakes and back pats all  around as he offered his thanks to them, his team, and his sponsor.  Slapping his sponsor ball cap on his head, he climbed onto the hood of  his car and got doused with beer as confetti rained down on him.

God, there was nothing like it.

Glancing out at the crowd gathered around, he almost slipped when he  caught sight of Imogen standing there watching him with a gigantic smile  on her face, her hands on Hunter's shoulders. She was wearing jeans and  the sweatshirt she had borrowed from him on their camping trip. With a  grin so wide he about split his skin, Ty gestured for her to step  forward.

She made a return gesture with her hand, eyes wide, as if she were confirming he really wanted her to come toward him.

"Yes!" he yelled. "Get over here."

There was no sign of Tammy, which struck Ty as odd, but maybe she was off planting one on Elec.

Imogen shuffled the kids forward and Ty hopped down to meet them. Hunter gave him a hug and Pete a high-five.

"Awesome race!" Hunter declared.

"Thanks, punk." Ty smiled at Imogen. "Hey."

"Congratulations," she said. "It was an awesome race."

"Thank you. And I'm glad I can share it with you, Engine."





"I am, too," she said. "I'm so proud of you."

Ty stroked his hand down her cheek and looked into her beautiful blue eyes.

In them he saw everything he ever wanted-an intelligent woman who  respected and loved him with her whole self. He suddenly knew that if he  was being offered everything he ever wanted all in one package, he  should hold on to it, right and tight. There was one way to do that, and  he knew with absolute certainty that was what he wanted.

"I love you," he murmured, giving her a soft kiss.

Then, needing her to know, to understand, needing permanency, a  commitment, a forever with the woman of his dreams, he backed up a step,  took her hand in his, and went down on one knee. "Imogen Ann Wilson,  will you marry me?"

Those beautiful eyes went huge behind her glasses. Her jaw dropped open. Her cheeks went lily white.

Ty was aware there were flashbulbs going off all around him, and he  could feel the stare of the television cameras. Maybe he shouldn't have  done this in such a public place, but hell, he had felt like he wanted  nothing more than to make her his wife, and why should a man wait when  he knew something so enormous and important?

Vaguely aware Hunter was jumping up and down yelling to his right, Ty  stared up under the brim of his ball cap at the woman he loved and felt  elation start to sink as she said nothing. "Well?" he finally asked her.

"Are you serious?" she asked, her voice shrill, her hand clutching the neck of her sweatshirt.

"Hell, yes, I'm serious," he said. "Do you think I would be asking in  front of hundreds of people if I wasn't dead serious?" He gestured to  the crowd gathered around them, all blatantly staring, capturing every  minute on film and video.

Imogen glanced around and her cheeks went from stark white to beet red. "Oh, my."

"So, anyway, now that you know I'm for real . . ." Ty squeezed her hand.  "You going to answer me? I asked you once if you were the marrying kind  and you told me that you hadn't met any man you wanted to marry yet.  I'm hoping I am that man. I know this is soon, but Emma Jean, I've  waited my whole life to meet a woman like you, and I love you. Will you  marry me?" Her head started bobbing up and down before he was even  finished speaking. "Yes. Yes. I will marry you." Her eyes filled with  tears and she gave him a watery laugh. "I'm trying to think of a witty  quote about marriage from Beatrice or Benedick, but my mind is  completely blank." Ty stood up. "As long as your mind is together enough  to say yes to me, I don't give a damn about witty quotes." His heart  racing, he leaned forward and gave her a slow, deep kiss, wanting to  take it hotter but knowing he couldn't in this venue. "I love you," he  whispered. "I'll try to be a good husband, I swear."                       
       
           



       

"I love you, too."

Then he turned to the media crowd gathered and lifted his fist again. "She said yes! I'm getting married.

How's that for sweetening the day's victory?"

Knowing he was grinning like a damn fool, he put his arm around Imogen  to pull her close, and basked in what was hands down the best moment of  his life.





TY had asked her to marry him. He had gotten down on one knee and said  lovely things that she'd been too stunned to retain in her brain, and  somehow she had managed to choke out a yes. Now she was surrounded by  reporters taking their picture, interviewing Ty while she stood there,  still stunned, and occasionally being asked a question herself.

"Did you suspect he was going to propose?" a blonde in her early  forties, with her hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail, asked with a  smile.

"No. I had no idea," she said most sincerely.

Conscious of the need to be aware of both Hunter and Pete's whereabouts  since they were her responsibility, and making sure she could stay  standing instead of collapsing in a puddle of shock seemed to take all  her collected faculties at the moment. Forget charming or witty. And she  was fairly certain that





her face resembled the Joker more than a newly engaged woman.

Engaged.

She was engaged.

She had known the man for only a few months, had only been dating him for weeks, and she had agreed to marry him.

Never in her entire twenty-eight years of existence had she done something so impulsive.

She kept waiting for it to feel like a gigantic mistake, but aside from  the surreal aspect of the situation, she didn't feel doubt.

She just felt . . . disbelief.

Out of all those women in the world who threw themselves at race car drivers, why would he pick her?

It challenged the tenets of logic.

But then again, she believed that he loved her. She had seen it in his  eyes, heard it in his voice. She trusted that, she really did, so why  had her mind never leaped forward to the concept of marriage and happily  ever after?

Because she had been scared to. Afraid that he would change his mind.  And those kinds of doubts bothered her. It told her she wasn't as  confident and secure as she would like to be, that she exhibited a  vulnerability to men. To this man. Or did she? And if she did, was that a  bad thing?

Sometimes, the fact that her mind didn't shut down, and analyzed from  seven thousand directions over and over again, was a real pain in the  ass.

She had just received a marriage proposal from the man she loved and she was dissecting it for weaknesses.

"Sorry about the media blitz," Ty whispered in her ear, his breath  tickling her skin. "Didn't think that part through, babe. I just saw you  and knew I wanted to marry you so I asked. I couldn't wait." Imogen  looked at Ty, at the one man who could halt her stone-cold logic and  make her just feel . For the first time since he'd dropped to the  ground, she felt a smile crack. "It's okay. I'm glad you didn't wait."  She needed that, to be caught off guard, to learn to trust her first gut  reaction to her emotions. There had been no hesitation on her part-he  had asked and her heart had sung out a big fat yes .

He grinned at her. "Good. I would pay a thousand dollars to be able to  kiss you with tongue right now." She laughed. "That would get some  airtime."

"No joke. I think they're done bugging you. If you want to take the kids  back to the coach, I'll be there soon. Or you can just wait to the  side. Where the hell is Tammy, by the way?"