Junkie(88)

“Oh, well, then have a double. On me.”

Her laughter floated back to us, and I stepped back from Joey.

“That guy is a piece of work,” she muttered and stared after Lorhaven.

“That’s one way of putting it,” I mumbled.

“He really got kicked out of here for illegal betting?”

I nodded. “Don’t trust that guy, Joey. He’s exactly the kind of guy your father warned you about.”

“He’s a good driver,” she said.

Lorhaven was a good driver. It’s why Drew called him out. Drew never backed down from a challenge, and this was no different. It was smart because it essentially put a spotlight on Lorhaven along with Drew. Now he had less opportunity to be shady, because he knew people were watching. I didn’t say all that, though. All I said was, “Drew is better.”

“I know.”

And after the championship race this season, everyone else would know it, too.





Drew

Lots of questions.

That’s what an interview is.

I didn’t mind the questions about racing, cars, and what we were starting up here with the new division. Personal questions were another matter.

It wasn’t that I minded talking about myself. Of course people were going to be curious about the man who was basically the face of the indie driving revolution. Especially after what Emily saw between Lorhaven and me. It was a human-interest story. It was sports, and it was new.

Oh, and there weren’t many rules. People were naturally going flock to it.

What was hard about personal questions was trying to decide how much to let people see. How much to keep private.

Maybe I wouldn’t have thought about it before. Before my sister brought up my image. Before Trent.

I didn’t exactly know where T and I stood with each other, but I did know one thing. I wasn’t ready to talk about it, especially to the press. I could only imagine how the public would react. How Ron Gamble would react.

It seemed like I used to be more of an open book, but now I was a lot more guarded.

It seemed like now I had a lot more to protect.

I still got the job done. Emily liked me; that much I could tell. I read women well. I knew when one was into me. And she definitely was.

She wasn’t bad-looking either. Her hair was long and wavy and was this deep golden shade that wasn’t brown, but wasn’t blond either. Her eyes were blue, and her face was made up to accentuate it. The royal-blue top she had on was low cut, and her skirt was tight.

I could have had her number in seconds.

But I didn’t want it.

Not even a little. In fact, as I sat there answering questions and chatting her up, my eyes wandered several times off in the distance, where Trent and Joey were. The pair leaned up against her Skyline, talking. At first, they looked kinda intense, and I wondered if they were getting along. But now they were laughing and smiling. Trent was checking out her car.

Emily was checking out me.

Trent was checking out the car.

And I was checking out T.

I liked the way his jeans hugged his narrow hips and cupped his butt. I liked the long strides he took when he walked. He was powerful-looking, almost intimidating.

His heart was kind.

His lips were soft, and I liked the feel of his skin against mine.

He was basically everything I could ever want in life rolled up into a single person.

It made me feel embarrassed I didn’t want to talk about him in an interview.

“Thank you for your time today. The feature in next month’s issue is going to be really great. A lot of people are going to be excited for this.”

“I hope so.” I smiled. “Thank you for coming out here to talk to me.”

“It was a pleasure,” she said, sitting forward in her chair as she got up. She bent a little lower than needed to give me a view of her chest.

Sorry, you just don’t have the right equipment.

I pushed out of the seat and stuck out a hand. She looked between me and my hand for a few seconds and then slid hers into mine.

“Can I ask you a question, off the record?” Emily asked.

“Depends on the question.” I winked.

She smiled. “Why did you lie about being in a relationship with someone?”

She caught me off guard with that one. Of all the things she could ask, that was what came out of her mouth?

“Um, what makes you think I lied?”

“I’ve been sending you signals all day. I even gave you a full view of the goods.” She gestured toward her girls. “Either I’m totally off my game today, or you’re already involved with someone.”

“Well, aren’t you direct?” I rubbed a hand over my jaw.

“I’m a reporter. I talk to people for a living. It’s what I do.”