Miller walked past him, clearly impressed by the view of a twisting track that took up most of the space.
She wrinkled her nose. 'It smells of stale chips.'
He hadn't noticed that.
'I think the kitchen is the next thing to be overhauled. This is the little kids' area,' he explained, walking towards one of the barriers. 'The bigger kids' track is out back.'
'Do we have time to see it?'
'Sure-hey, Andy?'
'Tino. I wasn't expecting you.' A tall, lanky man in a plaid shirt that had seen better days and grease-streaked jeans loped towards them.
Tino clasped his friend's hand. 'Andy, this is Miller Jacobs. Miller, this is my centre manager and fellow visionary, Andy Walker.'
'Hello.'
Miller took Andy's hand and Tino was slightly annoyed with himself for automatically stepping into her personal space when he registered Andy's very male appraisal of her.
They might be sleeping together right now, but that didn't mean she belonged to him in any way. The words he'd thrown at Caruthers at the weekend-"Miller is mine!"-reregistered in his mind and pulled him up short.
'Tino?'
He blanked his expression and cast off the unsettling notion that he'd well and truly crossed into a no-go zone with Miller. 'Sorry, I missed that last bit.'
'I said the main track is finished,' Andy repeated. 'Did you get my text last Wednesday?'
'I did. That's why I thought I'd stop by.'
'Come on. I'll show you.'
Clamping down on his worrying thoughts, Tino followed Andy towards the rear of the building and out into the bright sunshine, shielding his eyes as he took in the track.
'It's huge.' Miller exclaimed behind him. 'Like a mini-racetrack.'
Tino smiled. 'That's because it is.'
'I know that,' she scoffed. 'I just wasn't expecting it to be that big.'
'Want to go out on it?'
'You mean walk around it?'
'Not walking.' He turned to Andy. 'Any chance you can pull a couple of carts out?'
'Sure.'
Andy grinned like a happy Labrador and Tino enjoyed the look of surprise on Miller's stunning face.
'I've never driven a go-cart before.'
'There's nothing to it.'
Five minutes later they were both kitted out in helmets and gloves, and once he'd fixed Miller into her cart he climbed into his own.
'We're not racing each other,' she informed him nervously.
Wondering if she would get the bug, he smiled. 'Remember it's just like driving a normal car only the gears are on the steering wheel and there's no clutch. Right foot is accelerator and left is brake. Other than that there's nothing to it.'
He watched as she revved the engine, unexpectedly distracted when her face glowed. 'One more thing,' he called above the throaty whine of the carts. 'These engines are more powerful than the usual carts, so go easy on the first few laps. I'll go first, so you can follow my line as you learn the track.'
'Ha-you're going first because you can't stand being second.'
Valentino smiled. She'd got that right.
He gunned his engine and put the cart into gear. The carts were fixed with a side mirror, so he kept his eye on her as they did a couple of laps.
Both he and Andy had designed the carts, and he was impressed at how well they handled.
After five laps he pulled his cart to a stop near the starting line and waited for Miller to pull up beside him.
'How was it?'
Her face was flushed from the light wind and her eyes were glowing with excitement. Oh, yeah, she definitely had the bug.
'I think you could turn me into a speed demon.' She grinned. 'This is amazing. But they seem a bit powerful for kids.'
Valentino found himself once again captivated by her smile, those eyes that shifted from aquamarine to almost indigo when she was aroused. 'They're for big kids. Teenagers, adults. This is a specialised track.'
'Great to hire out to corporations for bonding sessions.'
'Maybe.' He hadn't thought that far ahead yet.
'I have an idea.'
She leaned towards him conspiratorially and his eyes instantly fell to the deep V the movement made in her black T-shirt.
'What?'
'I'll race you!'
It took him a second to get his mind off her cleavage, and by that time she was already two cart lengths ahead of him. Valentino felt his competitor's spirit champing at the bit.
Little witch. She had deliberately distracted him.
As he followed her the feeling that he was very much in trouble with this new, more relaxed Miller returned. In fact, possibly he'd been in trouble all along.
He'd sensed this latent fire in her nature many times over the weekend at TJ Lyons's, and after listening to her story about her childhood he could see how she had locked herself down to a certain extent to achieve her goals. Which he admired. It took a lot of fortitude to achieve what she had done, and even though he felt that her reasoning had been a little skewed by her mother's fears, he couldn't fault her execution. She'd devised a plan for herself and she'd worked diligently to achieve it. A bit like himself.
Tino kept pace with her, challenging her lead on one of the easier corners but never taking over. For once he was happy to take the back seat in a competition.
He came up beside her and signalled one more lap. He saw determination set in her face and had to smile. If she but knew it he could take her in a heartbeat.
He upped the pressure as they headed towards the home straight and his heart nearly exploded in his chest as her cart veered to the side and headed full speed towards a railing that had yet to be lined with safety material.
'The brake! Dammit, Miller, hit the brake!'
He knew she couldn't hear him, and he was powerless to do anything but watch. It was like seeing his father head towards that concrete barrier all over again. The feelings of pain and loss were so powerful, so ferocious, he tasted bile in his mouth.
By some dumb stroke of luck her car pulled up an inch before the railing. Tino vaulted out of his cart and wrenched her helmet off before he'd taken his next breath.
'What were you thinking?' he all but bellowed as he took in her wild eyes and laughing face.
'Oh, my God. I nearly hit the rail!' Her voice was vibrating with both adrenalin and mild shock.
'That was a bloody stupid thing to do.'
'I didn't mean to,' she said indignantly. 'My heel got caught under the brake pedal.'
Her heel... Tino glanced down at her feet and noted the delicate heels on boots he'd only seen as cute. Damn, he hadn't even considered her footwear when he'd made the impromptu decision to take her out on the track.
He swore under his breath. Ironically, he'd never felt more scared of anything in his life than seeing Miller hurtle towards that railing.
'Hey, relax.' She was still smiling as she pulled herself out of the cart. 'It was just a bit of- Oh!' She threw her hand out and gripped his forearm as her legs buckled beneath her weight. 'My legs feel like jelly.' She laughed and locked her knees. 'I think that was better than sex.'
Tino shook his head, his sense of humour gone. 'Those carts top out at sixty ks an hour. You could have been seriously hurt.'
And why was he yelling at her when it was his own fault?
'I'm sorry if you were worried.' She tightened her grip, suddenly becoming aware of his over-reaction at the same time as he did.
'Of course I was worried. I don't think we have insurance on this place yet.'
'I don't know what to say.' She looked stricken. 'Are you okay?'
Tino collected the helmets. 'Fine.' He clamped down on his emotions with vicious intent, doing his best to stanch the fierce male rage that flooded him. The desire to grab her, crush her up against the nearest wall and pump himself inside her was like a savage animal riding him hard.
Instead, he shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and stalked off towards the equipment room. He could see Andy striding across the track and deliberately headed in the other direction. He needed to do something. Hit something.
'Tino!' Miller called after him, and he could hear her clipped footsteps on the concrete behind him. He lengthened his strides. 'Tino?'
Dimly he registered that she had stopped walking, and he pivoted around and stared at her. Her beautiful face was pale with concern. She approached him with the caution of a lion tamer without a whip and chair.
'Don't walk away. Please.'
Her quiet voice set off a riot of emotions, and right up there with wanting to physically take her-to physically brand her-was the urge to hold her and keep her safe. For ever. And that was the moment he realised he was shaking.
With the kind of lethal precision that was used to construct one of his beloved racing cars Tino shut down everything inside him.
'I have to get to the track. I've wasted enough time here.'
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
'MA'S finally got her wish, I see.'
Valentino turned at the sound of his older brother's voice and kept his irritation in check. He'd been enjoying a moment's quiet after being inundated with well-wishers and pseudo-virgins at his mother's charity extravaganza all night, but fortunately now the guests seemed to have settled-chatting, dancing and enjoying the view from one of Dante's premier hotels.