“But I won more money than you.”
“Score another race and you buy the beer.”
“Deal. Coming, Wolfe?”
“Yeah. Coming.” He trailed behind the chattering group and wondered how the day could get worse.
THREE HOURS LATER, WOLFE realized he shouldn’t have asked such a question to the universe.
He sat alone, racing form in his lap, and watched the growing crowd at the picnic table. Mostly men. Surrounding Gen. Not sure how it had happened.
She’d won race two with another long shot on Magic Dude. He’d followed her to the rail, watched another of his horses lose, but managed to keep her off Ed’s shoulders. Or Tom’s. Or whoever the hell they were.
Somehow, in all her excitement, she had managed to recruit two new followers. One with a military cut and roving eyes, the other his skinny sidekick, who looked harmless. Wolfe already knew it was impossible to win three races in a row on raw luck, so he stuck to his original plan. He picked Hammering Halo at three to one, since they were racing on turf and the horse had the best grass trainer in history.
Gen scored again on a ten-to-one shot.
After that, time blurred. The men pegged her to have a magic touch, and every time she stood on line to place a bet, more people followed her back to the table. The latest recruits had some girls in it, but they seemed more interested in Gen’s ability to attract all the single men at the racetrack.
He tried to control his temper and be happy she was finally eating again. Seemed Ed and she had become close foodie buddies, plowing their way through fish tacos, hot dogs, beer, and pretzels.
He’d never been good at speaking with strangers or making friends. Wolfe fought off the urge to grab her and go home, where it was just them and they could settle back into a quiet conversation and general teasing. But he also realized she was distracted, and the moment she left the track she’d remember the shitstorm she’d left behind. He couldn’t stand the idea of the sadness leaking back into her eyes, or the disappearance of her smile, which always squeezed his heart and made him happy. No. He’d just keep an eye on her and try to enjoy her excitement.
Ed whispered something in her ear. Gen tilted her head up, laughing. His arm came around her shoulders and he pulled her in for a fast, hard hug, strangely more intimate than a full mouth-to-mouth kiss. WTF?
Wolfe jumped up. “Time to go!” he declared loudly.
All gazes turned toward him.
Gen blinked. “We’re only on race four. What’s up?”
Everyone kept staring. He hadn’t been this off-kilter in years. “Figured you’d be tired and we’d head home early?”
Ed piped up. “She can’t leave when she’s on a roll! Doesn’t that mess with juju or something?”
“I think that’s baseball, dude,” Steve said. “If you wanna head out, we’ll make sure she gets home safe.”
Wolfe’s voice iced. “Don’t think so. Gen doesn’t leave my sight. Get it?”
Gen gave a sigh. “You’re losing, aren’t you? Are you getting cranky?”
For God’s sake, he suddenly felt like a toddler. “No, I’m not losing. Listen, if you want to stay, that’s fine. Just didn’t want you to lose all your money.”
She gave a blinding grin with perfect white teeth. The woman could do a Trident commercial. “Not gonna happen. I’m rich today!”
The crowd closed back in on her, getting her take on the fourth race, and he went back to his picnic table. Alone. Just the way he liked it. No interruptions or distractions.
Cool.
He lost the next two. Gen won. So did everyone else, since half of the park realized she was on a blessed run and wanted a piece of the action. He left to get a beer, and when he came back, she’d officially lost race six. Sad faces surrounded her, so he went to check if they were packing up for the day. About time. He’d never heard of anyone with such a long winning streak.
“Sorry, sweetheart. Happens to all of us eventually.”
Ed patted her shoulder. “We’ll get the next one.”
Gen was already studying the form in front of her, leafing to the next race. “I had a bad feeling about the last one. Should’ve held back. My skin is tickling again, so I think we can do this.”
Wolfe put up his hands in surrender. “Your call. Let me know. I’m here if you have any questions.”
She was already back to ignoring him, seemingly entranced by the field of six running in the next race. Wolfe went back to his table, caught between amusement and irritation at how quickly he’d been replaced at the track. Seemed to be a pattern. She was finally out of David’s clutches, and had now recruited a whole new batch of men to be her friends. Seemed she gave them a hell of a lot more attention than she had given him these past two years.