Fast Track (15 page)

She pulled his
hand away from her face. “And I thought I made it clear that I…”
Anna couldn’t believe her eyes. Justin stood at the front door,
embracing her father like they were old friends. “What the hell is
he doing here?”

“I invited
him,” Nick said, shrugging. “He’s a family friend, and this party
is about our parents, not you.”

“How could
you?” If she wasn’t opposed to making a scene, she would gladly
slap her brother upside the head. “After the way I left
Jacksonville-”

“That’s why I
did it. Y’all need to talk things out now that you’ve had some time
to cool off.”

“You don’t get
to decide that. I do.” She glanced at her date, standing at the
buffet table, filling his plate to overflowing with appetizers.
“I’m here with a date. How am I going to explain this to
Steven?”

“Who cares?”
Nick looked at the man in question. “He reminds me of Tom… in a
cheap suit.”

Anna elbowed
Nick in the ribs, smiling when his drink sloshed over the edge of
his glass onto his shirt. “I didn’t ask for your opinion, and I
don’t want it.” She sucked in a breath when Justin’s eyes landed on
her. She had hoped she would never have to see that proprietary
look in his eyes again, but not because it didn’t appeal to her. It
did. Too much.

Justin’s smile
slipped as he hugged Avery, but he recovered quickly, fixing his
attention on the guest of honor once again.

“I’m not going
to talk to him, and you can’t make me,” Anna whispered.

Steven
approached them, balancing his drink in one hand and his full plate
in the other.

“I see you
decided to try a bit of everything, Steven,” Nick said, grinning.
“You didn’t stuff your pockets when we weren’t lookin’, did
ya?”

Steven blushed
and pushed his glasses up his nose. “Uh, no. I guess I was hungrier
than I thought.” He thrust the plate at Anna. “We can share, if you
want.”

Anna stepped
back when the onion dip got too close to her dress. “That’s okay,
thanks.”

“Hey, look who
it is,” Steven said, raising his glass. “Justin Hunt, the race car
driver. I didn’t know you knew him, Anna. Why didn’t you tell
me?”

Anna wished she
could hide. The last thing she needed was for her date to gush all
over Justin. “He’s a… family friend. He, uh, owns the property next
to ours in St. Thomas-”

“Talking about
me?” Justin whispered in her ear. One hand landed on the small of
her back as he extended the other to Nick. “Hey, thanks for
inviting me, man. Great party.” Kissing Anna’s cheek, he said, “And
it’s always nice to see you, beautiful.”

Clearing her
throat, Anna tried to resist the urge to look at him. Gesturing to
Steven, she said, “Justin, I’d like you to meet my friend, Steven
Galloway.”

Steven clumsily
balanced the plate, eventually setting it on a nearby table so he
could shake Justin’s hand. “I’m a huge fan.” He pumped Justin’s
hand enthusiastically. “I was so glad to see you back out there.
It’s too bad you won’t be able to accumulate enough points to be a
contender for the Cup this year.”

Anna cringed
when Justin and Nick exchanged an amused look.

“Uh, Steven,
you said you wanted to meet my Aunt Nikki. She’s right over there.
Why don’t I introduce y’all now?” Anna offered, hoping to separate
her date from Nick and Justin.

“This is so
cool,” Steven said, beaming. “Getting to meet all these famous
people. If I’d known this was one of the perks, I’d have started
dating Anna a long time ago.” He laughed a little too loudly,
drawing attention from the people standing nearby. “Not that she
was available before.” He nudged Justin’s arm. “As soon as she was,
I was first in line.”

“Is that so?”
Justin asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Anna. “You two are
dating? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Knowing Justin
deserved an explanation, she slipped her arm through his. “If
you’ll excuse us,” Anna said, smiling at Steven, “I just remembered
I have something important to discuss with Justin. It really can’t
wait.”

Steven looked
disappointed as he reached for his plate. “But I thought you were
going to introduce me to Nikki Spencer McCall? I’ve wanted to meet
her ever since I saw her at the Ryman.”

“You will meet
her. I promise.” Anna dragged Justin away as she heard her brother
chuckling. “I’m gonna kill Nick,” she muttered.

“Where are we
going?” Justin asked, stopping short.

“We need to
talk.”

“Really? You
gonna tell me why you never mentioned the fact that you’re dating…
what’s his name?” he asked, hooking a thumb over his shoulder.

“Please,” Anna
said, when she noticed her parents watching them, “can’t we talk
about this outside?”

“Can I at least
grab a beer first?”

“Fine. I’ll be
out there,” she said, pointing to a set of glass doors. “Join me
whenever you’re ready.”

A few minutes
later, Justin stepped onto the stone patio carrying a beer and a
glass of white wine. “The bartender said this is what you’re
drinking.”

“Thanks.” As
she reached for the glass, she made the mistake of looking into his
eyes. “I was surprised to see you here tonight.”

“Obviously.”

The hard set of
his jaw told her he was still upset about seeing her with another
man, but she didn’t think she had to apologize for anything. She’d
been honest with him about where things stood, and she’d certainly
never agreed to date him exclusively. “How’ve you been?”

“You have to
ask?”

“Justin,
please,” she said, running her hand over the front of his shirt.
“Just because we’ll never be a couple doesn’t mean we can’t be
friends. We’re bound to see each other on the island from time to
time. I’d hate for things to be awkward between us.”

“Here’s the
deal,” he said, wrapping his free arm around her waist. “I still
want you. I can’t pretend I don’t, and seeing you with someone
else, when you should be with me, pisses me off.”

Anna drew a
sharp breath. She’d never dated a territorial man. It was kind of
hot. “Steven is just a friend.”

“Good.” He
skimmed her ear with his lips. “I’ve missed you.”

“Justin, I
meant what I said at the hotel. Nothing’s changed.”

“I’ve been
thinking about that.”

She couldn’t
think straight with his mouth grazing her ear lobe. “Mmmm…”

He pulled her
closer, letting his lips explore her neck. “There’s a whole lot
more to me than racing. Why don’t you get to know me better before
you write me off?”

Thinking
logically was difficult when her body was at his mercy. “I don’t
think that’s a good idea. Why waste time-”

He chuckled as
he drew her earlobe between his teeth. “Trust me, any time you
spend with me will be well spent.”

“I don’t doubt
that.” A part of her, the reckless part she constantly battled,
hungered for a lover who could help her abandon her fears and learn
to love as though it was her last day on earth.

“What have you
got to lose, Anna?” he whispered, sliding his tongue up the column
of her neck.

My
heart.
“I… uh…”

“Just give me
one month. If we don’t hit it off, you can cut me loose. No hard
feelings.”

She didn’t miss
the pun as he pinned her with his hard body. “Fine, one month.” By
the time school started in September, she knew Justin’s interest in
her would wane. “Then you go back to your life, I return to work,
and we forget we ever met.”

“Impossible,”
he said, kissing her. “I couldn’t forget you even if I wanted to.
Trust me, I’ve tried.”

Ty slapped Justin on
the back. “I’m glad you could make it tonight, son.”

“Thanks, Ty.
It’s good to be here.”

Ty led him
toward a quiet corner of the crowded living room and gestured to
two vacant armchairs. “You come to town just for the party?”

“No, I was here
on Hotshots business.” He and Ty had discussed their business
interests in depth on the island, so Ty knew Justin wasn’t usually
hands-on in the hot sauce business.

“Is that so?”
Ty smiled. “You have any other reasons for comin’ all this
way?”

“Look, you know
how much I respect you and Avery, so I want to be honest with you.
I like your daughter. A lot.”

“I kind of
suspected that.” Ty brought his glass to his lips, taking a sip of
the amber liquid before he said, “I’m not sure how I feel about
that, Justin.”

“Okay.” Justin
couldn’t say he was surprised Ty had reservations. He would have
felt the same way.

“I want what
every father wants: his little girl to be happy. To find a man
who’ll take care of her, always be there for her, be a good father
to their children, a friend to her…” He sighed. “I think you’re a
great guy, but I’m not gonna lie. I don’t know that you’re the
right one for my Anna.”

“She makes me
feel things I haven’t felt in a long time.” He looked Ty in the
eye. “Maybe ever.”

“Is that
so?”

“Yeah.” His
eyes settled on Anna. She was talking to the Spencer brothers and
their fiancées, looking so beautiful a million dollars wouldn’t be
too steep a price for one evening alone with her. “I’m trying to
convince her to give me a chance. I hope you won’t stand in the way
of that?” Ty McCall was the last man he wanted as an enemy, but
when Justin wanted something as much as he wanted Anna, he went
after it with everything he had.

“My daughter
makes her own decisions.”

“How did you
feel about her and Tom?”

Ty chuckled. “I
don’t know. On the surface, they seemed like a good fit.”

“But…?”

Ty watched his
daughter. “I was watchin’ you two together earlier. She was
beamin’. I never saw her like that with him.”

“Really?
Never?” Justin wanted to believe that his connection with Anna was
deeper than the one she’d shared with Tom, but until she admitted
it, he couldn’t.

“Never.” Ty
tipped his cowboy hat back on his head. “And I hated that. I wanted
Anna to have what Avery and I have, and I knew she didn’t have that
with him.”

“So you’re glad
she dumped him?”

Ty laughed.
“Let’s just say I’m glad she’s exploring her options.”

“Even if that
means she’s spending time with me?”

“That depends.”
Ty looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “You still hangin’
out with those pretty little thangs I see at your beach house all
the time?”

“No, sir.”

“In that case,
I don’t mind at all. Just don’t expect too much.”

It was a little
too late for that. “Why’s that?”

“I’ve gotten to
know you pretty well over the last little while, and I can tell you
that you and Anna are as different as two people can be.”

“Huh.” Justin
smiled. “Didn’t you say the same thing about you and Avery? She was
a California girl, went to all the right schools, and you were a
rancher who lived off the tips you made working dive bars on the
weekends?”

Ty threw his
head back and laughed. “Boy, we were three sheets to the wind when
I told you that. I didn’t expect you to use it against me.”

Justin’s smile
slipped when he looked Ty in the eye. “I promise you, I’d never do
anything to hurt her, Ty.”

Ty shook his
hand and winked. “Just know I intend to hold you to that.”

“Can anyone
join this party?” a voice beside them said.

Justin looked
up and saw a stunning blond wearing a little black dress and spiked
heels. She was exactly the kind of woman who would have drawn his
attention a few short months ago.

“Justin, I’d
like you to meet my niece,” Ty said. “This is Lauren McCall, my
brother J.T.’s daughter.”

Justin stood up
and shook her hand. “Your daddy owns Jimmy’s, right? I met him
there one night.”

“It’s nice to
meet you, Justin.” Her eyes traveled over his fitted, black,
button-down shirt and black dress pants. “I saw you race in
Jacksonville last week. You were great.”

“Thanks.” He
smiled as he withdrew his hand from her firm grip. “You were there
with Anna, right? I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you. Things, uh,
didn’t exactly go as planned, did they?”

“No, they
didn’t.” She raised an eyebrow. “Yet here you are. How do you
explain that?”

Ty laughed as
he got to his feet and wrapped an arm around Justin’s shoulder.
“Did I mention the McCalls are a nosy bunch?”

Lauren stuck
her tongue out at her uncle before flashing Justin a bright
smile.

Justin
chuckled. “No worse than my family, I’m sure.”

“I was just
going to step outside to get some fresh air, Justin,” Lauren said,
slipping her arm through his. “Why don’t you join me? I’d love to
get to know you better.”

“Sure,” Justin
said, sliding one hand into his pocket. He tapped his beer bottle
against Ty’s glass. “I’m glad we had a chance to talk. I’ll catch
up with you later, okay?”

“Sounds good.
Y’all have fun.”

Lauren winked
at her uncle. “Don’t worry, we will.”

On their way
outside, Justin caught Anna’s eye and smiled. She looked curious,
if not perturbed to see him on her cousin’s arm. Perhaps a healthy
dose of jealousy would help his cause.

Once they were
outside, Lauren gestured to one of the many chairs scattered around
the large patio. “Have a seat. Tell me about yourself.”

Experience told
Justin women like Lauren enjoyed issuing orders. He wasn’t the type
of man who normally did a woman’s bidding, but since he had no
romantic interest in the gorgeous blonde, he saw no harm in
indulging her. Claiming a seat, he folded his hands over his
stomach and smiled. “What would you like to know?”

She twirled the
stem of her wine glass and narrowed her eyes when she looked at
him. “For starters, I’d like to know what your intentions are
regarding my cousin.”