Inevitable (35 page)

‘I’m going to stay over here and live my life, Bella. Here I can live as a homosexual man without prejudice. This weekend however, I get to see you happy and in love at last and that makes my heart glad.’

I smiled my thanks at him.

A shout from Scott roused my thoughts.

‘Got anywhere my lovely wife can do a diaper change, Bella. As you girls are going on a scheduled shopping trip leaving me literally holding the baby, this explosive one is hers.’ I looked at him holding Eloise away from him like she was nuclear waste. The huge smile on the little girl’s face brought everyone out in loud happy laughter.

The shopping trip was a great success. Tilly came with us and the five of us spent a very therapeutic afternoon together. The guys spent the afternoon with Nate and his team, becoming petrol heads as Nate and Brock showed them around. They had altogether three young children with them, so I couldn’t imagine them getting into too much trouble.

It made me laugh to think of all the groupies by now at the track. Nathan was a sight for sore eyes, but add in all the others. They must think they had died and gone to heaven, five beautiful men wandering around all slightly different in their looks and personalities but all stunning in their own way.

Yep I was right, a pack of wolves
.

I wasn’t quite sure what Petre was doing this afternoon. Always having to pretend to be someone you weren’t had taken its toll on him. He didn’t feel he could shop with us unlike other gay men I knew, equally he wasn’t interested in taking in all the bikes with the guys. He said he would have a look at some of the more local shops and then chill out for the afternoon.

I had booked us ladies in at the local beauticians as I definitely needed some overdue grooming. I knew it would give us the opportunity to have some girly bonding time. I, being the ever so nosy cow that I was, immediately got to the point.

‘So, Jassy… what’s with you and your new husband?’ It was obvious that everyone wanted to know, as the others in the same room getting a pedicure stopped talking, you could have heard a pin drop.

‘Apparently…’ she glanced around at all of our frozen expressions and laughed. ‘Oh I get it… I’m the hot topic of conversation, am I?’ She laughed again and carried on. ‘Apparently we’re not able to get a divorce at the moment, married in a catholic country and all that… marriage consummated etc. etc.’

The girls started up immediately with whistles and catcalls.

She looked at us all with a grin, ‘Well tell me… put in my place, wouldn’t you have?’

We all nodded in agreement.

‘So the only one we don’t know much about is you, Tilly and being the only American here I feel it’s my place to ask,’ Ruby blurted out matter of a fact.

I watched the blush creep over Tilly’s pale face. ‘Don’t mind us we’re always like this when we get together,’ I added.

‘No it’s Ok… it’s no secret, I’m just not used to other women’s chit chat anymore. I’m constantly around the men on the track… I’m twenty-six, I had Sarah at twenty-four… I was still in England at the time. I was at university studying to be a doctor. Her father was, too… unfortunately he died before she was born. He got ill and passed away… he was only young.’ We were stunned into silence, Ruby looked beyond guilty for even asking.

‘Sorry, Tilly. I shouldn’t have pried,’ Ruby offered.

‘No, it’s ok honestly… it’s hard though, sometimes.’

‘But Brock is lovely and you and he make a great couple,’ I added in.

‘Yeah, we’re not serious… the kids love each other though.’ She smiled, looked down again and started talking to the girl about the colour of her nails.

The rest of us looked at each other with wide eyes and pressed her no further.

I loved my afternoon catching up and being pampered, but I missed Nate with everything I had and couldn’t wait to get back to the track. Frankie squeezed my hand.

‘I recognise that look,’ she smiled her understanding at me, ‘I know what these Blackmore men do. They take you over body, heart and soul.’

The place that Nathan and Brock had chosen for our night out was rocking. They had the foresight to book ahead, thank God. Between the locals and people travelling in for the race weekend, the whole area was jam-packed. It had taken us a while to get through the traffic. A journey that would normally take five minutes had turned into twenty-five.

It was worth it though; I could see why the place was busy. The atmosphere was great, people from all walks of life congregated to have a good time.

No one was drinking much this evening. Nathan for the obvious reason of racing tomorrow, Frankie because of her pregnancy, Ruby was breast-feeding and so on. We didn’t need alcohol, a great bond seemed to have forged amongst us all and even Jassy and Edwards seemed to be enjoying each other’s company again. The mood was relaxed, apart from the vibe coming from Petre. He just didn’t seem to know quite how to fit in, as much as everyone tried to involve him. He was sat at the bar nursing a whiskey.

The bar was obviously the favourite hub for miles around. It had karaoke tonight and we were most definitely up for the entertainment, but the air-conditioning pleased me the most.

‘How you doing, darlin?’ came the voice of the man I loved, cutting through the singing. We were sat close together in the packed room, but that suited him just fine. When I had stepped out of the bathroom earlier, wearing my new short, emerald green prom-style dress, make-up and nude strappy heels, I thought he was going to rip the dress back off. That was the effect I had been going for and to see him speechless at my entrance into the bedroom was extremely satisfying. I was surprised that he hadn’t told me we were going to have to have an early evening, with his race tomorrow as an excuse, but he sat quietly clicking his knuckles, running his hands through his hair over and over. He had chewed enough Altoids to sink a ship and was now grasping both of my hands in one of his, caressing my thumb with the calloused pad of his. He appeared to be fidgety and nervous, but I had never seen him before a race weekend, so maybe he was always like it?

‘I’m good… you OK?’ I asked the question and looked up from our joined hands and into his gorgeous hazel eyes.

The voice of the host broke over me, ‘OK, folks, we have a special contestant tonight in our karaoke competition. You all know him as one of our best home-grown superbike riders. Come on up to the stage, Nathan Blackmore.’ The claps, whistles and cheers started immediately.

My eyes never left his as he winked and began to stand up, shaking down the legs of his old blue jeans until they hit the top of his heavy biker boots. The bar went wild apart from our table we were all momentarily stunned into silence. After looking at each other in shock we started to cheer and clap as well. We were at the back of the room so myself and Jassy climbed up onto our chairs and watched as he took to the stage. I saw it for the first time then. Nathan was destined to be in front of people and I knew that had the race adrenalin not filled a need in him, he could just have easily been in a band. The way he casually wore old scruffy clothes, without paying the slightest bit of attention to them. Other people would spend a fortune trying to replicate the look but never quite achieve it. He had tattoos that most rock stars would envy and a cocky swagger that sent females wild.

He was made to be in the public eye and he was mine.

Our table continued clapping, screaming and whistling until Nathan had grabbed hold of the mic like a professional and gesticulated with one hand for us to all calm down.

A track started to play in the background and I instantly recognised it as a song that we had heard together many times on our bike ride. He placed his hand against his forehead to shield his eyes from the overhead lights, looking for me. The moment our eyes connected again I was transported to a place where there was only him and me, the bar faded out. He raised his spare arm and pointed at me.

‘This is for you, thank you for coming the fuck back into my life.’

He launched into
Angels by Robbie Williams.
The crowd went nearly silent as they listened to his bloody beautiful voice as he sung his heart out to me. His eyes never left mine for the whole of the track. I knew within the space of a few minutes he would go viral once again as a few people in the crowd were filming the unexpected occurrence on their phones. I couldn’t have cared less, we no longer had anyone to hide from.

He sang the song through to the end and placed the mic down on the stage. He then stepped off and walked possessively towards me. He placed his arms around my waist and I clasped his head to my stomach, kissing the top of his head.

‘Thank you… that was… I don’t have the words.’ Tears were once again running down my face.

What does this man do to me? I promised myself no more tears around him, but they keep on coming.

Our friends and family gathered around us tightly, slapping him on the back. He lifted me down from the chair, kissed me full on the lips and dipped his mouth to my ear. After he whispered all the filthy things he was going to do to me, he made our excuses for an early night. I followed him out of the bar, the fingers on his large hand held out behind him, wiggling at me. I clasped onto them and followed the man I had only ever dreamed about being with, out of the crowded bar.

BELLA

R
ace day had finally arrived. Nathan had left me with his family and friends earlier. We were in the VIP area as we watched and chatted. I was taking part in the conversations going on around me, but only just. Nerves had hold of me and I was trying very hard to take in exactly where Nathan was at any given time. Today, as far as I understood, was race one. Tomorrow would see race two.

Adrenalin had begun to flow around my system. I wanted this for him, it was what he lived for. Watching him race did things to my insides that I couldn’t understand. I was proud, horny and terrified in equal measure and it was a strange bloody mixture.

Nate, on the other hand, thought that my mixed up emotions were “fucking brilliant,” as the moment he had ended several of his practise runs earlier in the week, I had practically jumped into his arms and begged him to take me somewhere nearby where he could help to relieve the buzz and angst. I imagined he thought it was a dream come true. He had obliged willingly, often carrying me off to the nearest place that had a door.

The crowd was vast and the noise was often deafening in their excitement to see their heroes race. The smell in the air was of freshly cut grass, cooked onions, burnt rubber and diesel. It all added to the atmosphere. I was trying my best to block it all out, as I tried hard to keep Nate in focus at all times, thinking I could wish him safe, if I just kept my eyes on him.

Luckily, his black and green bike along with his white leathers and a large number seven helped me. I was gripping Frankie’s hand with a death like grip as I watched him take his place as second on the grid. Second, as it so happened, to his team mate Liam. He had told me that there were no team orders and he had his hopes on winning the first race of the weekend.