Roaring Hot! (Contemporary Romance): A Billionaire Biker Romance (17 page)

Amy had a splitting headache. Heat rose from the asphalt at Indiana Motor Speedway. After all, it was mid August. Teo had to be broiling in his racing leathers. Not that he’d spoken to her. Not that she’d even needed to stay.

Her replacement, Desiree, was already in place, dressed in team-colored hot pants. She held a giant Team Suzuki umbrella and leaned against Teo, kissing him for the cameras.

Despite all of the turmoil, Teo had placed close to the pole position, well in the front of the grid. Amy tied her wide-brimmed hat and followed his sister Tasha to the hospitality tent.

“It’s too humid,” Tasha complained, fanning herself. “I’m going to buy one of those spritz bottles with the fan. Want one?”

“Sure. I hope Teo doesn’t overheat.”

“That’s going to be a problem today.” Tasha glanced at the sun, already well overhead. “The track itself is not convoluted like in Germany, kind of boring, so top speed’s the issue besides the heat.”

“Ought to be a good race,” Amy said mechanically. If only her head weren’t throbbing. Teo was through with her. His parting remarks showed what he saw, a phony actress who didn’t live life, only experienced it as a way to portray it on stage.

Even when she’d pleaded for him to come back and talk to her, only talk, he’d kept walking. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After this race, she’d go home. Silver Studios had paid out the rest of her contract. No doubt, it was Teo’s parting gesture.

“Hey, you okay?” Tasha shook her arm, handing her a water bottle and a sprayer with a fan. “Let’s sit at the covered bleachers over the starting line.”

“Sure, thanks. I’m good.” Amy tottered on the steps, glad she was wearing sensible flat sandals. Her flowery dress and white gloves and hat made her look like a girl on Easter Sunday. But it was what Mia had advised.

The cameras would no doubt pan on her, and she’d have to look like a Sunday school teacher. The only thing left would be the parting interview that losers of reality shows gave right before being sent home. She’d appeared gracious and disappointed. Her role was relegated to backup film in case things didn’t work out with Desiree.

Tasha selected seats within view of the large jumbotron screen, but not too close to a loudspeaker.

“Did Teo sleep well last night?” Tasha swiped her tablet, waking it.
She had an online speed chart she used to enter the lap times.

“I wasn’t with him,” Amy admitted. “I don’t know how much you know about the reality show, but he’s replaced me.”

Tasha stopped playing with her tablet and stared at her. “Seriously? So they stopped filming?”

“No, they hired someone who looks like me.”

“Are you upset?”

“Not really.” Amy took a sip of water. “I got another part starting in a few months.”

“Good for you, at least you won’t be the one playing his girlfriend when Oba-chan finds out it’s fake.”

“Do you think she suspects?”

Tasha chuckled and swiped to a photo album on her tablet showing pictures of Teo with his grandmother. “Oba-chan isn’t stupid. She’s not letting on if she knows or not.”

“Wouldn’t she find out when they air
Romancing the Racer
next year?” Amy suppressed the chill wondering if Oba-chan would be alive in six months.

“It’s not going to air, they never planned on it,” Tasha said. “That was just to get people like you or that girl who replaced you to go along with the ‘dates.’” She made air quotes and shook her head. “My brother and Ronaldo are real rascals.”

“But the cost of the camera crew, the equipment, the hotels and expense. Mia’s salary.” Even as she spoke, she realized how naïve she’d been.

“Chump change for bad boy billionaires.” Tasha laughed. “If I wanted to, I could set up a reality show on a Greek island and find myself being courted by twenty-five hot bachelors, all competing for my love.”

“So, everything was fake?” Amy’s voice trailed as the realization hit her. Everything. The gifts, the sweet words, even Teo pouring out his heart last night, all part of the drama.

“What does it matter to you?” Tasha flipped through the program. “You got paid, went on a few awesome dates. I don’t know if you got to enjoy my brother’s sexual abilities.”

Amy flushed and turned her face away.

“They’re getting ready to start.” Tasha tapped her shoulder. “Teo got sixteen points for his third place finish last time. If he can finish within the top five, and the leaders fade …”

“Amy-chan, how nice to see you.” Helped by a pit girl, Oba-chan crouched into the seat next to her.

“Oba-chan!” Tasha rose to take her grandmother’s hand. “What a surprise. Teo’s going to win it today. I just know it. He’s in the front row.”

“Then he’ll have everything he wants,” Oba-chan said. “Standing at the top of the podium in the gold position and a girlfriend waiting in the stands.”

Amy glued a smile on her face. Sweat broiled under her hat and her tongue froze. She was in unscripted territory. No one expected Teo’s grandmother to make a trip. Wasn’t she ill? Would she faint or get dehydrated?

“Let me get you some water from the hospitality tent,” Amy said, hastily departing.

The crowd roared and the sound of motorcycles snarled from the starting line. The whirr of engine noises stirred the blood in her veins.

She stepped out of the bleachers and headed for the hospitality tent.

“Hey, you.” Desiree lowered her giant blue umbrella. “I thought you’d be gone.”

“We have a problem.” Amy pointed to the bleachers. “Actually, you have a problem. Teo’s grandmother’s up there next to his sister. You’re supposed to be me. What are you going to do about it?”

* * *

Teo wasn’t feeling it. His bike, the heat, the track. Desiree’s perfume itched his nose, and he couldn’t afford to sneeze. Not while zooming down the straightaways at over two hundred miles per hour. He’d started in the front row, but a moment’s inattention had cost him precious position.

He was stuck in a thick pocket of bikes, zigzagging through the esses, barely holding position. Everyone’s bikes went horizontal through the turns, dragging their kneepads on the track to shave a few milliseconds.

Curving past the second spectator mound, he hit the throttle for the passing zone. The asphalt was burning hot, hard on brakes and tire grip.

He accelerated quickly through the gears and went for a gap. Daylight. Just like the shine on Amy’s face beckoning him to shoot through. He couldn’t shake her so easily. Her eyes, her nose, lips, her sweet scent, her voice, the way she moved, kissed. Face it, he was lost without her.

His stomach ground gears, wishing it was Amy who’d kissed him before the race, not Desiree. He shouldn’t have shoved Desiree in her face, and he shouldn’t have walked away from her last night. Her father had been sick, and she was right. He couldn’t pay for everything he wanted. He’d have to let her love him, and if she didn’t, let her go.

He breathed deeply, in and out, focused only on his bike and winning the race. The noise, the dust, the heat, and the cheering crowd all blended with his heartbeat, and after a few laps, he was in the moment. His bike, the asphalt, and the guys around him were a part of him, as one body, on one track, interconnected as one fluid and organic being.

The laps wound and wound. Teo had a shot at winning. A serious one. He was in the pack, but he wasn’t out of the game. The pack had spread on the straightaway only to bunch up in the hairpins. He had to break away, make a move, not give up. Not on the race, and not on Amy. No one would expect him to pass a turn, but he was crazier than any guy on the circuit. He had to be.

He’d win it for Amy, and then, win her back.

Teo braked and cornered hard, focusing on the line of the turn. A flash and a shadow cut across his visor. Shit. The bike to his right touched wheels with his. Teo leaned to control the wobble, but his bike gyrated out of his control. Time stopped as he was propelled over a cloud of smoke. He tumbled head over shoulder, airborne over the curb stones, his ears roaring, his mouth dry, his heart frozen.

Zen is being aware, being in the moment and being mindful of the present, no future, no past. Aware of only one thing.

Pain. And not far behind it, Amy.

* * *

“He crashed.
Thee mou!
” Tasha screamed.

Amy pulled off her hat and clutched her chest. Her eyes were glued to the jumbotron screen.

“I can’t hear what they’re saying.” The rumble of motorcycles whirring around the speedway and the echo of the announcer’s voice made it almost impossible to understand the jumble of words. On her right, Teo’s grandmother latched onto her, trembling like a hurt bird.

“I have it streaming on my tablet.” Tasha’s voice warbled. “He’s not getting up.”

They replayed the crash in slow motion. Teo had been about to pass when the guy in front of him veered to cut him off. Their wheels touched and Teo flew over his bike, turning cartwheels before landing on the asphalt. He’d barely missed being run over, and the chain reaction caused three other riders to slide out to avoid the wreckage.

Medics crowded around him.

“He’s hurt. I have to be with him.” Amy ran from the bleachers toward the pit wall. She tried to climb it, but race officials dragged her back.

“Miss, miss. You have to calm down.”

“I have to be there. Teo Alexiou’s my boyfriend.”

A big man grabbed Amy and hugged her close. “There’s nothing we can do right now. I’ll make sure you ride with him to the hospital, but let them bring him in first.”

She collapsed in the man’s arms. “Oh, God. Let him be okay. He’s all I care about. Please, let him be okay.”

The stretcher approached the pit and an ambulance pulled up. The big man, who was the team manager, brought Amy to the doors.

Teo was strapped to a backboard. He raised his hand weakly and met her eye with a stoic expression. Amy was helped into the ambulance after the paramedics hefted Teo in place.

One of his arms was strapped in a splint and held straight at his side. She took his free hand as they placed the oxygen mask on his face. His eyes rolled back and he closed them, losing consciousness.

Beside her, the paramedics were calling it in. “Possible spinal fracture. Concussion, broken bones.”

Tears streamed down Amy’s face. The crash had been her fault. Why, oh why, had she gotten so jealous of a stupid reality show and allowed herself to wreak revenge on him with Johnny? She’d hurt him, knowing he had feelings for her. She was the one who deserved to be injured. Not him.

How could she ever make this up to him? How could he ever want to see her face again? Want anything to do with her again?

Assuming he made it.

* * *

The camera crew along with news teams were waiting at the hospital. A row of reporters stuck mics in front of Amy. Mia and Ronaldo directed their camera and sound guys to capture every angle of the scene.

The paramedics rushed Teo through the doors of the ER, but Amy was stopped by a guard.

A high pitched squeak jolted her ear. “I’m Amy Suzuki, Teo’s girlfriend.”

Amy charged toward the news crews, her jaw scraping the asphalt.

Desiree, the substitute, was giving an interview. Cameras flashed and a reporter asked her questions while Ronaldo stood in back of her, prompting her with answers.

Teo’s grandmother and sister arrived in a limousine. Fortunately, the paparazzi were gathered around Ronaldo and Desiree.

Tasha skirted the crowd and grabbed Amy.

“How is he?” Tasha asked.

“They’re checking him,” Amy said. “His heartbeat’s steady and blood pressure’s okay, but they’re worried about his spinal cord.”

“My Teo’s strong. He’s strong,” Oba-chan muttered, leaning against Tasha.

Oh no! The paparazzi had spotted Oba-chan. The news crew and cameramen charged them.

“You’re Teo’s grandmother, do you have anything to say?”

“Leave her alone,” Amy shouted. “Have some respect.”

“Who are you?” a reporter asked. “Are you Teo’s girlfriend’s twin sister?”

“Wait, she’s the one who rode in the ambulance,” another reporter said.

“I’m the girlfriend,” Desiree shrieked.

“Teo Alexiou has two girlfriends?” the reporter said.

Tasha grabbed a mic. “He doesn’t have any. Please leave our family alone. This is no time for a reality show. These two are both actresses, so if you want to speak to them, kindly leave the hospital.”

The reporters surged, but thankfully, the hospital guards drove them back.

Amy helped Oba-chan into the waiting room. “Is there anyone I should call? A driver to take you back to your hotel?”

“Here’s a bottle of water,” Desiree chirped from the other side.

Oba-chan stopped in the middle of the room. She jutted her jaw and shook her index finger. “Both of you. Fakes. Phony girlfriends. How ashamed you must be. Paid actresses. No better than whores. You’d both better leave before I call the police and get restraining orders.”

Her condemnation thundered like bombs on judgment day. Amy clasped her hands over her face and collapsed in a heap in the middle of the waiting room.

She would never see Teo again.

Oba-chan would make sure of it.

Two days later, Amy sat with her father in their family room, playing chess. She had cried all the way back to San Francisco on a commercial airline. Even the relief of being home was not enough to sweep away her despair.

“Amy, darling. You have to snap out of it.” Her father moved a pawn. “He’ll be okay. It wasn’t your fault.”

“We don’t know if he’ll wake up. It
is
my fault. I lied to his grandmother and I played with his feelings.”

Teo was in a coma. Thankfully his spinal cord was intact and all he broke was his left forearm. But his head had been hit hard enough to cause bleeding in his brain. That last eye roll he’d given her was the last vision he’d had of her. What had he been thinking?

“As I recall, he was the one lying,” her father said in a soothing voice. “He hired you for a fake reality show. It wasn’t you who came up with the scheme.”

Obviously, her parents had read the news. Pictures of her and Desiree were paraded on blogs and gossip sites amongst the speculation on whether Teo would recover consciousness.

Amy plopped her pawn in the matching move. “What you don’t know is that he fell in love with me.”

“That could be some fancy acting on his part.” Her father quickly moved the second pawn.

“No, I felt it. It was real. But I kept playing with his feelings, distrusting him, trying to hurt him. It’s like I thought he was invincible. He’s a billionaire, so he couldn’t be hurt. He could buy his way out of anything.”

“Including your affection.” Her father moved a knight. “Look, I didn’t want to say anything earlier, but he didn’t exactly respect you. I can tell you as a man. The only reason he hired a fake girlfriend is because he planned to break up with you after his grandmother’s birthday party.”

Amy’s knight stopped in midair. “I don’t think that was the reason. He didn’t want complications, that’s all.”

“Exactly. Men don’t want to get trapped, especially rich guys like Teo. They want their freedom. He wants to please his grandmother, so what’s wrong with a little fun and games with no strings? Even if he marries you, he can always pay you to go away once he’s tired of you.”

“I don’t feel like playing.” Amy plopped the knight onto the coffee table. “My head hurts.”

“You should rest and study your part. Didn’t you say shooting for
Dark Samurai
starts after Christmas?”

“I can’t even concentrate right now, not knowing if Teo’ll be okay.” Amy slouched on the couch. “Why are you all gung ho now about my acting? A few months ago, you wanted me to work as a receptionist at your office.”

Amy’s father sighed. He shuffled around the coffee table and placed his arm over her shoulder. “I wanted you to be more successful than me. To go farther in life. Being an actress was so chancy. I pushed you and lectured you because I wanted you to be serious, to have the conviction that acting was for you. The medical office job was a backup, but I knew you’d never be happy. Now that you have that
Dark Samurai
part, you can’t let your personal life mess it up. Let go of this man. He doesn’t deserve you.”

Pain crunched in Amy’s chest. “Teo doesn’t deserve the way I treated him. If there was a way for me to take his place, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I want him to be happy, even if I’m not the one to make him happy.”

“He’ll be okay. He has the best treatment money can buy. You’ll see. He’ll probably come out of the coma as soon as the swelling goes down. I’m sure they operated already and drained the bleeding.”

Her father really didn’t care about Teo. And neither did his own father. She’d emailed Tasha who told her Teo’s father was too busy at an international monetary conference to go to his bedside.

Teo had been left in Indianapolis alone with his elderly grandmother and his one favorite sister.

Unless … maybe he would come out of the coma if he heard his mother’s voice. Wasn’t that always the miracle on television? His mother would speak to him and he’d wake up. Had to.

“Dad, there’s something I have to do.” Amy stood and paced around the coffee table. “I’m going to the Philippines. I’m going to find Teo’s mother.”

* * *

A few days later, Amy stepped out of a taxi in Manila’s Quezon City suburb. The neighborhood was a mixture of high rise apartment buildings, broken down buildings with walls covered in graffiti art, and numerous churches and religious organizations, including a Mormon temple.

Amy waved a paper fan. Sweat dripped down her face from the heat and humidity. Palm trees and tropical plants lined the residential streets. Unlike California, each house was gated, and meshes of chain-linked fence wire stretched across the porches and balconies of the buildings. Most of the gates were colorful and ornate, while others bore spikes and barbed wire. No inviting lawns anywhere.

She checked the address and pushed a button on what appeared to be a paneled garage door. A few minutes later, a small window slid open, and a pair of dark eyes stared at her. “What can we do for you?”

“I’m Amy Suzuki, an American actress. I have an appointment with the Directress.”

“Walk around the side gate and I will escort you into her office.”

Amy had arranged an interview with Sister Soledad, Teo’s mother, stating her desire to pray with a nun who had lost a child. Obviously this had narrowed down the field easily, and a hefty donation later, the arrangements had been made.

The door was electronically locked. Amy was led down a concrete corridor complete with security grills separating the walkway from the living areas of the sisters.

The silence in the hallway was spooky, and the scent was a mixture of antiseptic and pine cleaner. Portraits of saints and religious leaders graced the walls.

When Amy stepped into the office of the Directress, she felt she had gone back in time. An ancient rotary telephone was the only electronic equipment present.

The Directress wore horn-rimmed glasses and a light rose-colored habit. Her headdress was white, and her face was unadorned by makeup.

“I’m Sister Nora. I understand you’d like to pray with Sister Soledad. She is not feeling well today. I will be happy to pray with you instead.”

Amy lowered her head and breathed deeply, calming her inner disappointment. “Please, give her my regards. I can return tomorrow. Is there something I can do for her?”

“No, miss. She has everything she needs within our walls. Could I inquire what you’d like to pray about?”

“I explained in my letter. It is a personal matter.”

“I cannot see why another one of our sisters would not do. We all pray adoration to the Virgin perpetually. She is ready to hear our intercession. We are also close to the heart of Christ.” Sister Nora looked up at the Sacred Heart of Jesus high up in the center of her room.

“Please, I was in deep prayer and a voice told me to seek Soledad.” Amy braced herself, hoping God wouldn’t strike her dead for lying.

“Ha, ha.” Sister Nora chuckled. “Soledad means solitude. Perhaps God is asking you to seek peace and quiet.”

“Yes, and that is what led me to Sister Soledad Maria Apostol. The message was quite clear.”

“How did you track her down to our convent. We are not on the internet.”

“The message”—Amy raised her eyes above the suspicious nun—“was in her own handwriting. It said ‘choose.’”

“Choose?” Sister Nora rolled her tongue inside her lips. “Perhaps you are to choose God over this world.”

“That is what I want to pray about.”

“I can do that.”

“I appreciate it, but I will only speak to Sister Soledad.” She fixed her eyes on Sister Nora’s in a staring contest. “I only need fifteen minutes.”

After a few minutes, Nora blinked and picked up the phone, speaking in the Filipino language. She hung up and grimaced. “I will accompany you.”

“Thank you.” Amy stood and followed her out of the office.

Sister Nora flagged down an armed guard, and smiled greasily at Amy. “We can never be too careful these days.”

“Yes, I agree.” Amy walked with the pair down a set of corridors. The guard unlocked a heavy metal gate and allowed them to pass.

Was this a convent or a prison?

Other than their footsteps, Amy heard only the gurgling of water in a fountain, the chirping of birds, and the buzzing of insects. Where was everyone? Praying silently? Kneeling at the altar?

The guard opened the door to one of the cells, er, chambers. A small woman with doe like eyes sat behind a screen. There was a single chair between the door and the screen.

“Please, have a seat,” Sister Nora said. “I and the guard will be right outside.”

Without waiting for a reply, the heavy door thumped, leaving Amy separated from Teo’s mother by a lattice of wrought iron bars, the same color as the nun’s habits.

Teo’s mother said nothing, waiting silently.

Amy forced her tongue to move, but her throat was tight and her voice barely squeaked. She cleared her throat and smiled.

The faintest trace of a smile brightened Sister Soledad’s features. She was quite beautiful with large, sad eyes, graceful eyebrows, and thick lashes. Her face was relatively unlined except for a few crow’s feet at the corner of her eyes, and her complexion was unblemished.

“Shall we pray and ask God to bless our devotion?” Sister Soledad looked down at her lap.

“Yes, please do.” Amy lowered her head.

The sister mumbled a litany in another language. When she finished, she raised her eyes and waited.

Amy’s time was running out. She took a breath and focused on the moment. She had no lines, no plan, no script. The most important woman in Teo’s life sat across from her. She would go with what came naturally.

“I’m in need of prayer. There is a man I hurt.” She paused, but the nun made no encouraging remarks, so she forged on. “He and I played a lot of foolish games. He loved me truly, but I didn’t trust him and I blew my chances.”

Soledad had a quizzical expression on her face. She frowned and rubbed her nose. “What makes you think I would be able to pray for things I do not experience? In your application you asked for me concerning a child.”

“I’m getting to that.” Amy swallowed and steadied her breathing. “The man was very needy. He wanted too much too fast, and he was afraid of being hurt, so he pretended he didn’t care. He’s in a dangerous profession, one where he could lose his life. I figured out why he was both needy and unable to commit.”

Teo’s mother licked her lips and hummed. “If you’re supposing I can pray to bring him back to you, I don’t want to disappoint you. If it is not in the will of God, it will not be granted.”

“He had an accident at work and is in a coma.”

“Of course, we will pray for him to recover.”

The nun took out her rosary and mumbled a prayer which took at least three minutes.

Sweat dotted Amy’s nose and the minutes ticked by on the large clock above her. Hopefully, Sister Nora and the guard would not disturb what they thought of as a deep prayer session.

When Sister Soledad made the sign of the cross, Amy continued, “There’s one thing this man wants more than anything. Something that might make him come out of his coma. He wants to hear the voice of his mother.”

“That’s a very natural request,” the nun said. “We can pray for her voice to help him.”

“Of course, we should. But that’s not the entire story.” Amy wrung her hands and took another breath. “When he was three years old, his mother deserted him. He has a lot of half brothers and sisters, but no one close to him except his grandmother. His heart is closed to love because of the great pain he carries. He feels his mother left because she didn’t love him, that she was ashamed of him.”

Teo’s mother narrowed her eyebrows and glared at Amy. Her nostrils flared and she snarled. “Leave now. You’re not here to pray for him. You’re a reporter looking for a story.”

“No, no, I’m not. I swear to you.”

“Do not swear in the house of God.”

“Sorry, what I say is true. Teo’s in a coma. If you have any love in your heart for him, you’d go to his side. He couldn’t even remember what you looked like until I gave him your locket. The one with the word ‘choose.’”

Teo’s mother fanned her face. Sweat broke out on her nose and her cheeks reddened. “I will pray for him, but I cannot go see him.”

“Why? What should I tell him when he wakes up?”

His mother gripped the bar between them. “Do you love Teo? Answer me. Or are you meddling in what you know not of?”

“I-I.” Amy gasped, her head light and dizzy. She opened her mouth, then closed it. How would she know what was love and what was pretend? She, who was an actress, could portray any emotion at command. How would love feel?

“You cannot answer me. I cannot trust you.” Sister Soledad raised her hand and rang a bell.

The door behind Amy opened and Sister Nora stuck her head in. “Time to go.”

“Please no.” Amy gripped the bars. “It doesn’t matter for me. I’m not trying to get him back. I don’t care for his money. I just want him to be happy. If you go to him, I’ll step out of his life completely. I promise you. I won’t mention this trip. I won’t contact him. I’ll read the news from far away. But you must love him or he’ll die empty. He has this dream. He wants to live a normal life, but he can’t. He is unable to allow anyone to love him, and when his grandmother dies, he’ll have no one.”

Tears drilled down Amy’s cheeks, landing in fat drops on the latticework.

Sister Soledad made a hand signal and Sister Nora retreated. She waited for Amy to gain control. Amy grabbed a wad of tissue from the dispenser conveniently placed on a table in front of the chair and dabbed her eyes. It would do no good for her to blow this interview with her emotions.

“Do you love my son?” Sister Soledad asked again.

“I don’t know what it feels like. I can’t lie to you.”

“I cannot go to Teo.” She pursed her lips and sniffed, blinking. “I pray for him every day and every night. I ask God to look after him. That is the best I can do.”

“Please, I beg of you. Teo needs you. He needed you when he was three and he needs you now. Don’t wait until it’s too late.”

Sister Soledad rang the bell. “This interview is over. If you love my son, you won’t mention it. It would only hurt him more.”