Stick Shift (8 page)

An answering machine. Most people still had one, didn't they?

He hopped off the porch again and went back to the window. Cupping his hands around his eyes, he looked around the living room until he spotted it on a small end table beside a really nice-looking recliner. Talk about the perfect place to take a nap. Or to have her curled up in his lap napping. Or to have her on his lap doing other things.

She'd given him her cell number and one other number. He wasn't sure if it was the number to her friend's house or to her other friend's cell, but he figured it was worth a shot. If a female picked up, he'd know the answer.

The number rang, and so did a phone in the house. He didn't see the phone anywhere but could hear it. Lily stirred slightly under the blanket just as the machine picked up and her friend Candi rattled off a greeting and something to the effect of not being able to come to the phone, ending with asking that the caller leave a message at the beep.

“Lily? Lily, baby, wake up. You look so cute lying there all wrapped up, but I need you to wake up. I wish I could pick you up and hold you in my lap.” She stirred even more, and this time lifted her head, looking toward the machine. “That's it. I see you, baby. Look toward the window.”

She did, and his cock hardened at the sleepy look on her face, at her mussed hair, at the recognition that lit her face. He smiled. “I missed you today. Come let me in. I want to kiss you and wrap my arms around you. I want to pull you close to my body and feel all your softness rubbing against me. Come get me, Lily girl.”

Cam backed away from the window as Lily got up off the couch and moved to the front door. A few seconds later, he heard the click of the lock, and the door opened. Red stained her cheeks where she blushed, and he closed his phone with his 5
left hand while dragging her to him with his right arm. He nuzzled his face into her neck and inhaled deeply.

For a moment she stood stiff, then slowly began to relax and sink into him, nestling close. He just wanted to hold her, but he'd made plans for them, and they needed to get going. Kissing the top of her head, he set her away from him and moved them both inside, then closed the door behind him.

His heart contracted tightly when she looked up at him, lust filling her eyes.

Damn. “Don't look at me like that.”

She licked her lips and opened her mouth. “Like what?”

“Like you want to eat me alive.”

Red flooded her cheeks again. “But I do want to eat you alive.”

“Dammit, woman! You can't say things like that to me and expect me to be able to keep a level head and resist you.”

“Why do you have to resist me?” She tilted her head and started to close the small space between them.

“Oh no you don't.” Cam backed up until he was pressed against the door. “You stay over there.” But she kept moving forward. He had nowhere to go except to the side, and that's just what he did. He sidestepped her and swatted her ass. She turned not-so-innocent eyes on him and he was so close to giving in and dropping them both on the floor. “Stop trying to get me naked.”

“But I don't want to stop. I want you naked.”

She was coming on to him, and he was loving every second of it. “I made plans for us.”

She licked her lips and reached out to grab his shirt in her fist. “I've been dreaming up plans for us.”

Damn. Her voice was rough and throaty, a sexy rasp from sleep, and he let her get within inches of him before he stepped out of reach again. “What if I promise that as soon as we get back in the truck, you can ravish me and hold me prisoner?”

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“Really? Prisoner? All mine?”

Oh fuck yeah. All hers. “Yeah, really.”

“Kiss me.”

Oh hell no. If he kissed her now, they would be fucking. Her aggression toward him turned him on, and he so wanted to plant his lips on hers, but they'd never make it to the track if he did. “Those must have been some interesting dreams.

Maybe you can tell me about them later.”

“I'd rather show you.”

The death of him. He uncurled her fist from his shirt and kissed the back of her hand. “C'mon. A few of my friends are waiting for me to bring you.”

“A few of your friends?”

That cleared the haze of sleep and seduction right up. He smiled at the wariness that crept into her eyes. She was okay in private with him, but when he mentioned going out in public, she tensed. “Yeah. So do what you gotta do to get ready to leave.”

“Where are we going?”

“Up to the track.”

“Why?”

Cam watched as she fiddled with the blanket that had covered her, as she folded it and smoothed its corners. She reached for her glasses and slid them on, turning in his direction, but she still wouldn't look at him. She was a bundle of nerves, and he wished he knew how to ease her. “I want to take you around the track in a car. I think you'll love it. I want to give you a feel for what it's like going two hundred miles per hour.”

She looked up at him. “Oh wow. Really? That is so cool, Cam.” And just like that, she was loose again with bright, excited eyes. “I'll be right back. Then we can go.”

5
After she disappeared down the hall, Cam walked around the living area of the craftsman-style home. It was light and airy with all the common rooms flowing into one another. A small breakfast bar separated the kitchen from the dining area, and a set of columns separated the dining area from the living room. It had a warm, homey feeling despite its openness. It was tidy, uncluttered, but felt comfortable with the warm rich greens and blues of the furniture and decor. Off the dining room, through a set of French doors, was a deck, and Cam could almost imagine it full of friends and family for a barbecue. It made him smile, and he knew instantly that he wanted to be part of it, part of Lily's intimate circle. He wanted to be part of her, mixed in with her life as much as he wanted her to be part of and mixed in with his.

“I'm ready.”

Cam turned and grinned. She'd changed shirts and now wore one with his face plastered against her chest, his grin right at the indent of her waist. Jeans hugged her hips and thighs, and she wore sneakers. She was cute, beautiful, wholesome, and sexy all at the same time. He wasn't sure which part of her he wanted more in that moment.

He didn't see her as being older. He simply saw her as the woman he wouldn't be able to get enough of, something he had known the second she stood in front of the autograph table and smiled that uncertain, lust-filled smile she didn't think he'd seen.

Her glasses were gone too. He kind of liked her in them. Sexy in a naughty school teacher kind of way. “Contacts?” he asked, pointing to her eyes.

“Yes. I saw you were looking at the deck. Do you want to go out there for a second? Candi has a beautiful backyard. She loves to have people over and throw parties.”

Her hips swayed with easy grace, and his cock hardened that much more as unpracticed sex appeal surrounded her. She unlocked the door to the deck, and he 57

followed her outside. There was a breeze and coolness to the air that was uncharacteristic for late spring in the South.

“It's really nice out here. I can't believe your friend lives so close to the speedway, because from right here, it seems like we're in the middle of nowhere.

There are no traffic sounds.”

“Not generally, no. Race weekends are the exception, but even then it's not too bad.”

“Can you hear the cars going around the track?”

“Yes. I'm usually at the races when I come up to visit, but things come up sometimes, you know?

“I know, but hopefully that won't happen anymore. I hope you'll be at all the races, here and in other places. I want to wake up with you like I did this morning and know that I'll see you later in the day.” He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him. Her head fit in the cradle of his shoulder, and he leaned down and kissed the top of her hair. “I can't wait to see you this weekend on top of the pit box.”

“We'll be there.”

“Your friend agreed? What about the tickets you guys had?”

“She took them with her this afternoon and is going to find someone at work to sell them to.”

Cam squeezed her tight. He felt her hesitation in thinking about things between them being serious, and he honestly couldn't blame her. “Excellent.” He simply couldn't let her leave at the end of the month. He'd only known her for a few days but couldn't imagine his life going back to the way it had been before her.

Somehow he had to convince her they belonged together. “Come on, baby. We need to go before I bend you over the railing and strip your jeans right off your ass and forget the deal we made a few minutes ago.”

5
In response, she wiggled her butt against his groin, and he couldn't stifle the groan or keep from pushing his hips into her. “Naughty woman. I just might have to forget our little deal anyway.”

“Yeah?”

She was already breathless when he slid his hand up her chest and settled it over her heart. It was thumping wildly. Lowering his head, he trailed kisses along her neck and pulled the neck of her T-shirt to the side to nip at her shoulder.

“Yeah.” He let go of her and stepped back. “But not right now.”

She whirled around and faced him. “You. Are. Mean.”

Cam laughed at the smile in her eyes, at the mock indignation on her face. He was such a goner. Sliding his sunglasses over his eyes, he pulled her toward him with a hand around the back of her neck. His lips glossed over hers, and that's all he allowed himself before he walked back into the house.

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Lily's heart threatened to pound its way right through her chest wall as she was strapped into passenger side of the demo race car. She'd never been so nervous or scared in all her life, and she couldn't stop checking to make sure that the helmet was on her head as tight as it could be and that her safety belts and neck restraints were secure enough to prevent her heart or any other part of her person from becoming detached.

Cam climbed in through the driver's side window and grinned at her. “You're a little on the pale side inside that helmet, and your eyes are really wide. You okay, baby?”

Lily just nodded, quite certain that she wouldn't be able to find her voice.

“Do you want to get out? We don't have to do this. I just thought you might have fun.”

“I-I'm just a little nervous.” A little nervous, hell. More like a lot nervous. Her voice was barely a squeak, but she managed to get the words out. She had a death grip on the padded straps that looked like the harness on a roller-coaster ride and held her against the seat.

Cam reached over and curled his hand over one of hers. His warmth, his smile, the reassuring look in his eyes calmed her like nothing else could. He squeezed his fingers over hers and winked, then sat back. One of his crew helped him get strapped in while Cam put on his helmet. Attaching the steering wheel was the last thing he did before he flipped the ignition switch.

6
The thick lining of the helmet did little to muffle the roar of the engine as it came to life. The car vibrated around her and for a few minutes she felt as though her teeth were going to rattle right out of her head.

“Ready?”

She turned her head as Cam's voice sounded in her ears. She hadn't known there was a radio inside her helmet, and if she could have him talk to her throughout this little track adventure, she felt sure she'd be okay.

She nodded at him, and he nodded back, then peeled out of the pit box. Being that there was no race and no one else was using the track, there was no pit road speed for him to be cautious of, and Lily couldn't stop the little scream that escaped her throat.

Cam laughed. “Hold on.”

Their speed steadily climbed and never dropped, even as they took the corners.

The butterflies in Lily's stomach went crazy. Being on the track like this was like nothing she'd ever felt before.

Cam used up the whole track, riding up high against the wall, so close Lily didn't know how he avoided slamming into it, and riding so low to the apron, she didn't know how he kept control and never once went below the yellow line, though he seemed at times to be jerking sharply on the wheel.

“You want to go around some more?”

Lily nodded and then loudly said, “Yes.” And so, they did. Half a dozen more times, he drove at two hundred miles an hour, giving her one of the most exhilarating and thrilling experiences of her life.

She loved it. She loved the feeling, after she'd gotten used to the quivering in her belly and the thumping of her heart, of course. But she loved the feeling of flying while still on the ground, the speed, the sound of the engine at full throttle, the man in the seat next to her. She loved how he gripped the wheel because it was how he gripped her body, firmly, with utter control and confidence.

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When he pressed on the brakes, she could smell a mix of rubber, dust, hot concrete, and oil. She loved that. A stock car fan all her life, she was finding a new appreciation for it. The look and feel he'd given her in the last hour between the tour of the garage area and the ride… Damn, why hadn't she thought of being a driver?

Once they were back in the pit box, Cam twisted and unlocked the steering wheel from the steering column and slid it up on the dash. He then went to work on his helmet, tugging it off his head, then finally worked on his safety belts and neck harness.