“I know. But you know how we are as women. We want to fix everything.” She did feel bad about Geoffrey, though she wasn’t really sure why. Maybe it was just guilt that she had dumped him, then jumped into bed with another man about a minute later.
“Lord, that’s the truth.”
But the true reason for her stress was the number 56 car out on the track, and the man who was driving it. Elec was having an amazing race, sitting in eighth place out of forty-three cars at three hundred and fifty-three laps, which had him on the radar of the announcers, who kept referring to him over and over as the up-and-coming rookie. It was unnerving to be sitting there, watching, worrying, wanting him to do well, wanting him to be safe, yet feeling an undeniable anxiety that she was just another notch on the bedpost of Elec Monroe. Which shouldn’t matter. The whole thing was ludicrous and she didn’t like any of the feelings swirling around inside of her.
What the hell was the matter with her?
The announcer’s voice came from the TV in the suite behind them. “What a great race so far for Hinder Motors. In the top ten, they have four cars right now. Ryder Jefferson in the lead, Ty McCordle right on his tail in second, Foster Davis in seventh, and the rookie Elec Monroe running in a very respectable eighth right now.”
Both announcers were retired drivers and the second one said, “Very impressive. Hinder Motors must be very pleased with these performances, and I’m telling you, while Elec Monroe in the fifty-six car has shown a lot of promise and was always assumed to be a real contender in the near future, this kid is on fire today.”
Kid. Tamara winced.
Beth turned to her. “Do you remember Elec Monroe? I think you met him a few times.”
As if she could feel any more uncomfortable. “I met him a few times when Pete and I were first married. Then I actually met him again last night at the fund-raiser.” Tamara took a sip of her diet soda. She seemed to have lost all the spit in her mouth.
“What did you think of him?”
Tamara swallowed hard and almost choked. Eyes watering, she gave a little cough. “He seems nice enough. Quiet. Not comfortable mingling.” But very, very comfortable one-on-one. The mere thought made her want to crawl under the seat and die. After she had an orgasm.
She just wasn’t cut out for this.
“Well, you know his father stabbed Johnny in the back.”
“I knew there was some animosity, but I don’t really know what happened.”
Beth lowered her voice. “I can’t tell you right now because it sends Johnny’s blood pressure through the roof, but let’s just say it wasn’t pretty and it’s not the kind of thing that these men will ever let go.”
Great. “I’m sorry to hear that. I thought they were pretty good friends at one time.”
“They were, which makes it all the worse,” Beth said.
Tamara caught herself tearing off her pinky nail with her teeth and stopped. She picked at her—Elec’s—golf shirt in the warm sun and tried to ignore her aching feet in her stupid heels. Fortunately, Elec’s jeans were too long and they covered the bulk of her shoes so no one had noticed and commented on her strange choice in footwear. She was tempted to dig through her overnight bag and pull out her gym shoes, but that would just draw attention to her.
Sitting in the hard seat watching the cars loop around lap after lap for two more hours, Tamara ran through three diet sodas and the rest of her fingernails. By the time they were entering the final three laps under the lights after one of the longest days of her life, she knew this wasn’t going to work.
She knew it. Hated it. But knew it.
She was kidding herself that she could go out with Elec. Her in-laws would be hurt and angry, Suzanne thought he was playing her, she was worried sick about their age difference and about protecting her kids. It was too much to tackle when she had a whole handful of responsibilities and stress factors in her life.
It was impractical to get swept away in something that could only end badly.
She needed to tell Elec she couldn’t go to dinner with him.
But first, all be damned if he wasn’t taking advantage of a backdraft and going for a pass on the two cars in front of him. Tamara sat forward, alternating between watching the track and the TV screen.
“That was a good move,” Johnny conceded to her right. “Look at the rookie go.”
She was looking.
And he was going. Right on past the five and four cars.
Nails digging into her jeans—his jeans—Tamara finally remembered to breathe when Ryder and Ty crossed the finish line one and two, and amazingly enough, Elec came in third place.
Hunter was jumping up and down and whooping, showing an amazing amount of energy for a kid up way past her bedtime.
Beth said, “Oh, my. That’ll get some talk going.”
Johnny said, “Holy sh—shooters. The kid can drive.”
Petey stuffed a handful of popcorn in his mouth.
And Tamara wanted to fight the urge to do as her daughter and leap up off her seat and cheer for Elec.
She couldn’t stop herself from blushing though when the sports-casters interviewed a grinning Elec climbing out of his car as to what made the difference in the race.
After thanking his sponsors, his team, and Hinder Motors, Elec looked straight at the camera and said, “Not to mention the good luck kiss I got from an amazing woman before the race.”
“Oh, really?” The female sportscaster smiled at him in amusement and stuck the mic back in front of him. “Care to tell us who she is?”
Tamara wondered how her brain could still function when she was absolutely certain her heart had just stopped. If he said her name, she was going to beat herself to death with her soda can.
But Elec just grinned and said, “Nope. I’m not the kind of man to kiss and tell. But it was definitely inspiring.”
And for that, she could kiss him all over again.
But first, she had to cancel their dinner plans.
ELEC had never had so many mics stuck in his face or so many sponsor ball caps slapped on his head for photo ops. He couldn’t stop grinning, despite the endless questions and his personal discomfort with publicity. It wasn’t a win, but it was damn respectable and gave him confidence that he could come out strong the next week. Not even his sister running around looking equal parts frazzled and pleased as punch, like she’d won the race herself, could put a damper on his mood. It had been a good run for him, and he was feeling satisfied.
Starting the day off naked in bed with Tamara had set a positive tone and he was pretty much feeling it was one of the finer days of his life.