OPENING THE DOOR TO THE bus, I couldn’t help but feel my heart do another fucking skip. The last few days I’d called myself pansy-ass I don’t know how many times and it was because of the girl standing in front of me. The sound of her voice, her name across my phone; each and every time my heart jumped or my stomach dropped. What in the fuck was happening to me? And I didn’t have the urge to fuck her. Well, that’s not true . . . I did want to fuck her, but I wanted to get to know her first. Kiss her while I held her firmly in my arms. Slowly make love to her while I whispered her name against her soft skin.
I closed my eyes and pushed my wayward thoughts away.
“I believe Deuce and I have a date with Fixer Upper.”
With a dry laugh, I motioned for her to come in. “You found the bus okay I see.”
Paislie rolled her eyes. “After I got hit on by at least ten guys all promising to rock my world in some way or another. A couple of them were kind of tempting.”
Pulling her to me, I quickly kissed her lips. I wanted to move slow with Paislie. It meant a lot to me that she knew I wanted to get to know her before we jumped into bed. Although seeing her again had me fighting the urge.
“I’m glad you weren’t too tempted.”
She grinned and replied, “Me too.”
“I missed your smile,” I whispered.
She took in a breath as her eyes lit up. “This from the man who claims he doesn’t do romance.”
“I don’t.”
Her arms wrapped around my neck while her eyes landed on my lips. “What a shame. I’d be tempted by a romantic, handsome guy who doesn’t get his kicks from driving around a track at a gazillion miles an hour.”
“Shit! I forgot I need to make the reservations for the jump.”
Paislie dropped her hands and tilted her head. “The jump?”
“Yeah, I won Daytona so Dalton has to jump with me.”
“Jump what?”
Damn, I love how clueless she is. “Dalton, my crew chief, said he would jump out of a plane with me if I won. I won. So we’re going sky diving.”
Jerking her head back, she gave me a dazed look. Stammering over her words, she asked, “Wait . . . what? You’re jumping . . . out of . . . a plane? W-why?”
I quickly kissed her lips as I hit Tom’s number. He owned a sky diving operation back in Charlotte.
“It’s amazing. Bigger adrenaline rush than driving a gazillion miles an hour around a track.”
Something passed over Paislie’s face quickly before I could fully read it. Turning, she dropped to the floor and Deuce was all over her. “You’re the only sane one of the bunch, buddy.”
Deuce barked and licked Paislie across the face as she let out the cutest giggle I’d ever heard.
I shook my head and turned away from her. I needed to keep my head in the game, and being around Paislie only made me want to devote all my attention to her.
The knock on the bus door had me walking over and pushing it open. Tom wasn’t answering, so I sent him a quick text asking to call me back.
Dalton walked in and came to an abrupt stop when he saw Paislie. He looked between us and narrowed his eyes at me.
Paislie stood up and flashed that beautiful smile. “Hey, I’m Paislie.”
Dalton eyed her up and down like she was a bug that needed to be stomped on. “What are you doing here?” he asked as I punched him on the arm.
“What the fuck, Dalton.”
He turned and looked at me. “I need to talk to you now. Outside.”
Paislie made a face like I was in deep trouble as she took a few steps away and sat on the sofa. Deuce jumped up and sat next to her as she reached for the remote.
“Let’s find HGTV, shall we, buddy?”
I rolled my eyes as I followed Dalton out of the bus. He spun around and held up his index finger. “One rule. We had one fucking rule about the women. No fucking them on race day before a race. I walk in and see some knock out sitting on your damn floor. Are you kidding me?”
Right on cue, Autumn and Ashley walked up. Both of them looked between us as I pushed my hand through my hair.
“She’s not some girl I’m fucking. She’s a . . . a um . . . well she’s . . . ah.”
All three of them leaned in closer to me. “She’s what?” Dalton asked.
“More than that.”
Autumn and Ashley screamed as they raced past me and onto the bus.
“Great,” I whispered as I turned back to Dalton. “At least she was before those two showed up. Now she’ll be running away from them for her dear life.”
Dalton held up his hands and motioned for me to stop talking. “Wait. She’s more than that? Are you dating this girl?”
“No.”
He gave me a hard stare. “No?”
“No,” I repeated.
“Sleeping with her?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “No.”
His eyes widened. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Nothing,” I said with a chuckle.
“So, let me get this straight. You’re not dating nor are you fucking her and all because she is . . . more. You’re doing exactly what with her then?”
I shrugged. “I have no fucking clue. I’ve only seen her four times since I’ve met her, and all I know is I want to see her more.”
Putting his hand to his chest, Dalton acted as if he was dragging in air. “Oh. My. Fucking. Hell. You finally fell for someone?”
“No, I didn’t say I was falling for her. I said I wanted to get to know her. She’s not like all the other girls I’ve met. She’s . . .”
“Different,” Dalton said with a smile. Pushing out a fast breath, he waved his hands around. “Fine, whatever. I just need your head in the game. Is your head in the game?”
I nodded. “It is.”
“All the way? Dude, I can’t have you day dreaming about Presley.”
“Paislie.”
“Whatever. I think I liked it better when you fucked them and didn’t know their names.” I glared at him as he turned and headed back to the garages. “Head in the game and get your ass down to the garage. Now! And leave Preston with your sister and Ashley.”
Laughing, I called out, “Paislie!”
“What the fuck ever!”