Hard to Break

I groan and roll to my side. My bed is soft and squishy and I don’t want to wake up. I have a headache and my stomach isn’t impressed with my treatment of it last night, so I really just want to stay here. Besides, I haven’t slept in for years and I think I deserve a few hours longer.

“I don’t wanna wake up,” I mumble. “Let me sleep in.”

“Honey,” Jace chuckles. “It’s eleven a.m.”

My eyes fly open and I stare at the messy-haired Jace who is leaning over me with a cup of coffee in his hands. “You’re kidding, right?”

He turns his watch towards me and my eyes widen when I see he is most certainly not kidding. I slept until nearly midday. My god. I sit up slowly and rub my eyes, and then I accept the coffee he hands me.

“I can’t believe I slept for so long.”

He shrugs. “I only got up half an hour ago, we deserve it.”

“Yeah,” I yawn.

“Where’d you end up last night?” he asks, fluffing one of my pillows behind him and then leaning against it.

“Ah, I was tired so I came back here.”

“You’re an awful liar.”

I peek at him and he’s grinning at me.

“Stop grinning at me.”

“Tazen Watts, hey? Who would have thought? He likes you, Quinn.”

“Well,” I huff. “I certainly don’t like him.”

“What’d he have to say for himself?”

I shrug. “Nothing interesting. He’s just fascinated by the fact that I’m not throwing myself at his feet. He seems to find it amusing that he can get me so wound up.”

Jace nudges me. “From what I hear, he gets a lot of women very wound up.”

“Stop it,” I laugh.

“Honestly though, can you believe your luck? Maybe you get to have your very own stalker.”

“Not funny.”

“Well,” he says, leaping from the bed. “I’ll go back to sleep if I sit here all day. The race is at three, so we have a few hours. Come with me to the pool?”

“Sounds good.”

We get up, dress, eat and then head up to the top level of the hotel. There is a massive pool and a whole heap of lounge chairs that take up the entire area up here. Jace and I find one and as soon as he drops his towel, he charges towards the water and dives into it. I shake my head, sitting down on the lounge chair and removing my shorts and tank top until I’m down to my bikini.

I bring the towel up and tuck it under my arms, debating whether I feel like getting in the pool. I lower my shades over my eyes and decide to just watch for a while.

My eyes move to a group of people sitting about ten meters away from me and they widen when I realize one of those people is Tazen and he’s not wearing a shirt. I let my eyes travel slowly over his muscled body, nodding with appreciation at his six-pack and seriously hot V leading to a place I have thought about a number of times.

When I look back up, I see his eyes are directed at me. Great, he just saw me checking out his body and his package. He grins, cockily, and I turn away. Dammit. I keep my face aimed at the pool but a moment later a shadow comes across my body and I look up to see Tazen staring down at me. Up close his body is even better. Smooth tanned skin, washboard abs, ripped arms and killer hips. He has a hint of a tattoo on his ribs that is obviously coming around from his back.

Damn.

I study his face. His chocolate brown eyes are mischievous and cocky as he takes in the towel I’m clutching to myself. His lips, so full and tempting, curve into a wicked smile. “Good morning, angel. Did you have pleasant dreams?”

“Wonderful, thank you. There was a man in them, an arrogant one. I had a wonderful time torturing him with blunt instruments.”

He laughs, low and throaty. “I like your sass. Are you going to sit there all day clutching that towel, or are you going to come and have a swim?”

“I’ll swim, I just won’t be doing it with you.”

“Wrong answer.”

He reaches down, taking the towel and jerking it away from my body. Then he leans down and I put my hands up in a poor attempt to stop whatever it is he has planned. This does nothing to hold him off. He puts his shoulder into my belly and launches me up and over it. I scream and start pummeling my fists into his back. This earns me a swift slap on the ass that has my face burning hot. Shame rises inside me as I realize everyone has stopped to watch Tazen’s little show.

He strides to the pool and I continue to squirm and curse, threatening him with severe bodily harm if he drops me into the water. He laughs, and then launches both of us into the blue depths. I hit with a thud and cold water quickly washes over my body. I kick and paddle until I surface, then I proceed to cough and splutter until my eyes find Tazen, who has just popped up, too.

“What gives you the right—” I fume, taking a step towards him.

With a wolfish grin, he steps in, leans down and scoops me into his arms, this time like a baby. I kick and squirm, trying to get out, but it would appear he’s having the time of his damned life torturing me.

“You’re even cuter when you’re mad, angel.”

“Put me down, you jackass!”

He laughs and lets me go. I shove backwards, kicking my legs to keep myself afloat. I glare at him, but he’s far beyond taking any offense at that.

“Tazen?”

Both our heads turn towards the sound and I see a man standing with a cell phone in his hand. “Call for you, man.”

“Can it wait?” Tazen asks.

The guy shakes his head. “It’s the one you’ve been waiting for.”

Tazen’s eyes flicker to me, almost guiltily, before he nods and climbs out of the pool. Someone throws him a towel and he disappears with the phone pressed to his ear. I grumble and swim towards the edge of the pool, ready to get out.

“You okay?”

I turn to my left to see Jace swimming over. He’s smirking, the big jerk.

“Don’t you even,” I warn him, waggling my finger at him.

His lip quirks. I roll my eyes.

“I’m going to do some shopping,” I announce.

“Don’t get into any trouble while you’re at it,” he teases.

I shoot more daggers at him.

Men. They’re all as bad as each other.

I kind of like it.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Oh my god,” I breathe as we walk around the racetrack.

The low, fierce rumble of cars practicing around the track fills my ears as I clutch my hot dog and soda close to me. There aren’t a lot of people here yet, because the actual race doesn’t start for another two hours. Jace and I are here early to watch them warm up. We find a seat and sit down, so we can enjoy the show before the crowd arrives.

The track.

I love the track.

I love the way the cars sound. I love the smell. I love the rumble that radiates through my body as they speed around the track. I’d kill to have what Tazen has, to be able to work with these types of cars every day, but better yet, to be able to build them from the ground up.

“Look!” Jace yells. “There’s Chief.”

My eyes turn towards the sleek green car that is sitting in the pit. It’s epic. The two-door sedan is as powerful as it is amazing. Whoever is sitting in it has their foot on the gas because she is growling like an angry tiger. The sound fills the air and my skin prickles. I want to go to it, put my head under the hood and breathe it in. I want to ride in it, to feel its power in my palms.