I closed my eyes and sighed. “I also ramble on when I’m nervous.”

Tara placed her hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze as I opened my eyes. “You and Mr. Lewis should get together sometime. You’d hit it off.”

A bemused look moved across my face as I let out a chuckle. Tara made her way back toward the front of the plane as I pulled out my phone. Shaking my head, I let out a chuckle. If Tara only knew.

The private plane had Wi-Fi and I had already logged into it before we took off. I was hoping to catch up on Facebook when my heart dropped as I saw his name scroll across my screen.

Emmit.

I opened his text as a smile grew across my face.

Emmit: What are you doing this very minute?

I felt the heat move into my cheeks as I decided to play with Emmit.

With a giggle, I hit Send.

Me: You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. It’s something naughty.

Closing my eyes, I tried to keep my heart from racing. Up until this point, Emmit and I had been very cautious and slow. As much as we were both feeling the pull toward each other, we had stayed more in the friend-zone this week. I had just taken a giant leap right on out of that comfort zone, and I felt giddy as hell.

Emmit: I just choked on my water. Tell me.

Me: Tell you what?

Emmit: What are you doing that’s naughty, Addie!

Peeking up, I looked to see if Tara was on her way back out. Taking in a slow deep breath through my nose, I tried like hell to calm my beating heart. Three years it had been since I’d had these feelings. Only Emmit could pull them out of me. A huge part of me was excited to be feeling that pull in my lower stomach that I’d been longing for. I was tired of being careful. Tired of trying to do what I thought was the best thing for both Emmit and me. I knew what the best thing was.

Us.

Together.

Looking over my shoulder, I grinned when I saw the door to the private bedroom. Unbuckling, I walked toward where Tara was.

“Tara?”

Her head popped around the corner as she smiled and asked, “Is everything okay, you look flush again?”

“Um . . . would you mind if I went and took a short nap? My head is killing me.”

Tara’s eyes filled with worry. “Of course not. You go right on ahead. Mr. Elliot said he wanted you to be as comfortable as possible. Do you need some aspirin?”

“No thank you. I just need to lie down I think.”

Tara motioned with her head toward the back of the plane. “You go right on ahead. I won’t bother you unless I need to.”

I gave her a weak smile and made my way back to the private bedroom.

“Good lord, is it just dawning on me there is a freaking bedroom on the plane,” I said to myself as I opened the door and let out a gasp.

“Please dear God, let Emmit have a bedroom on his plane. Please.”

Pulling my phone back out, I sent Emmit another text. Time to kick it up a notch.

Me: All I can think of is you, Emmit. I can’t hide it anymore.

Emmit: Holy living hell, Addie. Hide what?

Giggling, I knew Emmit was probably getting himself all worked up but I couldn’t help myself. Shit, I hope he wasn’t about to qualify.

Me: What are you doing this very second?

Emmit: Running back to my bus!

I chuckled as I pictured Emmit doing just that.

Me: Have you qualified yet?

Emmit: Yes! Yes! Yes! What can’t you hide anymore, Addie?

Here it goes.

Me: I want you, Emmit. I’ve never stopped loving you and this past week . . . it’s led me to this insane desire to be with you.

Emmit: Damn, Addie. Baby, I’ve never stopped loving you. Please forgive me for being a total fucker.

My heart felt as if I had just fallen from a ten-story building. Closing my eyes, I softly spoke, “Oh, Emmit.” I had wanted to tell Emmit all of this in person, but fear of rejection pushed me into blurting it out over text.

I was flying to Tennessee to give Mr. Elliot my answer on his job proposal. He wanted to bring a nurse on to his team. When he told me he wanted me to come to work with him as the team’s personal nurse, I almost burst into tears. I’d had a hell of a time trying to find a job. No one really wanted to hire fresh-out-of-school nurses.

I could do my job and be with Emmit while he did his. While Mr. Elliot had been talking, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

Me: We both made mistakes. Can we start over?

Emmit: No. We can pick up where we left off.

Pulling up his number, I hit it and held my breath as it rang. Thank God for the invention of Wi-Fi calling.

His voice was barely above a whisper. “Addie,”

I wasn’t prepared for the reaction I was going to have when I heard him say my name. A small sob escaped my lips as I said, “Emmit, I’m so sorry. I was only doing what I thought was right for both of us . . . I . . . I’ve always loved you.”

Emmit made a noise and said, “Jesus, Addie. We were both young and stupid. Baby, please tell me we can pick up where we left off. We’ll make this work, Addie, I swear to God we’ll make it work.”

I covered my mouth with my hand as I held my sobs back while tears rolled down my face.

“Baby, talk to me, please, Addie. Say something.”

Wiping my tears away, I nodded even though Emmit couldn’t see me. “We’ll make it work, Emmit. I know we will.”

Emmit released a breath. “Thank you, God.”

“I love you, Emmit.”

“Addie, I love you too. Now tell me what you were doing that was naughty?”

Letting out a laugh, I dropped back onto the bed and said, “What if I told you my hand was sliding down in my panties?”

Silence.

I waited a few more seconds and just as I was about to say something, Emmit made a growling sound. “Addie, I’ve just died and gone to heaven.”

I slid my tongue across my top teeth as I said in the sexiest voice I could, “Not yet you haven’t.”

I GLANCED OVER TO DOUG and Jeff while we all sat around a table. The two other drivers on the Elliot race team.

Jack walked into the room with a smile on his face. “Looks like all three of you kicked ass qualifying today. I like it.”

Trying to stay focused, I pushed all thoughts of Adaline out of my head and listened to Jack.

Jack leaned against the desk as he looked at each of us. Stopping at Jeff, he pointed to him. “Third row, outside. I like it.”

“Thank you, sir.” Jeff smiled and nodded.

Jeff Harris was the son of one of the greatest drivers NASCAR had ever seen. I couldn’t really get a feel for the guy since he came over to our team six months ago. He was good, but somehow it felt like he was chasing a ghost every time he crawled into the car.

Jack pointed to Doug. “Awe hell, Doug.”

Doug smiled and glanced over to me. Giving him a grin in return, Doug looked back at Jack. “Pole position¸ Doug. Hang onto that for as long as you can.”

“Hell yeah I will, sir,” Doug said as and he Jeff slapped hands.

Jack turned and faced me. “Doug barely pushed you out of pole position, Emmit.”

A quick shake of my head, and I said, “I know. First row inside isn’t too bad, and I’m going after his ass with everything I have.”

Laughter erupted in the room as Jack slapped his hands together. “Go have fun tonight, boys. Not too much fun though, it’s race day tomorrow.”

Jack always wanted to have a few minutes with us. Most of the time it was on race day, but for some reason he wanted to meet with us this afternoon. Getting up, I headed toward the door.

“Emmit, stay back a second.”