Lynn was silent as we rode the elevator down and out to the limo that was waiting for us.

We rode to the hotel in silence. The limo pulled up and I smiled at Lynn. “Would you like for me to walk you up to your room?”

Lynn stepped out of the limo and then leaned back in. “No, thank you. Hey Emmit?”

“Yeah?”

Lynn’s face turned serious as she said, “Don’t do something you’ll regret tomorrow morning.”

With a half hearted smile and a quick head nod, I said, “Night, Lynn. See you tomorrow.”

“Night. See ya tomorrow.”

The door to the limo shut, and the driver asked, “Where to Mr. Lewis?”

I pulled my phone out as I searched for the number I was looking for.

“One second please,” I said as I hit her number.

“Hey, Emmit!”

Closing my eyes, I shook my head. “You busy?”

Hearing the noise in the background, I knew my baby sister was most likely at a party somewhere in Dallas. She’d been up since yesterday and watched my qualifying run, hung out with Lynn and me for a bit and then took off to hit the nightlife of Dallas.

“Nope! Just met up with some friends, but I’m totally down with leaving.” My sister just turned twenty-one, and I knew she had been looking forward to this trip with her two best friends. “Your girls with you still?”

With a laugh, Ashley asked, “Which one you interested in?”

“Tell me where y’all are and I’ll meet you.”

“Billy Bob’s, so wear your boots!”

I shook my head as I let out a chuckle. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“See ya then, big brother!” Ashley shouted as I hit end.

“Will you please take me to Billy Bob’s?”

“Yes sir, Mr. Lewis. Billy Bob’s it is.”

I leaned back in the booth and scanned the dance floor for my sister. “Fucking hell, this place is huge. And dark.”

Ashley had told the club I was coming, so they reserved a booth toward the back. It wasn’t totally private, but it was good enough and it still allowed me to look out for my sister, who happened to be hanging on some tall cowboy while they danced around on the dance floor.

One of Ashley’s friends gave me a sexy smile as she slid into the booth. “Ashley told me to come keep you company, Emmit. Said you needed to loosen up before your big race tomorrow.”

With a lift of my mouth into a half smile, I knew all it would take was a full-blown smile, one dimple, and one wink of my eye and I’d have this girl riding me right here in the damn booth.

“What did you have in mind?”

Her eyes lit up as she moved closer and I slide a bit further over so that the wall was blocking us more. “Let me just say this, I discarded my panties just now in the restroom.”

Giving her a full on smile, she ran her tongue along her lips and moved her hand across the growing bulge in my pants.

“What do you want me to do for you, Emmit?”

I pushed her long blonde hair behind her ear and then grabbed onto her neck and pulled her closer to me and whispered against her lips. “Make me forget her.” Pulling out my wallet, I grabbed a condom and tossed it on the table.

Her hand moved quickly to the button on my dress pants; she had my dick exposed and was priming it.

Fuck, I hadn’t even caught what this girl’s name was. If she told me, I had already forgotten. “What’s your name?” I asked as I grabbed her hand and stopped her.

“My friends call me Cookie, cause I’m a baker at a popular restaurant here in town.”

My eyes went to her shaking hands. “Cookie. Okay,” I said with a fake smile. “Cookie, do you want to fuck me?”

Her eyes widened. “Yes.”

“Your hands are shaking. I don’t want you doing something you don’t want to do.”

She let out a giggle and said, “My hands are shaking, because I’m about to fuck the best NASCAR driver in the country. Here’s hoping you aren’t fast at everything.”

A memory of Adaline smiling at me after one of my earlier races as she kissed me and whispered, “Let’s not be so fast with our celebration later,” popped into my head. My eyes glanced at the condom on the table and then down to my exposed dick.

What in the fuck am I doing?

I pushed Cookie away from me and zipped my pants back up.

Quickly getting out of the booth, Cookie gave me a funny look. “W-where are you going?”

My hand went through my hair as I sighed. “I’ve got a race tomorrow. I need to get back.”

With a sexy grin, Cookie asked, “You don’t want me, Emmit?”

I glanced back out to the dance floor and searched for my sister. Seeing her dancing with the same cowboy, I turned back to Cookie. “Ashley’s got full passes for each of y’all, so maybe I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

Her face lit up. “You mean I get to see you, like . . . like down on Pit Row?”

With a fake smile, I forced out a, “Yep.”

“Cool!”

I gave her a quick wink. “Yeah, cool.”

Not even bothering to stop and tell my sister I was leaving, I sent her a text.

Me: Heading back. See you tomorrow

Sis: Okay! Did you and Cookie have fun!?

I rolled my eyes as I headed out of the club. I called the limo driver to swing back around and pick me up.

The entire drive back to the speedway, I stared out the window as I wondered what Adaline was doing. Dropping my head back against the seat I balled my fist. “Fuck!” I shouted as I closed my eyes and prayed I could make it through one more day.

One more day and then I’d be pulling out and heading to the next race while Adaline would be headed back to Austin.

Just one more day.

WALKING INTO THE GARAGE, I grinned seeing everyone hustle about. I had forgotten how amazing the atmosphere on race day was. Daddy was talking with Emmit as I approached them. It was almost as if Emmit knew I was there. Glancing up, he looked at me and then quickly looked back at Daddy.

I blew out a breath and decided I was going to have to talk to him before he pulled out tonight and headed to the next race. Malcolm had told me last night what he had said to Emmit to get him so upset. Then he of course tried to make a play on me to which I promptly turned him down.

Stopping behind Daddy, I glanced around as I watched all the teams get ready. They couldn’t work on the cars because they were in the process of getting pre-inspections done.

“Just don’t scare the piss out of them okay, Emmit?”

Turning to look at my father, Emmit gave him the same smile that I fell in love with so many years ago. My stomach fluttered as I watched Emmit talk to my father. No wonder I could never go out with a guy more than a few times. It was obvious I had never moved on from Emmit. I never wanted to move on.

With a quick glance around, I searched for the blonde who had been with Emmit yesterday and last night. Malcolm said it was Emmit’s latest arm candy, which made me wonder how many women he had dated since we broke up.

Daddy slapped Emmit on the arm. “Go have fun.”

Emmit started to walk off before he stopped and looked at me. “You want to take a lap with me before I get started with the fans?”

My heart dropped at the idea of being in a racecar on the track with Emmit again. But I couldn’t help but think of the girl who had been with him yesterday. “Are you sure?”

With a smile, Emmit said, “Like old times.”

Grinning like a fool, I nodded and said, “Yes!”

Emmit had driven me around tracks plenty of times, but I’d never had him drive me around one of the tracks NASCAR used.

Making our way over to where there was a line of people, Emmit lifted his hand and waved while people cheered and called out his name.

This was the part of the day where dignitaries of the sport, media people, or one or two lucky fans got to drive with the drivers. Most of the time it was former drivers, but sometimes current drivers like Emmit did it. Glancing to the group of people, Emmit said, “Before we get started, I’ve got to impress a girl.”