Natalie had stood by quietly, out of the way, but those big brown eyes of hers hadnt missed a thing. The tube-top duo from Friday night, Sherree and Tara, had shown up again with a celebration offer. Ms. Bridges had merely quirked an amused eyebrow in his direction and a faint look of disdain, as if they were all somewhat distasteful.
And the whole time hed been thinking about the way shed smelled when hed leaned into her neck before the race. The tickle of her hair against his cheek. The curve of her sexy, sexy mouth. And the crazy, out-of-control feeling she stirred in him.
He squashed any guilt at wasting her time. Given a choice between wasting her time or sitting by while his sister made a mistake marrying Cash VickersWell, there was really no question which was more important.
All told, he thought his plan was working okay. He just needed to watch himself, because in the staging lanes, for a second, when he was teasing her, deliberately letting her think he was about to kiss her, he damn near had. She had the most luscious, inviting mouth, with a full lower lip and a cute bow for the top one.
He sauntered back outside and found the enemy consorting with his troops in the small lounge in the front of the race trailer. She was laughing at something Scooter had said, some crazy bullshit no doubt, and his body tightened as the musical notes seemed to dance through the air. Her smile stiffened when she noticed him in the doorway. Good. That was what he wanted, wasnt it?
Ready?
She nodded, her chestnut-brown hair moving over her shoulders in a gut-clenching sensual slide. I just need a ride back to my car.
Leave your car and well pick it up on the way back. Weve got to come this way anyway.
Tim spoke up. You can ride up front with Scooter, ifn you want to, he offered, a flush of red whooshing from his neck to the top of his crew cut before he even finished the sentence. Scooter always drove the rig and the passenger seat was a place of honor, sort of a gimme, for Tim, who mostly handled the grunt work. And now the grunt was willingly giving up that honor. Tim seemed to have developed a crush.
A small frown furrowed her brow as she glanced from Tim to Beau, obviously confused, and equally reluctant to hurt Tims feelings by turning down his offer. Ride with Scooter? Were all going to Belle Terre?
No, maam, Darnell said. Were all going to Headlights.
Headlights? What is Headlights and what happened to Belle Terre?
Headlights is the ice house and local watering hole between here and Dahlia. Darnell shot Beau a chastising look. We usually stop off for dinner at the end of a race weekend.
Another chastising lookthis one from her. You didnt mention dinner.
All part of his plan. Beau shrugged. I forgot. Well head on out to Belle Terre after we eat.
Scooter snorted. Cmon and ride with me. And dinners on us.
She deliberately turned her back to Beau, presenting him with a view of her well-rounded bottom, and beamed a smile at the other three. Charming companions and a free meal. How can I turn down that offer?
A quarter hour later, they were seated at the number nine picnic table, the number painted on each end in fluorescent orange, after much backslapping and high fives as they made their way across the peanut-hull-littered concrete floor in the noisy din that was Headlights after a race. No matter how crowded it was, however, Jeb Worth always held the number nine for the Stillwell crew. It was a long-standing tradition. Beau wound up sitting next to the Nightmare.
What do you think of Headlights? he asked. She didnt strike him as an ice house kind of gal.
So far, so good. The musics loud. She said it as if it were a bonus. If the beers cold and the fries are greasy, were in business.
Sandy Larabie, her tongue as acid as her heart was big, showed up to take their order, a doe-eyed girl in tow. This is Gina. Shes in training, so you behave. Sandy shot Scooter a steely-eyed glare. Scooter lived to aggravate Sandy. Actually, Scooter lived for mischief in general. A root beer for Junior, Sandy told Gina, jerking her head in Tims direction. Sandy referred to anyone under legal drinking age as Junior. And a pitcher of what for the rest of you?
Bud Light. We won. Scooter smirked.
Three or four mugs? She eyed Natalie in question.
Four. Natalie didnt hesitate.
I wouldve pegged you for a white wine drinker, Beau said.
I wouldve pegged you for a mullet. Ha. Hed never gone in for the longer-in-the-back hairstyle. I guess we were both wrong.
What exactly happened to you the other night? Scooter asked.
She laughed, shaking her head, and it struck Beau as ball-tightening sexy. He had no problem imagining her on top of him, shaking her head just that way. I got distracted by the T-shirt display about the same time my heel wedged in a crack in the asphalt, which led to an accident with a guy and his beer and hot dog.
Scooter made a sympathetic clicking sound. Did it ruin everything?
Pretty much. The skirt made it through.
You know Caitlyn and Beaus ma, Beverly, has a right nice shop there in the square in Dahlia. Drop in sometime and let her fix you up. Well cover the bill.
Had Scooter lost his mind? The hell you say, Beau said.
Scooter fixed him with an unyielding eye. She wouldnt have been at the track if she hadnt been looking for you.
The Nightmare couldnt contain a little smirk in Beaus direction.
Its not my fault shes clumsy, he said, deliberately goading her. There was a tantalizing sway to her hips when she walked, but it damn sure couldnt be classified as clumsy.
She narrowed her brown eyes. I am not clumsy.
The trainee delivered the beer and Tims root beer. Darnell poured and they all hoisted their mugs in a toast. To another winand many more to come, Scooter said.
The wash of beer was bust-your-kneecaps cold going down. Beau settled his mug on the table. Hed nurse the rest of it through dinner. He knew he wasnt the man his father had been, but Beau always held himself to a one-drink limit.
Tim unfolded his lanky length from the picnic table, muttered an excuse-me and headed to the jukebox. Scooter groaned and Darnell rolled his eyes. The Nightmare looked at Beau, a question in her brown eyes. Prepare yourself for a Kenny Chesney miniconcert.
She laughed, her mouth curving in an easy smile and for a second he felt damn near light-headed. He shook his head slightly. Maybe hed just skip the rest of his beer.
I like Kenny Chesney.
So did wethe first hundred times we heard him, Darnell said in a mournful drawl.
Could be worse, Scooter said. Could be Cash Vickers we was listening to. Aint that right, Beau?
Beau shrugged and he felt the woman next to him eyeing him in inquiry. He deliberately didnt look her way. Not that it was a state secret, but damn itd be nice if Scooter could just hold his tongue and not stir shit up.
Youre not a Cash Vickers fan?
Caitlyn hadnt known Cash nearly long enough. And Beau wasnt certain that Cash was good enough for his baby sister.
Not particularly, no, Beau said. Let her make what she wanted to of that.
Sandy and Gina showed up bearing five red, paper-lined baskets loaded with burgers and fries. Yall need anything else?
Sandy and Gina showed up bearing five red, paper-lined baskets loaded with burgers and fries. Yall need anything else?
Were good.
Beau tucked into his burger. Lunch had been a long time ago.
Would you pass the catsup, Mr. Stillwell?
Sure thing, Ms. Bridges.
Scooter shook his head. You cant sit down and have burgers and beers and still be Mr. Stillwell and Ms. Bridges. Natlie, meet Beau. Beau, this heres Natlie.
Beau passed the tomato-emblazoned bottle. There you are, Natalie.
Thank you, Beau.
Damn, that sent a little shiver through him.
That wasnt so hard, was it? Scooter said.
Almost painless, the little smart-ass shot back, upending half the bottle in a corner of her basket.
Alex Morgan and Black Jack Riley stopped at the edge of their table, Jacks arm slung around Alexs shoulder, staking his claim.
Nice finish today, Alex said, with a quick nod of her blond head, You mustve changed your setup.
Yeah, we changed the heads this week, Darnell said. Its the best sixty-foot weve had.
Darnell was talking but there was no disguising Alexs frank curiosity about Natalie. And Beau had been deliberately obnoxious but he couldnt totally abandon the manners his mother had drilled into him.
Natalie, meet Alex Morgan and Jack Riley. Alex is one of the best mechanics in Dahlia. She owns the garage out at the track and another one in town with her dad. Theyre partners. Jacks from your neck of the woods. Hes a DEA agent out of Nashville. He looked at the couple. Natalies a wedding planner. Shes working with Caitlyn on the big event.
The pleased-to-meet-yous went around, and from Alexs look she clearly speculated why his baby sisters wedding planner was kicking back post-race with him and his crew. In fact, she rather pointedly glanced from Natalie to Beau and back again, silently asking if they were an item.
Sharp-eyed Natalie didnt miss the unspoken question. She wrinkled her elegant little nose, almost as if shed caught a whiff of a bad smell. Uh, no. Certainly not that. Hmph. That shed be so damn lucky. He could name half a dozen women, round that up to an even dozen, whod like to be sitting right where she was parked now. She didnt need to look as if he were something scraped from the bottom of the barrel. Mr. StillwellI mean, Beau, is a hard man to get in touch with. My job title is wedding planner but sometimes that involves being a tracker
Stalker, he interjected under his breath, garnering a laugh from everyone except the accused, who slanted him the evil eye.
and a babysitter.
Warden, he corrected. Were heading out to Belle Terre after this to figure out the remodel schedule for the wedding.
Jack squeezed Alexs shoulders. You might want to hook up with her, he said to the petite blonde, and then looked at Natalie. Im trying to talk her into getting married before the end of the year, but she says she doesnt have time to get it together. Im thinking you could help make this happen.
Absolutely. Quicker than the staging lights rundown she had two business cards in her hand and was passing them across the table, one to Jack and one to Alex. I can handle as much or as little as you want me to. Give me a call or send me an e-mail and well talk about what you want.
Well let yall get back to your supper, and I dont want to hold you up from getting out to Belle Terre. Just wanted to say congrats on the win. Alex tucked the card into the top pocket of her denim overalls. Ill give you a call next week.
Natalie beamed a megawatt smile at her potential client. Ill be looking forward to it.
Alex and Black Jack were barely out of earshot when Scooter started filling Natalie in on Jack posing as a driver to uncover a drug ring and the whole mess that followed. Even Darnell chimed in with the skinny on Alex growing up a motherless tomboy. Beau knew it was all over when Tim screwed up his courage to relate how Jack and Alex had fallen in love.
What was wrong with this damn picture? Hed dragged her out to the track and along to dinner to tie up her time and frustrate her. Hed figured shed hate the raucousness of Headlights. The whole plan was to push her buttons until she tossed in the wedding planner towel and quit on Caitlyn. Instead, she was swilling beer and chowing down on burgers, holding court with his guys and charming her way into picking up new clients.
This was just damn wrong on so many levels. It was definitely time to step things up a notch.
Chapter 4
NATALIE WALKED OUT of Headlights into the relative quiet of the crowded parking lot, surrounded by her new friends, Scooter, Darnell and Tim. They were all sweetie pies. The thorn in her side had stopped to talk to the restaurant ownershe thought hed introduced him as Jebon the way out.
Looks like yall are gonna run out of daylight, Scooter said.
True enough, the day had begun to soften around the edges, making way for a Tennessee spring evening. Already, a sliver of a moon was showing itself in the sky. That was okay. Afternoon, evening or night, it didnt matter. She was determined theyd get this done.
Itll be fine. She patted her purse, I brought my flashlight.
Smart thinking, Darnell said in his quiet, reflective way as they crossed the gravel lot to where the big outfit took up several parking spots. Of course, Stillwell Motors Racing wasnt alone. Half a dozen race trailers commandeered spots.
Natalie checked her watch. Nearly seven oclock. Well definitely need a flashlight at this rate. Does he have any concept of time? Was it her imagination or did Scooter and Darnell exchange a look? What?
I didnt say anything, Darnell said.
I didnt say nuthin, neither, Scooter seconded.
While Darnell and Scooter looked guilty, Tim appeared confused. Beaus always on time, for everything.
Really?
Yes, maam. Hes amazing. I keep the log book on all of our runs but I dont really need to. He can tell you what the track temperature was and our setup from three races ago. Beats anything Ive ever seen.
Wow. That is pretty amazing. Uh-huh. And he didnt like Cash Vickers. This was getting more and more interesting. Sounds like he has a heck of a memory, too.
Tim nodded, reminding her of one of those bobble-head dolls. I keep telling him he oughta go on one of those game shows. Hed win, for sure.
Tim, whynt you go check the tire pressure on the trailer tires? Scooter suggested. Itd be bad to have a blowout on the way home.
Yes, sir. He ambled off to the rear of the trailer.
Scooter lowered his voice. You cant pay Tim no never mind. His daddy went to county jail last year and since then Beaus really taken him under his wing. Tim sorta idolizes him.
She refused to feel all warm and gooey inside because Beau had mentored a kid. She absolutely was not going to add a gold star to the top of the heap of attraction that was simmering inside her. Sitting next to him at dinnerThats sad.
Which part? Darnell asked. As far as she could tell, Darnell didnt miss much.