She placed her finger over my mouth and smiled. “Don’t say anything. I was kidding. Malcolm, what we shared was fun, but that’s all it was for either of us and we both knew it wasn’t going anywhere outside of the bedroom. But this girl has changed something about you. I saw it in your eyes the moment I looked at you.”
Autumn wiped a tear away as I looked at her with a confused look. “Why are you crying?” I asked and pulled her into my arms. She pulled back and looked into my eyes.
“This Paislie, she’s brought a part of you back to life, Malcolm. I see it.”
I shook my head and laughed. “I’ve only ever seen her twice and talked to her twice on the phone. The two of you need to slow your roll.”
I lifted my hand and wiped my sister’s tears away. “Now please, will you both go?”
I’d never seen either one of them move so fast. Ashley opened the door and screamed out when she ran into Janet, my assistant.
“Hey, Janet! Don’t tell Emmit I was here!”
Autumn gave Janet a kiss on the cheek as she said, “Hey, Janet! See you later!”
Both girls walked off laughing and cackling about me finally meeting someone.
Janet turned to me and gave me a questioning look. “Do I want to know?”
I shook my head as Deuce ran up to his second-favorite person in the world. Janet was a retired fifty-nine-year-old teacher who lived her life for NASCAR. She had volunteered to help out in the office back in Charlotte and quickly started getting every single person organized. When I approached her about becoming my assistant, her husband had just retired so traveling for them was no problem. She gladly accepted and she has been covering my ass ever since.
“I have it all set up. I’m not asking questions, it’s none of my business but I will say this, I smiled the entire time I was setting it up.”
Walking up to her, I gave her a gentle hug. She was a tiny woman, five foot if that and thin. I was always afraid I would break her if I hugged her too tight.
Pulling back, I asked, “Wait. Who is there watching everything?”
She shot me a dirty look. “Are you saying I don’t know how to do my job?”
I lifted my hands up in a defensive move. “No! I would never.”
“Just know I had to pull some strings to get this done for you.”
With a peck on her forehead, I said, “I owe you.”
She patted me on the chest and winked. “I’ve always wanted to go to Aruba.”
Before I could reply, she was out the door and gone. Glancing down to Deuce, I shrugged. “Are you ready for your dinner date?”
Deuce jumped up and barked as he wagged his tail. With a chuckle, I gave him a good pat and replied, “I feel the same way, boy.”
DRIVING UP TO THE SECURITY gate, I gripped the steering wheel harder.
What am I doing? I swore off all men and here I am again. Having dinner with Malcolm Wallace!
Stephanie and I had googled Malcolm after I accepted his invite. Needless to say, I wasn’t surprised to find out he was quite the ladies’ man. His reputation for being fast in and out of the racecar was evident.
Yet, here I am, about to have dinner with him. Maybe it’s the idea of seeing him again that was the driving force behind me being here. I wasn’t about to deny the strong attraction I felt for him. That’s never happened to me before. Of course, it could be from all the stupid romance books I’d been reading nonstop. Did he really make my stomach drop or did I imagine that? Why was it so hard for me to catch my breath after speaking to him?
I needed answers to the questions floating around in my head. That was the reason I was here. That and I couldn’t stop fantasizing what his lips would feel like on my skin.
My window rolled down as the security guard smiled. “May I help you?”
“Um . . . yes!” I exclaimed a little too excited. “Paislie Pruitt. I’m here to see Malcolm Wallace. He’s expecting me.”
“Oh yeah, yeah.” Turning, he yelled for the other guy, who popped his head out.
“James! I’m taking Ms. Pruitt in to see Malcolm.”
James gave a thumb’s up to the other security guard who turned back to me. “Just follow me and I’ll show you where to park. Malcolm is most likely waiting for you.”
With a smile, I nodded and said, “Okay. I’ll follow you.”
Driving down the tunnel, I held my breath until we got to the other side. People were everywhere. I couldn’t believe all the RV’s set up and all the people hanging out and having a good time. I tried to do a bit of research before this dinner and I found out a little about this world. I knew they would be qualifying tomorrow, then the next level down from NASCAR, the Xfinity Series raced that Saturday and then the big race was on Sunday.
The security guard pulled down what I was guessing was Pit Road and parked. Parking next to him, I dragged in a deep breath before exhaling it. “Okay, it’s not like it’s your first date, Paislie. It’s just dinner. Nothing else. Unless . . .” I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “No. No! Dinner only.”
The knock on my window had me letting out a scream so toe-curling, I was positive the glass almost shattered.
Peeking through my half-closed eyes, I saw Malcolm standing on the other side of the window with his head cocked to the side and the most adorable smile I’d ever seen.