“What sort of a bet is that?”
“One I want to win,” Cash says, and hits the gas. He peels out, leaving a trail of smoke behind him. I slide my visor down and chase after him. Luke stands in my rearview mirror just shaking his head with laughter.
The first curve, and I’m right on Cash’s tail. His car hugs the inside of the track, and I gladly take the outside, climbing the steep incline. As we come out of the curve, it’s me who has the advantage. Using gravity, my car speeds ahead of his.
I give him a finger wave and take the lead. But Cash isn’t an idiot, and at the second curve he steals my idea and I only just manage to keep my lead. As we head down the home stretch, I can’t help but wonder if I want to win this race. Losing means more time with Cash, but it’s not in me to toss a competition. No matter what.
So as we approach Luke, with checkered flag in hand, I hit the gas and shift gears. Zooming past Luke and taking the win.
“You’ve driven before,” Luke says as I climb out of the car.
“My dad taught me how to drive a stick on the back roads. He always liked the idea of driving in a race, but never took the chance.”
Cash pulls to a stop and jerks his helmet off. If looks could kill, I’d be twice in the ground already.
I hand my fire suit back to the guy and head back to Cash, who’s just crawling out of his car.
“I demand a rematch,” he says, landing on his feet as he crawls out of the car.
“Sore loser?” I tease. He stalks up to me and traps me between his car and his body. Caught between the heat of the car and the heat Cash brings to my body, I’m sure that I’m going to burn up and not mind one bit.
“Only if you’ll kiss it to make it better.”
“And where does it hurt?” He taps his lips and I stand up on my toes and give him a long kiss. When I pull back, the other guys on the track are cheering like we’ve just won a major award.
“I’m a very sore loser,” Luke calls. I can feel the color stain my face, but Cash just smiles genially and shoots them all the finger.
“Sorry about them.”
I just smile and give him another long kiss. This is what you’re going to be missing, I think. There’s more hollering behind us and this time, I give them a finger.
Lounging in the stands, Cash and I watch as the cars are packed up.
“I can’t believe you have never been to a race,” Cash says. He assumed that I was a big NASCAR fan given my driving abilities.
“Not exactly in my repertoire. My parents we didn’t really…” How to say this? My family wasn’t poor, but there were definite limits to our budget. Tickets to events like this was never on the agenda when I was a kid. “Let me guess, you were the type who grew up here.”
“Wasn’t exactly my repertoire, either.”
My phone goes off before I can push the subject further. I glance at the screen out of habit. Being a lawyer means I’m always on call. When the client calls, I always have to answer. “Sorry, I have to take this.”
I step away from Cash and press a finger into my ear so I can hear what Rob is trying to tell me.
“We have a problem,” my assistant says, and my stomach drops. It’s the only sign of fear I allow myself. Just once I take time for myself and work falls apart.
“Let me guess—”
“No time. Richard The Dick is making his move today. You’re going to need a bigger fish, boss.” I put a hand to my head. I’ve got a lot of clients, and they all bring in good business for the firm. But now that I’m kicking Tanner Jakes to the curb, it’s gonna have to be bigger than big.
“Tanner is out of the picture,” I say. Not even a promotion could entice me to make that son of a bitch another dime. Back to the drawing board. We’ll find someone bigger, someone who would make everyone forget about Tanner fucking Jakes.
“And The Dick’s got something bigger on the line, my sources say. To counter him, we need at least one brand new client who we do a full work up for. Lots of billable hours.”
“Okay, who do we have in our pipeline?” I have friends all over the city who are looking to hook their artist up with our firm. Finding one new client shouldn’t be that hard.
“Been sorting through our records all morning. I have a few ideas, I’ll send over their demos.”
“We’ve got this, Rob. Buy me as much time as you can.” I look back at Cash. What I really want is more time with Cash. Relaxed against the railing, he’s a sex god draped in sunlight. Buy me a few more days, Rob, just a few more days to wash this outta my system.
“Already on it, boss.”
That is why I pay Rob the big bucks. Without him, my life would go up in smoke.