“Really? How come?” Ashley asked with a huge shit-eating grin on her face.
I glanced down to my feet and kicked an imaginary rock. “I guess I wanted to be able to catch a few races . . . see . . . um . . . my parents more often.”
Ashley gave me a you-ain’t-fooling-anyone look as she said, “Is that so?”
My eyes met Emmit’s as we both seemed to get lost in each other.
Dropping my mouth open, I fought for the words to tell Emmit how foolish I was, but nothing came out.
“Addie,” Emmit said as he took a step closer to me but stopped when some girl called out his name.
“Emmit!”
Emmit looked over my shoulder and frowned. Ashley attempted to intercept the two girls, but failed. The one threw herself into Emmit’s arms as she said, “I couldn’t wait to see you again.”
My stomach twisted into a knot as I imagined what she was talking about. Her arms were wrapped tightly around Emmit’s neck as he reached up and pried them off of him. Giving her a slight push away, Emmit gave her a polite smile. “Yeah. The club was fun.”
Club? When did he go to a club? And where is the blonde who was related to Jack?
“Oh, it was more than fun,” the young bleach-blonde said as Ashley grabbed her arm.
“Cookie, let’s go check out some other places.”
Cookie lifted her finger in a motion to get Ashley to wait as she took a step closer to Emmit. “So, are we going to finish what we started last night? Maybe in your bus?”
Oh God. He slept with her.
My head was spinning. But what about the blonde? What about the way he just looked at me?
With a shake of my head, I tried to clear my thoughts. I looked into Emmit’s eyes and it was clear to me, he had been with this girl last night.
Trying to find my voice, I finally said, “Excuse me, I’m ah . . . gonna go . . . somewhere.”
Quickly turning, I heard Emmit call out my name. Picking up my pace, I tried like hell to get as far away as I could. The idea that Emmit was out fucking some girl while I laid in my bed last night dreaming of his hands on me made me feel sick to my stomach.
Emmit clearly had moved on and no matter how much I tried to get him to talk to me, he’d never forgive me for leaving him.
Bumping into someone, I wiped my tears away and mumbled, “Excuse me.”
“Adaline, sweetheart, are you okay?”
I looked at Jack and attempted to smile. “Jack, hi how are you?”
My eyes immediately looked at the woman who had been on Emmit’s arm the last few days.
“It’s race day. It’s always a good day!”
I let out a nervous chuckle and nodded my head. “Adaline, I don’t think you and I had the chance to talk much last night. I know my uncle was introducing me to everyone on the team. I’m going to start working for him.”
Trying to be polite and cheerful, I couldn’t help but think how convenient that would be for Emmit. A girl who would be traveling with him to each race.
“How exciting,” I said as looked between Jack and his niece. “Lynn, isn’t it?” I asked, as I tilted my head and tried to seem like I gave two shits about this woman.
“Yes. My Uncle Jack was telling me you and Emmit used to be high school sweethearts.”
I swallowed hard and barely said, “Something like that.”
“Emmit was nice enough to show Lynn the racing side of the business. She’ll be working in the main office back in North Carolina, marketing is her thing.”
Wait. What?
“Oh. Really?” I asked as my voice sounded a tad bit too chipper.
Lynn looked at Jack and nodded. “My fiancé just left for a long tour of duty and my Uncle Jack thought coming to the race would keep my mind off things.”
“Your . . . your fiancé?”
Lynn smiled a bright smile as she nodded. “My high school sweetheart.”
My hand went over my stomach as I let out a chuckle. Emmit wasn’t dating her. He was babysitting her!
“The drivers’ meeting is about to start, Lynn, why don’t you head on over with Emmit and take it all in. I want to talk to Adaline for a bit.”
Pointing to myself, I asked, “Me?”
Jack took me by the arm and led me toward the bus pad. “Yes. I have a business proposition for you.”
“SHIT. WHERE IN THE HELL did this rain come from?” Robert asked as he sat in my bus. Robert had been on my pit crew since day one and had become more than a friend to me. He was like my brother.
I pushed the air out of my lungs as I glanced over to the TV and shrugged. “Who knows, it’s Texas. The weather here can change in a heartbeat.” Lola barked and jumped up as she looked at the door.
The doorbell rang as I got up and made my way to the bus door. It was probably Waldo giving us an update. He knew I didn’t watch anything to do with the race on TV. From day one I thought it would be bad luck, so I didn’t listen to what they were saying as they talked pre-race shit.