Malcolm laughed as he walked closer and let Lola and the dog introduce themselves. The puppy immediately rolled onto her back as Lola sniffed her over.
“Malcolm, you got a puppy?” I asked as I dropped down and reached for her. Lola wasn’t too sure about my actions, but she continued to smell the sweet little thing.
“Yeah well, I needed someone to keep me company. It gets pretty lonely sometimes.”
I couldn’t help but see the sadness in his eyes as I looked up at him. “You’re not dating anyone?”
Malcolm laughed. “No.”
I was momentarily taken aback. Malcolm was a very good looking guy, and for him to still be single was surprising to me. “Why not? I find it hard to believe you don’t have women lining up at your doorstep.”
Malcolm’s smile faded for a quick second before he shook his head and looked away. “Oh, I get plenty of fucking.”
“Nice, Malcolm,” I said as I watched Lola try to play with the puppy.
“You brought it up. The problem is, I’ve got plenty of them lining up but they all want the same thing. It’s either to say they hooked up with me or they want money.”
My heart hurt for Malcolm. I hadn’t really thought about what it must be like for a guy like him. Emmit probably dealt with the same thing while we weren’t together. The idea of women throwing themselves at Emmit angered me.
Standing up, I gave Malcolm a smile. “You’ll meet her, Malcolm. When you least expect it.”
Something passed over Malcolm’s face before he laughed. “Yeah well, I’m in no rush.” Looking my body over, Malcolm tilted his head. “You and Emmit back together I take it.”
Grinning from ear to ear, I nodded. “Yes, we are.”
Malcolm gave me a kind smile and said, “Good. He was a miserable bastard for the last three years. Maybe now he’ll stop taking it out on me on the track.”
“I don’t think that is ever going to change.”
Malcolm began walking toward the trailers, “No. You’re right about that.”
With a glance back over my shoulder I asked, “Hey! What’s the puppy’s name?”
“Emmit.”
I couldn’t help but giggle. “Really, Malcolm! What’s his name?”
Malcolm turned and walked backward; he gave me a wicked smile and said, “Deuce. Since he’s second in command.”
“I like it!” I called out as I started Lola back off on a walk. I was quickly consumed by thoughts of a future with Emmit as Lola and I wondered around for a bit before heading back to the bus.
As I stepped into Emmit’s bus, I went to call out for him when I came face to face with Stephanie. Emmit hadn’t had an assistant three years ago when we were together, so seeing her still caught me off guard.
“Hey, Adaline! It’s so good to see you.”
I gave her a polite smile. “Hi, Stephanie. It’s great to see you again too.” Looking back toward the bedroom, I asked, “Um, where’s Emmit?”
“Oh, he is off to do some interviews and then they have the drivers’ meeting.”
With a nod, I walked around to the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator. “Would you like something to drink?” I asked as I grabbed a water.
“No thank you. Emmit had asked me to stay behind to let you know where he was. Will you be watching the race in here, or with your father?”
My eyes took in Stephanie. She was beautiful. Her hair was pulled up and done in a neat bun. She had on super tight jeans and a T-shirt that had Emmit’s name on it. Her perfectly done nails and designer shoes rounded out the whole package.
Taking in a deep breath, I gave her a grin as I said, “I’m going to sit with my father.”
She looked over at me surprised and asked, “Do you like racing? I got the impression from Emmit that you didn’t. That’s why you broke up with him.”
Emmit talked to her about us? I couldn’t help but wonder when and why Emmit would talk to his assistant about us.
“Emmit told me about you one night when he was pretty drunk. Mr. Elliot had called me to ask if I would come pick him up. He talked about you the whole way back to his house.”
As I stood a little taller, I asked, “When was this?”
Stephanie looked up and thought about it for a few seconds. “Let me think, I had just started working for him not too long before that so maybe two years ago.”
“Huh, well to answer your question, I’ve been around racing all my life. I love it. My life happened to lead me in a different direction before. It had nothing to do with my feelings toward Emmit.”
Stephanie held up her hand and said, “Adaline, I didn’t mean anything by it, and I shouldn’t have even said anything. I was out of line and for that please forgive me.”
Giving her a weak smile, I said, “No worries at all.”
“If you need anything, please be sure to let me know.” Pulling out a piece of paper, Stephanie wrote down a number and handed it to me. “Here is my cell phone number. I have it with me always.”