Adrenaline (Speed Series Book 2)(12)

“We’ll just call it a warm up, I’m sure I’ll be doing lots of bumping out on the track.”

All of a sudden I found myself very interested in racing. “You’re a driver?”

With a cocky smile, he replied, “Yep.”

I sunk my teeth down into my lip; clearly NASCAR drivers now turned me on as desire pooled in my lower stomach. “What number are you?”

It was then I heard a dog bark. Glancing down, a boxer was patiently standing at his hot owner’s side. I instantly dropped to the ground as I cried out, “A boxer! I love boxers!”

The dog promptly licked and tried to climb up on me as his owner corrected him. “Sorry about that. He tends to lose focus when a pretty girl is around.”

I peeked up through my eyelashes and tried hard to hold the eye roll back.

“Too cheesy?” he asked.

Standing, I held my thumb and index finger up. “Just a little.”

“Told you it wouldn’t work, Deuce.”

“Deuce? Cute name.”

Mr. Hotter-than-hot frowned. “Cute was not what I was going for with his name but . . . I’ll take it.”

Smiling like a schoolgirl, I tried to understand what it was about this guy that made me feel so . . . different. Giddy almost.

For Christ’s sake. Get a grip, Paislie.

“Well, I should let you go. Good luck today and again, I’m sorry for bumping into you.”

With a nod of his head, blue eyes and crazy sexy dimples leaned in closer and softly said, “I’m not.”

My heart practically pounded out of my chest as I watched him walk off. “Wait!” I called out. “What’s your number or your name or something for me to scream out when you drive by?”

With a wide grin, he said, “Malcolm Wallace.”

Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t stop the stupid look of happiness from spreading across my face. “Good luck, Malcolm Wallace.”

His wink did me in and a moan slipped from my lips as he said, “Thanks, Paislie.”

And just like that he walked around the corner and was gone.

I dropped back against the building and fought to get my breathing under control. My stomach dipped and my chest felt funny.

“What in the hell was that?” I mumbled.

“There you are.”

I pushed off the wall and made my way over toward Trey. All the happiness and feelings I had just experienced vanished with the sound of his voice. “Sorry, I needed some fresh air.”

“We should probably check out a few other things before heading up to the box seats.”

Nodding in agreement, I said, “Sure.”

Trey placed his hand on my lower back and guided me back past the open garage. Stealing a glance, my green eyes were caught by Malcolm’s intense stare. Lifting my hand, I waved as he flashed me that crooked smile I was positive I would be dreaming about tonight and many future nights.

My heart felt heavy the further we walked away from the garage area. Once we were in our box seats, I searched the program until those blue eyes were staring up at me from the page.

Malcolm Wallace.

He raced for Elliot Racing and was twenty-six years old. He won the Daytona 500 last month and was ranked as one of the best drivers in NASCAR. The car he drove was number twenty-four. My new favorite number.

When they started their engines, I became an instant fan while the rumble from the sounds of the engines moved through my body. “Who you going for, babe?” Trey asked.

My eyes zoomed in on his car. The blue and white paint theme would be easy to keep track of as they raced around the track. “I think I’m going with my lucky number. Twenty-four.”

“Ahh . . . Wallace. Good pick.”

Keeping my eyes focused on the number twenty-four car, I took a sip of beer before saying, “I think so.”





WHAT. IN. THE. HELL. JUST. Happened?

My heart was racing as I tried to keep my breathing under control. Glancing up, I saw her again. This time some * had his hand on her, leading her away. When she lifted her hand to wave goodbye, my heart felt like it jumped to my throat.

“Dude, are you okay?”

Turning my attention to Dalton, I brushed the feelings away. I was probably just tired and it had been too long since I’d actually had sex.

“Yeah, Deuce and I ran into someone and . . . you know what. Never mind,” I said, waving my hand to dismiss the conversation.

“How’s the car looking?” I asked.

Dalton went into his normal spiel about how the car was and how he thought it would run. I watched him intently as he talked, but I didn’t hear a damn word he said. My mind was thinking of a beautiful, dark-haired beauty with flawless skin, sensual lips, and emerald eyes. Damn, her smile about knocked me off my feet.

Deuce whined at my feet and I was wondering if he was missing her as well. The way her energy rushed through my body when I held her. I hadn’t experienced anything like that before with anyone else since Casey.

My heart ached as I focused on the race and not Paislie.

Paislie. What a beautiful name. It suited her.

“Malcolm? Did you even hear what I just said?”

My eyes snapped up as I gave him a nod. “Sure I did, just trying to get in the right frame of mind.”

His eyes narrowed as he looked at me. “You okay, dude? You seem like you’re preoccupied with something.”