Ignite (Speed Series Book 1)(72)

Ashley glanced over to Emmit and lifted her hand as she smiled weakly at him. “I didn’t get to talk to him today. I was upset and ignored his calls.”

My heart dropped for a brief second. “You can still talk to him really quick. Come on before they put his helmet on.”

Walking Ashley over toward Emmit, I stopped just short of the car and let her walk over to him.

“Hey, big brother. I just wanted to say good luck. Kick ass. I’ll talk to you after the race.”

“Hey, baby sis. I love you and I’ll see you soon.”

Ashley smiled and took a few steps back as Emmit glanced over to me. He put his helmet on and now all you could see was his eyes. For some reason I thought it was the hottest damn thing ever . . . just seeing those gray eyes looking back at me.

With a smile, I turned and headed toward my father with Ashley walking alongside me.

Robert smiled when he saw Ashley. “Johnny seems to be smitten with your friends.”

Ashley laughed and nodded her head. “Yeah. They helped him walk Lola.”

That sparked my attention. “What?” I asked.

“Oh, we stopped by the bus and little Johnny was outside playing with Lola. My girlfriends, Becca and Janet, walked Lola with Johnny and played for a little bit.”

I nodded my head and said, “Well, Johnny is going to be a little heartbreaker. I can see why your friends were smitten with him.”

Ashley chuckled. “Speaking of, I’m going to go find them. Emmit was sweet enough to give full passes to each of them. They’re probably in their seats. See you after the race, sis!”

Waving, I said, “See ya, Ashley.” I couldn’t help but notice how Ashley looked over at Malcolm’s car. And I really couldn’t help but notice how Malcolm never took his eyes off of her as she walked by.

“Oh shit,” I mumbled as I turned back and looked at Emmit. “That’s not going to turn out well.”

“What isn’t?” my father asked.

I shook my head and looked at my father. “Oh, just the fact that Malcolm Wallace seems to have taken an interest in Ashley.”

My father looked over at Malcolm and sighed. “Let’s just hope he uses his head with this one.”

Smirking, I climbed up onto the tower. As my father and I both got situated, I said, “You mean the head between his shoulders right?”

My father’s mouth dropped open as he closed his eyes and shook his head. “Jesus, he’s already rubbing off on you.”



I was on pins and needles the entire race. Emmit started off in third position then fell back to tenth, and now he was racing against Malcolm for first with only six laps to go.

“Number seven is right on your inside. Easy,” the spotter said as I kept my eyes on Emmit.

“Ten-four,” Emmit said. He had been quiet a good portion of the race. Once he asked Waldo to ask me what was for dinner.

“Keep off the apron,” my father said as he raised his eyebrows at me.

“This is f*cking stupid. Why doesn’t he just get the hell out of my way?”

Emmit’s car was a few seconds faster than Malcolm’s, but Malcolm blocked Emmit every time he tried to pass.

“Two to go.”

I stood up and placed my hand over my stomach. Race day always made me queasy. Emmit running in second with just two laps to go during the Daytona 500 made me feel like I wanted to throw up and pass out.

“Emmit, you know what to do,” my father said as I looked over at him.

“Yep,” was all Emmit said as I chewed on my thumb nail and went back to watching my husband race around the track. Emmit made it look like he was going to go up and Malcolm drifted with him, but Emmit shot down and quickly passed Malcolm.

“Fender. Door. Door. Clear!” the spotter said as my father jumped up and fist pumped.

“White flag. One to go.”

“Emmit,” I whispered as I held my breath and watched him pull further away from Malcolm.

“You’re pulling away so don’t push it. You’ve got this. One more turn.”

My eyes were glued to Emmit’s number thirty-seven car as I grabbed onto my father’s arm. “Daddy!” I shouted as Emmit came around turn four and went straight for the checked flag.

“Oh my God!” I screamed as I watched my husband take the checkered flag at the Daytona 500. My father and I both turned to each other as Emmit cheered over the radio.

“Yeah! Yes! Woo hoo! We did it, boys. We f*cking did it!” Emmit said as my father kissed me on the cheek and Emmit’s entire pit crew went crazy as they cheered and shouted.

My father climbed down and began congratulating everyone on the win as Chris helped me down. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if I wanted to. Daddy walked up and guided me over to victory lane.

Emmit revved the engine as he pulled up and the crowd went wild. I was so proud of him as I watched him climb out of his car. Confetti was flying everywhere along with champagne and soda being sprayed everywhere.

Emmit flashed that amazing smile and dimple of his as he celebrated his win. The moment he jumped down, the sportscaster was right there to interview. Emmit scanned the area and smiled bigger when our eyes met. He answered all the questions as he took a sip and laughed when asked if this was the best moment of his life. “It’s certainly up there with some other pretty amazing moments.” Our eyes met again and I couldn’t help by cry.