Adrenaline (Speed #2) (8 page)

Holding my hand up, I said, “Stop. I don’t need your excuses, Trey. I need you to please make sure my stuff is sent to me.”

He closed his eyes and nodded as he pushed the button to roll the privacy glass down. “Please take Ms. Pruitt to the airport.”

Trey took one last look at me before taking a step back and shutting the door to the limo. He didn’t even try. Just like that . . . he let me go. I tried to ignore the pain in my chest. Even if I didn’t care for him, it still hurt.

He was found out and did what they all do. Walk away.

The moment the limo pulled away, I let my tears fall as I stared out at the Vegas lights zipping by.

I hate men.

The knock on my office door pulled me out of my thoughts. Turning from the window I was looking out, I called out, “Come in.”

Stephanie, the receptionist, came walking in. “Your appointment at four canceled. And Trey called again.”

I rolled my eyes and walked over to my desk. “Did you tell him to go fuck himself?”

Stephanie covered her mouth and giggled. “No! But if you really want me to, that might be kind of fun.”

With a slight smile, I shook my head. “I don’t think the other patients would take that very well if they heard you tell someone that.”

She shrugged and silently agreed with her smile.

“So, what did he do? I kind of thought you liked this guy. You even went to Vegas with him.”

Picking up a chart, I acted like I was looking through it. “It wasn’t a good fit.”

“Bummer. He was so cute. And that body!” She used her hand to fan herself. “Speaking of hot bodies, that hottie from SMU will be coming in tomorrow. Oh happy day!”

Chuckling, I dropped the file onto my desk and shook my head at her. I worked for a large physical therapy clinic in Southlake Texas that I’d interned for and was hired on right after I finished school. It was a great place to work and I mostly dealt with athletes from Southern Methodist University.

“Okay, so if you’re not going to give me the deets on Trey, I’ll let it slide. I wonder if he had something to do with these, though?”

She handed me an envelope with my name written across it. “Please be Dallas tickets for this season. Oh please!” Stephanie chanted.

Hitting her with the large manila envelope, I snickered. “Stop it.”

Stephanie stood there and stared at me. “Well, are you going to open it?”

With a frustrated sigh, I opened it up and dumped the contents out on my desk. Picking them up, I saw a VIP pass for Texas Motor Speedway. Smiling, I opened up the letter and read it. My mouth dropped as I sat down in my chair.

“Oh. My. God.”

“What is it? Paislie! What’s wrong?”

Slowly trying to clear my head, I looked up at her and said, “They’re um . . . tickets for this weekend’s race.”

Her lip snarled as she looked at the tickets. “NASCAR? Do you even
like
racing?”

My heart felt as if it was about to burst from my chest as I looked back at the note and read it again.

Paislie,

Deuce requests your presence at a dinner function Thursday evening at Texas Motor Speedway.

Enclosed you will find one all-inclusive pass for this weekend. With this pass you are able to come and go as you wish. When arriving at the speedway, please use Gate One and show them the VIP pass and let them know you are a guest of Elliot Racing.

We really hope you can make it.

Deuce and Malcolm

Covering my mouth, I felt like a little girl in a candy store. “Paislie Pruitt. Are you blushing?”

I dropped my hand and pinched my eyebrows together as I gave her a huff. “No. I’m just really surprised. How in the world did he know where I worked?”

“Who?!” Stephanie exclaimed.

“Malcolm Wallace. He’s a driver . . . a um . . . a NASCAR driver.”

Crossing her arms over her chest she asked, “And how do you know a NASCAR driver? Oh my god . . . first a Dallas football player and now this! Where are you going to meet these guys?”

With a dry laugh, I stood and started to usher her out of my office. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now I have a phone call to make.”

She grabbed onto the door jam and held on for dear life. “With who? Him? The driver? Is he cute? Hotter than Trey?”

Placing my hand on her forehead, I pushed her out of the way and shut the door as she called out, “I’m googling him right now!”

I picked the letter back up and took in a deep breath while I reached for my cell phone. My hand was shaking as I dialed the number.

“Jesus H. Christ, what in the hell is wrong with me? He probably thinks he’s going to get lucky or something. Like all of them.”

The thought of Malcolm only wanting to see me for sex hurt more than it made me angry. I practically broke the glass on my phone hitting the numbers as I dialed him.

“This is, Malcolm.”

My body melted as did all the anger I felt.
For Pete’s sake, what is wrong with me?
Oh, I know what’s wrong . . . I’d fuck this guy just to hear that voice whisper in my ear.

Looking upward, I mouthed,
forgive me father.

“Hello?”

“Malcolm? Hi, it’s um . . . it’s Paislie. Paislie Pruitt.”

“Paislie, how are you?”

I could hear the smile in his voice as I grinned from ear to ear. I felt like a teenage girl talking to her crush.

“Well, I’m a bit surprised by a package I received today. How in the world did you know where I worked?”

Malcolm let out a soft, yet deep laugh. “Let’s just say I had to do my homework. And when I talked to Trey Rogers he happened to mention he was no longer seeing you and might have let it slip where you worked.”

Rolling my eyes, I mumbled, “Figures.”

“Sorry, what was that?”

I waved my hand as if he could see me. “Nothing, sorry.”

“So?”

Chewing nervously on my lip, I replied back with my own, “So?”

He let out a small chuckle as he said, “Will you be able to make it at least for dinner?”

My finger moved over the handwritten note. “With Deuce? Your boxer, right?”

“That’s right.”

I wanted to giggle, but I stayed strong. “Is he looking for a casual evening or would I have to dress up? I’m not much of a formal kind of girl.”

“Totally casual. He’s super easy to please.”

A thought occurred to me as my smile faded. “Um . . . will Trey be there as well?”

There was silence followed by, “Fuck no, that asshole isn’t going to be there.”

Oh God . . . why did that turn me on.

“Then count me in.”

“Perfect! How about seven?”

I chewed on my thumbnail as I quickly thought this through. Hadn’t I just given up on men again, and now I’m planning on meeting one for dinner? Of course, I’m really having dinner with his dog.

Frowning, I hit my palm on my forehead. Get it together, Paislie.

“Go to Gate One you said?”

“Yes. Show the security guard your pass and I’ll be sure to let him know where to bring you.”

Covering my mouth to hold my silly excitement in, I tried to respond like this was just another night and nothing special about it. “Sounds good. I’ll see ya Thursday.”

“Perfect! See ya then, Paislie.”

My stomach jumped as I placed my hand on it. “Okay, see ya then.”

Once I hit End, I dragged in a few deep breaths as I placed my hands on my desk.

“Holy hells bells,” I said as I started laughing. I’d only talked to this man twice and yet each time he brought out emotions I’d never before experienced in my life. I wasn’t sure if I should be thrilled beyond belief, or scared shitless.

Either way, I was counting down the hours until I got to see him again.

WITH A TOWEL WRAPPED AROUND
my waist, I walked out of the bathroom only to find Ashley standing in my kitchen.

Fuck.

“Ash?”

She spun around and raked her eyes over my body before looking back up at me. “Hey. I see you’re still looking fine as ever.”

“Um . . . what are you doing here?”

She leaned back against the counter and looked at me with a serious look as she leaned in closer and stared hard. Her mouth dropped open as she gasped. “Oh my God. You met someone!”

My head pulled back in shock. “What?”

Pointing her finger at me, a huge smile moved over her face. “You. Met. Someone.”

Right about that time, the door to the bus opened and Autumn came bouncing in. “Hey, big brother! Did we surprise you?”

I looked between Autumn and Ashley. “How . . . how did y’all meet up? I’m so damn confused.”

Ashley laughed and said, “I left my little black dress at your ranch a few months back. Remember after that night of fun in Dallas and we went back to the ranch?”

I nodded my head. “Well, I needed it and I called the main number thinking Clarisse would answer, but Autumn did instead. We got to talking and found out we had a lot in common.”

I wrinkled my forehead as I looked between them. “Okay, so you both decided to come to the race together?”

Autumn chuckled. “I’ve never missed one of your Texas races, and I don’t plan on it now. I asked Ashley if I could stay at her place this weekend. Sophie is staying with Mom and Pop.”

Ashely wiggled her eyebrows. “We’re having a girls’ weekend.”

I raked my hand through my wet hair. “This is . . . weird.”

“Why? Because we used to be fuck buddies and now I’m friends with your sister?”

Autumn set her bag on the counter and mumbled, “Gross, visual not needed.”

“Wait!! Back to what we were talking about. You met someone didn’t you?”

Autumn sucked in a breath. “W-what! You’re dating someone?”

“No!” I said as I shook my head. “And no I haven’t met anyone, Ash.”

She walked closer to me and I wondered where that familiar pull was that I used to get around her. Any time I ever saw her I only had one thing on my mind. Sex. The only thing on my mind now was how to get her and my sister off of my bus.

Ashley smiled and slowly shook her head. “I see it in your eyes, Wallace. You met someone.”

“Who is she?” Autumn said as she did a little hop and grabbed onto my arm.

With a huff, I turned and headed back to my room. “May I please change?”

They both started a laughing fit and said something about my manwhore days being over. “Never!” I yelled out as I shut the bedroom door behind me.

Reaching over, I grabbed my cell phone and pulled up Paislie’s number and hit Call. I saved it when she called me the other day.

“Hello?”

I held the phone to Deuce who barked right on cue. “Deuce wanted to make sure y’all were still on for tonight.”

“Where do you come up with this stuff? Do you always use your dog to pick up women?”

I thought about it for a second. I’d never really used him except when he was a puppy. He was a total pussy magnet then.

“Not since he was about six months old. Before that he was lining them up for me.”

“Wow. Your sheer honesty was not expected. I don’t know if I should turn around and go back home or floor it and get there faster.”

The way my heart thumped in my chest had me holding my breath for a few seconds. Something about this girl did crazy ass things to me.

“My vote is to floor it.”

With a chuckle, she responded, “I figured it would be.”

Dropping my towel, I pulled on a pair of jeans and searched for a T-shirt. “I’m really looking forward to seeing you, Paislie.”

“Same here,” she barely spoke. “My GPS says I’ll be there in thirty-seven minutes.”

I glanced over to the clock and fist pumped. Perfect timing. “Perfect. I’ll have Deuce ready.”

When she laughed it did something to me I’d never experienced before. “Sounds good, see ya in a few.”

“See ya,” I said as I hit End and tried like hell to wipe the stupid grin off my face before facing my sister and Ashley.

The door to the bedroom opened and Ashley yelled out, “I knew it! Oh. My. Gawd! Who is she? Are you dating? What’s her name? Where did you meet her?”

Autumn was behind Ashley jumping as she wore a huge smile.

“Stop it, both of you. I’m not dating her—I met her in Vegas at a race, she lives here in the Dallas area so I invited her for dinner tonight.”