Flat-Out Sexy (11 page)

The minute they left the room, Tamara dug through her purse and found her cell phone. She had six text messages from Suzanne, each growing in worry and desperation when Tamara didn’t respond. They were all variations of “Where the hell are you??”

Ducking into the hallway and glancing left and right to make sure her family was gone, she dialed Suzanne.

“Where the hell are you?” Suzanne asked by way of greeting.

“I’m at the track.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving? What happened with Geoffrey? Why didn’t you answer your cell phone? I’ve been worried sick about you!”

“I lost my purse. It turns out it was in Geoffrey’s room, which I never went back to last night because he proved to be a total jerk when I tried to break up with him gently. He called me a gold digger.”

“No! What a loser.”

“Exactly.”

“So where did you go then? Home?”

“No, without my purse or a hotel room, I was wandering around getting frantic until Ryder found me and took pity on me. He sent me back to the compound.” Tamara lowered her voice. “With Elec Monroe.”

There was a gigantic pause. “What does that mean?” Suzanne asked carefully. “Like … Elec saw you to Ryder’s where you crashed, or Elec took you back to his place … I can’t quite picture what happened, Tammy. Help me out here.”

“Well.” She bit her fingernail. “He was supposed to just take me back to Ryder’s, who was staying, um, somewhere else. But Elec sort of never made it back to his own coach.”

Again, there was dead air on her cell phone. Then Suzanne said cautiously, “Are you telling me that you spent the night with Elec Monroe? Which would mean … you had sex with him? In Ryder’s coach? That’s what it sounds like, but I’m just having a hard time processing it.”

So was she. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

“You’re shitting me.” Skepticism dripped from her best friend’s voice.

“No! Is it that hard to believe that he would be interested in me?” Geez. She had a hard time believing it, but it would be nice if at least her friend thought it could be
possible
.

“That’s not what I meant! I absolutely believe he could be interested in you. You’re gorgeous, you’re single, you’re intelligent … it’s just that you are not exactly Miss One-Night Stand. Were you loaded?”

“No, I was only a little tipsy. And I have no idea what came over me, but the way he was looking at me, Suz. Oh, my God, it was so hot. And then he kissed me and the next thing I know, I’m naked,” she whispered, glancing around again for anyone in ear-shot.

Suzanne’s voice was full of awe. “Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit … you had hot sex with Elec Monroe?”

She had.

And she was already wondering when she could do it again.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUZANNE continued talking before Tamara could even respond. Her friend sounded downright gleeful. “Wow. Wow. I am so happy for you. He’s so cute and buff … damn, I bet it was good. It was good, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, yeah.” No hesitation on that one.

Suzanne laughed. “That’s a big old fat yes. Though I’m not surprised, he does seem to get around a bit.”

Tamara stiffened. “What does that mean?”

“Just that he doesn’t really lack for company. Those are the best kind to have a one-night stand with, because they know exactly what they’re doing, and they understand you both plan to walk away whistling, no strings attached. Good choice, Tam.”

There were about a thousand things about what Suzanne said that stopped Tamara cold. Elec had a string of women he was always with? He was a player? That just seemed so out of character for him that she was disappointed. And she was annoyed with herself for assuming she knew anything about him when she didn’t, and for assuming that she could read him after just a few hours. She was irritated with herself that she had believed him when he said he wanted to see her again. Not to mention ticked off for wanting to see him again, even when she had known all along it was impractical.

Ugh. She wasn’t sure what she had wanted from him, exactly, other than what she had gotten, but she didn’t think she’d been quite ready to give up the possibility that she might get to do
that
all over again. Nor did she like thinking she was anything more than a handy opportunity for a piece of booty dropped into his lap. Which was ridiculous. Why should she think anything else, and where did she get off being offended when she had essentially taken advantage of that very same thing herself? When he had kissed her between the thighs, she hadn’t been thinking, “Gee, let’s see where this relationship can go emotionally.” She had been thinking, “Bring it on, baby.” There had been no thought of the future or even the next morning, and she had just been really, really happy to discover that she could actually still have rocking good sex.

So why was she standing in the hallway in Elec’s golf shirt and jeans with grimy teeth, feeling deflated and disappointed?

Dang, she was such a girl.

“Tammy? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

She forced herself to focus on the conversation at hand. “Sorry, someone walked past and I was trying to be discreet.” Yeah, like that had really been her priority in the last twenty-four hours.

But Suzanne knew her too well. “Shit, I hurt your feelings, didn’t I? I didn’t mean that to sound insulting … I meant it as a positive thing, that Elec is experienced. You don’t want your first post-marriage sexual encounter to be with some dud.”

“It already was,” she said, suddenly feeling all sorts of miserable. “It was Geoffrey.”

“Oh, Lord,” was Suzanne’s opinion on that. “Honey, then you deserved a man who knows his way around a clitoris.”

Were truer words ever spoken?

Suzanne went on. “And you should be feeling pretty satisfied with him and yourself this morning. Think of this as your reentry into the real world of adult sex.”

Why did Suzanne make it sound like a porno? “It’s fine. It’s all good.” Maybe. And maybe that sick feeling in her gut was the result of the acidic fruit she’d eaten on a thoroughly empty stomach. But she suddenly had the image of Crystal, the naked wonder from Elec’s text messages, pop into her head.

“Uh-oh. You don’t sound good. How did he leave things between you?”

“He asked me to dinner for tomorrow night. I said no. Then he asked me for Tuesday and I said no. Then he informed me we’re going out next Monday.” She hadn’t dreamt his tenacity. He had been determined to see her again.

“Really?”

Suzanne’s shock was not helping her ego. “Yes. Do you think he was lying?”

“Why would he lie?”

The total lack of conviction in her friend’s voice had her stomach churning again. “I don’t know. It seems stupid to lie about wanting to see me when we already had sex. It’s not like he had anything to gain by it.”

“True.”

Tamara rolled her eyes. “Alright, I need to go. I need to spend some time with my children and try not to let everyone in the room know I’m a poster child for the morning after.”

“Don’t regret this, Tammy, you needed to do this. Think of it as fun, and enjoy the memory.”

“But don’t get attached to him because he can’t truly be interested in dating me.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“It’s what you mean.”

“I mean that you’re looking to have fun, not a serious relationship. Don’t confuse the two.”

“I won’t.” Tamara gritted her teeth. “I’m not sixteen. I didn’t sleep with him to win his heart.”

“Oh, shit, you’re pissed at me. I’m sorry, I’m screwing this conversation up. I’m really, really glad you had fun. I just don’t want you getting hurt. You’re much nicer than I am, and that makes you more susceptible to hurt feelings.”

“Okay. I appreciate that you worry because you care. I do. But I really am going to go before Beth sends Johnny to look for me.”

“Alright, but call me later! I want details. Love you.”

“Love you, too, Suz.” Tamara hung up the phone and sighed. Somehow that hadn’t gone quite the way she’d expected. She’d thought Suzanne would press her for juicy details, not lecture her to guard her heart.

She was going back in the suite for that pastry. She needed it.

ELEC knew he was grinning like a fool, but he couldn’t stop himself. He was feeling good. Better than good. Damn satisfied. He had met a woman he was seriously attracted to, had spent the night and morning doing all manner of delicious things with her, and now he was about to do his second-favorite thing in the whole world—drive his race car.

When he wound up standing next to Ryder Jefferson in driver’s introductions, which surprised him since Ryder was usually way ahead of him in the lineup, he felt his smirk slip a little. He owed the man an apology for taking such liberties with his coach and his condoms.

“Hey, Ryder, uh, about this morning.”

For a normally jovial guy, Ryder just glanced at him, his expression serious. “Later. When there are no cameras on us.”

“Alright, man, sure. But I just wanted to apologize.” Elec was talking out of the corner of his mouth so no one in front of them could read his lips. He respected and admired Ryder and the guy had been good to him, introducing him to key players in their organization and making it clear he supported Elec. He didn’t want to screw that up, nor did he want Ryder thinking he was taking advantage of Tamara.

“It’s cool. No worries. Now shut up and smile. Camera to the left is zooming in on us.”

Elec turned. Damn if Ryder wasn’t right. An aggressive photographer was focused right in on them. He smiled and waved to the camera, wondering if he would ever get comfortable or be savvy with this aspect of his career. Especially when he went to leave the stage with the other drivers and saw his PR rep waiting for him, her foot tapping anxiously, arms across her chest.

“You were supposed to be here early,” Eve said, her fists curled like she was fighting the urge to smack him. “You said you would autograph that merchandise I have to donate to the children’s hospital.”

“Oh, crap, I’m sorry. I totally forgot.” No lie there. His mind had been seriously elsewhere. Like on the feel of Tamara Briggs’s mouth on his … Elec cleared his throat. “I’ll do it tonight. I swear.”

“You better. Or I’ll track you down and beat the everlovin’ tar out of you.” Tossing her caramel-colored hair over her shoulders, Eve gave him a stern and hateful look.

Elec fought the urge to roll his eyes at his sister and full-time PR rep. But he did say, “Is that any way to speak to your employer? I should fire you.”

“Dad would never let you fire me.” Eve’s point made, she had eased up on the frown and the crossed arms, and fell into step beside him. “And I’m the only thing keeping you afloat on the business side of driving, admit it.”

“That was never in question, darlin’. I wouldn’t last a day without you, but you could be a little less hostile, you know. It was an accident, one that’s easily fixed after the race.” Elec knew his refusal to engage in a confrontation infuriated both his sister Eve and his brother Evan. But he had never seen any point in yelling about something that could just as easily be fixed by talking about it.

Eve sighed. “Damn it, you make it hard to be ticked off at you. Just be warned now—I don’t care how tired you are after the race, you’re signing these T-shirts tonight. They’re for sick kids and you need to—”

“I’ll be there,” he told her easily.

“Argh,” she said. “It is so not fun to boss you around because you just go with it. Where’s Evan when I need him? He’ll fight back with me.”

“Why do you want to fight?” It was a question Elec had been asking for twenty-some years. He’d never understood the pleasure Eve and Evan took from sparing.

“Because it’s fun,” she told him with a grin. “Now get in your car, moron.”

“Just let that love for me flow, Eve.” But Elec wasn’t actually the least bit offended. That was just Eve, and this was their relationship. Always had been, always would be, but at the same time he knew she’d throw herself in front of a bus to save him. And navigate his sorry carcass through the media frenzy of race car driving.

“And what happened to your hair this morning? It looks like you took a bushwhack to it.”

Elec automatically put his hand on his head to smooth his hair down. It was sticking up. He couldn’t help but grin thinking that it was Tamara’s fingers gripping his hair like her life depended on it that had him looking a little rough around the edges. “Had a late start this morning.”

Eve glanced over at him sharply. “Why do I think that means your morning involved a blonde?”

“Nope. Not a blonde.” Tamara’s hair was a soft, rich brown, like the color of syrup with the sun shining through the bottle, and he was clearly way far gone if he was giving it that much thought.

“A brunette then?”

They had arrived at Elec’s spot in pit row and his crew was waiting for him, busy making last-minute checks. “Got to go, big sister. See you at the finish line.”

“Drive safely,” Eve said, squeezing his arm.

“Duh,” he told her with another grin. Then Elec went to talk to his crew chief.