Jesse's Soul (2) (2 page)

It wasn’t going to be happening any time soon, either. Not with his career and the travel that went with it. His
chosen path wasn’t conducive to long-distance relationships, and Jesse, although he regularly received offers, didn’t do casual. Period.

He sighed. For the moment, he was content to let Molly smother him with her sisterly love and affection. “She’s too good to all of us, aren’t you, D?”

“Just for that, your brownies are on our counter, Cowboy.”

The smile didn’t reach his eyes. “That almost makes this better. Thanks, Mol.”

Might take several pans of those heaven-sent chocolate squares though.

~

Emery closed her eyes for the last few minutes of the cab ride. She wanted so desperately to be excited. She was getting back to something she’d loved her entire life. It was in her blood—in her DNA. Her whole world had revolved around bikes.

Had.
Back then, she would eat, sleep, and breathe bikes. Back then, life was perfect. Suddenly, she felt—she let out a silent snort—
old.

“Hey, sleepy
head, we’re here.” John nudged her as he opened the cab door. “I’ll get your bags.”

“Thanks,” she replied, leaving out the enthusiasm, mostly on purpose.

Like most of the walk through the airport and the cab ride to the stadium, she kept her answers short. Emery couldn’t fault the guy for trying. He was handsome and friendly enough, if she were looking for something. Hopefully he’d gotten the hint—
she wasn’t.

Emery glanced around the indoor pits as she made her way to her dad’s factory trailer. The floor-to-ceiling gray of the building had been transformed into motocross central, but in reality, nothing had changed. Except for the vendor logos and which semi-trailer they were on this year from last year, and the normal musical chairs that occurred between riders and factories as some of the contracts were rewritten. Other than that, it was
all the same. The rigs were parked close to one another, the vendors setting up tables, each factory and their mechanics getting their team’s bikes unloaded and prepped. It was all…perfect.

She breathed in the familiar scents of exhaust, gas, and tires—all the smells of what she considered home.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Honey, you’re here.” Reid hugged her. “I’ve missed you.” He turned to the other mechanic on the team. “Thanks for going to the airport to get her, John.”

“No problem, sir. How’d Jesse take it?”

The Irish gleam in Reid Kincaid’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Uh...”

“That good?” Emery shook her head.

Damn it, Dad. You’ve got to be kidding me.

“Great, you’ve brought me into the damn lion’s den, Dad. So if he’s already pissed that Shawn had to leave, I’m guessing, only because I know you, oh so well, that you didn’t tell him that his new mechanic was me, either?”

“Well…honey,”—Reid shrugged—“some things are
just better left to surprise.”

John raised an eyebrow between the two of them. “Do you and Jess know each other already?”

“No.” Emery shook her head and crossed her arms. “I’m just assuming he’s going to be really
happy to find out that I’m a woman. Damn it, Dad. I don’t want to start out this way.”

She hoped that trace of a smile on her dad’s face was covering up nerves. Her father knew full well how much she hated surprises. Emery rubbed her forehead to try and stop the pounding in her head and the slight spin the room just took.

“And I’m warning you now, if he’s an ass, I’m out of here. I’ve got better things to do with my time than put up with some jackass that doesn’t want me here in the first place.”

“Let’s just go meet him before you let that chip on your shoulder weigh you down, okay, honey?”

“Don’t start, Dad. It’s been a rough three days rearranging my life for you.”

“I know…I appreciate it. I do.”

“I prefer to say you owe me. Big time.”

“Don’t I always?”

Emery half-glared at her dad’s answer and rolled her eyes.

“Well, let’s take you to meet Jesse.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Isn’t he here…in the trailer?”

“No, he’s hanging out over by Noland and
Sterling’s semis. You’ll figure out pretty quick that’s where most of the guys hang out.”

You’ve got to be kidding me. I will not kill him. I will not kill him.

She decided if she made that her new mantra, it might save her dad’s life. This was not how she envisioned the introductions going. She had prepared herself for Jesse to be a little skeptical of her, but figured after a quick handshake and conversation, she’d quietly go to work. But to find out that, one, Jesse was freaked out by losing Shawn, two, her dear old dad had withheld a tiny piece of information from him that could possibly send the rider through the roof, and three, she had to go meet said possible explosion waiting to happen in front of all his friends? Well, that was just the cherry on top of the whole damn day.

Humph.

“Are you freaking serious? Lion’s den? Hell, Dad, you’re going to walk me into a firing squad. Can’t he come back here?”

“It’s fine, Em. Besides, Molly needs another gal around here. The boys are kind of ornery to her, and you two will get along great.”

Emery steeled her nerves and popped her neck side to side, tired from the flight, the four-hour layover, and the early morning that had started it all. “Let’s go get this over with. I want see his bike, find out when I can get him on the track, and watch him ride. I’ve got some changes I want to make from watching tape.”

John snickered. “Always just business with you, huh, Emery?”

There had been very little success on John’s part to engage her in conversation as they had made their way to the stadium. He was correct in his assessment. She had no interest in any subject other than bikes, despite his many attempts to pull personal information out of her. Without a flicker of amusement, she nodded her head once, her face dead serious.

“Now if the rest of
the team figures it out that quickly, we’ll be fine. Why don’t you spread the word…okay?” Even in her own ears, her tone sounded snotty. Too bad for them. She didn’t care.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Reid tilted his head. “Emery.”

She threw her palm up to stop him there. “Dad, you run the whole show, I know. But my part of it, I will run my way. I’m assuming the other three riders on your team couldn’t really give a crap about me being the lead mechanic, so let’s go meet your golden boy.”

“I knew I’d find you here, son,” her father called out as they reached the group. Jesse stood up as Reid approached. “Jesse Frost, I’d like you to meet, Emery…Kincaid.”

Emery knew who Jesse was. She had seen him before when she’d been around and had seen him on TV. She hadn’t, however, met him in person, and she wasn’t prepared at all for the reaction her body was having to him—all on its own without a damn bit of permission from her brain.

His low-slung 501s and black t-shirt did little to mask the muscled man beneath them. He was sexy as sin, and his trademark five o’clock shadow only made him look…dangerous. His body screamed one thing, but his face gave the man away. The way his light brown eyes crinkled when he flashed his crooked smile sent Emery on high alert.

Oh…holy…hell.

The man was freaking hot. She’d admit it. Fine. That didn’t mean anything. It also didn’t mean anything that her heart was about to pound out of her chest and her mouth was completely dry, not to mention the fact that the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen were sending electric tingles up her spine. Nope, didn’t mean anything.

Ah, but that smile.

It was a welcoming smile that reached up and made his light-brown eyes warm and friendly, if she had time for that sort of thing. She jammed her hands in her pockets instead.

Jesse tilted his chin. “I knew you had to be Reid’s daughter.”

“Yeah?” Her heart might be racing, her façade, however, never cracked.

Jesse winked at her. “I can tell by the green eyes.”

Emery just shrugged.

He turned to her father. “So Reid, is he here yet?”

The older man’s face scrunched, the confusion obvious. “Who, Jess?”

“Reid.” Jesse threw his arms up in the air. “My new mechanic. Remember our little crisis?” he said, gestur
ing between himself and her father.

Emery could tell by his demeanor that he was very stressed out about Shawn leaving him. Way more than her
father had let on a few minutes ago. She shook her head and ran her hand through her bangs. She couldn’t believe her dad had done this to her.

Taking a much-
needed deep breath, she extended her hand to Jesse. “Hi.”

Jesse was about to finish taking his panic attack out on Reid, but he took her hand to shake it, then couldn’t let go. It was almost…magnetic. Instead, he stared deeper into her eyes, searching for something, but he didn’t know what. It was the e
merald green. They were sort of...haunting.

Her porcelain
face was framed by hair so dark it was almost black. It didn’t appear she had any makeup on and could have been the girl next door, but she had such an iconic look, she struck him. Reminiscent of the pin-up girls of the old days. Fair skinned, wavy hair that reached the top of her shoulders, pink lips, and those shockingly green eyes framed by long black eyelashes. He blinked a couple of times, trying to get his focus back.

“Son…
Emery is your new mechanic.”

His mind was not up to speed with what was going on around him. A thousand questions raced through his head, but all he could concentrate on was the soft, warm hand in his and the big green eyes looking at him.

“What?”

He glanced at Reid, but unconsciously hung on
to Emery’s hand, gripping it a little tighter.

“You heard me. I said Emery is my new lead, and she’s going to be your dedicated mechanic. She’s replacing Shawn.”

Jesse’s eyes locked back on Emery’s, completely dumbfounded.

“I told you I was bringing in the best in the business for you. Emery is the best.” Reid nervously chuckled. “No offense, Joey.”

Jesse shook his head, forcing himself to focus, and opened his eyes back to Reid. Nothing about what his manager was saying made a lick of sense. The weight that had settled on his chest over the last few hours suddenly felt much heavier. Somewhere along the way he had to have missed something in their conversation.

“I know you’re a family kind of guy. In the back of my mind, I wondered if you were getting someone you were close with to come in this late in the game, but I assumed you’d bring in your son.” He cringed and turned back to the green eyes. “I’m sorry, no offense.”

Emery jerked her shoulder and let it fall.

Jesse kicked himself. Apparently, it wasn’t the first time she
’d heard an asshole comment like that. He wasn’t that guy, yet he saw the flash of disappointment in her eyes, the fall of her face.

Jesse went out of his way to treat women with respect, but she’d never be able to guess that. Judging by the look that had swept her face, she had just lumped him in with every other jackass male that screwed womankind. She had recovered herself quickly, but he knew the damage was done.

Shit. Murphy’s Law strikes again.

It was first time he had a reaction that strong to a woman and he crashed right out of the gate. Add losing Shawn to that, and Jesse couldn’t win for freaking losing. The night had started a circular spin and was picking up speed, headed straight down the proverbial drain. All he needed was one more thing
, and he’d have the perfect trifecta of fucked-up days.

“Jesse, Riley is a hell of a rider. And before he retired, he had a few good years in the pros, but he’s no mechanic. Yes, he knows how to fix a bike and what to do to make it a great race bike, but he doesn’t have what it takes to handle the pressure of being a team mechanic. Not at this level. Emery does.”

Jesse watched as she glanced around at his group of friends surrounding him, and he took in the fact that they were all staring at her. It had to be an uncomfortable spot to be in, and just as he started to open his mouth to speak, she took a deep breath, and then narrowed her gaze as she locked in on him, dead in the eye. His words stilled on his tongue.

“Look,” Emery started, “let’s get this over with, right here, right now. I know that bike, inside and out. The setup needs some changes, and I’ve watched race tape on you for the last three days. I know what I need to do to make it perform better for you. I know what to do to put that bike on the podium. You can either trust me and make it to the podium with it, or”—Emery’s chin went up, but she never broke her eye contact with him—“you can find another mechanic who will keep you in fifth place like you
have been.”

He felt his mouth slowly drop open.

“It’s your call. Now, if you don’t want me here, that’s fine, no hard feelings. My shit is still packed. It’s one phone call to the airport. Otherwise, I expect to have your full trust. And I want full communication. I don’t want you going through Reid on anything with the bike. If you need something, or want something tweaked on the bike, you come to me. And only me. Are we clear?”