Winning It All (12 page)

While Bryan had given the dating instructions a great deal of consideration, the kiss at the door—and ending the date there—was going to be a problem. Letting her go seemed impossible.

But he forced himself to pull back.

Sexual frustration was indeed destined to be his state for the immediate future, but not only was she not ready, this was their first official date.

His mother had raised a gentleman. Or tried to, at least. He had a shower—complete with hot and cold water—and he wasn’t some randy teenager.

Still, he didn’t want her to go.

It’s late, he reminded himself practically. He worried about her driving back to her hotel alone. Was there a way to kiss her at the door and not have her leave?

He cupped her cheek in his hand. “Stay with me.”

Her eyes widened.

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he added quickly.

“But—”

He laid his finger over her lips. “I know it’s not part of your planning for our first official date, but I worry about you driving alone this late at night. Plus, I know you’ll be here before dawn to help cook breakfast for the guys. Staying here saves you time.”

Her gaze searched his. “So you’re being practical
and
considerate?”

“Sure.”

She laid her palm over his forehead. “Are you sick?”

He grabbed her wrist and tucked her hand around his neck. “I’m hot, all right.” He tightened his grip on her waist. “Stay. I’ll even kiss you at the door.”

“Okay.” She tucked her head between his neck and shoulder. “I’ll stay. But can we sit here for a few minutes first?”

“Whatever you want.”

And for the first time in a long time, he realized he was more concerned about someone else’s comfort than his own. Not the race team management, where he always thought about how much harder he could work to make GRI successful, but about a woman. One who intrigued, challenge and amazed him.

For her, for the feelings she inspired, he was willing to sacrifice a great deal.

“H
EY
,” B
RYAN SAID
briefly, before covering her mouth with his.

While Darcy had become intimately familiar with his lips over the last five weeks, even she was a little startled by the abrupt—though exciting—opening to their date.

As had become the norm lately, she didn’t ask him why, or doubt her decision to throw herself headlong into a relationship when they both still had so many personal issues to deal with, when she still panicked at the sound of sirens and ran straight to her secret stash of chocolate when her guilt threatened to overwhelm her. Instead, she leaned into him, laying her palm directly over his heart, reveling in its rapid, erratic beat.

One of his strong, capable hands cupped her cheek. She’d seen those hands turn a wrench, sign crucial documents and brace his body doing a push-up. They always fascinated her. Just as everything about him did.

And some part of her realized that only a man as
smart, confident, complicated—and, let’s face it—wounded could have broken through the self-imposed protective wall she’d erected. The one she’d built out of impenetrable steel.

Maybe it was only right that a man once known as “Steel” should be the one to change everything.

When he leaned back, she had to brace herself against him to keep from losing her balance. The man did know how to knock her back on her heels.

“Wow,” she managed to say. “Hard day?”

His hot, bright gaze held hers. “Not anymore.”

“Did you want to put on a show for my neighbors?”

He glanced around, as if only then realizing they were still in the open doorway of her apartment. “Not really, no.”

After striding inside, he closed the door and maneuvered her back against it, kissing her again.

She finally laid her hand on his chest and stepped back. “Hey, hotshot, we’ll be late meeting everybody.”

“So?”

And there it was—that barely banked desire mingled with frustration that had become the norm as of late. Though Darcy knew the solution was a confirmation of their chemistry and feelings, a further commitment to their relationship—sex, in other words—she feared giving in to the impulse of her body’s needs. Her mind was too busy supplying various scenarios where she fell into his bed and panicked, forever damaging all they had together.

Yet how much longer could she expect his patience to hold?

To diffuse the tension, she smoothed her hand down her fluttery, pale peach top and jeans. “I guess you like my new outfit.”

He glanced down at her, clearly noticing what she wore for the first time. “Nice.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“Beautiful,” Bryan corrected quickly. “I brought you a rose.” He patted down his blue shirt and jeans. “Which I apparently left in the limo.”

“Limo?”

“I thought I’d have a beer or two and would rather not drive. Plus, it’s a party, right?”

The Garrison siblings were all meeting up at a Lake Norman bar and restaurant. Parker, who generally served as the family social chairman, had encouraged everybody to get together and celebrate Cade’s success. He’d won two races so far this season and was tops in the championship points.

Since the races for the next two weeks were at the track in nearby Concord, they were all getting together for a rare Thursday night in town.

A teasing light replacing the frustration in his eyes, Bryan slid his arm around her waist. “I can also focus on you instead of driving. Good idea, yes?”

Her heart stuttered. This dating business was pretty amazing.

After a slightly rough start, Bryan quickly got the
hang of the romance thing. He brought flowers when he came to pick her up. He brought gifts of T-shirts, hats, cups, even kitchen utensils—all decorated with the car number and logo of one of the GRI drivers. This was especially helpful, since she could now show her team spirit at the track—though, more often than not, she wound up wearing stuff from multiple drivers, so as to not offend anybody.

He sent her sweet text messages in the middle of the day just to say he was thinking of her. He helped her cook, and he pushed through his workouts without a scowl, complaint or argument.

His confidence had zoomed through the roof. In the twelve weeks they’d been working together, he’d dropped twenty pounds, lost multiple inches from his waist, gained lean muscle mass and dropped his percentage of body fat by ten percent. The women at the track had certainly noticed and spent as much time clamoring for his autograph and attention as they did Cade’s.

That part, actually, wasn’t so pleasant for Darcy.

One night, when she was at Isabel and Cade’s, teaching them to make chocolate-covered strawberries, Bryan dropped by unexpectedly, saying he wanted to help. They all had a great time, talking around the kitchen island, doing things regular couples did.

Not that all their time together had been without problems. Family, work issues, the hectic racing schedule had all caused conflicts. Worse, her ability
to hide her guilt and anxiety seemed to be cracking. She’d find Bryan staring at her oddly at times, and sometimes he’d ask her outright if she was okay, as if he sensed she was holding back not just physically, but emotionally, as well.

So an air of uncertainty, guardedness and tension lingered between them. Neither of them seemed to believe that the peaceful, happy days would last.

“Are we dressed for a limo?” she asked.

He tugged her outside. “I doubt the fashion police will pull us over.” After locking her door with her keys, he led her down the stairs to the parking lot where a long, gleaming black car and uniformed driver waited with the back door open.

Obviously, her middle-class upbringing would never get used to taking limos for casual outings or firing up the company jet instead of slugging through the commercial airport like everybody else.

Still, the Garrisons were as grounded and easy to be around as anybody she’d ever known. Even Parker, whose luxury hotel chain was world-renowned and who could probably buy GRI several times over, had a special quality of being able to relate to people from valets and mechanics to CEOs and track owners.

That was part of the appeal of NASCAR racing, too. People from every walk of life, profession, income bracket, age group, all came together for entertainment and thrills, all followed their drivers with the passion of a mother protecting her child.

“Hey, you with me?” Bryan asked, squeezing her hand.

She realized the luxury car was moving and strived to set aside her troubled thoughts. “I’m here.” Looking over at him, she wondered if he’d been watching her with the look on his face she’d seen a little too often lately. “How are things with Lars?”

“Quiet.” His eyebrows drew together. “It makes me think he’s up to something.”

Lars, even after his I-should-be-driving-the-car-full-time stunt backfired, had continued to be a problem. “Surely he’s learned his lesson about going to the media,” she said.

“About negative things, sure. Now, he just brags.”

Lars was winning. He’d won the last race—at Darlington, no less—and though Cade had finished second, jumping him to the top spot in the championship points, winning that particular race had raised Lars’s status tenfold among everybody in the garage.

While the staff at GRI was thrilled with the success, they were leery of their young, rebel driver’s attitude. They worried his ego was spinning out of control.

“You’ll manage him,” she said, patting his leg.

“Oh, you have great confidence in my coddling skills, do you?”

“Not exactly. But he’s scared of you, so that’ll work just as well.”

Bryan shook his head. “That kid isn’t scared of anybody, or anything—that’s half the problem.”

“Well, he’s scared of you.”

A calculating look slid into his eyes. “That’s certainly interesting.”

Personally, Darcy would hate to be the object of that heated speculation, but Lars had been such a distracting pain in the butt for GRI, she figured he had it coming.

They arrived at the restaurant minutes later. The limo and Bryan got several speculative looks from other arriving diners. As they passed a group of two couples walking through the door, Darcy heard one of the guys whisper Bryan’s name.

She didn’t think often about Bryan’s fame. By now, she was used to the reporters at the track, but having regular people recognize the man she was seeing was still a strange and rare occurrence. Feeling awkward about the stares, she held tightly to Bryan’s hand as he led them into the restaurant and to the reserved table in the far corner of the room.

With its rough-hewn plank walls, clean-lined decor, long, wide bar and beautiful view of the lake beyond the back deck, Midtown was an easygoing neighborhood place patronized by lots of racing people and the Garrison clan’s sporadic hangout. With them being out of town four days out of seven, it was hard to be a regular anywhere.

Thankfully, at the table, she found familiar faces. Parker and Rachel were already seated, with the waitresses and manager fluttering around them, probably
wondering if Parker was buying the joint. Come to think of it, maybe he had.

They both rose as she and Bryan approached.

Parker kissed Darcy’s cheek. His alluring green eyes gleamed. “There’s an extremely likely chance that we’ll be forced to thrash the male population of Mooresville tonight, Bryan. Are you prepared to defend our wildly attractive women with your life?”

Darcy giggled. Rachel rolled her eyes. Bryan simply shook his head.

Parker said things like that. In an era of knights and chivalry, defending the castle with a blade and a metal shield, he would have fit right in.

“I doubt we’ll have to resort to fisticuffs,” Bryan said seriously, then grinned, no doubt proud of his own historical reference.

As Rachel complimented Darcy’s hairstyle, Cade and Isabel arrived.

There were friendly greetings all around, then Isabel planted her hands on her hips. “Where’s the beer?”

“On its way,” Parker assured her, pulling out her chair as Cade signed a few autographs for fans several feet away in the main room. “I guess the meeting with Splash didn’t go so well.”

The company who made Splash laundry detergent was the primary sponsor of the Kevin Reiner/Lars Heiman car for GRI. Needless to say, the Lars dramatics over the last several weeks had not made them happy. Still, with his recent win, the car was up front,
on TV and being talked about constantly in the media. They couldn’t be totally unhappy.

Isabel groaned and gratefully accepted the bottled beer offered by the waitress, who left an ice-filled bucket containing more bottles in the center of the table. She also brought Parker a glass of deep red wine and Rachel and Darcy glasses of white.

Isabel sipped her beer, then smiled as Cade slid into the seat next to her, softening the look of annoyance on her face. “The Splash people are so used to Kevin—his down-to-earth personality, his professionalism, his connection and loyalty to his fans. I
do
think Lars will eventually get all that, but his media mistakes are piling up.”

“How’d he get along with the PR consultant?” Rachel asked.

“They hit it off well,” Isabel said. “This PR guy is really young and hip,” she explained, obviously for anyone who wasn’t up on his credentials, which Darcy wasn’t. “He consults with music labels all the time. Like getting pop stars out of their latest ‘wardrobe malfunction’ scandal or whatever.”

“And Lars enjoyed the attention,” Parker said.

Isabel rolled her eyes. “He
loved
it. He was practically glowing by the end of the meeting.”

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” Rachel commented.

Isabel nodded. “That seems to be his strategy.”

Parker raised his wineglass in a toast. “How else are you going to outshine a legend like Kevin?”

Whether Parker was acknowledging Lars’s intelligence or insolence, Darcy wasn’t sure.

“What about that smarmy agent of his?” Cade asked. “Where’d he come from?”

Isabel’s eyes narrowed. “I have no idea, but he needs to go. Fast.”

“He’s renegotiating his contract early,” Parker said. His gaze moved to Bryan, who’d—typically—said nothing during the discussion so far. “You need to watch him.”

Bryan simply nodded.

Isabel took another sip of her beer. Her expression was fiercely annoyed. Darcy could see her “Scary Isabel” nickname had been well-earned. “Well, if he—Lars, I mean—gives me that conceited smirk one more time, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

Cade linked his hand with his wife’s. “Damn, though. He can drive a race car.”

There were reluctant murmurs of agreement about that evaluation. Though some said he didn’t have enough seasoning and car control.

Throughout the debate on Lars and his talent, or lack thereof, Bryan still remained silent. From previous talks with the family, Darcy knew that at some point the others would look to their leader for his evaluation and expertise.

He was a strong, respected and admired man. Just
a few of the reasons Darcy was so attracted to him. So why couldn’t her mind overcome the memories of her heart? Why couldn’t she give in to the intense feelings she had for Bryan?