Racing Outside the Line: A Love Story at 190 Mph (35 page)

Chelsea must have been reading my mind since she asked, "I know they’re nuts when they’re together and all, but I just don’t see how showing off their kissing skills is gonna convince a bunch of women anything?" I was nodding in agreement, mimicking Chelsea’s questioning eyes.

"You don’t know Seth as well as you
think
you do."
Woah now
, this was headed to dangerous ground. I knew Seth better than
anyone
. Besides, what did she know about us? I was about to get really angry with her, tell her where to shove it, or just walk away when she put up her hand apologetically, "I just mean that you don’t know what he’s been like without you. He’s never been affectionate with any of his women. He’s never been possessive or even caring, really." All I could think of was how odd that seemed. I sat there in disbelief, but then I flashed back to that day on the lake. He had barely even touched her. How incredibly odd was it that I hadn’t noticed it before. He had his hands and lips more on
me
that day than he ever had on her. I can’t believe I didn’t see that. How had I missed it?

"As a friend, he’s one of the nicest, most genuine guys here, but with the chicks, he’s been cold and pretty uninterested. It’s why it was so easy for Alexandria to appear like a normal person—he never cared about checking up on her or seeing her throughout the day interacting with us. She’s a piece of work, let me tell you, but that’s another bale of hay. The way he is with you is like a totally different person. It finally matches who we have known all these years. I don’t think you realize what it looks like from those of us who have known Seth for years without you. It’s really extraordinary. When the others see it, it’ll take about two seconds for them to be won over to your side." She stopped, finally, and looked at me tentatively for my reaction. It was a lot to take in.

He had been a different person with every other woman he had been with. Would he eventually wind up like that with me? No, that much was clear. We were like air for each other. We always fed off one another even when we weren’t officially "together." He said it himself; he had looked for opportunities to be near me, even though his dad would have killed him to know it. So the only explanation was the obvious one, he always had me in the back of his mind. I couldn’t hold my composure as I let the smile spread across my lips.

Turning to Chelsea, she smiled back at me, and I could tell that she was figuring it out too. "Sounds like you weren’t the only one with warped relationships due to your first love." My smile grew in intensity.

"That!" Lacy shouted in excitement. "That is exactly what you need to show these women! Especially Miss Jenny, which is where we’re headed next, she’s the track gossiper. Once we tell her, she’ll spread the word to everyone else. Keep that newlywed smile plastered on your face and this will go so much quicker and easier." She started driving again.

A few minutes later, we came upon a hauler for the 39 car. I looked in the garage and saw a young kid standing beside his bright orange car. My eye picked up on the yellow tape on his bumper, which told me this kid was a rookie. Lacy walked to the back of the hauler and started to climb a ladder to the top. I hesitated, unsure if I should follow before she yelled, "Come on, chickens."

It wasn’t as if I hadn’t been on top of a hauler before; I was practically raised on top of Seth’s Late Model hauler. The best and easiest to reach view of a short track is from the top of your hauler. I shrugged at Chelsea and began the climb.

Towards the top, I heard Lacy, "Miss Jenny, how you doing? I brought a surprise guest."

"Surprise, hell, darlin’, I knew about her before she even hit the pits."

"Miss Jenny," Lacy seemed to slow down when speaking to the older woman, "how is it you always get the gossip before everyone else?"

"Years and years of racing, darlin’."

I finally reached the top and climbed up onto the viewing platform. I turned to help Chelsea up since this was her first time climbing up on one of these. I knew from experience that it could be a bit tricky—there were many rainy days when mud would interfere with my ability to keep my shoes on the rungs of the ladder. I was also responsible for taking down the railings, which was equally tricky depending upon the unpredictable weather, but, I had been young and fearless back then and out to impress Seth with my courage.

I stood there at the top, feeling the wind pass through my hair and asked myself, what the hell happened to that girl who was out to impress Seth? Didn’t I still want him to be impressed by my courage? Was I so willing to allow him to continue to rescue me? No. I was stronger than this. I had been fearless, and I should be even more fearless now. He loved me, and I loved him, and we were married now. I rubbed my pinkie finger against the band of my wedding ring to remind myself. I could do anything. I could certainly do this.

I stepped forward extending my hand to the older woman. She reminded me of someone’s grandma, but not a stay at home knitting sweaters grandma, an active, sassy elderly woman. "Miss Jenny, I’m Alexis Keller, nice to meet you." She surprised me by shaking my hand. She looked at me appraisingly seeming unsure of what to think.

"Sneakers, huh?" What an odd thing for her to notice first. "Why not boots? Why not heels
?"
Was this some sort of weird personality question like "what do you eat on your hot dog?"

Not sure whether to respond, I started slowly. "The asphalt has always killed my ankles… even with sneakers on. I, uh… can’t imagine what it would do to me if I were in boots, and heels are even worse, not to mention, there’s no grip. You can’t climb up on the hauler in heels or boots." It was as honest an answer as I could give, but I wasn’t sure it was what she was looking for since her only response was to raise her eyebrow.

Finally, she said, "You sound like you been at races for years, but I know this is only your second race." Did this woman know everything? Who was she anyway? Clearly, she wasn’t the rookie’s husband, she must be his mother.

"This is my second cup race, but I’ve been at asphalt tracks since Seth moved from karts up to Late Models when he was—oh I guess he must have been about sixteen years-old." She smiled at me then and looked at Lacy.

"Got us a lifer here, huh? Not the flash in the pan everyone thinks she is, is she?" Lacy smiled at her nodding and turned to smile at me. "Welcome to the club, Alexis, good to meet you. So fill me in on this story you’ve been pushin’. How long you been following Seth and his racing?"

Okay, odd. I wasn’t sure what to think of her line of questioning or her appraisal of me. What did she mean by a "lifer?" In an attempt to pull out my courageous personality and show it off, I leaned against the railing and answered her completely. "Since birth, probably; I’ve been chasing him around for a really long time, even learned how to work on his car in order to be closer to him. He was my sunshine, and I was completely gone on him."

"What did he think of you?"

"I was the annoying kid sister of his best friend—my brother, Desmond, his PR manager. He humored me and tried to be patient with my big doe eyes, but when I hit fifteen, he was blindsided by my age and things became more mutual every year that passed."

"When did it become even?"

Chuckling, I honestly answered, "Hmm, he would say it was just before I left for college. I didn’t buy that at first, but it’s all starting to make sense." I remembered his vows, remembered what he said about me, "the only woman that could ever make me completely happy and completely and utterly miserable all within the span of an hour."

"Lacy," she said with shock in her voice, "Is this pretty little thing really talking about
our
Seth? Look at her face, Lacy, she must be talking about someone else."

"Nope. Miss Jenny, you should see them together, he’s not Jekyll and Hyde anymore, just plain ole ridiculously in love Hyde. It’s crazy!"

"Oh, I believe it," she shook her head with her eyes still on me. "How could I not? Our little beauty queen’s gonna be livid ain’t she?"

Climbing down the ladder, I decided that went better than I had hoped. I had some questions for Lacy, but she didn’t pause. The second her sneakers hit the asphalt, she tossed us into the cart and we took off back towards Seth’s garage.

"Is she the rookie’s mom?" I managed to shout as we walked at a breakneck pace.

"Yeah, Brian, he’s a decent kid, but he’s having some trouble with races. He’s just not getting along with his crew chief, I can’t blame him, the guy’s an ass."

The closer we got to Seth’s garage, the calmer I felt. We slowed down for a large crowd of fans who were in our way, and I was beginning to anticipate seeing Seth again when Lacy killed my hopes, "Time to head back to the coaches, they’re some ladies we need to visit with."

"I just want to tell Seth where we’re going," I made up the excuse as I took my opportunity to bolt from the vehicle. I looked into the garage expectantly, but Seth wasn’t in there. "Lexie, we have to go if we’re going to get to all the girls we need to before Seth qualifies." Urgh. On one hand, I was, of course, grateful for everything Lacy was trying to do for me, but on the other, much larger and more insistent hand, I wanted, no, needed to be with Seth.

"Hey, sexy mama, get over here and give your man a kiss." It certainly wasn’t Seth’s voice, but I recognized Jake’s scratchy baritone immediately. It was quite surprising to watch Lacy quickly extricate herself from the vehicle and walk over to Jake. The clear, content smile that spread across her lips made me like her more. She felt the same way about Jake that I felt about Seth.

"Gotta hurry, handsome," she hugged him, "I’ve got work to do."

I walked over to say hi to Jake, but as my mouth opened to release the greeting, my eyes fell on the object of my obsession. Seth was walking out of the garage a few doors down talking to another man in a fire suit, which meant he was clearly a driver. I wanted to run to him, but the second our eyes met, all I could do was stand there. How is it that he could still overwhelm me? He slapped Gary on the back and practically skipped over to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I couldn’t help but notice that everyone’s eyes were once again on us. When he was just a few steps away, I found the use of my legs again and jumped into his arms. His soft lips against my neck were wildly erotic, but his whispering breath in my ear pulled my attention from the sensations on my neck, "What I wouldn’t give to pull your legs around me and carry you off to the motor coach."

"Mmm," I clutched onto him in an attempt to convey my extreme acquiescence to such an idea.

"Ah, love, I can’t get through a freaking conversation without wishing my hands were all over you. If I loved you any more, I’d explode into a million pieces. Screw the wives, stay here with me."

"You don’t have to ask me twice, I’m tired of forcing myself to be away from you."

"Uh uh," Lacy interrupted in very loud, very firm words. "We can stay until they head back out for the next round of practice then we’re off to the coaches to meet more wives." We clearly had an audience, although the presence of both Lacy and Jake’s ears didn’t seem to make Seth censor his words.

"Good, it’s settled, then, now show me how much you love me, baby." He barely gave me time to respond as his mouth settled upon mine in a searing kiss. I was just getting into the moment, though, when Jake pulled us apart. What the hell was it with these people and not allowing us to kiss? Why did everyone see fit to break us apart?

When I saw Jake’s mocking smile break in between us, I nearly punched him. I was quite sure I looked like a deranged psychopath because of how completely perturbed I was at that moment. I tried to shove Jake out of my way, but he was huge and just turned surprised eyes down upon me. I could hear Chelsea and Lacy laughing in the background.

"Now, love," Seth put his hand on Jake’s shoulder. "Don’t go hurting yourself by trying to push Jake when I am perfectly capable of doing it for you." With a little help from Seth, Jake went stumbling off into Lacy who was standing nearby, then Seth wrapped both of his arms around my waist and picked me up off the ground laughing.

I saw Jake approach us again from the side, the look of caution was undeniable on his face. "She’s a feisty one, Seth, and God only knows why, but she seems to be rather attached to you."

"You’d better watch it," Seth’s mouth was so sexy, the way his lips moved as he said each word drew me to him like an ant to sugar. "She’s already punched one guy today, she looks as if she may haul off and hit you too."

I didn’t care that they were making jokes about me, not at that moment, at least, because Seth returned his lips to mine, possessing them completely. My heartbeat raced as he spun me around. I giggled thinking how nice it would be to kick out my legs toward anyone who wanted to come between us.

"Did you pay her to hang on to you like that? I can’t imagine anyone being
that
interested in your crappy as—presence."

My courage firmly in place, I retorted, "Don’t talk crap about my husband or I
will
hit you." Seth laughed loudly as Jake made an exaggerated "O" face at me and laughed too.

"Fine, I’ll leave you to paw at each other here in public." He shook his head as he put his arm back around Lacy who was smiling at me, "Geez, babe, I’ve never seen him like this before, it’s a little insane, don’t ya think?" So what if they thought I was a little off, but the look on Lacy’s face, the almost proud smile that came across her lips told me that she thought I was just right for Seth.