“You haven’t seen the article? I’m surprised Roxanne didn’t send you a link.”
“She’s sent me all sorts of links. I’ve been ignoring them.”
Athos sat down at his desk and typed on the computer. “I have it here.”
“You are not reading me the article. I don’t want to hear it.”
“Here it is. ‘With that fiery look in his eyes, his fists clenched and his body radiating the hot rage of a lion’ …”
Athos raised his eyebrows.
Clarke waved his hand. “Okay, go on,” he said, curious now to hear the rest.
Athos chuckled as he turned back to the screen. “Let’s see, where was I?”
“His body radiating the hot rage of a lion,” Clarke said.
Athos grinned. “Right. Here … ‘This man couldn’t be the normally placid, genteel gentleman who has all the animal magnetism of a’”—Athos waved his hand—“Skip that part. ‘The surprise of seeing Sir Clarke resembling something like a jungle cat was then trumped by the surprise that it should be none other than Ceci Rivers, hardly a fan, who bid on him.’” Athos paused and peered at Clarke. “Are you worried she’ll be disappointed when instead of that jungle cat showing up, she gets the placid gentleman?”
“Very funny.”
“What about the logistics of the date?”
“I could wait until the start of the season. Then both of us would be in the same city. But that’s over a month from now. I don’t want this hanging over me when my focus should be on racing. So that leaves either New York or some godforsaken place called Cornhole Junction.”
Athos laughed. “You’re joking.”
“I wish I were. Some small town in Montana.”
“Well, you’re not going to go all the way out there.”
“Either way, it’s a plane ride. And the sooner I get this over with, the better.”
Athos tapped his fingers on his desk. “Actually, now that I think about it, going to Montana might be better. If you take her out in New York, the press will be all over you. Not to mention everyone with their cell phones. But out in this rinky-dink town, you could keep the date on the down-low. What the hell is there to do in Cornhole?”
“You’re asking me?”
Athos was back at his computer. “Okay, let’s take a look.”
Clarke just wanted to be over and done with Ceci Rivers. He would focus on creating buzz on the track rather than off it.
“This looks promising,” exclaimed Athos. “Hey, I just thought of something. What about accommodations?”
“Accommodations? No, no, no. I’ll be in and out of there like a tornado.”
“Tornado?”
“You’re right, bad metaphor. More like a blip. Leaving no impact, whatsoever.”
“You know they’ve got snowstorms out there that can close down airports.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll touch down in the morning and fly out that evening.” He sighed. “But I’m still going to need protection.”
Athos’s mouth dropped open. “Protection?”
“Trust me, she’ll be looking to bring some too. I better be sure to pick her up in a vehicle with a back seat.”
“Wait, back up a minute. Are we talking about the same thing?”
