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“We have other priorities, what can I say?”
“Uh-huh.” I sat back down and dug in.
“Wow, this all looks great.” Gage cut off a piece of the roast and slid it through the pool of gravy on his plate. His face as he chewed and swallowed was fairly priceless. “Tastes it too.”
Since I’d just taken my first bite too, I had to laugh and wipe my mouth with my napkin. “Maiden voyage. Next time, if it comes out this way we’ll just order pizza.”
“We do get a family discount from the best place around.”
So silly how even the words family discount made a nice little glow take root in my chest. “We do.”
“The potatoes are delicious though. And the green beans. You got more carrots than I did.”
I wrapped my arm around my plate as I continued to fork up veggies and he laughed.
“Guess you need them more, since you’ve barely gained an ounce yet.”
“Tell that to my ass.”
“Oh, I will. I’m hoping to see it up close and personal again soon.”
The man made it very hard to stay guarded.
And fully clothed.
We ate companionably as we talked about our days. Me working with Macy and learning more about what it was like to be on the opposite side of the counter at Brewed Awakening. Gage working with his brother and enjoying seeing what kinds of different cars came into the shop. He was talking about a sweet cherry red Chevelle he’d done some maintenance on when I finished my last bite of pot roast and let ‘er rip.
“It’s all right, you know.”
Gage poured more gravy on the last of the potatoes. He’d really seemed to like them, which helped to make up for the fail whale of my pot roast. “It was really good. Just the potatoes are my favorite part—”
“Not dinner.” I gripped my napkin and tried to remember my speech. Somehow I’d forgotten how to start it off. “You can just say it. I promise I’m prepared.”
He sat back in his chair. “Not so sure about that. It’s a big leap.”
“It is, and I want you to take it. You deserve it. After all the wins you racked up, you should have a big team behind you and a chance to be at the top of the points standings once again.”
His mouth tightened. Instead of thanking me for my considerate response, he tilted his head. “You know about points standings?”
“I’ve been doing my research.” All things told, it was more pleasant to read about hot racing dudes than it was to bone up on hemorrhoids, thickening mucus, and swollen ankles. “You were a pretty huge fish. What the hell are you doing here?”
“Did it ever occur to you I want to be here?”
“Yeah, because it was a lark. I get that. You were bored with the same old, same old, but this has a chance to be something different. You can notch a place in history.”
“I already have a place in history, baby.” The lazy way he said it should have annoyed me, not make my panties wet.
Pregnancy hormones were detrimental to me standing strong.
“Yes, but that’s yesterday’s news.” I tried to pretend I didn’t see how his brows beetled together. I knew that sounded bitchy, but couldn’t he see that I was trying to be the bigger person here? “You know how quickly the public forgets you if you don’t stay front and center. Do you really want to bypass an opportunity to be on top again? Possibly bigger than you’ve ever been before?”
He took his time answering me. So long that I knew whatever he had to say would be a doozy.
I was right.
“I had a buddy who didn’t come back from a race one time. Car behind him clipped him and he bumped the car beside him and next thing any of us knew, he crashed into the wall.” Gage’s voice was hollow in a way I’d never heard before. “This was before any of the new security measures were put into place, but still. He had a kid. A wife. His whole life ahead of him.”
I wanted to take it all back. No. Don’t go. Don’t take the chance.
