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“Will you have dinner with me?”
“No,” she said. “I’m having dinner with a photographer friend of mine.”
“How about later?” he asked, trying to come up with some time that would work for him. “After dinner?”
She shook her head.
“Why not?”
“Because I haven’t seen Abby in six months and she and I tend to talk all night when we get together.”
Well, then that was that. He had the feeling no matter what he suggested she was going to be busy.
“Are you going to forgive me for this?” he asked.
“I’m thinking about it.”
“Just thinking?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m not sure I want to let things move beyond this casual stage with you.”
“Why not?”
She glanced up at him, her eyes wide and intent. “I just had a glimpse of how complicated our dating is going to be.”
“Complicated isn’t a bad thing,” he said, unwilling to let her go.
“We’ll see.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE ROAR OF THE ENGINES and the bustle of energy in the garage area as the drivers got ready to qualify made for an electric atmosphere. Annie pushed all her thoughts about Jared out of her mind and focused instead on the one world where she was always at home. She lifted her camera to her eye and shot her brother’s car in slow motion racing around the track.
The officials had checked over Tucker’s car and allowed him to place the tape over his engine again. But he was off as he went out on the track to qualify, posting the fifteenth fastest time.
When it was Dave’s turn he blew past Tucker’s time? and everyone else who’d qualified?to take the pole.
Annie met him back in the garage with her camera still up. She was capturing life around her, yet keeping herself safely insulated from it.
Through her lens she saw something in her brother’s eyes that she’d often noticed in her father’s?especially those photos of him when he’d still been driving. It was the glimmer of a winner.
“Great run, Dave.”
“Thanks, kiddo. Where were you earlier?”
“Having lunch, why?”
“Stevie was asking about you.”
“We’re catching up for a drink later at the prerace block festival. I think he’s singing.”
“Good. You know he’s single again.”
“Please tell me you are not matchmaking.”
Dave shrugged.
“He’s not into commitment,” she said, pointing out the obvious to her brother. Stevie was on the road fifty-one weeks a year. He liked the rock ’n ’roll lifestyle of traveling and dating a different woman each week. But Stevie was a lot of fun and totally devoted to only one person in his life?his six-year-old daughter.
“You’re not looking for commitment, either, are you?” Dave asked, scrubbing his hand over his face where sweat was dripping.
“Maybe,” she said, looking for an excuse to escape the garage area and her brother.
“Then why the hell are you dating Jared?”
“Stop it, Dave. He’s a nice guy,” she said, though she wasn’t really sure that Jared was. She thought that he had the potential to be a nice guy if he’d let down his guard…something she wasn’t sure he’d ever do around her.
“Hey, cousins,” Alan Jenner said, coming up behind her. He wrapped one arm around Annie’s waist and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. He was six foot two inches tall and solid muscle. He was also the general manager for Jenner Racing.
“Nice time today, Dave,” he said.
“Thanks,” Dave answered.
“You two look pretty intense. Is everything okay with your dad?”
“Yes. Dave was just trying to set me up with a friend of his.”
“Why? I thought you’d sworn off men,” Alan said.
“I was joking when I said that.” She needed to get out of here. The last thing she needed was the two of them?
“Who’s she dating?”
“Jared MacNeil.”
Alan’s eyes narrowed. He was two years older than she and Dave and they’d practically grown up together. “We’ll see about that.”
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Dave stated.
“Leave it alone, boys.”
They didn’t say anything else but changed the subject to the prerace events that were planned for later that evening. Annie walked away from them knowing that they wouldn’t change their minds because she asked them to.
And she wasn’t exactly sure where she was heading with Jared. After their lunch he might have decided that he wasn’t going to pursue her, either.
In the alleyway between the garages and the haulers she took a few candid photos of the fans. She got her focus back on the job she had to do and away from the men in her life who were trying to make her crazy. She walked out of the garage area and down pit road.
