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The fine moved Dave to the bottom of the points in the top ten cup contenders. But he was back on his game in Dover, finishing second behind Tucker, and then beating Tucker in Kansas and Talladega. In Talladega, Tucker was in a wreck near the end of the race and was a DNF?did not finish.
Tucker and Dave were very close in the points and most of the forecasters were predicting one or the other of them would win the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Championship. But this week they were in Charlotte. Charlotte was the heart of NASCAR and where many drivers called home.
Jared brought Annie to his home, which was just down the mountain from Tucker’s. They went out on ATVs, driving through the woods, and then he invited her to join him at a prerace bonfire Tuesday night at Tucker’s house.
The autumn night was crisp and Annie looked cute in her tight jeans and the red fleece he’d given her for the chilly evening. She didn’t mix or mingle with many of the other women at the event but instead hung out with the guys, which was something he’d noticed about her from the first. She was more comfortable in the pit or the garage talking to the men about cars than she was with a group of women.
“Dave would flip if he saw her over there talking with my team,” Tucker said.
“You think?” Jared replied. “Her brother knows her pretty well. He’d know she’s not doing anything but chatting.”
“Is that all she’s doing?”
“What else would she be doing?”
“I don’t know. But someone has been leaking details of what Billy and I have been doing to the car. Stuff that only someone who has been in my garage would know.”
“Annie hasn’t been in your garage lately,” Jared said. He knew it for a fact because he’d made it a point to stay away from the garages and had noticed Annie doing the same.
“Yeah, I’d noticed that. So, do you think we have a spy?”
“I have no idea. Most of the guys on your team are new this year. But they are all aware that strategy is top secret.”
“Billy doesn’t think it’s one of our guys but he did admit there are a couple he wasn’t sure of.”
“How are you going to find out who the leak is?”
Tucker shrugged and took a drink of his beer. “I don’t know that we can. We’re just playing things even closer to the vest than before.”
Jared took a sip of his own beer as the sound of Annie’s laughter carried over to him. He glanced at her and felt his gut tighten. She was his.
“You spend a lot of time together with her?is she getting to you yet?” Tucker asked, reminding Jared that he wasn’t alone.
“I like it. I haven’t thought of moving on,” Jared said almost absently. “She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met before…Annie has some interesting ideas about what a home should be. She’s always cooking for me.”
“Can she cook?”
“Ah, not really. But that doesn’t seem to matter. It’s that she’s in there cooking.”
Annie came over to join the two men, her cheeks rosy from the fire. “What are you two talking about? You look so intense, not like you’re at a party.”
“Just guy stuff.”
“Oh, guy stuff. That either means women or cars.”
“As if I’d have trouble with women,” Tucker said. “And Jared has you.”
“Are you dating someone, Tucker? I thought Heidi was just a friend.”
“She is, Annie. And I’m not dating one special person.”
She tipped her head to the side and glanced at him. Jared stared back. “Were you talking about me?”
“I was telling Tucker about your cooking. Just saying what a unique experience it was to eat meals you prepared.”
“Ha. That’s not what you said this morning when I made that frittata and it wouldn’t come out of the frying pan.”
“What did you say, Jared?” Tucker asked, really not helping the situation.
Annie came to his rescue, looping her arm through his and leaning against him. “Nothing, he just laughed.”
“You shouldn’t feel bad?he’s had some of the best chefs in the world working for him over the years.”
“I think I feel worse now,” she said, with a fake pout.
Jared leaned down to kiss her, tasting the wine she’d been drinking all evening on her breath.
“I’ll leave you two alone.”
Tucker left them and Annie took another sip of her wine, smiling up at him. She was a little tipsy and he liked seeing this side of her. She was relaxed without the constraints she normally kept on herself.
He had the feeling she’d tell him anything when she was in this mood. “Are you having fun?”
