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CHAPTER THREE
THERE WAS SOMETHING different about Annie from the women he’d dated in the past. Since his parents’ deaths he’d kept a barrier between himself and other people? and she tempted him to drop it. “Fasten your seat belt.”
He was beginning to believe that asking her out was going to be one of the biggest risks he’d taken since he’d started sponsoring Tucker. She was breathtakingly beautiful in the bright lights of the parking lot, with her curly, black hair falling in smooth waves past her shoulders.
But it was more than physical beauty that drew him. She fastened her seat belt and put her hands in her lap, fingers laced tightly together.
He couldn’t explain why she was affecting him so deeply. Maybe it was seeing Tucker crash today. He realized that they were both mortal and no longer college frat boys with more guts than brains and a long lifetime ahead of them.
“Where are we going for dinner?” she asked.
“It’s a surprise.” He’d arranged a private dinner for them at a restaurant in Cocoa Beach. It was a forty-minute drive from Daytona.
“I don’t like surprises,” she said.
“You’ll like this one.” He hoped she liked it, and he wanted some privacy for their first date together. He wanted them away from the press that followed the drivers, team owners and their families. And getting out of Daytona seemed the best way to do that.
“You are cocky and arrogant.”
He laughed, feeling good to be alive. It was one of the rare moments in a life filled with monotony. “Hey, I thought you didn’t know me.”
“Traits like those can’t stay hidden,” she replied.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice,” he said.
“I’m very observant.”
“Is that why you are a photographer?”
She shrugged. “Partly.”
He thought she was pausing to gather her thoughts, but as the minutes passed and she said nothing else he realized she was going to leave it at that.
He started the car and put down the convertible top. “Do you mind?”
“No. I like the fresh breeze.”
“What else do you like?”
“Hot pretzels, Stevie Wonder and watching my brother win.”
He backed out of the parking lot. “So what about arrogant men? You must like them, too.”
“Not like so much as learn to put up with them.”
“Who do you put up with?”
“Dave and my dad?they both think they know what’s best for everyone.”
He glanced over at her and sensed there was more to her comment than she was saying. He wondered if knowing her down to the bone was going to be a good thing. But he knew himself well enough to know that he wasn’t going to be satisfied until he’d uncovered all of her secrets?every last one of them.
And he couldn’t do that without revealing parts of himself that he normally didn’t like to share.
“I’m a rank amateur compared to them. I only know what I like and what I want.”
“So you’ll like this surprise dinner and think I will, too.”
“Something like that,” he said.
He headed south out of Daytona with the top down on the Aston. The cold Florida breeze filled the car as did the scents of the ocean. He saw Annie start to shiver so he turned on the heater, pumping the hot air from the vents.
“Word around the track is that this is your first race in a few years.”
“That’s right,” she said, wrapping one arm around her waist.
“What have you been doing?”
“I’ve been working for Sports Illustrated and other sports magazines.”
“What do you cover?”
“Mainly racing,” she said. “It’s what I know. My dad always says that racing gets in your blood and I have to agree with him. Even though I’m not part of the family racing business anymore, I still wanted to be at the tracks.”
“The U.S. racing circuit?”
“No. I’ve been in Europe for a while.
“The F-1 circuit in Europe?” he asked.
“Not really,” she said and pointedly changed the conversation to Lance Maxwell, the driver who’d won the race today. Lance drove for Jenner Racing and was a teammate of Dave’s.
He wished this weren’t a first date, then he would have been able to push harder and find out what she was hiding. Whatever had taken her to Europe was definitely something she wanted to hide. And that just whetted his curiosity. But he knew better than to push past barriers that people put up in conversations.
He’d learned that lesson the hard way when he’d let a reporter push him into talking about his parents’ deaths.
THE MEAL WITH JARED was relaxed and fun. He’d kept the conversation light talking about books and movies that they’d read and seen. He was genial and self-deprecating and he put her immediately at ease.
