Page 19

Danger

“Are we allowed to be here?”

“Of course we are. I wouldn’t have brought you here if we weren’t,” I say to Monterey as we stand in the center of the speedway.

Everyone’s gone for the evening, although there’s still a few campers and trailers at a campground not too far from here. I’m not too worried about any company.

The security guard was a great help in getting us in here, and I’ll have to be sure to thank him with some autographed merch in the future. But for now, I’m here, at the one place I love more than anything.

A race track. It’s hard to believe that not only a few hours ago I was here getting into a massive wreck. You can still see a few pieces of debris from either my car or Mandarin’s.

“Any word on Mandarin?” I ask Monterey.

She pulls her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and checks the screen. She shakes her head. “No, nothing.”

“Why do you like racing so much?” I ask her as I take a seat right on the bench near the Pagoda.

She takes a seat next to me. “Well, kind of grew up around it, ya know?”

“I get your dad breathes racing, but you didn’t need to. You could have…” my words fade away.

She cuts in, “What, went shopping? I’m more than a pretty face, you know.”

“Who said you’re pretty?”

The look on her face is priceless and she doesn’t say anything. Although, I can tell she wants to.

I try to hold off my laughter as long as I can. “I’m kidding,” I let her off the hook. “You have to know you’re gorgeous. In fact,” I move closer. “You’re one of the hottest women I’ve ever seen.”

She nudges my shoulder with her own. “Oh please, you’re just saying that.”

“No, I’m not.” I blink. “You’re beautiful. And confident. And classy. And more importantly, smart. You’re the whole package.”

“Thank you. What about you?”

I crack a grin. “Well, we know I’m gorgeous.”

She laughs and I laugh along with her. “No, silly. Why do you race?”

I take a deep breath, wondering if I should tell her the truth. “The money.”

“Come on, I know that’s not true.”

“It’s sort of true.” I gaze up at the stars overhead. “When I left home I used to steal cars with this guy I met named Kav. And well, I realized I was pretty damn good at driving fast. So I started street racing. And it led to getting into Formula III racing, and it all snowballed from there.”

“The night I picked you up from jail, were you with Kav?”

“Yeah, he kind of raised me. I left home when I was twelve.”

“Oh my god, Danger. Why?”

I shrug. “Bad childhood.”

She doesn’t say anything, and I don’t expand on the subject, mainly because she would never understand. She breathes in deep and then lets it out. “I’m sorry you had a rough time, but what about your mother. She must have missed you?”

“She’s dead.”

“Danger, I’m so sorry.” She wraps her arms around me. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I let her hold me close, because I want her comfort. I crave it.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I suck in a breath, my usual answer on the tip of my tongue. ‘No, I’m over it.’ But, how could anyone ever be over it? I’m anything but over it. “When I was little, she’d bake cookies for after school. She really tried hard to be a good mom, even though she never could do the one thing a mother should do.”

“What’s that?” Monterey’s voice echoes, like she’s far away and I’m trying my best to get back to her. But the memories drown me, suffocating my existence.

“Protection.”

“Oh.”

I feel bad, I want to share more with her, but I can’t let go of the pain hidden deep inside me. And even if I did open up, what would she think of me? “Sorry, it’s just too painful to talk about.”

“I shouldn’t have pried.”

“There’s a lot about my past I don’t really like talking about.”

She holds up a hand, stopping me from saying anymore. “No, it’s ok. I get it. My mother died when I was really young.”

I meet her eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry. Here I am droning on about my mother when you went through the same thing.”

Monterey smiles. “The thing I hate most is I can’t remember what she looked like.” Her voice is laced with sadness. I recognize it easily. “I remember the way she smelled. She always smelled like fresh cut roses. I remember her laugh.” She stops talking, staring at her hands. “I remember her hands the most. The way she would hold me close.”

“Monterey…” my words fall away, not really knowing what to say. I couldn’t imagine not remembering my own mother.

Monterey wipes a tear away from her eye. “It’s ok.”

I reach over, holding her hand in mine. “It’s never ok. I can’t remember my mother’s eyes. I know they’re brown, like mine. I have pictures. But, I have a hard time sometimes remembering her actual eyes.”

“Time is a tricky monster. It makes us forget things easily.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Is time trying to trick us? Or make the memories less painful?”

Monterey contemplates my words for a minute. “Can I ask you one question?”

“Ask away.”

“Why did your mother name you Danger?”

I turn to face her, appreciating how the moonlight cascades off her shiny brown hair. “What makes you think she did?” She’s pretty out here, late at night with no worries on her beautiful face.

She stops smiling. “Did she?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“Oh, what’s your real name?”

I smile wide. “What do I get if I tell you?”

She swats me on the arm. “I’m not giving you anything.”

“No?”

Her eyes grow serious, and desire pools in them. “What do you want?”

I lean closer. I can almost breathe her in. “There’s so many things I want.” I capture her lips with mine.

She feels too good to stop kissing. I’ll admit a truth to you right now, I dig kissing this chick.

Her lips are soft, much softer than any I’ve ever felt before. There’s nothing more perfect in this moment.

I stare into her bright green eyes. “Dylan,” I whisper, not having said my real name in so many years. The last person to call me Dylan was my mom. And she’s gone now.

“I like that name.” Monterey’s smile could light the entire city. It’s really that powerful. I know another thing it could do… stop hearts.

Because I’m pretty sure mine just stopped beating there for a second.

My chest warms and I swear I can’t handle the emotions rolling through me so I do the only thing I can. I kiss her again.

And everything about my past I want to say to her falls away with the kiss. There’s so much I want to open up about, but I know I can’t.

She wasn’t raised like me.

She was raised in wealth, not filth.

We make out like teenagers who snuck out and are afraid of getting caught. I cop a feel over her shirt of each breast, and she pants short quick breaths as I do.

“Ready to get out of here?” I ask her.

She bites her bottom lip, not sure what will happen once we leave the track.

“Don’t worry,” I reassure her. “I’m not going to try anything tonight.” Even though I feel physically fine after the accident today, I don’t want to push my luck.

“Yeah, probably not a good idea. Besides, we have a busy day tomorrow.”

“We do?” I ask her.

“Yes, we have another charity event for the Carter Loves. They’re following the tour.”

“I still can’t believe I punched Cole Danforth.”

Monterey’s eyes meet mine. “Yes, you sure did.”

“Tomorrow night, see if you can get me a meeting with the two of them. I want to apologize to him.”

She nods. “Ok.” And then she rises to her feet, and I follow suit, swaying just a bit from the lightheadedness from standing up too quickly. “Are you ok?” she asks.

“Yeah, I’ve got tough skin.” And that’s probably the most true statement I’ve ever made.

We head to the hotel and Monterey’s exhausted by the time we get back.

When we’re at the actual race venue we share a room to keep up the ruse. I open the door, and she follows me inside.

“What are you going to do to stay awake?” she asks me.

“Shower and read, I guess. Don’t feel like you need to entertain me. You should get some sleep.”

She nods, heading into the bathroom to get ready. “Ok.”

I sit in the chair, grabbing the King James Bible from the hotel side table. And lucky me, I’m not struck by lightning.

I open it up, not really looking for much of anything and stumble across a verse that reads, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

I’ve been searching for something for so long that I don’t think I’ll ever find it. My mood turns sour as I try not to think about things I have no control over.

Tomorrow maybe I can get myself one step closer if I just ask.

* * *

Another black-tie affair and I still can’t figure out how in the world I got to this point. Driving a car. That’s it. And here I am able to drink champagne and eat caviar with the rich and wealthy. I almost feel like a sham.

Like if I hang out too long people will figure out I’m not who I say I am. That I’m just a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who has been playing a part.

I smile at all the right people with Monterey on my arm in a bangin’ red dress that goes all the way to the floor.

She’s quite possibly the sexiest woman in the room. No wait, she is the sexiest, by far.

“Rayna and Cole will meet with you after the first speeches,” Monterey whispers next to me.

“Thank you.” I kiss her cheek as the lines blur between faking it and the reality of it all. It feels like this is all too real. And I’m ok with that.

Thad’s across the room, and I do a nod with a smirk back at him. Fuck this guy. I’m not sure why he feels he has some claim over Monterey.

He doesn’t.

I know I don’t have a claim either, but this guy just makes me want to punch something. He brings out the worst in me. I have to make sure tonight I’m not punching Cole Danforth—again.

Luther, Mike and the rest of the guys hang around, and the pit crew looks out of place here. I almost want to laugh, but I probably look just as out of place, too.

But, no one really notices, and the cameras flash at me every so often.

And yes, I search for that motherfucker, to see if he’s here. The reporter. I never even caught his name. Or how he knows me.

I scan the crowd again, just to be sure, looking for his bright red hair and beard.

I walk around, listening to the speeches, not really paying attention to much of anything.

And then, it’s time for me to meet with Cole and Rayna.

“I want to apologize, man,” I say, reaching out my hand to shake Cole’s.

He smiles, shaking my hand back. “We all lose control every now and then.”

“It won’t happen again. I can promise you that.”

He leans in close. “Everyone loses it over the right woman.”

I want to explain to him that it isn’t like that at all, but I glance at Monterey across the room and my breath hitches tight in my throat. I do a little nod to her, and her face lights up with a smile.

Cole notices. “It happens to the best of us,” he says with a laugh.

I don’t really know what to say, and I don’t really have the time to ponder over my feelings for Monterey at this moment. I need Cole’s wife’s help.

I shake Rayna’s hand, and then we all sit down at a table near the back of the room away from all the noise and cacophony of the gala.

“I appreciate you both seeing me.”

“Monterey said you needed my help?”

“Yes, why yes I do.” The room fades away as I discuss the ins and outs of Rayna’s business with her. I don’t get too specific, but there’s things I’d like to understand about her charity.

Before long my eyes drift to the dance floor, and that’s when I see it… Thad dancing with my woman.

With his hand wrapped snugly around her waist.

I listen to the words Rayna’s telling me, and am amazed at how devoted she is to her cause.

“I know it’s mainly just runaway boys, right?”

“Yes, but I know many people in the industry and with child protective services. Here’s someone you can speak with.” She slides a card across the table and I pick it up.

“Thank you.”

“Just give him a call, and he’ll be able to help you.”

I plug the phone number into my phone and then I give Rayna my personal phone number in case she finds out anything else.

After thanking them again, I stand, ready to claim my woman out there on the dance floor.

“Oh and Danger,” Rayna says as her husband helps her out of her chair. “Just remember, many children go into the system and are never found again. But that doesn’t mean the same thing will happen in this case.”

I smile, because it’s all I can really do at this point. “Thank you, Rayna.” I shake her hand and then I shake Cole’s, with a nod.

Cole kisses his wife on the cheek and I think back to his earlier words. I guess it’s true, falling for the right woman can change any bad boy.

And now, my mission’s on Thad.