A guy approached and began to talk so fast I barely caught more than a few words. Something about speed points and variation in road conditions. And then he departed again, and Jett opened my car door so I could enter.
“Hey, Jett, good luck, man,” someone yelled before Jett slammed the door and I felt suffocated by the smell of the expensive leather seats and blinded by the dashboard lights I would have admired under different circumstances.
Slumping into his seat, Jett closed the door and leaned forward to whisper in my ear, his fingers fastening my seatbelt. “If we crash or the car flips, you try to get out as soon as you can.”
He opened the passenger seat drawer and showed me a safety emergency hammer. “If the door’s stuck, smash in the windows. Under no circumstances stay inside, or near the car. Do you understand? You have exactly twenty seconds to leave. Now repeat.”
His eyes probed mine with an intensity that scared me.
“If anything happens, I’ll get out of the car as soon as possible.”
He nodded.
But how could I possibly leave him inside? That was when I realized what he was actually saying.
Save myself, leave him to his fate.
I grimaced. “In other words, if something happens to you, I’m to leave you behind? I can’t do that, Jett.”
“You have to,” he said, quietly. His eyes shimmered with a silent plea. “This car is fueled with high-explosive gas. If we crash and any of it leaks, it’ll explode. There won’t be time to save me. You do whatever saves you and our baby.”
Hell, no!
“It doesn’t have to be that way, you know?” I said. If anything happened, I knew I wouldn’t leave. I’d stay with him, no matter what.
“I’m just saying. We have to take the worst into account,” Jett said, misunderstanding me. He peered out the window as more cars arrived.
“Jett?” I touched his arm gently, trying my best to infuse confidence in him. “You’re the best driver I’ve ever met. We’ll be all right. I know it because I saw it in Italy. There’s no reason to think about risks and what could happen when I know what you’re capable of.”
“It is a risk, Brooke,” Jett said, slowly. “When I made that deal with Brian, I agreed to compete against his best man, but the truth is I haven’t been involved in this kind of driving for years. And he knows it. Compared to Italy, this is nothing.”
That didn’t sound at all like Jett. His doubts about himself didn’t make sense to me.
“People don’t unlearn their talents,” I said, softly.
“Look.” He let out a long impatient sigh. “I know you mean well, Brooke, but you don’t know Doug. Everything he knows, he learned from me. He knows all my tricks, my moves. And the fact he wasn’t retired these past few years gives him an advantage over me. Do you now understand why I didn’t want you to come along?” I nodded. “He’s better than me.”
“You don’t know that,” I protested. Jett was the best. Kenny had said so himself, and even without Kenny, I knew it in my heart. “Besides, it doesn’t matter. I still would have wanted to ride with you.”
No matter what.
He shook his head. He hadn’t just inherited the hotness gene; he had also inherited the stubbornness one.
“Even if I were the best, I wouldn’t want you in here. Your safety isn’t worth taking the risk.”
“What about my opinion?” I asked. “You never asked me.”
“Everyone has to make choices at some point,” Jett said. “I do what has to be done, not what I feel you want.”
“Look, this has nothing to do with want.” I raised my chin defiantly at the stubborn glint in his gaze.
We weren’t going to see eye to eye on this one, and that was fine. I didn’t have to agree on everything. But it would’ve been so nice.
“For me coming with you is the right choice, because it means we’re creating a new memory together regardless of the outcome.” I sucked in a deep breath as I struggled to find the right words. “Like you, I need to stay by your side because you mean everything to me. If you fall, I fall,” I whispered, repeating his words. “And if we fall, I’d rather we do it together. No exceptions, no regrets, and that’s a whole lot better than taking a chance and having to live without you.”
“You remember?” He turned slowly, his eyes penetrating my soul, absorbing my words. The love in his gaze reached my heart, coursed through my blood, and swirled inside my mind.
“Of course I do.” I nodded. “You asked me if I trusted you, and I can tell you in all honesty that I do now.”
His eyes twinkled brighter than the stars dotting the night sky.
“You have a problem trusting my dedication to you, but you trust me in a life-and-death situation?” he asked in disbelief. His delicious lips twitched at the corners. I couldn’t help but smile because it was the truth.
I wanted to reply when his brows shot up. I followed his line of vision and saw Brian signaling something before heading back to his car.
“Three minutes left,” Jett said, his attention turning back to me. His hand lingered on my face as he brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes. “You’re like no one I’ve met before,” he whispered.
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
“It sure is.” He smiled, revealing a pair of gorgeous dimples to die for. “I like that you trust me. I can work with that.”
He cupped my face, his thumb stroking my skin as he leaned in to kiss me, his tongue meeting mine in a tender embrace. It barely lasted a few seconds, and yet it was the best kiss of my life.
“I truly believe you’re the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me,” Jett said softly, “and there’s nothing I’d ever change about you. You know that, right?”
He kissed me again. It was only when he leaned back to pull on his gloves and turn the key that I realized our kiss might have been our last.
Chapter 24
IT WASN’T THE roar of Jett’s car, nor the fired shot signaling the start of the race what sent my intestines into icy knots. It was the moment a black car pulled up next to us that I knew the time had come.
The passenger window rolled down, and Doug’s gaze met mine. He was in his early twenties, with blond curly hair that fell into his blue eyes. His features were roughened, and his posture was confident. But what made me wary was the self-assured smile on his lips. It wasn’t so much a smile as a smirk. Jett nodded and let out a low chuckle. In that instant I knew. Two men engaged in a battle of egos equaled a hell of a ride. And I was trapped inside this nightmare with no way out. Jett sped up and changed gears, the muscles in his arms straining. He didn’t seem bothered by the way Doug’s car kept coming too close—or that Doug bumped into our car when he overtook us shortly before we reached the first cross-point.
Someone made a hand signal. Doug turned to the left and Jett followed. I expected Jett to swear, but instead he hit the pedals harder and we sped off. No signs of his nervousness. My fingers buried in the armrest when the tires hit a bump in the road and I shot forward against the seatbelt. I wanted to scream, but the sound remained trapped in my throat. Jett needed my support. He needed my trust, because doubt and fear would take us nowhere.
But fear choked me, made me gasp for air and wish I’d never have to set foot in a car again.
I hated the way the car kept jerking after each bump and the engine roared like it might be about to draw its last breath. Every muscle in my body hurt, and my mind was spiraling into a giant hole of panic. Each second felt like an eternity. At the second cross-point, Jett overtook Doug. Adrenaline pulsed through me as I realized we still had a chance to win. Jett knew what he was doing, and his focus gave me courage. We were so close. So near I could already see the headlights of countless cars marking the finish line. Soon my ordeal would be over.
I recognized Brian’s blue Ferrari in the distance. He was leaning casually against his car, the lights illuminating his features. We were almost there, barely a hundred feet. Fifty feet. But Jett didn’t slow down. He was going way too fast. If he didn’t stop in time, we’d crash into Brian’s car.
“Slow down,” I shouted. He didn’t acknowledge my command. Was he so high on adrenaline that he didn’t realize what was about to happen?
“Jett!” I screamed, bracing myself. “You’re going to kill him.”
“It’s okay.” He didn’t seem affected in any way. My heart dropped. In horror I watched Brian jump out of the way. Just in time, Jett swerved the wheel and drove past his car and the finish line.
“Serves him right for dragging you into this,” he mumbled, and hit the accelerator again.
I shook my head at his stunt and let out a sigh of relief that nothing bad had happened. And we were the first to reach the finish line, meaning we had won. I turned to Jett. His fingers remained clenched around the steering wheel.
“Where are you going?” I asked, frowning.
“Back to the city.” His calm tone, which I suspected was supposed to comfort me, only managed to alert me.
Why would he drive all the way back to the city when we were supposed to pick up his award or whatever?
I narrowed my eyes. “I thought you were going to stop. You said so yourself.”
“Yes.” He dragged out the word, not looking at me. “Once it’s over. The race isn’t finished yet.” He took a left onto the main road. In the distance stretched out the illuminated highway and the New York skyline.
“What do you mean?”
“The rules are: whoever arrives first, wins.”
“What?”
He wanted to drive all the way back through the city? Through the traffic to the warehouses? How the hell would he win without getting a speeding ticket? Or worse yet, becoming famous on national TV? In my mind, I could already see a helicopter circling over us, relaying the news that a driver had run amok, and people being warned to stay off the streets. We’d be all over national TV. So much for keeping a low profile.
“But—” I shook my head, realizing the finish line was the warehouse and we were taking a detour. What he was about to do was crazy. I checked the rearview mirror. Doug followed closely behind.
“You thought it’d be that easy?” Jett asked, answering my unspoken question.
“You call that easy?” I muttered. “I’d say crazy, insane even.” I clasped my hand over my mouth. The truth crippled me. Apparently, Jett had every intention of continuing this madness through the busy streets of New York City. “Oh, God.”
“I warned you,” he said. We overtook one car and then another. After a few minutes Jett hit the brakes. We slowed down to below the speed limit. I shot Jett a confused look. Doug drove past. Jett didn’t seem to notice. When we halted in the middle of the road, I knew something was wrong. As much as I wanted to believe Jett had stopped because of me, I couldn’t shake off the feeling he’d never give up.
“What are you doing?” I asked. Doug disappeared in the distance. Judging by the way he wound his way through traffic, he’d either crash or win. Cars stacked up behind us, but Jett ignored them—and me.
