“What would it take to convince you that I’m not that guy?”
She canted her head and looked up at him. “Did it ever occur to you that I might be that girl? That maybe I’m not looking for anything more than a brief, good time?”
“Yes, it did, the first second I met you. I hoped you were, actually. But then you made it clear you weren’t.”
She smoothed her hands over the front of his shirt. “Tommy, I didn’t like you very much when I met you. But for some reason, I willingly got into your truck and took a mini road trip with you. And it’s been fun. And I like you way more now than I did before we left.”
She paused, and he held his breath. He had no idea where she was going with this little speech, but he sure knew what he hoped she was about to say.
“I don’t want to ruin that. So let’s just enjoy ourselves. Let’s not read too much into anything today. Okay?”
He let out the breath he’d been holding and pursed his lips while nodding. Definitely not what he’d been hoping for.
***
By the time they reached his parents’ house, dusk was falling. Everyone was out in the backyard, sitting around a firepit, the flames from the surrounding tiki torches merrily dancing while they told stories and teased each other. A steady breeze kept the mosquitoes at bay.
It was home.
He and Camila pulled up camp chairs and joined the conversation.
Is it time?
Was it time to retire from racing?
This thought was followed by the most frightening question of all: what would he do with the rest of his life?
Chapter Ten
Tommy’s parents headed to bed first. Elliot and Maddy whispered and flirted, a teasing touch here, a wink there that positively screamed of their intention to hook up tonight.
Camila wanted to hook up, too.
She glanced at Tommy out of the corner of her eye. He slouched in his chair, a copper mug in one hand, the other resting on the armrest. He looked comfortable, although she could sense an edge of frustration about him, almost like the lines around his image were blurred.
Elliot and Maddy had momentarily put a hold on the endless seduction so that he and Tommy could fall into a deep discussion about motorcycle racing. They talked earnestly about Rogers’ track closing and how that would affect the championship circuit. She knew next to nothing about what they were talking about; she tuned them out and focused instead on this idea of hooking up tonight.
Was she serious? Had she honestly changed her mind about Tommy Bryant?
Okay, let’s be real. There wasn’t so much of a changing of mind as there was an internal decision to act on what her body had practically been begging her to do since the moment he opened the door when she first walked up to his parents’ house.
Which was crazy. She wasn’t looking for a fling. She wasn’t interested in a booty call. She didn’t want to have what she was certain was going to be the best sex of her life and then a few days later never see the guy again.
Was she?
Well, if she was considering sleeping with Tommy, that was most certainly exactly what she was interested in. Because there was no other option. He traveled for a living. He didn’t date; he slept with groupies. Maddy had told her he’d never even had an actual girlfriend before.
Thirty years old and he’d never had a long-lasting relationship. She should be running for the hills, not wishing her sister and Elliot would hurry up and decide it was late enough for them to retire to bed.
“Pretty sure Mom and Dad are asleep by now,” Tommy said. “It’s safe for you guys to sneak upstairs.”
“What are you talking about?” Maddy asked, doing a lousy job of feigning innocence.
“I’m talking about you”—Tommy pointed at Maddy, then moved his finger so that it hovered in front of Elliot—“and you slipping into probably your room”—he once again pointed at Maddy—“to spend some quality time together sans clothes.”
Elliot’s face went beet red while Maddy sputtered out incoherent words that were probably meant to be denials but fell far short.
“Oh for God’s sake, just go,” Tommy said with a huff.
Maddy hopped out of her seat and grabbed Elliot’s sleeve, and then they both muttered good nights before practically running for the stairs.
Once they were out of sight, Camila said, “I had no idea you were so encouraging of your brother’s sex life.”
Or had he realized her intent? He did have an uncanny knack for practically reading her thoughts, and her thoughts were decidedly not pure at the moment.
Tommy sank deeper into his chair and stared at the flames dancing in the firepit. “I didn’t want to talk about racing anymore.”
Oh. So he wasn’t reading her mind this time. Camila touched his hand. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry it’s affecting you so much.”
He lifted one shoulder. “Not your fault.”
“I know. But it still bothers me that you are so sad.”
He looked up then, those brilliantly blue eyes latching onto her, and for a moment, Camila forgot how to breathe.
“Thanks,” he said after a long pause.
Camila cleared her throat. “Do you want me to leave too?”
Shaking his head and shifting his attention back to the fire, he said, “No. Stay. Let’s just talk about something else.”
“Okay. Um, I’m thinking about a career change.”
He looked at her again, arching his brows, asking her to expand on that statement without actually saying
