Stop staring at his legs, she scolded herself. But her eyes drifted upward, taking in his thigh muscles. And his arms. The tee shirt had short sleeves, so she could see the bulging muscles in his arms. The triceps twitched every time he turned the wrench, mesmerizing her.
Blinking hard, she forced her gaze away and peered in the direction he’d pointed. There was a box filled with headphones and other strange equipment, a tangled mess of speakers and wires and odd things poking out of the box that didn’t seem to have anything to do with headphones.
She walked over and pulled at something that looked like a single headphone set, unraveling the wires to release the headset. “What am I timing?”
“Me,” he said as he swung his leg over the motorcycle, kicked the stand out of the way and revved the engine. Sliding the helmet back over his head, he glanced over at her, nodding towards the headsets again.
Quickly, Kinsley put the headphones on, then stepped closer when he motioned for her forward.
He reached out to adjust the microphone, his touch making her skin tingle, then flipped a switch under her right ear. She shivered, and tried to pretend she hadn’t.
“Can you hear me now?”
His deep, sexy voice came right through to her ear. She nodded, feeling that tingling sensation envelop her.
“Say something so that I can test your microphone, to make sure that you’re connected to me as well.”
Despite the rumbling of his motorcycle engine, Kinsley could hear him clearly through the head set. “Is this okay?”
He grinned and winked at her. “Perfect.”
Kinsley managed not to shiver again, but it was more of a struggle than she’d care to admit.
When he finally turned away, Kinsley breathed a sigh of relief.
Her relief was short-lived as she watched Lincoln speed off down the track. “Time the laps, Kinsley,” she heard through her head set. “Make sure that you capture the time as I go over the yellow line on the track.”
Kinsley looked in the box and found a stopwatch, carefully untangling the cord. “Okay, ready. Tell me when to start.”
A chuckle echoed through the connection. “How about when I rounded that last corner.”
“Too late,” she shot back, grinning at his playful tone.
“That’s not very efficient, Kinsley.”
She shook her head, smiling even though he couldn’t see her. “Listen, buddy, I’ve been threatened by about ten different people this week because I wouldn’t let them talk to you. So don’t even try to intimidate me now.”
“Who threatened you?” he asked.
The question sounded conversational, but Kinsley heard a note of anger as well. “Don’t worry about it,” she replied, glancing up at the man speeding across the racetrack, then back down at the stopwatch. “I handled it.”
“Give me a name, Kinsley,” he growled.
“What are you going to do? And would you please slow down? You’re heading into that corner too fast!”
He laughed again, and sped up. In fact, he took the corner so fast, and angled the motorcycle so low as he leaned into the turn, that she held her breath in alarm.
“I’m fine,” she heard him say when he came out of the turn. “Give me a name.”
“Concentrate on what you’re doing. I’m timing your laps.”
He laughed again, and stopped interrogating her. Hopefully, he was concentrating on what he was doing. Unfortunately, so was Kinsley and every time he came up to the U of the race track, he seemed to be going faster, taking the corner at a slightly deeper angle. It terrified her every time, but she forced herself to capture the lap times.
After about forty-five minutes, he drove up to where she was standing, and trembling, and took off his helmet. “What do you think?”
She glared at him. “What do I think?! I think you’re insane! I think you need to slow down! I think you almost –”
He chuckled. “I’m fine, Kinsley,” he assured her. He bent over the motorcycle and the sight of those strong muscles flexing under his jeans made her mind sputter to a stop. He straightened up, something in his hands, and looked back at her. “You don’t know this yet, but I’m very careful.”
He walked over to the box and put something else in while Kinsley sputtered her surprise. “Careful?” She moved closer, tugging the headset off. “How in the world were you careful? You were speeding around that track at…like…fast!”
He laughed. “Were you worried about me?”
“Yes!” she yelled, throwing her hands in the air.
“Would you have been upset if I’d crashed?” He asked teasingly.
The blush that stole over her cheeks was enchanting. “Yes!” she replied, but not as vehemently. In fact, it was barely a whisper.
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