Page 32 of Off the Mark
Charlie arched a single eyebrow and tapped the first page in my notebook. “Having spent two years watching you flirt your way through the women of Sweetwater, I wasn’t expecting you to need to take notes. Did I pick the wrong guy for this ill-advised scheme?”
My answering smile was wicked. “You picked the perfect man and you know it, Maddox. But since I’ve never been a boyfriend before, I figured I should prep as much as I would before a game.”
She scrutinized me over her beer, thetake no shitexpression I’d seen her send burly bikers who were rude to her at Jolene’s out the door with their tails between their legs. It was a look of blazing defiance, one that saidtouch me and die, asshole.
Being on the receiving end of it always made me hard as a rock.
Though that wasn’t the only reason I was currently gripping my glass as tight as a two-seam fastball. Less than a foot separated us on our stools, bringing me much too close to a beautiful woman I now needed to desireless,not more.
She still wore her boots and racing pants, but her white tank top exposed more bronzed, tattooed skin than I could handle. Dirt smeared one cheek. Her knuckles were bruising around the bandages I’d applied. Blond hair fell from her braid in messy tangles, and she smelled faintly of dust, sweat, and sunscreen.
It made me want to press my face against her neck and breathe in all that sun-warmed skin.
My fragile willpower had been in tatters since I’d stepped on that racetrack and finally got to see her do what she loved the most—live, in action, not just on some screen.
Back at Jolene’s, whenever she was home from traveling for races, she would eventually offer up stories and updates. Even a video or two if most of the other patrons had gone and it was only us.
She was stingy about personal details with the majority of people who frequented that bar. Not me though. And I always had to work real hard to act normal whenever she did share a video from a race. Because watching her hurtle through the air on a damndirt bikelike it was the easiest thing in the world always made my chest swell with pride.
I would smile. Nod. Try not to say something likeyou’re the coolest person I know, and I think about you, like, a hundred times a day. Is that normal?
Charlie took a long sip of her beer, that scrutiny turning mischievous. “Ah, I get it now. My new fake boyfriend’s a rookie.”
I snorted. “In name only. Feel free to ask the women of Sweetwater. They’ll confirm I’m one hell of a quick study.”
She circled her finger through the air. “Sure. You’re good at sex.Supposedly. But since that’s not what I’m looking for, let’s get you some notes.”
I pulled the notebook back before she could grab it. “Hold up, Maddox. I was under the impression that you were something of a rookie in this department too. At least based on the microscopic amount of personal information you shared with me back during our bar days.”
“I’ve had…some boyfriends.”
“Some? What, like…two? Seven? Twenty?”
She hesitated. “They weren’t anything special. There was the guy I told you about the other day.”
“The shithead jealous of your talent?”
“Yep,” she said, smacking her lips. “One cheated on me. One was totally boring. One was bad in bed andnota quick study.” She winced like she’d caught a whiff of something foul. “A couple years ago I went on a handful of dates with this man who ended things because he wanted to be with a woman who had a career that was moregirly.” She flexed the fingers of her injured hand, wincing again. “I told him I thought being able to defy gravity on a bike was pretty badass and last I checkedgirlymeantbadass. Then I dumped my soda over his head and walked out.”
“Christ, you weren’t exaggerating,” I muttered. “Okay then, it’s settled. It’s my duty to be the world’s best fake boyfriend for the next three weeks to make up for those bargain bin assholes.”
She laughed, the sound low and sexy. It lifted the hair on my arms every single time.
“You’ve got a deal,” she said, picking up the pen. “You have my permission to give it your best shot.”
Charlie’s respect and trust had always been something earned, not freely given. So the fact that she’d asked me, of all people, to be her fake boyfriend for the positive media attention made me light-headed with want.
Until this very moment, I fully expected the whole thing to be some horrible prank.
But she’d shaken my hand and had agreed to my terms. Was now my pretend girlfriend for the next twenty-one days.
The personal and financial stakes were high for us both. Mistakes weren’t an option.
And that meant this precarious hold I had on my willpower was a problem I needed to fiximmediately.
I propped my elbow on the bar. “Ultimately, this is all about optics, right? What do you want people to think when they see us together?”
Charlie cocked her head, thinking. “I need an antidote to this idea that I’m unreliable. Too edgy. Unwilling to play by the rules.”
