Page 19 of Midnight Racers

Her lips pursed together for a moment. “All I ever wanted was to be part of the team. Some of my happiest memories from my childhood was in that garage.”

I braced my hip against the counter. “And then we become adults and life kicks us in the ass.”

“Something like that.” She tucked the hair that had come loose from her messy bun behind her ear. “Let me show you what I learnt on the IndyCar circuit and how they set their cars up.”

I gave her my full attention and found myself falling into a technical world that I clearly had no idea about. We were no longer in the realm of cars and engines, but of feats of engineering that added a dash of magic to ensure the weight was correct and everything was nicely packaged inside the car.

My pipedream was drifting away with every passing second because there weren’t enough spanners in this place to get this project on track.

“Well, now that my dream is in tatters, why don’t we get some dinner?” I said, stretching since I had been hunched over for a while.

“There are a lot of positives with your car,” Charlotte said. “It’s just generic and basic. You need to start to customise it to your driving skills.”

“Hmmm. We can look at it again when it’s daylight since we’ve been here hours.”

“Is it okay if I order in some stuff for this project? Jordan had only authorised me for the other rally cars.”

“Yeah, I’ll sign it off.” I trailed my fingers through my hair. “Just let me know what you need. You have my number since you were able to ring me the other night.”

“Okay.” Her head dipped again.

“Let’s go get something to eat, I haven’t eaten since breakfast.” I could see the indecision in her expression-filled eyes. “We all need to eat, Charlotte, I would be a terrible boss if I kept you here all day and didn’t let you have dinner.”

She laughed and shook her head as she moved to the locker room to leave her overalls in. She re-emerged a few minutes later in tight blue jeans and a strappy pink T-shirt. She was pulling a black jacket on as she walked out the door. Her hair was loose again since she had released it from the restraint that had been failing earlier.

“So where does everyone eat around here?” Charlotte asked.

“There isn’t much out here, but there’s a little diner further out that does an all-day breakfast,” I replied, leading her outside.

I hadn’t brought my bike today, my Porsche instead parked in my space around the back.

Charlotte whistled lowly. “You do seem to have good taste in bikes and cars.”

“We all have our vices,” I said. “Some people default to drugs or alcohol. I tend to prefer fast wheels.”

I slid in behind the steering wheel and waited for Charlotte to get in. “Nice interior. Looks like you prefer to travel in luxury.”

“We didn’t have much when I was little,” I replied. “So, when I started to work, I insisted on trying the better things in life. Jay saved my life a few years ago and we became friends overnight. He taught me that you should never limit yourself in life. Before him, I believed I had to prove myself, but now the only person I need to compete against is me.”

I felt her gaze boring into me. “Sounds like a nice way to live.”

I shrugged one shoulder. “What’s the point in regrets? More often than not, you’re still beating yourself up and the other person barely remembers your name.”

“Maybe there’s a lesson in there for all of us,” she whispered before turning to look out of the window.

Wendy’s was a little restaurant in the middle of nowhere that tended to only be frequented by the people in the local area. Probably because no one else actually knew that it existed.

“Flynn.” She came out from behind the counter to hug me. “I was beginning to worry where you were!”

Wendy mothered all her clientele. The first time she hugged me I’d been embarrassed, but now I was used to it. Her restaurant seated around twenty people, and the guys who worked back at the factory tended to come here once or twice a week.

“I was helping Jay out and haven’t been up here lately.” I stepped back and found Charlotte watching me in amusement. “This is Charlotte, she’s joined our team.”

“About time you had a woman working there.” Wendy engulfed Charlotte in a hug, her arms sticking out like a Christmas tree as her eyes found mine to plead with me for help. “Too much testosterone is not good for a working environment.”

Wendy released Charlotte and led us to a small table. “I will get you a pot of coffee since I know you have caffeine in your veins instead of blood.”

I smiled at her retreating form.

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