Page 17 of Endurance

“Here we go…the moon, stars, and planets are aligning,” he teased.

“Oh, hush. I know better than to talk to you about this stuff. I should hang up now and call Gabby. She gets it.”

“Speaking of Gabby, I ran into her at the grocery store this morning. She mentioned that she has some vacation time she needs to use and was thinking about coming out to see you.”

I perked up, excited about a possible girls’ weekend—or maybe a whole week—with my friend.

“Really? When?”

“She wasn’t specific, but I got the impression it would be next month sometime. Call her and ask.”

“I’ll give her a buzz later after I talk to Dean. I’ll probably need her ear after I make the call to him.”

“I wish I could head out for a visit too, but my company recently picked up a project in Japan. I just found out I’ll be crossing the globe a lot over the next three months. It will be hard planning anything in between.”

Austin was an engineer who worked for a worldwide company that focused on everything from aerospace to defense systems. He frequently traveled for his job, but multiple trips to Japan were a lot—even for his company.

“What’s in Japan?” I asked.

“It’s an amusement park subdivision. The mouse is looking to expand again. Lots of new rides mean a shit-ton of hydraulics and motion control systems.”

“Sounds boring.”

Austin laughed but followed up with a sigh.

“Enough about me. Getting back to Dean—my feelings about him aside—I think you’re making the right decision. You just…I don’t know. You deserve better. I can’t explain it.”

“I hear you. And thank you.”

“Alright, I’ve got to run. I leave in a few days, and I’m not sure if I’ll talk to you before then. With the time difference and because I’m not sure where the hell I’m going to be on any given day, email is best if you need to reach me.”

“Will do. Be safe. I love you, brother.”

“Love you, too.”

After I hung up the phone with Austin, I went into the living room and sat down on the couch with my laptop. It wasn’t even noon yet, and I wanted to get a few hours of work in before calling Dean. I told myself it wasn’t stalling but prioritizing. A call to him would only distract me from accomplishing much of anything today, and it was better to do it later. After all, I’d come to California for one reason—to fix a client’s reputation. To do that, I needed to learn more about him.

Typing Sloan’s name into the search engine, Atwood Racing Enterprise was the first thing to populate. After only a few minutes of reading, I learned that Sloan had once been an intimidating force in the world of racing. He’d won multiple championship races and was the youngest driver to win three consecutively. He was more than just a big deal. When he’d said racing was everything to him, my search results showed me that was the understatement of the year. It was almost hard to believe I hadn’t heard of him until I was assigned as his rep.

After thirty minutes of reading, I found myself unable to stop staring at an image of Sloan on the screen. In the picture, he was decked out in his racing gear with his helmet at his hip. It was as if he were looking right back at me with those smoldering blue eyes. Desire burned hot in my belly, flipping and twisting like anxious butterflies.

Almost immediately, I felt guilty.

What am I doing?

I didn’t know how I could have such a strong attraction to a man I’d literally just met when, just a week ago, I thought I was in love with Dean. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. When I opened them, I knew I couldn’t put off the inevitable anymore.

Setting my laptop to the side, I picked up my cell phone from the coffee table and called Dean. As the phone rang, I began to feel the sting of tears. While I knew I was doing the right thing, it didn’t make the call any easier. This deserved a face-to-face conversation—not a phone call from thousands of miles away. I should have been honest with myself long before coming to California and broke it off with Dean months ago when I first started having doubts.

But, as the phone rang, I reminded myself once again that everything happens for a reason. It was time to end this chapter because I knew in my heart that Dean wasn’t meant to be my whole story. When he finally picked up after the fifth ring, I steeled myself for what I had to do.

“Dean, it’s me. We need to talk.”

6

Sloan

My head was still pounding. I should have gone back to bed after Kallie left, but there was no way I could sleep after what happened. I couldn’t stop thinking about the taste of those pouty, heart-shaped lips or the power and energy that seemed to radiate from her when she submitted to my kiss. When she’d abruptly pulled away, I found myself feeling foolishly stunned. Catching me off guard was rare, yet I’d nearly been knocked on my ass by an eccentric goddess who could make my head spin with just one look.

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