Page 21 of Endurance

Glancing back to where I stood waiting to push in her chair, Kallie smoothed her hands over her hips and sat down. She moved with devastating grace, her body wrapped in a satin dress meant for sin. Intense lust threatened to overtake me, so forceful it made me dizzy.

Shaking my head, I returned to my seat next to her, and an uncomfortable silence fell over the table—or perhaps I was the only one feeling awkward. I needed a minute to just fucking relax. I didn’t know what the hell was wrong with me. It was as if Kallie had put some sort of weird voodoo spell on me. Thankfully, our waiter was efficient and came over to take our drink orders relatively quickly.

“What can I get for you, Miss?” he asked Kallie. She glanced at me, then placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Mr. Atwood and I will just stick with ice water. Thank you,” she replied.

I blinked, not sure if I’d heard her correctly. I was about to speak up, but she squeezed my shoulder as if in warning. I looked at her curiously, and something about her expression compelled me to stay silent.

“And for you, Miss?” the waiter asked Rylee.

“I’ll have a Tom Collins.”

“And I’ll take a Sapporo,” Colton added. I eyed him questioningly, not realizing he was a fan of lighter Japanese beer. Colton shrugged when he caught my eye. “When in Rome…”

When the waiter walked away, I rounded on Kallie.

“What was that all about? Is there a reason I couldn’t order myself a damn drink?” I demanded a little too harshly. God only knew, the longer I sat at this table next to this spellbinding goddess, the more I felt like I needed one.

However, if Kallie was taken aback by my tone, she didn’t seem upset by it. She simply picked up her water glass to take a sip of it. I noted how graceful the movement of her hand was, never hesitating but fluidly gliding as it would have if I hadn’t just snapped at her. She raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow and eyed me knowingly.

“Do you see that guy sitting alone at the table over there?” She angled her head slightly, lifting her chin to the left. I turned to see who she was referring to.

“Yeah, I see him. What about him?”

“He’s a reporter.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s my job to know these things. Your every move is being scrutinized. If you want to fix your reputation, you’ll take my advice and drink water tonight.”

Colton glanced in the direction Kallie had motioned. Turning back to face us, he released a low chuckle.

“Oh, she’s good, Sloan. I recognize that guy. He’s a reporter from theRacing Beat. I’d keep this girl around if I were you. She’ll be able to clean up your image in no time.”

Kallie smiled and nodded her head knowingly. She didn’t look smug to be told she was correct but humbly confident in her ability to see things. I narrowed my eyes at her. A part of me wanted to signal the waiter back to the table and order double scotch on the rocks just to spite her, but another part of me knew she was right. The newspapers were having a field day with headlines about me, many of them speculating why I fell into a bottle after the crash. The last thing I needed was to give them more ammunition.

Still, there was no way I was going to let Kallie win this power play. Leaning in closer so only she could hear me, I asked, “Are you trying to fight with me?”

“No, why?”

“Because if you are, you should know it’s turning me on.”

To my satisfaction, her eyes widened, and her face flushed ten shades of crimson. The way it crept up her neck and blossomed over her cheeks was like catnip for my soul—addictive and immensely satisfying. But even more rewarding was the unmistakable flash of desire in those endless pools of green. Sitting back in my chair, I crossed my arms and allowed myself a moment to enjoy her discomfort.

Rylee cleared her throat. She may not have heard what I said, but she was not oblivious to Kallie’s recognizable blush.

“Yes. Well, speaking of your image, Sloan, let’s talk about tomorrow,” Rylee suggested.

“Fine. Let’s talk about it,” I agreed, choosing to accept the small victory over Kallie as I smugly—albeit begrudgingly—picked up my glass of ice water from the table and took a sip.

The two women dived right in. Colton and I barely got a word in edgewise. As I listened, I found out the two boys Rylee planned to bring to the track were new to The House, the place where the orphaned boys lived after losing their parents. While I’d met several of the boys staying at The House in the past, I was never introduced to the two who would be joining the photoshoot.

“Marcus has been with us for about six weeks,” Rylee said. “He’s ten years old and has been bouncing around in the system for years—that is until recently when a spot for him opened up at The House. His biological parents both died of drug overdoses.”

“Oh, that’s awful!” Kallie said regretfully with a shake of her head.

“I really hope we can bring him some stability. He desperately needs it. Eli is the other boy I’m going to bring. He’s nine years old and has been with us for about a month longer than Marcus. He’s been through a lot. His father is unknown, and his mother was a prostitute. She was murdered by one of her johns right in front of Eli.”

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