Page 49 of Naked

“Not even Scott Kaine?” A tall, well dressed man stopped beside her.

“Hello Elizabeth.” The movie star kissed her cheek.

I grinned. “Naw, I can handle this idiot.”

It was nice to see someone familiar, or at least the one celebrity that did hang around our locker room. “Hunter Holland. What the fuck are you doing here?” We performed the man-hug-handshake.

“How on earth do you two know each other?” Elizabeth looked back and forth between us.

“Scott’s brother is our best pitcher.” I explained.

“Huh,” she said again. “Well since you are in no danger of fainting, I’ll leave you two to catch up.

It was nice to have someone I kind of knew to hang out with for the rest of the day. For the record, I did not faint. Not even when Scott introduced me to five more huge movie and television stars. Strangely, by the end of the day, it almost felt normal for my favorite superhero to appear before me.

The day of the race everything felt even bigger. The same celebrities mingled around, but everyone was very aware that the real stars of the day were the drivers. Everyone had designated places to be at certain times, and for safety reasons, we needed to comply or we’d be asked to leave.

Plus, some of my teammates were here with their wives to watch the race. They were up in the grandstands and I was able to find them and say hi before all the crazy really got going down on the track.

Since I got my celebrity stalking out of the way the day before, I was able to take my seat at the back of the garage and enjoy watching Tilley work. I’d never been able to do it before because her work with the Mantas was behind closed doors during working hours sitting at a computer.

But here she was right in the thick of it all. I could see how she was part of the action, just like she said. It had never occurred to me, until this moment, how unusual my job was. My performance was always on display. Everyone could watch and critique how good or bad I was on any given day. Even my workouts were viewable by fans curious enough. Tilley has seen my work hundreds of times while this was only the second race I attended.

I could also see how focused, professional, and just plaingoodshe was at her job. It was incredible. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were on the line and she was the one pulling the strings. As it should be. She was the best.

It was obvious from the way Adam took her directions to the way the drivers listened intently, memorizing her information. The pit crew liked her.

That was the other thing that jumped out. With me she was curious and contemplative, and as we transitioned from friends to lovers, confused and doubtful.

I could see none of that now. She was decisive, forceful, and completely sure of her abilities. The crews jumped when she said to jump and the drivers never argued with her.

It was, in a word,hot.I couldn’t wait for her to win this race so I could take her back to the hotel andshowher everything she made me feel.

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