Page 57 of Fast & Reckless
“I do now. But at first? I just wanted her gone. So anyway, there I was, prowling race tracks in various foreign countries, angry at everything and looking for a distraction.”
“And you found Brody.”
“He found me, actually. I’d snuck out with this girl from Logistics to go dancing in this club in Barcelona. I wasn’t looking for trouble. I just wanted to dance.”
For a second, she was blindsided by the memory of that night in Melbourne, dancing with Will. That had been the first time she’d gone dancing since Barcelona. Funny, it had ended in a kiss, too. But she was coming to realize that magic moment with Will on the dance floor in Melbourne was light years away from what had happened with Brody. Because it wasn’t about the dancing and the kiss. It was about the man.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed forward. “Anyway, he came over to me, bought me a drink, told me he’d seen me around the track. He talked to me like another adult. He flattered me. He told me I was beautiful … sexy. It was nice, being treated like a grown-up.”
“So far nothing you’ve told me sounds the least bit your fault.”
“Getting to that. I might have felt like I was being so grown-up, but I still had sense enough to keep it a secret. Dad would freak. Even setting aside the age difference, Brody drove for a rival team.”
“Ouch.”
She flinched. “I know. It was so shitty.”
“Hey, no, that’s not what I meant. I meant for you, being put in that horrible position by someone who knew better.”
“I knew better, too. I lied to everyone, all for him. And the lying wasn’t even the worst of it.” Swallowing hard, she braced herself for the next sordid tidbit. “He was engaged.”
She half-expected Will to turn on her at this point. God knows, she’d beaten herself up over it enough. But he held tightly to her hand and he didn’t seem to be making a move to flee, so she soldiered on. “In my meager defense, he told me he wanted to end it with her, but she was really unstable. It was Lulu Heatherington. You know her?”
“The actress? Yeah, I’ve heard of her.”
“He said she was this emotional basket case and he wanted out, but he was afraid it would push her over the edge and she’d kill herself. I bought the whole story. I actually felt sorry for her. And I thought he wassucha great guy, trying to do the right thing by Lulu, even when he didn’t love her anymore. I was such an idiot.”
“You weren’t an idiot. He was a fucking liar.”
The venom in his voice surprised her and she twisted to look at him. “But he was engaged. And I just blew that off.”
Will closed his eyes and blew out a frustrated breath. “Mira, that had nothing to do with you.”
“But—”
“No, he was the adult with the commitment. You were the kid. And heliedto you. None of this was your fault.”
She’d been so afraid of him learning the truth, afraid he’d think the worst of her. She should have known better.
“So what happened? Did your dad catch you with him?”
“That would have been far too easy. Some paparazzo caught us making out in a bar. Brody’s a bottom-feeder in Formula One, but he’s a pretty big deal in Australia. By the next morning, it was all over all the internet. Have you ever walked through a room knowing every single person was talking about you?”
Will cocked an eyebrow. “Well, actually—”
She let out a burst of shaky laughter. Only Will could make her laugh at a time like this. She shoved his shoulder with her own. “Of courseyouhave, but not like that. Like … like they all know something terrible about you, and you have no idea what it is.”
She would never forget that feeling. It was like the worst anxiety dream she’d ever had, except she couldn’t wake up from it. Everywhere she looked as she walked across the paddock that morning, people were staring, pointing, whispering … abouther. Then she’d heard his name, “Brody,” murmured in her wake and sheknew.
One internet search on her phone was all it took to bring the whole house of lies crashing down on her head. The picture was bad enough, but they’d also found out who she was. Lennox team principal Paul Wentworth’s teenage daughter. She’d fought back nausea as she’d read what they were saying about her.
Desperate racing groupie.
Trackside Lolita.
Home-wrecking teen.
And those were just the articles themselves. The comments were her first peek at the true ugliness hiding in people’s hearts.
