And yet, even while she saw how potentially dangerous that was, she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.
“Alright, where do you live?” she asked, turning down the heat. It might only be March and still crisp, but she was burning up from the inside out.
“In those town houses off of Singleton Road right by the Harris Teeter. Where do you live?”
Kendall thought it was a damn miracle they’d never run into each other at that grocery store. Not that she cooked. “I live across the street in that apartment complex. Literally right across the street.”
“It does have a small town feel here, doesn’t it?”
“It’s more like you can’t go five feet without tripping over someone involved in stock car racing one way or the other.”
“Does your family still live here?”
“Yep. My parents are in the same house out in the sticks. My sister Kyle is a nurse, and my sister Kaylynn is a kindergarten teacher. They have six kids between them.” Enough kids to keep Kendall from feeling the urge to procreate herself, and enough kids to keep their mother off Kendall’s back for that very same reason. Sort of. Well, not really.
“Damn. It has been a while. Your sisters were younger than you.”
“As my mother reminds me as often as possible. How are your parents?”
“Good. Great actually. They’re having a grand old time being stepgrandparent’s to Tammy’s kids. I guess it was no surprise to any of us that Elec got hitched first, but his bride came with a ready-made family. My mother better enjoy it. I don’t see Eve or me following suit any time soon. Or ever.”
Kendall refused to question why his anti-marriage stance would bother her, but it did. “I’ve seen Elec with the kids at the track. He’s a good stepfather.”
“He took to it like a fish to water.” Evan suddenly tapped her hand on the gearshift as she drove. “Nice car, by the way. I like watching you drive.”
Lord, she was blushing in the dark. “You’ve seen me drive plenty of times. And this isn’t even a race car.”
“No, it’s sexier than that. It’s you relaxed, yet in charge.”
She had no idea what to say to that, but she couldn’t help but press the gas pedal just a little harder to feel the speed, show off just a touch.
“Hey, you remember how we used to race on that old dirt track on Route 3? God, I haven’t been there in years.”
“Of course I remember.” She remembered every minute of every day she’d spent with Evan. They had laughed a lot racing around the track, and they had fooled around a lot as well, in the back of his old Ford. Funny how she thought back and they both seemed so young, so free, so immature, yet at the time she would have sworn she was all grown and then some. “It’s no surprise you haven’t been there. You’ve been a little busy.”
“We should go there. Right now.”
“What? Why the hell would we do that?” Kendall chanced a glance at him. She recognized that sound of enthusiasm. Evan had been an impulsive teenager, and it seemed he hadn’t changed in that regard.
“For old times’ sake. We’ll take a spin around the track. This car can handle it.” He gave her a charming smile. “Come on . . . What are you, chicken?”
“That only works once a night.”
Kendall braked at the intersection and told herself to hold firm. It was idiotic to go running off to an abandoned dirt track at eleven at night with Evan Monroe.
“Come on, please? It’s been a really shitty day, Kendall.”
Something about his tone had her turning to look at him.
“I lost my sponsorship today.”
Her hand jerked on the gearshift. Holy shit. “Are you serious?”
He nodded. His eyes were unreadable in the darkness, but she could see his jaw was set, even as he shrugged in nonchalance.
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry. That sucks. What happened?”
“Underperformance. Tough economy. Don’t worry, I’ll work it out. But today is a bad day. And I’d like to go sit on that dirt track with you if you don’t mind.”
Like she could say no to that? “Of course.” She changed lanes and turned right, heading away from the storefronts and condos. They drove in silence for a minute, then she asked, “Does anyone know?”
“Just you, me, and Eve. And of course, the suits who pulled the plug. But by tomorrow everyone will know.”
Kendall was touched that he had shared that with her. She knew how she would feel if she were in his shoes. Defeated, frustrated, like she were going backwards. It was a tough business, with very few at the top. “Sponsorship is a rough aspect of this business. We need it, yet how much of it controls us? I mean, it was inevitable that I got a female deodorant as my sponsor. I’m a woman, they want me to sell product for women.”
“Calling attention to the very thing you’re trying to avoid.”
“Exactly.”
“No one is going to forget that you’re a woman, Kendall. You might want to consider embracing the edge it gives you.”
Part of her bristled instantly, but then she thought about what he was saying. “Don’t you think that’s a sellout?”
“We’re all sellouts. We have to be. And I will take the next sponsor who offers to pay my way, even if its diapers or sexual lubricants. It’s business, not personal.”
Kendall snickered. “I don’t think we’re going to see a lube car anytime soon. Though if we did, I would probably get it. A hot pink and purple car with a giant phallic-looking bottle all over the side.”
“And I’ll be driving the adult diaper car.”
“Not even baby diapers?”
“Hell, no. This is my horror fantasy. Totally the incontinence car.” He laughed. “Maybe I shouldn’t say it out loud, I’ll bring it on myself.”
Kendall pulled into the track road, her car hitting ruts and bouncing hard. “It will all work out, Evan, I know it will.”
There was a pause, then he said, “And if it doesn’t?”
That vulnerability in his voice squeezed her heart. “It will,” she said firmly.
He didn’t answer, just looked out the window and pointed. “Park it right along there, and let’s have a sit.”
Kendall parked, and they climbed out and moved around to the front of her car.
“Can I sit on the hood?” Evan asked.
She appreciated the respect. “Sure. This isn’t a special car. Just my everyday car.”