Page 46 of Full Throttle

Liam was a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. Even if the desire in her voice hadn’t betrayed her, Colby’s eyes told the entire story. It was crystal clear that she was attracted to him.

Having that knowledge was dangerous.

Colby pushed herself off the car then turned to lean inside the window to grab his helmet off the seat before taking tentative steps toward him.

Again, their eyes locked and held. Liam couldn’t turn away even if he wanted to. He was reasonably sure she couldn’t either.

Colby’s mouth went dry. She ran her tongue along her lower lip. That very act could also prove dangerous.

Liam followed the movement. It was then that he realized his own gaze had been left unguarded. His eyes probably mirrored Colby’s and most likely revealed more than he wanted them to.

“You’ll need this.” Colby’s voice was raspy as she lifted the racing helmet.

When he reached out to take the headgear out of her hands, the tips of Liam’s fingers touched hers. Colby felt as if she’d been singed, not only by his touch but by the raw and unvarnished attraction between them.

For all of about three seconds, they stood frozen in time until Colby finally broke eye contact.Girl! What are you doing? Be smart. You’ve worked too hard to get to this point to throw it all away.Colby took a step back.She cleared her throat.“We should probably get going. You have to climb in through the window. Doors to stock cars don’t open.”

Her insides screamed,Why, Lord? Why would you have me be attracted to this man?!Quickly, Colby got into the car.

Whatever she was feeling, Liam was feeling it too. He had been struck hard by the force of nature that was Colby James.This is insane,he thought. Liam barely knew her. His reaction to Colby did not make sense. It was so strong that it had him doing the opposite of what he knew he should be doing.

Brian’s words from earlier taunted him.It’s a feeling unlike any other, and sometimes, it just kinda falls on you. You don’t really have a choice in the matter. I mean, you get to choose whether you act on it or not, but you don’t get to choose who you love.

Bullshit,Liam thought. He refused to believe that. Colby was a beautiful woman, and he was attracted to her. She apparently felt the same way. It was sexual chemistry 101. That was the simple explanation for what had just occurred.Then why haven’t you felt this way about other women you’ve been sexually attracted to?

Liam didn’t have an answer, but he didn’t believe in love at first sight. He just didn’t. However, Brian was right about one thing, Liam had to make a decision. It all boiled down to would he act on his desire.

He shouldn’t. That was a fact. But would he? He wasn’t so sure. For now, Liam would pack it all away into the back of his mind and focus on what was in front of him—the track.

Quietly, Liam slid inside the car.

“Are you ready for the ride of your life?” Colby wouldn’t look at him, and her voice was high-pitched. She was going to pretend that whatever the hell happened a few seconds ago hadn’t.Smart.They both knew it was for the best.

What if Colby is the ride of your life? The words popped into Liam’s mind. Something told him to just go with it. But the disciplined man he was counseled against it. Liam didn’t know why he was making a big deal out of this. It wasn’t like their outing was a date. He was overanalyzing something that ultimately amounted to nothing.This should be easy. Just a few laps around the track.“Let’s do it.” The calmness of Liam’s response didn’t convey the warring thoughts within him.

“Great. But . . . before we go, safety first. You’ve got to buckle up.” Without thinking, Colby stretched her body across Liam’s chest to pull down his harness. She stilled. There was a slight hitch in her breath as her breasts brushed up against a hard-muscled wall. “Sorry. I . . . um . . . need to get the rest of the harness.” Colby blushed as she cleared her throat. “The other two straps are between your legs.”

She was adorable. Liam wiggled his brows up and down. “Feel free to get those if you want.”

“I bet you would.” Colby smirked. “It would be better if you handed them to me.”

Liam did as he was asked and handed Colby the straps. She made quick work of getting him strapped in. Colby ignored the sexual tension between them. “These things can seem a little complicated if you’ve never used one.”

His voice was husky. “I might need you to show me a few more times.”

Colby stole a quick peek at him. There was desire in his eyes, but it was now fused with a bit of humor.

Colby didn’t find this situation the least bit humorous. She refused to acknowledge anything. Colby started the engine and placed her hands on the steering wheel. She kept her eyes focused on the road as she drove out of the parking lot and across the street to the track. When they arrived, Colby let the car idle at the starting line.

She couldn’t drive like this.

The tension between them was thick. She sighed heavily. “Okay, look. Let’s get this elephant out of the stock car. I don’t know exactly what’s going on right now.”

Liam couldn’t help himself. The corner of his lips edged up in a cocky smile. “We’re calling sexual tension an elephant?” He was so used to seeing Colby focused and driven, sometimes even angry, but never flustered.Hemade her flustered, and something inside of him liked the idea of that.

Colby wasn’t expecting Liam to be so blunt. Since he decided to go there, she figured she might as well tackle this situation head-on. Slowly, Colby turned to face him. “A few minutes ago, you looked at me like,” Colby searched for the right words, “like you wanted me.”

“I do,” he said it matter-of-fact. His response surprised even him—notthat he’d wanted Colby—but more that he’d said it out loud, considering he was still having an inner battle about it. Apparently, his subconscious had decided for him.

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