Page 91 of Revved up & Ready

Her brows furrow as she watches me stand and reach for the zipper at the neck of my leather suit, pulling it all the way down.

“Cam,” she whispers my name in a confused scold—too overwhelmed to manage feeling only one thing at a time.

“I’m showing you,” I say, peeling one arm out of the suit.

Racing leathers feel somewhere between armor and a second skin. Under normal circumstances, she’d probably laugh her ass off watching me work my body out of them. Today, it isn’t until I get my second arm free and I’m shirtless, with the leather suit folded at my hips, that she cracks the slightest hint of a smile.

“Cameron.”

“It wasn’t my upper half that was on fire,” I say, unzipping each of my boots and throwing them aside.

“People can see you,” she hisses, pointing behind me when I begin to push the suit past my hips.

Not caring, I push it further down.

“Cameron Hacker, there are cameras!”

Looking over my shoulder, I see we’ve drawn a crowd. My team is continuing to prep my second bike, Luke is keeping medics and Ian fromIncite Energyaway from us, and there are staff, interviewers, and cameras from the track gathered at the edge of the pit.

Looking back into Sadie’s caramel-brown eyes, I push the suit all the way down my legs, so I’m standing in front of her, covered in nothing but sweat and black boxer-briefs.

“Clearly, I’ve built my reputation on modesty,” I smirk.

Her hand flies up to cover her mouth as she giggles.Good. That’s what she needed.

“Look at me, Sadie. I am okay.” I spin in a one-eighty for her, catching sight of the even larger crowd behind us as I do. “Not hurt. No burns.”

“You’re not supposed to make me laugh,” she pouts.

“Since when?” I ask. “I love the way you laugh.”

“Stop it,” she sighs, then her jaw sets and her voice grows serious again. “This still isn’t okay.”

Surrounding her soft hands with mine, I draw her out of her chair and into my arms.

“Tell me what’s not okay. Tell me so I can make it better,” I whisper into her hair. “Please?”

“It’s not that easy.Thisisn’t okay,” her voice cracks, and she reaches a fist up to wipe away a tear.

“I amnotcrying,” she insists.

“Of course not, love,” I reassure her, but my heart cracks.I made her cry.

For a little while, she stays silent in my arms while I trace soothing patterns on her back. Her breaths come and go in adeliberate pattern that I’m able to match with my own, so our chests rise and fall in tandem.

Luke catches my eye and nods toward my second bike with a questioning look. Behind him, Ian delivers a look that implies I’d better get my ass back on the track. I shake my head to both of them and look back to the scared woman in my arms.

“I hate this,” she says, her head tilting so her eyes meet mine. “It’s not okay. It’s—it’s—this is not okay.” Her words grow more determined. “You can’t keep doing this. It’s not safe. It’snevergoing to be safe.”

My gut wrenches.“You can’t keep doing this.”

“Is going fast reallythatimportant?” Her voice rises, drawing attention from our audience at the edge of the pit. “Can’t you just take up running or something?”

I get the sense that her questions are rhetorical, so I stay quiet, letting her get everything out.

“Go karts,” she continues. “Go karts are safe. That was fun. Is there a professional go-kart racing league you can join?” She sighs, and I hear a low chuckle from my crew. “But that’s not what you want. It won’t make you happy, and you deserve to be happy.” A weak fist falls against my chest. “Why can’t you be happy doing something safe?”

Even thoughthatwas rhetorical, too, I answer. “I don’t think of it as dangerous.” I step back just enough to make sure I can see every ounce of reaction on her beautiful face. “I know that’s what’s on your mind, but it’s not on mine. I wasn’t afraid when I realized my bike was on fire. I was prepared. I know how to handle anything that happens on that track.”

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