Page 56 of Fast & Reckless
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It took the rest of the cab ride to calm her mother down, but eventually—after promising to meet her for breakfast—Mira managed to shove Cherie out of the cab in front of her hotel.
She didn’t blame her mother for what happened. As carefree and sweet as she could be, she turned into a mama bear when her baby was hurt, and Brody McKnight had certainly done his fair share of hurting.
When Mira finally got back to her hotel room, she left the room mostly dark, flicking on just one bedside lamp. She’d just stepped out of her shoes and unpinned her hair when someone rapped softly at her door. She groaned. Probably Natalia rushing in to make sure she was okay. She swung it open, ready to reassure her and politely shove her back out, but the words died on her tongue. Will was standing on the other side. He’d lost his suit jacket from earlier. His hair was an artful wreck, as if he’d spent half an hour raking his fingers through it, and a dusting of dark stubble had started to shadow his jaw.
As she stared at him, he raised the bottle of scotch he held.
“Figured you could use a drink.”
Wordlessly, she swiped it out of his hand and turned around to retrieve two tumblers off the minibar. She sloshed a couple of inches into both glasses and handed one to Will after he’d come inside and closed the door. She tossed back a hefty sip and winced.
“Ugh, that’s awful.”
“Thatis a three-hundred-quid bottle of scotch.”
“Hmm.” She passed him her half-empty glass. “Maybe I’ll just leave this to you.” She turned toward the window overlooking the lights of downtown Austin.
“So … the guy you told me about … the love story that wasn’t a love story … it was Brody McKnight, right?”
“I think that’s pretty clear.”
“Brody’s been around forever, though. He’s got to be—”
“He’s thirty-seven now. He was thirty when we … when I knew him.”
“How old did you say you were?”
“I didn’t.” She swallowed thickly, keeping her eyes on the glittering nighttime landscape of Austin down below. “But I’d just turned sixteen.” Behind her, she heard him draw in a sharp breath. She might have been keeping Will at arm’s length, but it still hurt to think of him judging her the way everyone else had. “Look, I know how bad it sounds. I was young, stupid, feeling rebellious … it was a lot of things.”
“Hey, look at me.” His voice was soft, a comforting vibration skittering down her spine. When she turned to face him, he was standing just a foot behind her. He reached out and touched the side of her face, fingertips skimming down her cheek before he pulled back.
“It might have been a lot of things, Mira, but one thing itwasn’twas your fault. You were just a kid.”
“I appreciate that, Will. More than you can imagine. But it’s not that simple.”
“How did it …” He stopped, turned, and sat on the edge of the bed. Patting the spot next to him, he said, “Sit. Start at the beginning.”
The usual knee-jerk denials were right there on the tip of her tongue, but there was no point in keeping it buried anymore. At least, not with Will.
She dropped down on the bed next to him. He leaned in to her, pressing his shoulder to hers, and passed her his glass of scotch. When she sipped it this time, it wasn’t so bad.
“Dad and I weren’t very close when I was little. It’s a long commute from London to LA, and I didn’t get to see him often. I idolized him anyway, though, and I loved racing because of him. When I was ten, I begged him and my mom to let me spend my summer vacation with him on the circuit. That summer was a dream come true. I got to spend all day at the track, and I finally felt like I had a dad. After that, I spent every summer with him. We were really close during those years.”
“Huh.”
She glanced over at him. “What?”
“It’s just … half the time you seem like you’re walking on eggshells around him. I get it. He’s intimidating. But I would have thought it would be different for you.”
“It was. Once. I’m getting to that. The year I turned sixteen was rough. Mom had met this guy she was serious about. Mom’s an icon for a lot of people. It can get weird. So she’s always been very cautious about dating. This one was the first to get past her defenses. That Christmas, they got engaged. I hated him.”
“Why?”
She lifted one shoulder. “Bad vibes? I was right, by the way. Mom ditched him six months later. But that’s not the point. Because Mom had been so careful about letting men into her life, it had always been just her and me. And then suddenly there was this guy there all the time … I just … I wanted my mom back and I couldn’t have her. I was happier than usual to leave it all behind and go travel with Dad for the summer. Except on my first night there, he introduced me toNatalia. This is stupid, but I felt reallybetrayed. First by Mom, and then by Dad, who’d really just started being a dad to me a few years before. It was like I lost him again.”
“You love Natalia, though. I’ve seen you with her.”
