Page 10 of Homecoming

Since we were going to be at almost every race, trailing the caravan of cars and drivers around the world, I had decided to take advantage of it, and do a travel spread.

I had some gorgeous pictures of Dubai and Saudi Arabia already. I had also planned a few interviews with drivers and was definitely hitting the local restaurants to bring the local cuisine into focus.

Walking slowly, I typed my notes. Rylee had introduced me to the key people last weekend, and around my neck hung a VIP pass which granted me access to everything except the debriefing rooms of each team. Those were off-limits, unless you were a part of that team.

“Whoa,” a man exclaimed as I felt hands gripping my shoulders, stopping my momentum.

“Sorry,” I said looking up and offering an apologetic smile. “I was walking and typing.” I raised my phone, as a further way of explanation.

“Around here, that’s almost as dangerous as driving and texting.” He smiled.

He was tall, built like a truck, and had brown hair, the front of which fell into his eyes, making him squint. Green eyes and a nice smile.

“I’m Kevin.” He let go of me and took a step back.

“Lola.” I nodded. “Lola Adams.”

His head tilted sideways once he heard my name.

When he said nothing further, just stood staring at me, I side-stepped him, muttering, “Thanks for the advice, I won’t walk around not looking where I’m going anymore.”

“Hey, sorry,” he called, stopping me. “You just surprised me.”

“Why’s that?” I asked sharply.

Everything about this was off. I didn’t know the man, so for him to have this kind of reaction to hearing my name just didn’t make sense.

“I just…” He trailed off, looking over my shoulder before he cleared his throat and focused back on me. “It doesn’t matter. It’s nice to finally meet you, Lola Admas. I’ve heard good things about you.”

Thinking it was Rylee who had tooted my horn, as she usually did, I smiled. “It’s good to meet you too, Kevin. Hope to see you around.”

“Oh, you definitely will.” He winked and walked into the bay we were standing by.

I turned back around, ready to get back to my planning and mindless walking around, but instead stopped dead in my tracks.

Ian was standing right in front of me talking to a few men wearing blue jumpsuits. His mechanics.

I knew I would see him at some point today, but I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready to see him in the flesh; how handsome he’d grown up to be. And how hot.

He had on a white and red jumpsuit, the top half hanging low around his waist, touching the backs of his legs. He was wearing a white T-shirt that highlighted every muscle on his torso.

Ian Williams was not a man to be messed with. He had the strength to break you in half just by flicking his wrists. If his laser-sharp eyes didn’t cut you first, that is.

Once, those eyes had warmed me down to my center, making the world and school less of a scary place. Now, they had the power to cut through me, leaving me both shivering and hot all over. It was a confusing sensation. After just one look at them, I had the urge to run to him, rip my clothes off and offer myself for his pleasure. I wanted to step closer, to hug him, and coo into his ear that everything will be alright.

With his chiseled cheekbones, full lips that made him look like he was constantly smirking, a five o’clock shadow that graced his square jaw, Ian was every woman’s wet dream.

He was tall, taller than me by almost a foot. Yes, amongst other things, I had googled his height too.

I stood frozen, watching him turn towards me. When he saw me standing at the pit lane, looking like a lost child in a supermarket, his whole body jerked. After a few words to the men, words he spoke never looking away from me, I watched as he moved his powerhouse of a body without any effort at all.It was a beautiful thing to observe.

Too bad I was so lost in observing Ian walking towards me, that I forgot to do something better than standing still, waiting for him to reach me. I should have run.

“You’re here.” The first words he said to me in fifteen years made my chest burn at the ferocity of insinuation in his voice. “Again.”

“Hi,” I said weakly. I hated coming across as weak.

I was anything but. From the moment I took my first breath on this earth, my life had been one big struggle. I was constantly picked on at school, bullied because of the way I dressed. I never had any of the designer wear that was starting to become a common occurrence in the school hallways. My parents did what they could to shield me from the reality of a life of poverty, doing their best to give me a normal childhood and get us out of the trailer park we lived in, but I noticed.