Free Alex's Destiny (Racing To Love) by Amy Gregory

not, Alex.” The strength of his conviction gave her the courage to raise her head and face him. “And for what it’s worth, that girl doesn’t mean anything to him.” His face relaxed, and gentleness replaced what she could only guess was a flash of anger.
    Alex had grown up with the guys around the track, both other trainers as well as all the mechanics. Of which, Levi was one of. Only a handful had left over the years, usually to join a pro team and travel the circuit. But then there were those like Levi, who had sat in his interview with her Aunt Emery and the mechanic who had been employed with the Nolands the longest, Joey, a skinny resume in one hand and a certificate in the other. More like a two-year degree from a training program was geared toward dirt bikes from a college in southern California who boasted to be the best in the country. What they saw in him was hope. Levi would be a permanent fixture, a lifetime employee of the academy. Like the majority of them , because the tightness and loyalty to the school flowed over to those who owned it. Alex included.
    Their staff was never treated like they were replaceable. To be accepted onto the Noland SFH Racing Academy staff, was more than just a name tag or a great line on a resume. It came with a welcome into a family-oriented business that used their unique respect and bond to put them at the cutting edge in motocross training.
    Alex was more than co-workers with all of them, but sitting across from Levi she felt like their friendship was about to delve deeper. Trying to read the tic of his jaw and the tilt of his head, she suspected he might know more than he was letting on.
    “See, that’s what hurts the most about your statement. I appreciate that you said it, and I know you are just trying to make me feel better, but I don’t know what‘s worse.” She leaned back, stacked her feet on her desk and stared at the ceiling.
    It was bad enough to think this to herself, but to admit it out loud, she didn’t think she could handle seeing Levi’s face as the words came out. “That he might be serious about someone else, and never see me in that light, or…he isn’t the man I thought he was.”
     
     
     
    She was breaking his heart.
    Levi had shown up fresh out of trade school, wanting nothing more than to work at the prestigious Noland’s racing academy. He figured out, early on as a teen he wasn’t ever going to make it as a pro racer, not only due to lack of funding, but he also had an innate sense he wasn’t going to cut it. That didn’t squelch his love of bikes, though. If anything, he learned he loved tinkering with the mechanics of the bike even more.
    He’d done his research, and that meant he had to buckle down in high school, especially in math and science. The hard work paid off, and he was accepted into SoCal Racing Trade, the closest school he had found that could help him along the course he was charting. If he couldn’t race, well the next best thing in his book was to help other racers keep their bikes running. After the life-altering epiphany he had at the ripe old age of fifteen, Levi dismissed all other future job opportunities. The second half of that equation could only be one destination— Pennsylvania.
    He’d been hired on the spot, his dream job. Even on the bottom rung, he was eager to scrap along and work his way up the ladder the hard way.
    But damn it all to hell…on his second day on the job—he got a glimpse of the academy princess.
    To his amazement, from the first time he saw her, and over the last four years since, absolutely no one treated her like some hot piece of ass. There were no cat calls or the rude comments made when she walked by. There were no private sexual jokes whispered behind the backs of her family members. There was something different about Alex. She’d been born into racing royalty and there was the money that came with her last name. Her beauty alone could bring a man to his knees. But