Free Fast Track by Cheryl Douglas Page B

don’t know. I certainly didn’t come here expecting to
meet anyone.”
    “Isn’t that
usually when it happens, when you’re least expecting it?”
    “I guess so.”
She wished the gods of fate had given her a little more time to
recover from her last bout of misery before thrusting her headlong
into another pseudo-relationship that would never work. “Anyways,
it doesn’t matter now. Justin’s gone back home to his old life, and
I think I need to do the same.”
    “You’re not
going to spend the rest of the summer here?”
    “No.” She knew
she would waste the remaining weeks thinking about Justin. At least
if she was at home, she would have her family and friends to
distract her. “I think I’m going to come home with you guys.”
    “Cool.” He
reached for her hand. “Hey, sis, Justin’s one of the good guys.
Maybe you should think about giving him a chance.”
    She shook her
head emphatically. “No way. I’m not getting mixed up in that. The
inherent risk involved in his job-”
    “Does that mean
you’d never marry a cop or a firefighter or someone in the
military?”
    “Probably
not.”
    “That’s
crazy!”
    “What’s crazy
is Justin putting his life on the line for the hell of it.”
    Nick frowned.
“Racing is his passion, Anna. Just like you’re passionate about
what you do.”
    She knew it
wasn’t fair to judge Justin based on what he did for a living, but
he was returning to a career that had claimed the life of one of
his friends just a month ago. How could she learn to live with
that?
    Anna leaned
over to give her brother a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to turn in
now. Thanks for listening.”
    “Any time, you
know that.”
     
    ***
     
    “Justin, man,
you’ve been a nightmare to deal with ever since you got back,”
Mitch said, twisting the cap off a bottle of water. “What
gives?”
    Justin knew his
friend was right, but he just couldn’t get his head back in the
game. His thoughts kept drifting to Anna. It took everything in him
not to hop on a plane and fly back to the island to find out
whether she missed him as much as he missed her.
    “I’ve just got
a lot on my mind.” That much was true. The press and fans would be
watching him carefully that weekend, eager to judge whether he
still had what it took to maintain his status as the reigning
champion.
    “I’m willing to
bet a certain hot little teacher is the reason you’re so
distracted.”
    Justin glared
at his friend, but glaring would do no good. Once Mitch got
started, little anyone could say or do would rein him in. “Mind
your own damn business.”
    “You’ve got it
bad for this one, don’t you, Hunt?”
    That was an
understatement. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had
diverted his attention from a race. Especially when his entire
career hung in the balance. “I don’t want to talk about Anna
anymore. Let’s talk strategy. We need to figure out how I’m gonna
come out on top in this race.”
    Mitch grinned
as he slapped Justin’s back. “Now you’re talking my language.”

Chapter
Seven
    Justin had been back
home almost a month. He had two wins under his belt and had managed
to silence the critics who said his career was over, but he still
couldn’t get Anna out of his head. Since she hadn’t given him her
contact information, calling or emailing her wasn’t an option.
Getting it would be easy enough, but he had no idea whether she
would even be interested in talking after his abrupt departure.
    He’d watched
her say good-bye to her ex on the dock that day, and he knew if he
allowed himself to fall deeper, he ran the risk of getting his
heart broken. That Anna still had feelings for Tom was painfully
obvious, and he refused to be the odd man out. So, he did the only
thing he could do: He returned home, to the life and career he’d
abandoned.
    Thankfully, his
fear and anxiety had dissipated as soon as he got behind the wheel
again. As far as his performance anxiety in the bedroom,