Free Games Lovers Play by June Tate

department, but instead sent one of his undermanagers over whenever necessary. Which worked well for both of them.
    Betty was delighted when Connie told her she’d stopped seeing the floor manager, although she didn’t tell her why. Betty didn’t ask but was just grateful that her friend had seen sense at last. Had she known that Connie was planning to spend the night with Sam after the Silverstone race, she might have thought differently.
    Sam and his mates were working on the new car most of the time, and Connie, who now knew about the move, spent a lot of her weekends at the other garage and had become part of the team, making tea and trying to be useful. Occasionally, she and Sam managed a trip to the cinema, or to go out for a drink after work. Their relationship grew, and she was known as Sam’s girl by all his friends.
    One Sunday they took the car out and road-tested it on a disused airfield, moving the vehicle on the back of a truck especially built for the job. The field was deserted and the wind blew across the neglected runway, which had weeds growing through the tarmac. The atmosphere was tense as Sam climbed into the driving seat and strapped himself in. Connie stood with Tom and Harry as they prepared to time the run.
    Connie held her breath as Sam moved the car into position, revved the engine, signalled that he was ready … then took off.
    It moved like a streak of lightening, and the excitement of the two men beside her was palpable. When eventually Sam had finished his run, Tom pressed the button on the stopwatch he was holding and read it.
    â€˜Bloody hell!’ he exclaimed. ‘That’s fucking amazing! Oops, sorry Connie!’
    She just laughed because although she wasn’t knowledgeable even she could see that this was a fast time.
    Sam drove over towards them. Tom said nothing; he just showed Sam the watch. The two men grinned broadly at each other.
    â€˜We’ve bloody done it!’ Tom yelled and picked Connie up and swung her round. Then, putting her down, he clasped Harry in his arms and the two men danced around in glee.
    Climbing out of the car, Sam kissed Connie and shook hands with his friends. ‘Gentlemen, I think we have a winner!’
    â€˜Silverstone is in the bag!’ said Harry enthusiastically.
    But Sam tried to calm him down. ‘Nothing is ever in the bag, you know that. If for one moment we become overconfident, we could lose the race.’
    But Tom and Harry were too excited to listen. ‘I would love to see Jake Barton’s face when he realizes what speed we have achieved with this engine,’ Tom said with a wide grin.
    â€˜We have to find out what vehicle he’s entering before we can celebrate,’ Sam warned. ‘He, too, may have achieved as much.’
    Harry gave a derisory laugh. ‘Barton? He hasn’t got the brains!’
    Sam agreed. ‘He hasn’t, but don’t forget he has two good mechanics working with him and they are no slouches.’
    Connie listened to the exchange of words between the men. It was very evident that something special was happening, but she felt her stomach tighten at the mention of the other driver. He obviously was bad news, and it worried her. She now knew just how dangerous the race game was, without the threat of any added danger from unscrupulous drivers.
    She watched as the car was once again loaded on to the truck and Tom and Harry got into the driver’s cab, then she climbed on the back of Sam’s motorbike. They all returned to the garage, where the Riley was unloaded and safely locked away. Then the four of them found a cafe in Shirley to eat.
    They discussed the run in low tones so that no one could overhear their conversation. Turning to Connie, Sam said, ‘You mustn’t breathe a word of what you saw today, sweetheart, we don’t want to let the cat out of the bag before the race. You do understand how important this is, don’t