Free Race For Love by Nana Malone

now you get it?" she said through gritted teeth.
    He sighed. He'd fucked up and right now his miscalculation was going to make his job more difficult. "I'm sorry, okay. I'm here for a couple of months and by no fault of yours it's not where I want to be. I put my shit on you and I shouldn't have. I fucked up. The way I see it, we can either move forward and you can let me help you, we can be a team and get you back in a car with minimal torture to either of us. Or we can take the painful tortured route."
    She dropped her arms and her shoulders slumped slightly, but she met his gaze levelly. "What did the hurricane say to the coconut palm tree?"
    Derek frowned. As long as he lived, he would never understand women. "What?"
    With a grin, she said, "Hold on to your nuts, this is no ordinary blow job!"
    He blinked once, not quite sure if he'd heard her correctly. Then the laugh bubbled out of him in a burst. "Are you kidding me right now? That was truly awful."
    She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I'm funny. Hilarious even."
    "Where did you even hear that joke?"
    "You seem to forget I grew up at the track. Some of the greatest racers in the world have been my mentors. They were great in cars, terrible around children. I have no idea what TJ was thinking. You want to hear another one?"
    Yes. Especially if it kept her smiling like that. "No, please spare me." But because he liked the dancing light behind her eyes, he let her tell him a few more.

8
    B est dream ever . Somewhere in the back of Kisima's mind, she was aware that she should be worried she was dreaming about her trainer. But it was a dream, it was safe. No one ever had to know.
    Derek's scent enveloped her and she drank it in. Ocean breezes. He smelled like her favorite place in the world. Nuzzling toward the smell, she relished in one of these rare, non-pain moments. It was nice. Hell, it was better than nice. She just wished she had more of these. It was a dream, but she was staying here, in Derek's arms just a little bit longer.
    A low chuckle made her frown. What was he laughing at? "Stop laughing at me. You try controlling all this hair, see how you like it," she mumbled at the dream Derek. She much preferred this version of him. One that wasn't judging her or making her angry or wasn't making her do things that hurt. This Derek she liked very much.
    "Hey, princess," He cleared his throat. "As much as I'm enjoying this cuddle session, I need you to get started on the day. It's going to be a hard day for you and lazing around isn't going to work."
    Kisima frowned. That was all wrong. Dream Derek was supposed to make her stay in bed. To lay here while he brought her breakfast in bed. She forced an eyelid open and she was met with pitch blackness. In an effort to get a better grasp on her bearings, she blinked both eyes and forced her gaze to focus. Okay, it might not have been entirely pitch in her room. Gray light filtered in from the plantation shutters. What time was it? She tried to lift her head and a deep voice cautioned her against that.
    "Easy does it, princess. You didn't take your pain meds last night, so I'm pretty sure that's gonna hurt." She startled, then cursed when the jarring motion sent a spear of pain up her shoulder. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about."
    Belatedly, she realized that the voice was real and not a figment of her imagination. Derek's voice . Shit. "What are you doing in my room?"
    His chuckle was low. "Easy, princess. Your virtue is intact. I knocked several times but you didn't wake up, so I came to get you."
    Oh . "Okay, uhm, can you help me get into my chair?"
    He stroked a hand over her forehead. "I probably should have mentioned this yesterday too, but I thought maybe you'd balk, so I'm going to tell you now. No more chair. You're going to be using the crutches and canes from now on."
    Screw the pain in her skull, she forced herself to a sitting position and winced at the flare of white-hot fire in her shoulder. "You can't do that. I