Free Crossing the Line (Hard Driving) by Audra North Page A

on most no-call lists. So she rarely got calls from restricted numbers.
    But now she was getting one the day after giving Ty her number . . .
    That still didn’t mean it was him, though.
    She swiped the screen and brought the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
    She hoped she didn’t sound too eager. If it turned out to be a telemarketer, she’d be so embarrassed. Not that anyone would know. But she’d never been this flustered by a guy before. Least of all such a hot one.
    “Cori?”
    Her stomach bottomed out.
    It
was
Ty. She’d recognize his voice anywhere.
    “Ty?” It came out breathless and excited, and she rolled her eyes at herself for being so obvious.
    “Yeah. I’m glad you remembered me.” He laughed, smooth and so full of happiness.
    “How could I possibly forget you?” She was teasing him, grinning as she said it, buoyed by the sheer joy in his laugh, but she immediately heard him make a soft sound of pain, almost like she’d gut-punched him.
    “Yeah, I’m all over the news, I guess.”
    Oh. Damn.
She’d heard about the increasingly vocal demands for an investigation of Riggs Racing. She’d even written a brief update on her original piece as soon as it had started trending on social media, but she hadn’t checked to see if any other outlets had written articles on it.
    She didn’t want to hear the unpleasant things that were being said about Ty and Riggs Racing.
    Then how are you going to write the exposé, if that’s what it comes down to?
    “I read your article.” Ty spoke into the silence. The change of subject was abrupt, and felt significant.
    She tightened her grip on the phone and tried to sound casual. “Oh?”
    But her voice broke, even on that single syllable, and the reality of what she truly cared about for that piece came crashing through. It didn’t matter how many hits it had gotten. It didn’t matter that she’d made a huge career move because of that article. What mattered now was that she wanted
him
to like it. She’d written it . . . well, she wasn’t completely sure, but she’d wanted to honor him, somehow, the man who was good to his team and liked how he could have freedom on the track, who’d found himself in a terrible situation that he didn’t deserve.
    Shit.
She truly
believed
in him. But what if he really had done what some were now accusing him of—bribing race inspectors to overlook deflated tires and holes in the wheel wells, both of which would make his car go faster?
    What good could possibly come out of striking up a . . . well, not quite friendship, but some relationship that was more than professional with the son of the man she might end up publicly shaming?
    Would you still really go through with it, if that’s what it came down to?
    Uncertainty threw her brain into gridlock.
    But Ty’s voice pulled her out. “It’s really good. Best thing I’ve ever read.” He sounded sincere.
    But she demurred anyway. “Best thing you ever read? I don’t believe that. What about
War and Peace
?”
    He laughed again. “I haven’t read it. But it doesn’t matter. Your article is definitely better.”
    For a moment, she wasn’t sure what to say. Technically, she hadn’t read that tome either, but modesty demanded that she argue, anyway, because Tolstoy was famous, while she was a no-name junior reporter.
    But the truth was that she didn’t want to argue. She wanted to be able to say to someone,
Yes, it’s a great feature, isn’t it?
    Before she could come up with a response, though, he changed the subject again. “I promised you an off-the-record conversation.”
    Oh.
So that’s why he was calling. Not to flirt with her, but to follow up on a promise he’d made. She should have realized he was that kind of guy, just based on how much he praised his team members, and she was glad for it. It made their conversation more professional.
    But still . . . she fought the urge to slump her shoulders in disappointment.
    She’d wanted to flirt and think about