Slow Ride (20 page)
“Carry condoms. I always did in my single days. I imagine you do the same, Lange.”
Hardly. Before last week, Diesel hadn’t been getting any, and when he finally had, he hadn’t used a condom any more than Evan Monroe apparently had. Which made him suddenly anxious. What if Tuesday had gotten pregnant? But he just nodded because it was the expected response.
“You know, my wife got pregnant on that same camping trip. How bizarre is that? Something in the air that night. I’m surprised Imogen didn’t pop up pregnant, too.”
Ty blanched. “We haven’t even walked down the aisle yet. I am not ready for a baby.”
Neither was Diesel, he had to say. It was a risk, but he decided to run a question past his friends. They might mock him, but he was needing some advice and reassurance. “So hey, say you asked a girl out for the weekend and she said yes. How soon do you call her to make some definite plans?” Because suddenly he was experiencing all kinds of irritating doubts.
“Well, I’ll be dipped. Diesel has a girl.” Ryder grinned. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Is she hot?” Ty asked. “I think that factors in to how soon you call her.”
“Of course she’s hot. You think he’d be getting this worked up if she was butt ugly?”
“I don’t know. He could just be desperate.”
“This isn’t helping.” Diesel rolled his eyes.
“Who is it? Anyone we know?”
Shifting in his golf shoes, Diesel debated for a solid sixty seconds whether or not he should tell them the truth.
“Oh, come on.” Ryder narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you trust us, man?”
Fine. “It’s Tuesday Jones.”
Ty whistled. “Little Miss Tuesday Talladega? The biggest mouth in stock car reporting? You got bigger cojones than I realized, Lange.”
“I don’t think she has that big of a mouth.” Which even Diesel realized was a load a crap. Tuesday was
the
mouth, at least in her personal life. He couldn’t claim to have followed her journalism career all that closely.
the
mouth, at least in her personal life. He couldn’t claim to have followed her journalism career all that closely.
Both of his buddies laughed.
“Now that I know we’re talking about Tuesday, I say you call her today. If you wait until Friday, she’ll tell you to go fuck yourself,” was Ryder’s opinion.
That was possible. “You don’t think she’ll think I’m a loser if I call too soon?”
“You
are
a loser.”
are
a loser.”
“Thanks, you guys are a big help.”
Ty clapped him on the back. “No problem.”
“That was sarcasm.”
Ryder pulled out his phone and checked the screen. “Whoa, holy shit. I need to cut this short, boys. My wife thinks she’s in labor.”
“Tell Suzanne she’s got lousy timing.” But Ty clapped him on the back. “Good luck, brother.”
Diesel took the club Ryder was shoving at him. “Let us know when the baby’s born. Congrats, man.”
They sent a panicked-looking Ryder back to the country club with the golf cart and Ty and Diesel finished their eighteen holes. When they were walking back, Diesel decided to text Tuesday.
Friday or Saturday. Your choice
.
.
She liked bold. Direct. No playing around.
Are you freaking kidding me?
Not the answer he’d been expecting.
No. Not kidding.
A how are you would be nice
.
.
A little embarrassed, he wasn’t sure what to say. He certainly wasn’t going to ask Ty for advice. He’d never hear the end of it.
After a second, he wrote,
How are you?
How are you?
Her response to that was an emoticon of someone sticking their tongue out. Damn it. He should have just called her. That was bold. Direct. Not a text message. But he had to wait until Ty was gone before he could.
“How are the wedding plans going?” he asked Ty.
Ty shook his head. “I don’t understand why it takes so damn long to plan a wedding. It’s just totally beyond me. But it’s what Imogen wants, so there it is.”
Diesel wanted to ask him if he was happy, but the truth was, he could tell Ty was very happy. His face lit up whenever he mentioned his fiancée and it was clear he was incredibly proud of her. Maybe he did want that for himself. Maybe he’d been fooling himself when he kept repeating that he was content being alone.
“You’re down to the wire now, huh?”
“Yep. Right before Christmas.” Ty grinned. “At the risk of sounding like a girl, I’m excited. Can’t wait to call her my wife.”
“You’re a lucky man.” Diesel paused then dropped the dig Ty was expecting. “Even if you are really just a girl.”
“Looks who’s talking. Your hair looks like Farrah Fawcett’s, circa 1978. You need a haircut.”
“I’ve thought about it. Never quite get around to it.” Now he didn’t see himself pursuing it at all since Tuesday had mentioned how much she liked it on the longer side.
They walked in silence for another minute, the sun warming the back of his neck.
Then Ty said, “Tuesday Jones, huh? Really?”
“Yep.” Tuesday Jones. She had definitely gotten under his skin. Diesel had been having trouble concentrating on anything other than how she had felt beneath him, her soft moans of pleasure one of the sweetest sounds he’d ever heard.
“Go figure.”
“Yeah. Sort of like you and Imogen. Go figure.” The minute the words were out of his mouth, Diesel realized that made it sound like he was as serious about Tuesday as Ty was about his future wife. He opened his mouth to somehow downplay the statement, or distract Ty, but it was too late.
His friend broke into a huge grin. “So that’s where it’s at, huh?” He clapped Diesel on the back. “Well, enjoy yourself. And wear a condom.”
Could he have any more reasons to squirm? They reached the club. “I have to make a phone call. I’ll catch you later.”
Ty made a kissy face in his direction. “Go call your girlfriend.”
Diesel laughed, despite his worry. “You’re an ass. What are you, twelve years old?”
“That’s not what my bank account says.” Ty gave him a wave and went on into the building.
Diesel called Tuesday, hoping she would actually answer. She did.
“Hello?”
“Hey, how are you doing?” Her hello sounded belligerent and he felt like an ass. Maybe the bottom line was she just didn’t want to go out with him again.
“I’m fine. Tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
A little bit of a flirt had crept into her voice and he instantly felt much better. “That’s funny. Neither did I. So would you like to not get any sleep on Friday night?” His gut told him to pick a day and give her the right of refusal, not to let her make the initial plans.
“I think I can swing that.”
He debated asking her why she had sent him a tongue sticking out but he decided to leave it the hell alone. She was agreeing to see him, that’s all that mattered. “Great. Is it Friday yet?”
She laughed, that low throaty sound that was like fingers caressing him. “Pick me up at nine. I’m hanging out with Kendall earlier.”
“Where are we going?”
“Does it matter?”
“No.” It definitely didn’t. Diesel was starting to feel like he would follow Tuesday just about anywhere for that matter.
Stopping off at a bed on the way.
BABY BOOM BY TUESDAY TALLADEGAThe world of racing expanded this week with the birth of Ryder Jefferson’s first child with his wife, Suzanne. The newest Jefferson made his debut in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, weighing in at an impressive 8.9 pounds. Little Track (no, I’m not kidding, that’s what they named him) is doing fine despite being saddled with the ultimate of ironic monikers. Expect him to be kicking ass on the asphalt by the time he’s five.Also giving birth this past Sunday was one Sara Parker, who made headlines back in the spring when she announced the father of her unborn child was Evan Monroe, one whole week after his marriage to rookie driver Kendall Holbrook. Oops on the timing. But it turns out Evan is not the father after all, as DNA test results proved this morning. Double oops. But hey, props to Evan for sticking by her side until the results came back, and not unleashing a pack of lawyers until anyone knew what was what. That’s the way to man up and stick by your di—ahem, decisions.
Tuesday didn’t know what to say to Kendall, who was tearing up and cuddling with a throw pillow. “I think it’s totally normal to have conflicting feelings. This was a really stressful thing to go through. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
“But I feel so guilty. I mean, I was hoping all along that this baby wasn’t Evan’s.”
“I think any woman in your position would have felt the same way. I mean come on, you just get married and like two seconds later some chick he slept with announces she’s pregnant?” Tuesday was pretty sure she would have been chomping at the bit for paternity testing to be done even before the baby’s birth.
“You’re the one who told me that I was being stupid for shutting Evan out.”
Now who felt guilty? Tuesday folded her feet under her thighs as she sat on the easy chair across from Kendall. They didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time hanging out given Kendall’s busy schedule, but her best friend was headed to the airport for this weekend’s race, and had asked to stop by on her way. Tuesday was happy to be an ear for her, even though she couldn’t really do anything to help Kendall. She needed to work through her emotions on her own, unfortunately, but Tuesday could listen and be supportive.
“Kendall, that was two different things, and I was in a bad place. I’d just found out my dad was dying.” And she had taken it out on Kendall, yelling at her for breaking things off with her new husband when she’d found out about Sara’s baby. At the time, all Tuesday had been able to think was that life was clearly too damn short and no one should give up someone they love so easily. But she hadn’t handled it in the best way possible. “I’m sorry for the way I just yelled at you. That wasn’t what you needed.”
“I think it was exactly what I needed. I needed you to remind me that I had lost Evan once, and did I really want to do that again? So we wound up together, thank God, and it’s been amazing. But knowing that he was possibly going to have a child, well, that was hard to deal with, I’m not gonna lie. I think every woman wants to be the first to give her husband a child. I was jealous. And unsure what my role would be in the baby’s life.”
“All totally understandable.”
“But now, I just feel bad that it’s not Evan’s baby. Like I willed it that way.”
“Well, you didn’t. It’s not Evan’s baby because she slept with two guys around the same time. Which happens sometimes. Is he disappointed?” Personally, Tuesday figured he’d just have to get the hell over it. In the long run, this was going to be better for everyone involved.
“Yeah, he is, though he’s not saying much. But I think a part of him had gotten really excited about being a father and now it’s gone.”
“Well, it’s not like the two of you can’t have kids.”
Kendall shrugged. “I know. But not now, not while my career is just taking off. I’m a little disappointed, too, in some small way. I was having baby fantasies, which is so stupid. There would have been nothing simple about that parenting arrangement.”
“No. Especially since Sara got married herself in the meantime.” Again, probably the best-case scenario for everyone involved. “Her husband isn’t the father either, so talk about an emotional and legal mess for all four of you. Not to mention what the kid would have felt like when she got older.”
Swiping at her eyes, Kendall nodded vehemently. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. This way Sara has no ties with the true biological father, who apparently signed away all rights months ago when she contacted him, and her baby has a stable home life with two parents, no joint custody or anything like that.”
“You still have your nieces and nephews if you want to get your mommy fix in.” Tuesday personally wasn’t ready for motherhood and was pretty sure she would lay an egg if she found out she was expecting a baby. She liked kids, just when they belonged to other people. Which means going without a condom with Diesel had been stupid. She had learned long ago from other people that it was always better to be safe than sorry, which meant doubling up on the birth control. Sperm were tricky, and she planned to have a lot of sex with Diesel.
“Yeah. I know. All’s well that ends well, I guess. After four months of emotional ups and downs, it’s done.” Kendall tossed the pillow back onto the couch. “So how are you?”
“I’m fine.” Tuesday thought she actually was, most of the time. She was coping by not really coping. Ignoring would work for the time being and she figured she wasn’t the first person to have dealt with a loss that way. Plus she was going out with Diesel again, so she was actually looking forward to that. “Thanks for letting me run that little blurb about the baby. It would have looked odd if I hadn’t, but I appreciate you giving me the go-ahead.”
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