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He appreciated it at the same time he resented it.  Thank you, but no, I don t want to talk about it. He
had no intention of laying all out his failures and weaknesses in front of her. She already knew he was
a gimp, he didn t need to talk about it.
She said,  Okay, I understand. But I m here if you want a friend.
On impulse, Diesel reached out and took her hand as they walked through her apartment.
It felt good, damn good.
They went through the drive-thru and ordered Tuesday a giant coffee and a six-pack of doughnuts.
 You really going to eat all those? he asked her with a dubious glance at the box sitting in her lap
after they pulled away.
 Not at one time. But yes, I m going to eat all of them. And if you have a problem with that, you can
suck it.
He laughed. That was his girl.
His girl?
The thought should have made him freeze in terror, his nuts drawing up into his body in shock and
horror.
But instead, he thought he kinda liked the sound of it.
Him and Tuesday.
Who d have thought?
 I don t have a problem with it. I was just debating how badly you d hurt me if I stole one.
 I told you to pick one for yourself.
 You did. I didn t think I d want one.
Tuesday had opened the box and was plunging her tongue into the hole on the side of a jelly-filled
doughnut. Holy crap, did she have any idea how hot she was?
 But suddenly I want one.
She retracted her tongue and dragged it across her bottom lip.  Oh, yeah? Maybe I ll let you have a
bite.
No doubt about it. She knew exactly how sexy she was.
 That s two bites you ve offered me now today and I haven t actually gotten to enjoy either.
Her response was to shove her doughnut in his face. Diesel kept an eye on the road while he took an
enormous bite, powdered sugar floating up his nose.  Mm. Thanks, babe.
 You ate half of it in one bite, she complained.
Idling at a red light, he turned and gave her a smile.  Don t be bitter. You have five left.
 You re lucky you re cute.
 Am I? He was stupidly pleased to hear her say that.
Was he kidding? Diesel was so cute Tuesday wanted to eat him with a spoon. After she squeezed him
and licked him from head to toe. He owned cute.
Which was why it was damn near impossible to feel like anything other than a teenage girl around
him. She had a crush. For the first time in a decade she had a bona fide giggle-inducing, dot-your-I s-
with-a-heart crush. It was embarrassing.
So she rolled her eyes and told him,  Not really. I just said that to make you feel better about
yourself.
 Liar.
 It s called sarcasm.
 It s called we re here. He pulled into his garage.  Close your doughnut box before we open the
door or Wilma will have you on the ground.
Tuesday wandered in behind Diesel, greeting Wilma after he did. The dog bounded around and
jumped on her leg, obviously glad to have some company. Diesel whistled for the dog and she ran
past him to the back door. Setting the doughnut box on his kitchen counter, Tuesday followed him. His
backyard was beautiful in the daylight, a mass expanse of green ending in a bucolic pond that
shimmered in the summer sunlight.
It suited him. It was relaxed, laid-back.
Tuesday settled into a deck chair and watched as he stood in the grass and tossed a tennis ball to
Wilma. They weren t wimpy throws, he was hurling the ball fifty feet and Wilma was tearing after it
each time, bringing it back faster than Tuesday would have thought possible.
Glancing down at her feet, she checked her pedicure peeking out from behind her gold sandals. It was
still intact. She wished she could say the same for the rest of her.
The timing of this whatever it was with Diesel was terrible. She knew she didn t entirely have it
together. She knew she was vulnerable. She had always been good at being rational in relationships
and she wasn t sure she was completely capable of that right now.
It would be easy to get hurt.
Yet she didn t seem to be standing up and leaving.
She was either a masochist or maybe, just maybe, on the verge of something wonderful.
Wilma came running up to her, dropping the soggy ball in her lap.
 Hey, mutt, bring it to me. Tuesday doesn t want your nasty ball.
 I don t mind. After giving the dog a scratch on the head, she threw the ball. It didn t have the
velocity of Diesel s throws, but it made it to the grass at least. Wilma bounded off after it.
 This is my life, Diesel told her.  Entertaining a dog.
But he didn t look like he minded.  In return she gives you unconditional love. You can t beat that.
 True. Diesel had sat down next to her and he rubbed Wilma when she inserted her head between his
legs.  So Ty McCordle tells me you re planning a cancer benefit in your father s name.
 Yes. It s in two weeks. She had thought it would ease her pain a little, but the truth was, she was
having the opposite reaction. It made her feel even more raw, and she waffled between bouts of
aggressive planning and the desire to run and hide from everything. It was on target mainly because
Kendall had lent her her PR person for the event. Otherwise Tuesday wasn t sure she would have
been able to pull it together.  The drivers have all been great. They ve donated personal meet-and-
greets, memorabilia, driver s experiences. Everyone has been really generous.
It had meant a lot to her as she had been soliciting donations to hear so many of the drivers speak
highly of her father. They had all stepped up to the plate to help out and then some.  I think we can
really bring in some money. Kendall s assistant has done the advertising and we have several hundred
people attending.
She was proud of what she had managed to pull together.  I m hoping for several hundred thousand
dollars at the end of the night. That would be a great boon to cancer research.
It wouldn t do anything for her father, but if anything she did could prevent someone else from losing
a loved one, she wanted to make that happen.
 I could donate something.
Tuesday glanced at him. He looked sincere. She had thought about asking Diesel, but then hadn t
wanted it to seem like she was twisting his arm. She hadn t wanted him to feel obligated since they
were sleeping with each other.
 That s awesome. I would appreciate it.
 How about a car?
She had been reaching for the coffee cup she d set down on the table next to her and she froze mid-
reach at his words.  Excuse me? A car? Did he mean like a dye-cast car? Because surely he couldn t
mean a whole freaking car.
 The one I ve been working on. It s a vintage stock car, raced in the  63 season, won the
championship. It s worth about a hundred grand I d guess, after my restoration. Should help meet your
goal.
Her heart started to race a lot faster than was strictly normal.  Are you kidding me? You would do
that?
He shrugged.  Of course I would. My mom died of cancer, too. If I can help, I m happy to.
 But how much did that car cost you? And you ve been working on it for months. It both baffled and
touched her that he would be willing to do something so huge.
 So? I m fortunate enough to not have to pinch every penny. I want to do this.
Would he think she was stupid if she reached over and squeezed his hand? She decided she didn t
care. She did just that, running her thumb over the calluses of his workroughened hands.  Thank you.
That s amazing, Daniel.
It felt right to use his given name right then and the sharp intake of breath he took told her he felt the
same way. She was looking into his pale eyes, thinking that this was a very worthy man. One that she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]