Faster Deeper (Take Me...#2) (New Adult Bad Boy Racer Novel) Read Online Free Page B

hands clenched tightly together, trying his best to hold back...tears?
    “Dad...what is it?” I ask quietly, laying a hand on his
back.
    “Nothing. Nothing,” he says, sniffing loudly and sitting up
straight, “That’s just a damn fine story, Siena. Must have been during my last F2
series, before I moved on up the food chain. I’m glad you can remember me like
that. Young, and strong...a champion.”
    “You’ll always be a champion to me,” I tell him, braiding my
fingers through his. “You know that, don’t you?”
    “Sure,” he says, “Sure do, kiddo. Well. Anyhow. Just wanted
to...”
    “Stop by and check on me?” I offer.
    “Yeah,” he says, “I’m, uh, gonna go grab something to eat.
Take your time, though. Take a breather. You deserve it.”
    He walks quickly across the room and leaves me alone with my
thoughts once more. I stare after my father, dazed by his behavior. My dad is
nothing if not a ruthless, unsentimental strategist. What’s with the waxing
nostalgia all of a sudden? Maybe he’s finally starting to soften up a bit in
his old age. That might not be such a tragedy. Maybe he’ll thaw enough before
the season is over to handle the news of me and Harrison?
    Wishful thinking.
    All of the anxiety that’s been eating away at my nerves
since receiving those incriminating photos is rushing back into my bloodstream.
I need to relax. The only way I’m going to be able to think through this if I
can clear my mind. I throw on some skinny jeans, a white tank, and my favorite
leather jacket. With a quick swipe of mascara and a dab of rosy lip gloss, I’m
good to go. The worst thing I can do right now is lock myself up in my room and
refuse to let the world in. I’ll take a little walk around the hotel grounds.
That should clear my head right up.
    I make my way through the exquisitely fancy hotel, marveling
at the elegant touches along the way. I’ve always been treated like F1 royalty,
and sometimes I forget to stop and be grateful for it. Even with all of this
personal drama, this scandal, I’m getting paid to see the world and do what I
love. It’s hard to carry gratitude in my heart when it’s already weighed down
with so much...but I have to keep at it.
    There’s a small but spotless garden behind our stately gem
of a hotel, and I slip out into it to fill my lungs with fresh air. The moment
I step outside, I feel a little better. A lot of people get lonely when they
travel, but I’ve always felt more at home on the move than static. Maybe it’s
because my childhood was split up between two vastly different environments,
but I think I’ll be something of a rambler for the rest of my life. You learn
to understand people so much more deeply when you’ve been around the world. I
wouldn’t trade that awareness for anything.
    The air is just a bit nippy as I make my way through the
maze of high, manicured shrubs. This place is something out of War and Peace. I do
feel more than a little bit like the lovesick Natasha, longing for her love.
But also tempted by a man who no one thinks is good for her. I guess that means
Harrison and I have some wild sort of love story going on...I just wish ours
was a bit more Nicholas Sparks and a bit less Shakespeare.
    I sink down onto a stone bench, peering up at the bright
afternoon sky. A moment of peace like this is hard to come by in my line of
work, and I mean to savor it.
    “Son of a bitch,” I mutter, as my ringtone begins to chirp.
I whip out my phone and see that Harrison has once again shot me a message. But
this time, it’s only two words long:
    “Over here.”
    I whip my head around and feel the air leave my lungs.
Harrison is standing across the small stone walkway, wearing light blue jeans,
a bomber jacket, and the most serious expression I’ve ever seen on his face.
    “What are you doing here?” I hiss.
    “Look at that,” Harrison remarks, “You actually answered one
of my texts. Sort of.”
    “You can’t be here. We can’t be