Mack arched her brows in question. Leo took his time answering, and she sensed that he wanted to find the exact right words. “My parents have always been kind and loving and supportive. I never had anything to rebel against because they were always there for me. But when I started racing ... they double-mortgaged their home and took out loans to pay for everything. They sacrificed so much for me and I never want them to regret it.”
“And being impulsive would make them regret investing in you?”
Leo closed his eyes and shook his head. “I was seventeen when I came to karting. You know how it is. Most of the kids I raced against had been driving since kindergarten. I started doing odd jobs, pressure washing and painting and working at a fast-food place to make enough money to buy my own equipment. My parents borrowed money from my grandma to buy my first kart. I still think about that every time I’m too tired to get out of bed. The bare minimum I owe them is my hard work.” He reached up and pushed an unruly strand of hair off her forehead. “If I went wild, did impulsive things, did anything that took my focus away from racing, it would feel like spitting in the face of all the sacrifices my family made for me.”
“What about your YouTube channel and the dancing competition?”
He held a lock of her hair, twirling it around his finger. “The dancing competition got me a wider audience, and I landed some solid sponsorships after that. My YouTube channel connects me with fans, which keeps the sponsors happy.” He shrugged but Mack could tell he didn’t feel as casual as he acted. “I really do love the fans, but sponsors mean money, money means repaying my family for all they’ve done for me.”
“See? Shady. You act like you’re all calm, a cool guy out here having fun, but it’s all calculated.”
She said it teasingly, but Leo did not smile in return. “More like strategic. There’s so much I want to do for them. I made enough to pay off their mortgages but I’m trying to refill their retirement accounts.”
“And what do you get?” Mack tilted her chin up at the garage. “You’re working to take care of your family, but what about what you want?”
Leo grinned wickedly. “I want the Indy 500.” Mack hummed in agreement, and the air between them vibrated with so much want—of each other, of the win, of someone who understood the want of something bigger than themselves.
His face changed so slightly that Mack would have missed it if they weren’t a bare inch apart. She whispered, “What else do you want, Leo Raisman?”
Geezus, the way he looked at her. No one had ever made her feel so wanted.
“Can I trust you, Mack?”
She frowned. “Of course.”
“I want more. Janet pulled me up from a junior program and gave me my first shot at IndyCar. I’ll always be grateful ...”
“But,” she said for him.
He whispered and Mack didn’t know if he was keeping it quiet for himself or because they were in the JJR garage. “But it’s time for something new.”
“A new team?” The hush of her voice matched his.
He nodded guiltily. “I’m ready for a new challenge. I owe Janet everything, she’s a good boss and she’s taken me as far as she can ...” He trailed off but Mack understood what he wasn’t saying. JJR was a small team and it was a testament to Leo’s talent and Janet’s hustle that they’d gotten their one-car team onto the podium multiple times. But the bigger teams had bigger resources, and like everything else in America, bigger resources meant a better chance of winning.
“Is that a possibility?” Mack knew even as she asked the question that it was. Leo Raisman was beloved to both fans and sponsors, andhe proved himself on track week after week. Any team would be lucky to have him.
Leo drew an inhale and nodded. “I don’t have room for error.”
Mack stepped slightly closer into him, until no air remained between them, just space all around them in the vastness of the garage. “Me either,” she whispered.
“I know,” Leo said softly. His thumb barely ghosted over her neck. “I know.”
He took a sizable step back.
Panicked, Mack grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled. She shoved up on her toes and kissed him the way she’d wanted to since they walked into the garage. Leo matched her fervor, his fingers sliding through her tangled hair, his palms cupping her jaw. Her mind knew she was being foolish but her body said he felt so right, so perfect as his rough beard scraped her healing chin and his heat enveloped her body. She pressed down on his shoulders to gain leverage, then jumped and wrapped her legs around him. Leo groaned as he moved his hands to her thighs and pulled her closer.
She had no idea how long they’d been kissing when Leo gently, carefully slowed their pace. Then he eased his hands up her body, softly letting gravity pull her feet back down to the floor. When she was standing, their bodies still tightly aligned, Leo cupped her face again for one last long kiss. Her lips followed him as he pulled away, but Leo tilted his head so that their foreheads touched but their lips couldn’t reach, his hands still holding her face.
Mack had never done that before. She’d always followed through, sometimes even as alarm bells went off in her head. She never stopped a thing once she started it. She’d never been with someone levelheaded like Leo, someone who matched her fervor but also tamed it.
She stood breathing heavily, somewhere between embarrassed that she’d thrown herself at him and grateful that Leo stopped them from doing god only knows what in the garage. She glanced up, looking for cameras. She’d told Laurie she knew better now, but making out in theteam garage where others could find footage of her and Leo was about as stupid as it got.
Leo ran his thumb over her lip and he was still looking at her mouth when he spoke. “You have to know how much I want to find an empty office.” His eyes found hers. “But you told me you didn’t want distractions, and I want you to have everything you need to make this race.”
Mack studied his face, so serious and sincere even though his pupils were still blown. She wanted him to steamroll over her boundaries, to make bad decisions with her, to act first and think later. She wanted him to be wild and reckless and as self-destructive as she was.
Because he didn’t, and because he wasn’t, she liked him way too much. It made her furious.
