3. Matt
Today has been the day from hell.
Not only do I have a fake wife, but we’re saddled with one another for the next two months. And we need to make the media believe that we’re in love and can’t keep our hands off one another. The last thing I need is this to blow up in my face and risk my contract renewal. Add in that I have to deal with Mila becoming a part of our team. An I’m beyond stressed at the moment.
It’s of course important to bring a female driver on and add her into a male-driven sport. And it’s great that Mac wants her to be a part of our boys’ club. Mila had been on my radar for a little while. I had watched her come through the ranks of the smaller divisions, so it was only a matter of time before she came up to the big show. Honestly, I’m glad our team snatched her up because she will bring a lot of focus onto us as a unit.
Ugh, running my hands through my hair I think of my wife, Grace. Grace Miller, laughing to myself, she’s drop-dead gorgeous, and I know that it won’t be a problem showing that we are married outside the walls of my house. That smart mouth is what I’m going to have an issue with. Every time she opens it there is some level of sass that comes with it; And the more she’s around me the more I want her on her knees sucking my cock so I don’t have to listen to what comes out of it. That may make me sound like an ass, and honestly, I’m okay with that, but the woman just gets under my skin, and I don’t know how to break the spell. We had one night, and it has played over in my head since then. It’s like she was a siren calling a captain to shore. Shaking my head to try and focus on what I have ahead of me I turn toward the one room that I can have the quiet I need.
Walking into the simulation room, I see all the monitors set up and a single car frame sitting in the center of the room. Taking a deep breath, I walk in slowly. Normally when I come in here to practice for next week’s race, it’s my one place that I don’t have to be on—just me and the screens in front of me. Needing to get focused on the race at hand and block out the shit show that has become my life today. Putting in my specs for the sim, I get to work. Miami is a tough track and one that has always been a pain in my ass. It doesn’t matter how much I’m in this machine or on the track, I just can’t quite keep it under me. But I’m determined to figure it out this time around come hell or high water.
Two hours—that’s how long it took until I was ready to throw my steering wheel at the damn monitor. Frustrated, I decide to call it a day and head home. The only problem is I now have a “wife” in my space when I get there. My place is the one spot where I can just be me; I don’t have to put on a show or be this perfect driver. But you know what, to hell with it. She wants to put us in this spot, so she’s going to get that version of me. I shouldn’t have to act differently. Hell, I may even turn it up a notch just to make her suffer.
Bringing my Charger to life, I decide to make a little stop on the way home. She wants a husband, and she’s going to get one. The only difference is I’m not the doting kind. I’m the kind who’s going to walk around all day in those gray sweatpants women love so much, and all my shirts will magically disappear. We’ll see how she likes that.
“Honey, I’m home,” I yell as I throw my keys in the bowl beside the door. I turn on my daily playlist of old country music as soon as I walk in. Granted, that’s the one normal thing I’m not going to change. What in the holy hell is that smell? It’s like chocolate and a skunk mated and took up shop in my house. Following the smell, I pause just as I get a look at that beautiful peach-shaped ass in the air bent over my oven. Dammit. Nope, I am not going to act on my instinct to go over and smack the hell out of it or bend her over the counter and fuck her for making my house smell this bad. Shaking my head, I watch her for another minute while she sways those gorgeous hips. That’s when I notice she has her earbuds in. She hasn’t even heard me, so I give her a second to put the hot pan down before I make my presence known. The last thing I need is second-degree burns after she throws that at me. Flashback come of books she launched at my head a few months back—the girl’s got an aim I’ll giver her that.
“What the hell, Matt?” she yells, turning around to see me staring at her like a creeper.
“What in the fuck have you done to my kitchen, Red?” I say, stepping closer to her. I backed her up to the counter, trapping her in with my arms on both sides of her body. I’m starting to see a pattern when I’m close to this woman—she makes me become a bit of a caveman.
“The last thing I wanted when coming home from my shit of a day is to see my ‘wife’ turning my kitchen into a war room. What are you making, and why does it smell so bad in here?” I ask, trying to relax just a little to the country music playing in the background.
“Well, husband, if you must know, they’re gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.”
“Who the fuck would eat those? They smell like ass. Open the damn windows. I don”t even think one of those big ass Yankee Candles could fix this smell. It’s going to be in the furniture,” I say, getting even closer to her.
Blinking up at me, she smirks. “Just so you know, a lot of people are gluten-free, me included, and after the meeting and phone calls with my family today, the only thing I want to do right now is to sit down, eat these cookies, and watch a movie. So if you don’t like it, too bad. I suggest you get used to the smell because this isn’t the only batch I’m going to make.”
Dammit, that sassy mouth again. Running my hand along her neck, I so want to collar her and punish her for what she’s done. But I don’t; this isn’t real, and I need to keep things in check. Watching her reaction, I notice her eyes dilate when I apply a little pressure to her neck. Yeah, I know you like it rough, Red, but you’re going to have to suffer before that happens, I think to myself. Then I drop my hand. “Clean up the mess, and for the love of God, open a window,” I say before walking away. I need a cold shower and some strong will power to get through the next two months.
After my shower, I decide it’s time to make her suffer some, so I slip into my sweats—minus underwear and shirt. I make my way out to the living room to find her relaxing on the couch with TheFast and the Furious movie on the TV. “Well, what do we have here? A million things on Netflix, and you pick the one movie that I would watch,” I say, coming to stand in front of her just so she can look at the goods. And by the slow perusal of my body, I know she’s enjoying the view. And just like I thought would happen, the longer she stares, the more my body starts to react. She may have The General coming to the party, but that’s all she’s going to get. I might be turned on by her, but she can be damn sure that I can hold out.
“See something you like, Red?” I can’t help but smirk at her seeing as she’s been caught looking a little longer than necessary.
Suddenly, she’s clearing her throat, and I can’t help but feel good about myself.
“Cowboy, you may have all the right parts that women want, but when you start to talk, it’s thrown right out the window,” she says, giving me one more look before going back to watching her movie.
“I could say the same thing about you, Red. That gorgeous ass of yours could make any man want you. But it”s that sass that keeps them at bay. I’m not sure how that ex of yours stayed with you as long as he did.”
Sitting down on the couch beside her, I pick up my phone to order dinner.
“Do you want anything else to eat, or are you going to just eat cookies for dinner?” I ask, trying at least to be nice.
“I’ll take a salad from wherever you order from,” she says, a little quieter than she was just a few minutes ago.
After getting something to eat, we try to figure out which room Grace might want to put her bags in and whether she wants to grab a few things to make it more homely or if she’ll leave it as it is. After watching back-to-back movies, I head to bed. We didn’t say much while eating dinner or watching the movies. I didn’t want to push it by saying something that she might use against me, so I cleaned up and headed to bed.
Lying in bed, with Grace across the hall, I watch as the fan makes circles above me. I’m a mixture of turned on and irritated with what happened today. Granted, I have this sexy woman in my house, and I need to act like the doting husband for the next two months. But I’m also not able to have her the way I really want. Because that would make things even more complicated than they already are. So I need to stock up on some Vaseline and hit some very cold showers for the next while.
I lie there, mindlessly scrolling my phone trying to take my mind off the spot I’ve found myself in. Hearing a small knock come from the door. Sitting up some I say, “Come in,” as the door opens the woman I both want and hate comes into view. She’s wearing a thin nightshirt, showing off those legs, and who the hell knows if she has shorts on underneath?
“Matt, can we talk?” Grace says, all the sass gone from her voice for once.
“Umm, sure, I guess. Can’t sleep anyway.” I pull myself up to fully sitting up in the bed to get in a better position.
“Listen, I just wanted to apologize for the mess I’ve gotten us into. I know it”s not ideal for you to have a wife. Hell, you don’t even keep a girl for a week, let alone longer. But when I saw that woman put something in your drink, I couldn’t stand by and watch it happen. I’ve seen women like her before when I’ve been out with my cousins, and I don’t know, I just didn’t want her to use you just to get a story.”
“Well, you sure have got us into a situation, Red. That’s for damn sure. You know you could have just said I was your boyfriend, and this whole thing would be a non-issue—but you didn’t. And let me tell you, I loved getting a phone call from your cousin-in-law earlier today, telling me that I better be on my best behavior or I’ll see the turn four wall at the next race sooner rather than later. It was the highlight of my day. So thanks for that.”
“Clint called you?” she asks.
Little does she know that I know exactly who her family is and what a shit show this has become for them. I may not be the perfect poster boy of the stock car world, but I’ve done pretty damn good for myself. The Millers are important. I get it, but I won’t stand by and have my life played out in public for all those to think it’s a joke.
“Yeah, he did, and granted, the man is downright brutal to race, but he’s also one of the nicest people I know outside the car. So to have him tell me I need to toe the line makes me question just what he knows about us, Red,” I say, staring at her with as much fire and drive as I’ve had in a long time.
“If he’s got an impression of you off the track, it’s from what you put out in the media, not what I’ve told him. Honestly, my family back home stays out of my love life, and they know that I can’t talk about work with them since I’m a part of another team. So other than the weekly catch-up Skype call and our family text group chat, the last thing they heard about my love life was me with Miles, and you know how that turned out.” She says.
I look away from her, trying to gather myself before looking back over at her. I know it must be hard coming from the Miller legacy.
“Anyway, I just came to say that I’m sorry about this mess and that I’ll make it as easy on you as I can. I have a lot on my plate with Mila coming in, so other than making sure I’m at your side on race weekends, we can just be like ships passing in the night, if that’s okay with you, Cowboy,” she says, looking down at the floor like there’s a math problem on it she’s trying to solve.
“Red, look at me. You don’t have to feel like a ship. Do you make me angry? Yep, a thousand percent, but I’ve also seen what a loyal friend you are to those you love. Did I take the news today the way I should have? Maybe not, but it is what it is now, and we can make the best of this fucked-up situation. So let’s just take it one day at a time and see what happens. We don’t have to be best friends, that’s for damn sure, but we also don’t have to act like we want to burn the place down when we’re in the same area.”
Nodding her head, she turns and heads for the door. Slowly closing it behind her, I flop back onto my bed, hands in my hair, pulling at it to feel something other than my heart racing for the beautiful blonde who just left my room. This woman is going to be hard not to grow attached to in the next two months if she keeps coming at me with kind words. I want her sass and those lips on mine. Why can’t she just be brutal with me all the time? That way, I won’t develop feelings, other than wanting to fuck the life out of her. Throwing the covers off me, I head toward the shower for the second time today—ever since I walked in and saw that round ass bent over my oven. God help me.