Read Crossing the Line (Hard Driving) for Free Online Page B

started in trucks, and even back then I could see by the way you raced that . . . well, this might seem silly, but it was like you weren’t just racing to win. You were racing to
prove
something. You say you don’t care whether you win or lose. And yet, I can’t explain it. It’s like even the Intercomm Cup won’t be enough. Like it’s just a stepping stone to something bigger. What is that?”
    He blinked. “I’m sorry. I can’t answer that—”
    It hurt. Why did it hurt, that he wouldn’t tell her? She was the one planning on using his trust against him.
    Stupid Cori. Stupid armchair psychology that you should never have indulged in.
She cut him off. She was all too aware of their dwindling minutes together. Maybe he didn’t have something to prove, but she did. “Next question, then. Daytona.”
    He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. The way it pitched his body forward, he had to look up at her to meet her eyes.
    It made a little thrill go through her.
    “—on the record. I can’t answer that
on the record
. But I’d like to tell you. If you’re willing to keep it private.”
    She forgot about the fact that she had so little time left with him. She forgot about how he was giving her exactly what she was after. All she could focus on was the way he said
private
, all soft and low . . . it pulled
her
to
him
like a magnet.
    God.
She was in so deep. And the biggest problem of all was, she was no longer sure which direction was up anymore.
    * * *
    The way Cori’s lips parted on a silent
O
when he said that—
keep it private
—made it hard for Ty to keep his hands to himself.
    But of course, he did.
    He’d surprised her. Maybe even shocked her. Hell, he’d shocked himself. He’d certainly never offered any other reporter an off-record glimpse into his thoughts—about this or anything else. He’d never opened up this fast at all, really . . . to anyone. And in a Media Day interview, no less!
    He was supposed to be laying low. He was supposed to be behaving like a model of honesty and integrity, not offering to have off-the-record conversations with journalists.
    What had he been thinking?
    You’d been thinking about that undone button . . .
    True. But was his desire to talk to her again,
privately
, simply a product of his powerful attraction to her? It couldn’t be. It didn’t feel like it. At least, not
only
attraction. He knew better than to let his lust rule his decisions, even though it was pretty intense right now.
    It was more because she’d been the only one who hadn’t pushed him about the fight with Gilroy or the reasons behind it. She’d been the only one who seemed to understand he was ready for the next step in his career that could take his love of racing to the next level, even if she didn’t know about the program he’d already been working to start, that had been yanked away from him by some jerk whose lies had hit too close to home.
    He wanted to talk to her about how angry he felt over this whole thing. He wanted to talk to her about how he might have lost his chance to share his sport with young people who could benefit from seeing themselves in his success.
    He also might have jeopardized everything simply by offering to confide in a woman he’d just met.
    And yet . . . he didn’t take it back. Just stared at her. Waited.
    Finally, after a long moment, she slowly shook her head. “I’m afraid . . . I have to finish interviewing the other drivers.”
    He should have let it drop right then. But the devil had clearly got into him, because he chuckled and looked at her through his lashes. “I meant, after Media Day is over. Just you and me.”
    So much for not letting his lust rule his decisions. He stuffed that sentence as full of meaning as he could manage, and she most definitely got it. Her cheeks pinked up so prettily, and her breath sped up, coming fast and shallow. She arched her breasts ever so subtly toward him, so subtly that he wondered whether she