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hundreds of women. This couldn’t have been special.
    Whereas for her…
    Somewhere deep inside her, there’d been a seismic shift.
    Exactly what she’d feared, known, would happen with a man like him. He would forget the kiss by the time he started his engine. She would be haunted by it.
    Eli touched her cheek. “Enjoy the race, chickadee.” His tone was light as he turned to accept his helmet from one of the team, confirming that whatever she’d imagined about the kiss having an impact on him, she’d been wrong.
    This whole day has been wrong.
    â€œI quit,” she blurted.
    He paused, helmet in hand. “What?”
    She made sure the team couldn’t overhear before she continued. “I can’t be your girlfriend anymore.” The urge to make that clear was overpowering. She just wasn’t sure if it was he who needed to know, or if she was warning herself. “I should get back to work where I belong.”
    His whole body went taut. “You agreed to watch the race here in the pits. Gil told me he’s looking forward to introducing you to your first NASCAR race.”
    Gil had said that? Jen dismissed the small shock of pleasure. “You can’t back out now,” Eli continued. “Bob wants you to help me. That means seeing this thing through to the checkered flag.”
    Oh, yeah, play the Bob card. She shook her head to clear her muddled thoughts. “Fine, I’ll watch the race,” she said. “But that’s all. No more girlfriend stuff. You can’t…afterward…don’t touch me again.”
    Â 
    M ORE THAN FOUR HUNDRED laps into the race, Eli was still riled by Jen’s bizarre reaction to that kiss. Okay, so there’d been a sizzle that wasn’t appropriate to a pretend relationship…big deal! He hadn’t intended it, nor had she. It was just one of those man-woman chemistry things that sprang up fast and was as easily forgotten.
    At least, he would have forgotten it by now if Jen hadn’t acted so weird. Quitting on him!
    â€œTrouble ahead, stay low,” his spotter said into his earpiece.
    Eli saw the tangle of cars up against the wall. He dived, just managing to dodge Ben Edmonds, running a lap behind. Edmonds was embroiled in a nightmare season; he hadn’t had a win in years. He’d been married to his wifeforever—Eli wondered if Gil had noticed that Edmonds wasn’t exactly proof that a stable relationship was good for a guy’s racing. Eli couldn’t imagine being with the same woman day after day after day. No wonder rumor had it that the Edmonds’ rock-solid marriage was crumbling under the pressure.
    He thought again about Jen, about that chaste kiss that had packed so much punch. Novelty value, he told himself. If he did it again, it would bore him to tears.
    So it didn’t matter that she’d quit her girlfriend act early. Sure, she was pretty, but she wasn’t the sort of woman who normally caught his attention. He would have no trouble refraining from kissing her after the race.
    â€œWill Branch ahead,” the spotter said. Almost without thinking, Eli zipped past on the high-banked Turn Two.
    â€œNice,” Kevin, his crew chief, said over the headphones.
    The word reminded Eli of Jen. She was a nice girl. Another good reason not to date her. Nice girls are too much hard work. Hadn’t he spent most of the day entertaining her, aware that for her simply being in his presence didn’t constitute a great time? He’d enjoyed himself, surprisingly so, but now, just thinking about how much hard work she’d been made him tired.
    Or it would, once he got done with this race. This particular minute, adrenaline was pumping through him, leaving him supercharged.
    Ahead of him, a white flag waved. Hell, he was on the last lap, and he had no idea what position he was. Eli hauled his focus into line and thumped the gas pedal to the floor for the