The Chase (Fast Track #4)(25)
Author: Erin McCarthy

Plus he’d seen the way that SL Smith executive had been leering at Kendall all afternoon. Evan wasn’t about to let that old pervert have imagery to spank his monkey with later.

So instead of dealing with the storm gathering on Kendall’s face, Evan just turned to the executive and said, “To have her in a tank top like this and me in a golf shirt is ridiculous. I’m not doing shots like that.”

Kendall startled him by ripping the tank top back out of his hands and physically stepping between him and the guy. “I’ll handle this, thank you, Mr. Monroe.”

Mr. Monroe? What was he, his dad?

“I’ll need to put in a phone call and check with my PR rep and the team owner, Carl, to see if this type of advertising is acceptable to them. I’m new to the cup series and I’d hate to misstep with my boss. I’m sure you can appreciate that.”

The SL Smith guy met Kendall’s gaze and then nodded sharply. “Why don’t we schedule a meeting with my people and your people for next week? We can use some of the shots we already have for the press release.”

“Excellent.”

Evan felt his admiration for Kendall increase tremendously. It was clear she was furious, yet she’d handled it swiftly and professionally. “I’d like to be a part of the meeting as well,” Evan said. “If you plan on continuing to link my image with Kendall’s.”

If anything, he figured he and Eve could be a backup for Kendall, helping her stand firm about not doing cle**age shots. But he didn’t think Carl would go for it anyway. He wanted a clean image for his drivers.

“We definitely plan to have a joint publicity campaign this season for the two of you. So I’ll make some calls and set it up. Thanks for your hard work here today.” SL Smith Guy, whose name Evan couldn’t remember, shook his hand. “Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”

“Thanks.” Evan watched him turn and shake Kendall’s hand, then exit the studio. The photographer was already shutting off his lights. Kendall disappeared to the dressing room and reemerged with her duffel bag.

Without a word, she stomped off towards the parking lot.

Evan grabbed his own bag and jogged to catch up with her. “Hey, hey, wait up.”

She whirled to face him. “Just leave me alone. Please?”

There were tears in her eyes, shocking him into halting in the middle of the parking lot. “What the hell is wrong?”

Brushing at her eyes, she said tightly, “Don’t worry about it. It’s no big deal.”

Yet Evan knew her well enough to know it was a big deal. It looked like she was crying out of anger, and about way more than some stupid tank top. “You’re clearly angry. Just let it out. Use me as a punching bag. You’ll feel better, I swear. Especially if it’s me you’re mad at.”

“I’m not thrilled with you,” she admitted.

“I didn’t mean what I said to sound like you couldn’t take care of yourself. It just really pissed me off that he wanted the shot to basically focus on your chest. I half expected him to suggest the stick of deodorant should go in your cle**age.” Evan was only half-joking.

“I know. It made me angry, too. I’m angry that you feel paternal, I’m angry that I’ll always be nothing more than just the token girl of stock car racing, and I’m angry that I don’t know how to do this.”

Evan wanted to touch her, to try to calm her down, but he valued his life too much. For such a tiny woman, she gave off a lot of rage. “First of all, my feelings for you are not paternal. In any way. Do I feel protective instincts? Yes, of course I do. All men do for women they care about. Does that mean I want to dominate you or think you can’t take care of yourself? Hell, no. It just means, plain and simple, I care about you and don’t want you hurt or taken advantage of.”

She crossed her bare arms and shivered in the March breeze, gazing off across the parking lot. “What are we doing, Evan? We shouldn’t have had sex. That was stupid. I can’t handle my life as it is, I don’t need this complication.”

It’s not like his life was simple either, given that his season was a total suckfest. But it seemed to him she was making it more complicated than it needed to be. “Nothing needs to be a complication, Kendall. We just had fun, that’s all. We’re old friends, with great sexual chemistry, and I don’t regret one second of the other night. But I’m not sure that’s what’s really bothering you. What did you mean when you said you can’t do this? Do what? Race?”

Sighing, she dropped her arms, letting her duffel bag fall to the blacktop of the parking lot. “This media stuff. This being famous stuff. Driving is my thing. It’s what I do best, it’s what I love. But the rest? I’m clueless.”

“Every rookie feels that way. It’s overwhelming. Ask Elec how he mangled his way through his first few interviews. And I accidentally made an ass out of myself last season when I broke Pete Briggs’s track record.”

“It’s more than that. It’s this feeling that people are coming at me all the time, do you know what I mean? Not the fans . . . they’re awesome. I love meeting them at events. It’s all this business stuff, these photo shoots and signing merchandise, and following a schedule so rigid that sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe. Like I just want to run away . . .”

The tears were in her eyes again. “God, I sound like such an ingrate. Here I have everything I’ve ever wanted and I’m complaining.”

She looked so vulnerable that Evan did reach out and touch her. He wiped off the stray tear that had escaped on her cheek, and dropped his hand to her shoulder and massaged it. It was tight with tension. “Hey. You’re not an ingrate. It’s a demanding job, and we all have things we like and don’t like about it. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the media attention, you just need to make sure you have a quiet place to get away to. You have to build in downtime, even if it’s just half an hour.”

“Easier said than done . . . I have all this pressure. I mean, my car is running tight, and we have Bristol coming up and you know I’m not particularly confident on that track, and my motor home is being repaired so I have to stay in a hotel off-site. It’s just . . .” She pressed her fingers to her temples. “A lot.”

Evan put his free hand on her other shoulder and kneaded through her Untamed golf shirt. “Been there, done that. But worrying about everything and anything doesn’t change the situation or make it any better. If you need a place to stay at the track this weekend, you can stay with me.”