Fuel To The Fire (New Adult Contemporary Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

head in the game now Marco?” asks my crew chief Alanzo.
    “As
opposed to where his head was a minute ago?” my Red Bull sponsor sneers.
    Geeze,
the hell I’m gonna catch for what just happened. Well I was hoping I’d catch it
some other damn day! It’s gonna be hard enough to concentrate today.
    “Looks
like he’s still got Carrie on the brain...” says Craig, my gas man.
    “Yeah,
kinda like water on the brain,” Alanzo replies, “only the swelling happens
someplace else.”
    “Very
funny guys, very funny.”
    I climb
into my new number 77 and strap myself in. The conditions are ideal for a
practice run. There’s a cool breeze, the track is dry but not too hot. Ideal
for the tires I’m running right now. As I start revving her up my spotter
checks in.
    “How ya
feelin’ Panata?”
    “I’m
ready to tear it up!”
    “Show us
what she’s got!”
    The
moment I pull out of the pit area and onto the track I know something is
wrong...really wrong. I’d have a lot more credibility with my team had I known
exactly what was wrong before nearly putting myself into the wall at the first
turn. I screech to a halt just inches from the concrete barrier.
    “Something
wrong boss?” asks my spotter.
    “I can’t
get her to make a left turn. What the hell you guys do to her?”
    For an
answer all I hear is laughter coming from my team. Boiling over with
frustration I climb out. I’m done for the day. I rip my helmet off and throw it
to the ground. The reality of my situation hammers me right between the eyes.
Those idiots! They turned my damn car around. If I hadn’t been so distracted by
the whole Carrie episode I’d have noticed before I even climbed in. I give my
helmet a swift kick for good measure and hoof it back to the pit area and my
waiting crew.
    “Very
funny,” I snap. “Very fucking funny, guys. Are we really doing so well we can
burn through a practice session with childish pranks?”
    Ignoring
their apologies, I stomp off to my trailer to cool down. They just about put me
into the wall with their lame ass joke! Well...in retrospect, had my head really
been in the game the joke wouldn’t have gone as far as it did. I really do need
to get out there and put some time in this new car or I’m gonna be in worse
trouble come Sunday.
    The next
four hours behind the wheel are some of the roughest laps I have ever turned in
a race car. Murphy’s Law is in full effect. I start out over steering but when
I come into the pit, they over correct and the next corner puts me in the grass
in the middle of the track. Then my tire carriers bring the wrong set of tires
over the wall and my tire changers don’t catch the mistake. They set me up for
running hot on a day when the surface temperatures aren’t even pushing eighty
and I’m all over the place. On the last pit Carl, my Jack man, fails to get out
of the way and I end up running over his foot. What a day. The only good thing
about today, well aside from my little exam with Nurse Carrie, is that today
wasn’t a race day.

    Carrie
    Monday
Evening…
    I’m just
sitting down with my second glass of Pinot Noir when there’s a knocking on my
door. It’s gotta be Rachael. No one else comes by at. I look at my watch. No
one ever comes by this late except Rachael.
    “It’s
open!” I holler. I hear my door open then close again. “Perfect timing Rachael,
I was just sitting down—”
    I turn
around as I’m speaking, and when I see who it is that’s really dropped by, my
glass just about ends up on the floor. I barely recover and set it on the
kitchen counter.
    “Sorry
to ambush you like this Doc, but I really would appreciate it if you would
finish the exam.”
    “You
really think that’s wise?” I ask.
    “I
promise, I’ll be 100% gentleman, no funny business.”
    “You
know I could lose my job if Dr. Collins catches wind of our little escapade
this afternoon.” Dr. Collins is the team physician and oversees Rachael and I
and the rest of the medical