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hyped rivalries. The drivers’ tempers flared quickly and often. And the cars wound up bumping and banging their way to the finish.
    Even with the pressure and craziness of her job, Lexie still looked forward to every race. She never lost her appreciation for the excitement or the drama. Something she and Kane shared. Something that bonded them.
    She recalled the first NASCAR race Kane had ever seen. In high school, she and James had taken him to the track in Concord. Their seats were just at the exit of the pits, and she’d known the moment those engines roared that football’s loss would be the stock car world’s gain. Kane’s eyes had lit like a Christmas tree as he watched those brightly colored cars with their intense, powerful engines roar through that first turn.
    With pit passes her dad had given her, she’d taken Kane and James through the garage area. They met rookies and champions. They were embraced by the crews. No one asked about Kane’s dad or James’s college football recruiting status. No one knew who they were, and they loved it.
    Through the rest of their high school years, the two of them bugged her for NASCAR tickets. Their love of the sport grew. They even built their first car together, which Kane raced, in secret, at the speedway in Myrtle Beach. After Kane quit football and James left Mooresville to claim his scholarship at Florida, they continued to build their racing team. Which, to some extent, had now become a reality.
    How ironic that the sport she’d introduced Kane to had been their relationship’s downfall. She couldn’t deal with his fiery devotion to racing, his obsession to win, to prove himself to his father above all costs. Including her.
    She got an engineering scholarship to Duke, which she accepted. She broke up with Kane and left Mooresville, promising herself that the next time she fell in love she’d find somebody who was stable and even-tempered. Somebody who didn’t care if she knew a carburetor from a brake pad.
    Somebody who wanted her above everything else.
    Through her disappointment, anger and pain, she’d found strength within herself, and she’d sworn she’d never be second best again. The irony that she wanted him to be aggressive and obsessed about racing these days, when she’d so resented it during their dating years, wasn’t lost on her.
    â€œHave you seen Kane?”
    Startled, Lexie glanced up at Kane’s father. Actually, I have, sir. See, I had this dream that we loved each other more than racing, and—
    â€œLexie?”
    She blinked away the remnants of the dream and tried to focus. “Oh, uh, he’s probably at the airport.”
    â€œI need to talk to him.”
    â€œTry his cell.”
    â€œI already did. It’s turned off.”
    With just about anybody else, Lexie would have offered a ride to the airport or at least further concern. But she and Anton Jackson had never gotten along. Kane’s father had always resented her for introducing Kane to racing.
    Which was fine by her. She resented him, as well—for years—because he thought she wasn’t good enough for his son, but lately it was because of his lack of support for Kane’s love of racing, as well as the change he’d brought about in Kane’s personality.
    At some point over the years, Kane’s obsession with winning had been dampened by his need to get his father’s approval. The fire of competitiveness she’d resented before—and desperately needed now—was diminished. Thanks to the man before her.
    â€œOh, well.” She made an effort to smile at the man most American sports fans worshiped. “He’ll be back late Saturday, early Sunday.”
    Frustration suffused Anton’s sculpted features. “Is he really going to get into the top ten?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œYou’re sure?”
    â€œAs sure as I can be.”
    â€œEverybody was