Racing Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page A

missed her. When the quiet overcame the noise and rain beat against the roof and nothing occupied his mind but the sound of his heart, he thought of her. Until he ordered the thought away, closing up his heart once again.
    Now, he invited this misery to his barn. What kind of suicidal shit was that? He pushed away his dark thoughts and continued on to his father’s office for their weekly meeting.
    Trip nodded to his father’s administrative assistant, Peyton. “Doing okay today?” Trip asked.
    She winked. “I am now.”
    He smiled, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to flirt with her like he should—like he would have just days before. All the things he’d once found appealing in her paled in comparison to his memory of Emery. Trip had spent eight years trying to forget her, and now he would see her again. He wondered if she looked the same, if she still wore her hair back—if her skin still smelled like wildflowers.
    Freaking hell, pull yourself together, man!
    He dropped his head and pushed through the conference room doors, his father and brother Nick already seated around the long rectangular table. Nick was the middle Hamilton brother and always early, just like their father, which virtually made him the favorite.
    It all began two years before, right after Nick’s fiancée, Brit, died. For three months, he barely got out of bed, unable to function, unable to work, unable to be the Nick they had always known. But then, one day, he showed up at the office, and it was like something had switched on in his head. He dove into work and never came up for air again. Sure, he found female comfort, but he was very private about it and very selective and never committed to anything beyond work. Though Trip dedicated himself to his work, too, he liked to think he still experienced life. Then again, he could be kidding himself.
    â€œRight on time, as always,” Nick said, grinning up at Trip. He had that floppy kind of blond hair and wore thin-rimmed glasses, set against a golden tan and a Crest commercial smile. He was polished, where Trip was rough.
    â€œWhat can I say? Creature of habit.” But the truth was Trip valued his own time far too much to ever be early for anything, but he also respected the time of others too much to be late. He was notoriously on time, to the second, whereas his youngest brother—
    The door burst open from behind him and he turned slowly, his smile widening as Alex Hamilton, the youngest of the three, came strutting in, everything about him, from his mussed hair to his open-at-the-top collar shirt, screamed carefree. Or, to their father, reckless. Alex went through careers like others went through socks—pre-vet student, professional bull rider, Starbuck’s barista. You name it, he’d done it. And while Trip certainly wasn’t the line-walking son of Nick, he had a strong business sense and an innate ability with the horses. In short, he earned his place in that meeting. Alex? It was questionable.
    Alex pulled out a chair beside him and plopped down, leaning back in the chair for good measure.
    â€œLate night?” Trip asked, unable to stop himself.
    Alex smirked, his green eyes sparkling. “Always.”
    The brothers all leaned in, eager to hear a good story, as Carter Hamilton cleared his throat and all three men straightened in their chairs, trying not to laugh. It was amazing how easily they became boys again when they were all together. There had been a time when they saw one another every day, but life and work kept them all busy.
    Carter opened up a folder in front of him. “All right, let’s begin with Industries. Nick?”
    Nick began his spiel about Hamilton Industries, the various land, oil, and investment companies in which they still held a significant share. Nick, at the age of twenty-six, was the VP of operations, and while his job held many responsibilities, to Carter Hamilton, the core one