Surge: Bad Boy Racing Romance (Fastlane Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

on then.”
    Jillian walked in front of me first, followed by the boy, and finally Ava. Just as she passed in front of me, I caught a whiff of her perfume. She hadn’t worn any the first time, when I met her at Dr. Wilcox’s office. I liked it. She wore just the right amount. A nice change of pace from Anastasia and Svetlana, that’s for sure.
    “Hey,” I said, as she walked in front of me.
    She stopped for a second and looked at me as Simon and Jillian continued to walk away.
    “Yes?”
    “Good to see you.”
    She pursed her lips.
    “You know, I’m only here because of my nephew. Don’t read anything into it.”
    Once she finished, she looked away from me and followed behind them as they headed in the direction of my car. I chuckled and shook my head. A few minutes later, I’d given all of them the grand tour of the team garage, and while I finished, my teammate, Marco Rhys, approached.
    “Hey man,” I began, as I pointed towards his car. “How’d it go out there?”
    Marco slipped his hands into the pockets of his fire suit. “Um, all right. There’s still a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. Anyway, I’m not too concerned just yet. Talk to me in a few hours.”
    I chuckled while he finished talking and looked past me towards the Ava, Jillian and Simon.
    “Friends of yours?”
    I nodded and introduced them all to each other. Afterward, Marco looked at Simon and said, “Hey, how’d you like to sit in my car?”
    The kid turned and looked up at Ava. “Can I?”
    Her eyes darted towards mine. “Is it okay?”
    “Yeah, of course.” I looked down at the kid. “Whatever you do, don’t hit the brakes coming out of the straightaway heading into turn one.”
    Marco chuckled and gestured for Jillian and Simon to follow him. After they walked away, I turned towards Ava.
    “Seems like a good kid.”
    She kept her eyes trained on him for another second or two before she looked at me.
    “Yeah, he really is.”
    “Take a walk?” I asked.
    She looked at me for a moment and then glanced towards Marco’s car.
    “He’s in good hands.” I began, waving with a causal gesture towards Marco. “I can’t go far anyway. Come on. I promise I won’t bite. I mean, unless that’s your thing.”
    Ava shook her head at me. “No, it isn’t. But, okay, just for a few minutes.”
    We walked in silence for a bit, eventually making our way out of the garage and along pit road. It was a perfect day for driving. Not a cloud in the sky.
    “So you’re Simon’s aunt?”
    Ava nodded.
    “Too bad his folks couldn’t make it out,” I began, stopping and turning to face her. “Seems to me they’ve done a good job of raising him.”
    Just then, a small gust of wind passed between us, sending Ava’s hair in front of her eyes. She moved it out of the way.
    “Simon. He…”
    Ava paused and turned her head away from me.
    “Yeah?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. “What about him?”
    “He, um, he doesn’t have any parents.”
    “Oh… Damn. Sorry to hear that. Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
    I studied her and noticed a difficult swallow make its way down her throat while she considered my question.
    “You know what, don’t worry about it,” I said, shrugging. “It’s none of my business.”
    Ava continued to battle with wayward strands of her hair. During a few seconds of still air, she looked into my eyes. It was almost like she was deciding whether or not she could trust me.
    “Maybe some other time,” I said, deciding to take the pressure off.
    She smiled and nodded at me. “Maybe.”

    DYSON
    Just then, I noticed the expression on Ava’s face change. Something behind me caught her attention.
    “It looks like you have company, Dyson.”
    Doing a half turn, I glanced in the direction of her line of sight and noticed Anastasia bearing down on me.
    Ava immediately appeared tense. “I’ll leave you and see you back inside the garage.”
    I shook my head and gestured for her to stay put.