Billionaire Bad Boy's Fake Bride: BWWM Romance by Mia Caldwell Page A

fellow racers, seeming to move with grace and ease, she realized it had affected her so greatly because he had nearly died then, and he could to die at any moment now.
    As the race wound down, and they were only a few laps from finishing, intellectually she knew he was probably going to be fine, but emotionally, she couldn’t stand to watch anymore. She had no idea where Brenda was. She liked it that way, and it meant there was no one to make any excuse to as left her seat in the stands and went to the bathrooms. Inside, she stood in line until a stall opened and then collapsed on the plastic seat and put her head against the wooden wall of the stall, biting back tears that threatened to escape.
    She was trembling, and she couldn’t understand her reaction, or the sudden flare of panic. He was fine. There was no sign of any problems, and he was driving his usual car, one that was as safe as could be and well tested, completely designed by his sponsors’ construction crew, and nothing experimental about it. He was safe, so why was she falling to pieces?
    A sob escaped her, and she reached for a handful of toilet paper as she began to cry in earnest. Panic clawed at her, along with the sharp bite of loss, and she heard the screams of excitement from outside that heralded the end of the race, filtering through the door each time it opened. Abruptly, she realized why she was so torn up by watching him speed around the racetrack. He was in danger, and she couldn’t lose them. She didn’t want to lose him. How could she live without Connor?
    She was in love with him.
    That realization made her sob all the harder, and it was several minutes before she was able to gather her composure enough to leave the bathroom after washing her face. She was certain she still looked like she had been crying, but it was the best she was going to be able to do in limited time and with nothing more than a comb, water, and paper towels at her disposal. She hadn’t bothered to pack makeup in the small bag she carried.
    She made her way to his pit crew setup, finding Connor in deep discussion with his lead mechanic. It was obvious he hadn’t won, because he wasn’t in the Winner’s Circle, but he didn’t seem to care.
    She tried to force a shaky smile anyway as she approached him, aware of his eyes darkening with concern as he turned away from Gary to face her. “I’m sorry you didn’t win,” she said in a shaky voice.
    He shrugged. “I didn’t really expect to. I’m not quite in top physical condition yet. At least I got to race once more at Monaco before I retire.”
    She smiled and nodded, feeling her insides shatter into a million pieces as she looked at him. She wanted to pretend like she hadn’t experienced an epiphany in the bathroom, but now that she knew the truth, she couldn’t seem to think of anything else. All she could think of was she loved him. I love you, I love you, I love you. The words kept repeating like a refrain inside her skull, and she was terrified she was suddenly going to give voice to them. That would just be a disaster.
    He pulled her away from his crew, putting his hands around her biceps as he looked down at her. “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing,” she said as she dissolved into sobs. A moment later, she was in his arms, and already weak, that only added to her temptation to confess what she was feeling. She let herself melt against him and cling tightly to Connor. “It’s stupid,” she said amid tears and hiccups.
    “However you’re feeling, I don’t think it’s stupid. Talk to me, baby.”
    That was the first time he’d ever used an endearment, and for some reason, that made her want to cry all the harder. Instead, she swallowed several times and did her best to suppress the tears that still threatened. She pulled back slightly from him, though she didn’t let go of her death grip on his jumpsuit.
    “I think I had… I don’t know what you call it, but I was just thinking about your