Racing to Love: Eli's Honor by Amy Gregory Page B

walked. There was no agreement between her heart and body versus her mind.
    So far, her body was winning out.
    For more than a decade she’d been alone. Even before Kolby died. Their house was tiny. Voices filled it. But she had been alone, wrapped up in a world that consisted of her son and the four walls surrounding them. Kolby had checked out on her the minute she dropped the bomb. He only married her to piss off his parents more than he already had. She lied to herself for years, telling herself it would get better. It never did…then he was gone.
    It had been almost twelve years since she last felt wanted, desired, or anything at all. One night—that was all that she’d gotten. That was all that it had taken. Nine months later, she welcomed a new man into her life.
    The tingles running up and down her body were probably all in her head. As she told Dallas before they left, there was no way Eli Hunter had any interest in her. She had more emotional baggage than what they were waiting for at the luggage carousal. Plus, she was thirty-two. Honor had no idea how old Eli was, but he wouldn’t want someone her age, not when he could snag some young twenty-something. One that didn’t have an eleven-year-old in tow.
    Then his hand squeezed her waist, and he looked deep in her eyes. It was like a direct connection to her heart, as if to say, I’m letting go, but I’ll be back .
    Honor could only stare at him. Her eyes narrowed, her head tilted trying to figure out the man as he grinned foolishly back at her. Then he turned to help Dallas wrestle the bags before they were swept away for another loop on the conveyer belt.

CHAPTER FIVE

    She had been a little unsure of what she was getting into when she buckled herself into Eli’s luxury SUV. When he passed through town, the hotels zipping by one by one, she started to get a little jumpy. With Dallas talking Eli’s ear off from the backseat, she held in her street-smart worries.
    Honor had accepted his offer to pick them up at the airport, mainly because the man wasn’t going to take no for an answer. After four rounds she gave up. There was something about him, an undercurrent of his personality that screamed control. Yet, it was oddly comforting.
    She had grown up suffocated. Her mother’s brand of control had been wielded with an iron fist. It was a time she didn’t like to remember, and a power she never used over her own son to keep him in check. Not wanting him to resent her like…well, her mother was gone so it didn’t matter anymore.
    But Eli was there. Right there. Their arms were not more than a few inches apart as they both rested on the console. His presence filled the vehicle and his joking and laughter with Dallas set her son at ease immediately, yet the same made her jittery. She ignored Mac’s direction and ordered coffee instead of wine on the plane, a decision she was now regretting as the extra jolt of caffeine ramped her up even more.
    Her nerves, already on edge with the guilt building up about Mac and the new found insight she’d gained at the worst possible time, put her in overdrive. Added to that was the scent of the man beside her. All she wanted was to escape, even if only as far away as a bath tub in the hotel room. When Eli drove by her last chance at that, Honor got nervous. Seeing the hotel disappear behind her, she turned to the driver.
    One glance over at Eli and she could tell he was up to something. His hazel eyes sparkled, the corners crinkling with mischief. Maybe he was just excited to show Dallas the track and would bring them back into town later. After studying the brochure Eli left, she had the track layout practically memorized. She also knew from their conversations that each of the owners of the academy all lived close to it. But that was all he mentioned.
    Eli turned off the main road to a deserted, two-lane, black-topped road. Honor was used to country living, her closest neighbors were not within walking distance.