toward a smiling Lena. She turns to the side so I can see a wide-eyed Oliver checking everything out. My grin is instantaneous, and when I reach her side, I almost take her in my arms. And kiss her. Almost. The urge is strong as hell, but I tamp it down. “Hey, little man,” I say, reaching down and taking him from her arms. “You’re happy,” I comment before placing a kiss on the crown of his head.
“He just watched his daddy get a top five. Of course he’s happy,” Lena says, rubbing a hand down the back of Oliver’s shirt. When I adjust my own hand, my fingers brush against hers. I swear you can hear the sizzle of heat, see the sparks of electricity from that slight touch. She clears her throat. “Great race.”
“Thank you,” I reply, moving Oliver to my arm so he’s facing forward. The moment I do, Lena leans down and smiles, tapping the tip of his nose. “Was he good?”
She laughs. “Once he got his butt changed and some chicken in his belly, he was fine.”
My eyebrows pitch upward. “Chicken?”
She giggles. “Sorry, you called it steak and potatoes once, and it stuck. Besides, chicken sounds yummy. You know, so he’ll think he’s getting the good stuff too.”
I find myself just staring at her, smiling. She’s cute as hell, especially when it involves my son. It’s crazy how fast I can feel so completely comfortable and at ease with someone, especially Lena. We didn’t part on bad terms, but it was painful for both of us, and it feels damn good to smile again as easily and naturally as I always did with her.
“Cruz,” Coop hollers, worming his way through the crowd with Colton behind him.
“Great race,” Colton says, extending his hand my way.
I go to shake it, but realize I have Oliver tucked in my right arm, so it’s awkward as fuck to shake his hand. “Sorry.”
He waves a hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been there,” he says, looking down at Oliver, who’s taking in everyone around us. “It takes some getting used to.”
“That’s for sure,” I tell my boss.
As the guys pack up our equipment and get ready to take the car back to the hauler, Coop goes over the race details with Colton listening on. He throws out the occasional comment, but lets Coop do all the talking. We usually do a quick rundown of the major race particulars, but the big team meeting will be Tuesday morning. As a group, we’ll go over everything from today’s race and prepare for the next one.
“We’ll see you at the hotel lobby. Wheels up at seven,” he adds before they go off to help make sure our equipment is loaded up. Some races will have sponsor promotions or meetings mixed in, but not this one. I’m grateful not to have whatever activities PR feels are relevant this weekend, and we can get home quicker.
And hopefully, not think about how damn badly I wanted to kiss Lena after the race.
***
The guys are getting everything loaded up and making sure their campsite is clean. I spy Tyson hanging around and realize I haven’t had a chance to thank him for watching out for Lena and Oliver earlier. Not that I expected any trouble, but I knew the only way I was going to be able to focus was to make sure the two people I care about the most were taken care of.
“Hey, Tyson,” I say as I approach. He’s an older gentleman in his sixties, recently widowed with grown adult children.
“Mack, good race,” he says as I reach his side.
“Thank you. Also, I just wanted to say thanks for keeping Lena company earlier.”
I can tell something’s up by the look that crosses his face. “We had a thing happen.”
My eyebrows draw together. “What kinda thing?”
“A Lindsay thing.”
I exhale. Of course, Lindsay would cause problems. She’s pretty much done just that since I met her more than a year ago. “What happened?”
“Lena and the baby were walking toward me when Lindsay cut her off. I’m not sure what all she said to her, but by the time I realized what was going on and took off toward them, Lindsay was pretty much gone. Lena looked a little shaken up at first, but insisted she was fine. I kept an eye on her, and we never saw Lindsay again.”
Sighing, I run my hand through my hair. “Thanks, Tyson. I owe ya.”