“I like it,” she said simply. “You don’t need something fancy to get the point across that you guys are going to be the kings. You just call it like it is. King Racing.” She leaned toward me and smiled. “I bet I know of a shop with King in the name that would love to be a sponsor. You know, you can never have to many people backing you.”
“You offering your family up to me, doll?” The fact that she was wanting to bring her family into my new venture showed that she had faith in me.
“Only if you’ll have them. I don’t want you to think I’m shoving them down your throat or anything.”
I leaned toward her and crooked my finger at her to come closer. She closed the gap between us with her lips a breath away from mine. “I’ll take you and anything that comes with you.”
“The feeling is mutual,” she whispered.
I closed the tiny distance and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Care to continue this conversation in the bedroom, Miss Jensen?”
“I thought you would never shut up,” she giggled.
I nipped her bottom lip, and she gasped. “There’s that sass,” I whispered.
*
Frankie
I laid on my side with my head in my hand just watching Brooks. He was fast asleep, and I wasn’t close to being ready to sleep.
He had all afternoon to adjust to the idea of selling Cummings Racing and forming a new racing team with Roc. I, on the other hand, still was adjusting mentally to what happened.
The thing that was really throwing me for a loop was the fact Brooks’ father was more concerned about a name than his wife and son.
I understood he had worked hard to make Cummings a common name on the circuit, but was that really all that mattered? I loved racing as much as the next person, but I would never pick it over my friends and family. Brooks acted as if it wasn’t a big deal that his father was an ass, but he had to hurt him on some level.
The path he had chosen to start his own team from scratch was going to be a tough one, but if there was anyone who could do it, it would be Brooks.
*
Chapter Thirty
Frankie
“The fucking thing is pink.”
“What the hell was Wright Electronics thinking?” Remy shook his head. “It’s not even a subtle pink.”
“I don’t think pink can ever be subtle,” I mumbled.
It was Thursday afternoon, a week after Brooks sold Cummings Racing, and the new body to the funny car had just arrived. The fiberglass body had the name Wright Electronics splashed across the side of it in black, and the rest of the body was bubble gum pink.
“Holy fuck.” Apparently Brooks didn’t know the color scheme Wright went with either.
Remy clapped him on the shoulder and laughed. “As long as it makes it down the track first, I guess it really doesn’t matter what color it is, right?”
Remy had a point. Though one had to wonder why pink.
“Grab Jay and get it on the car. I need to talk to Frankie for a second.”
Brooks grabbed my hand and pulled me into the office. “Hold my calls for a bit, Harlyn.”
Harlyn gave me a knowing look, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
Last Friday, when Brooks had told the Crew about the name change, he had also told everyone he was dating me, and if they felt the need to give me shit about it they could address all smart ass comments toward him.
So far no one had said a word to me about dating the boss. I gave it another week before one of the guys slipped and gave me shit about it.
“What’s wrong?”
Brooks shut the door and pulled me into his arms. “I just got back from the doctor with Mom.”
He had mentioned finding a specialist over an hour away he thought would be a good idea to visit. I knew with each day that went by and his mom didn’t have an episode, he got more anxious waiting for the other shoe to drop. “And?”
“He said there’s a trial study about to start for a new medicine for onset dementia, and he thinks Mom would be a good candidate for it.”
“That’s good, right?”
“It is, but he also said some other things that are worrying me.”
Oh hell. This didn’t sound good. “Spill, pretty boy.”
“I was right about her needing a routine. When she has the same schedule every day and is with the same people, it helps to keep her memory slips at bay.”
“That’s why she’s been doing so good.”
Brooks nodded, but he didn’t seem too happy. “I’m leaving again, Frankie, and the last time she had a spell was when I was away.”
“But she has Susan now. She’s been with her for three weeks now, right?” I wasn’t sure how long someone needed to be doing the same thing before it became routine, but it seemed long enough to me.
He dropped his chin to his chest and sighed. “I can’t go tomorrow, Frankie. Not when it could affect Mom.”
“Brooks, you can’t do that. We’ve all been busting our asses the past four days to get that dragster ready.”
“I know, Frankie. I’ve been there right alongside you guys the whole way.”
There had to be a way around this. Brooks needed to race, but he also needed to take care of his mom. “What if you bring her with us?” The thought popped into my head, and although I hadn’t had time to consider it, it seemed like a brilliant idea to me.
“To the track?” He looked at me like I was crazy.
It wasn’t a crazy idea. Being around the same people helped her to remember things. I knew he was going to get stuck on the fact that she would be traveling all over the country every weekend which wasn’t much of a routine.
“Yes, to the track. I’m sure when your father was driving, she went to his races. There’s no reason why she can’t come to your races.”
“I don’t know about that, Frankie.”
“What’s not to know? Bring her and Susan along, and it can be like an adventure for them. Besides, you have that huge trailer you sleep in which is more than big enough for the three of you.”
“Four of us,” he muttered absently.
I rolled my eyes. We had been arguing the past two days about whether or not I was going to sleep in his fancy ass trailer while the rest of the crew slept in the hauler. “If you bring your mom, I’ll sleep in the trailer with you.” The team was so going to give me shit about being able to sleep in luxury, but if it meant Brooks was going to at least try bringing his mom along, I would totally take the shit. “You can’t tell me it won’t work without at least trying it.”
“But what if she freaks out and forgets where she is, Frankie?”
“So what if she does, Brooks? I know I’ve never seen one of her episodes, but I’m not walking around on eggshells waiting for it to happen.”
“You don’t know what it’s like.”
I didn’t, and I wasn’t trying to tell him I did. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tilted my head back to look up at him. “What would your mom say if she knew you were skipping the race because of her?”
“That’s not fair, Frankie.”