Fast Track

Chapter Twelve

Addie's POV:

It would be easy to lose myself in Jeb, to just ignore the world outside of our little bubble but I knew that wouldn't be possible. There was too much that he and I needed to sort out concerning his new position at JGR, what him working for the company that I stood to inherit one day was going to look like. There was also that fact that he would need to start practicing and conditioning for the upcoming season. That's the thing about NASCAR, it might be the off season for the guys, but that didn't mean that the training stopped. People thought that it was easy driving a car around in circles. They thought that it didn;t take someone being in the best physical condition possible to sit behind a wheel and drive at a high rate of speed. And those people were dead wrong.

But none of that mattered at this immediate second. Right now, all I wanted was to lay in this bed in his arms listening to his heart beat as his hands lightly trailed down the length of my spine. Lord knows I deserved it after the performance I gave in the workout room. Let's just say that I will never look at a weight bench the same again if you catch my drift. Then again, you probably wouldn't either if the man lying beside you had basically tied you to it and had his wicked way with you until you weren't sure which way was up and which way was down. Hell, I don't even know if I could have told you my name by the time he was done with me.

"What's on your mind, sugah?" said Jeb, just before placing a gentle kiss on the top of my head.

"Same thing as always... work." I said, skipping the part about how I was thinking about the weight room. If I'd told him about that, then it would have only a matter of minutes before we were both panting in orgasmic bliss all over again.

"Ahhhh, thinking about me working for JGR?" He stated, rolling to his side which in turn caused me to roll onto my back. Jeb levered himself over me, looking down at me.

"Yeah. I just don't want anyone to think that you got the job because you and I are an item; mostly because I don't want people to downplay the talent that you have but a selfish part of me doesn't want people to think that because I don't want others to say that I'm just the type of girl that they need to be flirt a little with to get their foot in the door."

"First off, there will be no one flirting with you on my watch." he said, his blueish green eyes growing dark as jealousy flashed in them. "Second off, I don't need you defending my name. I have proved myself more times than I can count that I am good at what I do, that I didn't get where I am because of who my dad is or who my uncle is. I've put in the work, I've paid my dues. The only regret that I have is that my opportunity to race in the cup series is coming at the expense of your brother and the rest of your family. I wish more than anything that I had been offered this chance for any other reason than why I did but at the same time, I wont say that I regret taking this chance. This could be the big move that I needed to really make a name for myself, to finally step out of the shadow of my dad and my uncles names. This is my chance to be Jeb Burton, not just Ward Burton's son, not just Jeff Burton's nephew."

Tears sprung into my eyes and began to roll down my cheeks at the mention of the head my family had been dealt. But it was more than that. Hearing the conviction behind his words, seeing that little piece of vulnerability that said that he had been struggling with trying to find his own image in this sport, made me realize that while my pain was something that I was going to have to learn to live with, his was something that I could help him fix. I could help him become a man that didn't have to rely on his family name, that didn't have to worry if he was truly good enough to one day be a cup series champ.

One of Jeb's hands reached up gently and wiped away the tears that had begun to run down my cheek, his touch so gentle and loving that it only made them flow faster and harder. Jeb laid back down onto the bed and pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly as I cried, only letting me go when the tears had stopped and I was no longer sniffling.