Illicit Affairs

Chapter 31

A little spice 🌶️

After visiting for another couple of hours, Jimmie contacted one of the most respected and trustworthy media members in NASCAR, and a press conference was scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Jimmie and I planned to meet an hour prior to get our statements in order and I accepted his invitation for Ryan and me to have a family dinner next week.

Family.

It was still so much for me to wrap my head around, but I had an actual family now. A blood family. The thought made my mind spin even faster and land smack onto the obituary we had found. Who was Natalie Payton and what was her connection to my mother? Deep down I knew, but I needed proof. I needed to know what else my grandfather lied about and covered up. What if I had more family out there? I wasn't sure how to even go about looking. Yeah, I could hire a private investigator. I could pay someone to hack into private records, but I didn't want to go that route. I knew I needed to discuss everything with Ryan first. The last thing I wanted was for him to think that I was using my money and status for anything malicious. I couldn't go through that again. I could not risk alienating him and potentially losing him after he had given me a second chance.

I was excited about this weekend and getting some normalcy back in my life, but this was going to be a whole new normal for me. For the first time ever, I would not be entering the track as a representative of Hendrick Motorsports. Sure I was still Rick Hendrick's granddaughter and now Jimmie Johnson's biological daughter, but I would be sitting amongst Team Penske and the 12 team showing my support for Ryan because I had every intention of letting the world know that he and I were together. I didn't need to speak it, just my presence next to him during pre-race would be more than enough to get everyone talking. Let them talk. In the upcoming months they would have even more to talk about. Definitely a lot to wrap my head around, but I was more than ready. This is my life now.

Still, I had all of those secrets and supposed rumors swirling in my head that I wasn't sure how to address. Knowing I needed something to distract me, I decided to clean and cook. Despite everyone thinking I'm a spoiled brat, these are things I enjoy that actually relax me. First things first, I needed to do laundry. Even though I can borrow clothes from Erin, I only had two pairs of underwear, which I would need for this weekend.

After showering, I put on one of Ryan's button down shirts, which came down to the bottom of my thighs, I put my two sets of clothes into the washing machine and straightened up around the house, then searched through the refrigerator and pantry for something to cook for dinner. After gathering all of the ingredients to make a simple, but tasty meal. I turned on some music, poured myself a glass of wine, then went to work.

I had just taken the potatoes out of the oven and turned the burner to low on the chicken when Sturgill barked, letting me know Ryan was home.

I gave the chicken one last stir before placing a lid on the skillet, and before I knew it, strong, familiar arms were wrapped around my middle from behind.

"Mmm. Smells good." He murmured in my ear.

"Potatoes au gratin and honey garlic chicken." I said, lifting the lid to give the diced chicken in its sweet, tangy sauce another stir, then turned off the burner.

"I wasn't talking about the food." He pushed a damp strand of my hair aside and placed a kiss along the side of my neck. My knees instantly went weak as he found my sweet spot and I couldn't help but smile.

"There's that pretty smile with the cute little dimple. It's nice to see it again." He teased, his fingertip touching my left cheek."I missed you."

"I missed you too." I replied, then turned around so we were facing each other. Standing on my tippy toes, I placed a soft kiss on his lips which he immediately reciprocated.