Holding his arm out for me, my father motioned for me to walk with him. “Come on, let’s get you back to the hotel and get cleaned up. We have a dinner tonight at the club.”

My eyes glanced over to the nine-story tall speedway club. “Daddy, I think I’ll just grab something quick to eat at the hotel. I’m not really in the mood for a fancy dinner.”

My father guided me past all the buses, including the one Emmit and the blonde went into, and back over to his truck. My mother was already waiting for us. Giving me a smile, she asked, “Sweetheart, are you okay? I saw Emmit pull you to the side and say something to you.”

The lump in my throat caused me to go speechless. Clearing my throat, I plastered on a fake smile. “I’m fine, Mama. Let’s just say, Emmit wasn’t too pleased to see me.”

With a look of sadness, my mother glanced over to my father. “Don’t pay no mind to Emmit. He get’s like that before a race. Especially here in Texas.”

Daddy opened the back door and held out his hand as he helped me up into the truck.

“Let’s get Adaline back to her hotel. She needs to freshen up for dinner.” Shutting my door, Daddy climbed into the truck and looked over at my mother as she glanced back to me with a silly smile on her face.

“Oh, Mr. Elliot will be so thrilled to see you, Adaline.”

“Wait. What?” I asked as my eyes widened.

“We’re having dinner with Mr. Elliot tonight? Who else?”

My heart pounded so hard in my chest it caused me to feel sick. What if Emmit is going to be there?

Waving me off with her hand . . . again . . . my mother said, “Oh, his niece is throwing a small dinner at the Speedway Club. It will be in and out since the drivers will be there and the race is tomorrow.”

I slammed my body back into the seat of the truck as I let out a frustrated moan. “I’m not going to the damn dinner. I just got in a few hours ago. Daddy, the least you could have done is given Emmit a heads up that I was coming to the race. If he wasn’t thrilled to see me standing in front of your bus, he sure as hell isn’t gonna want to see me at a dinner.”

“Nonsense. Like I said, he’s always this way before a race. Wait until he sees’ you in the beautiful gown your mother had brought up to your room. It means the world to me to have you here, Adaline.”

I tried to push away the guilty feelings that swept across my body. My parents had begged me to come to races over the years, with Daddy being Emmit’s crew chief, I just couldn’t do it.

I need a Diet Coke.

I’d given up Diet Coke over a year ago. Why in the hell I needed one now was beyond me.

“Daddy, can you stop at the store? I need something.”

Making a left turn instead of right that would have taken us to the hotel, Daddy crossed the highway and pulled into a gas station. My mother was still going on about the dinner.

“What do you need sweetheart?” Daddy asked.

I opened the door and jumped out as I said, “I’ll get it. Be right back.”

Less than two minutes later, I was back in the truck and drinking my Diet Coke like it was a drug I needed to keep breathing.

Leaning back, I closed my eyes as my mother continued on about the dinner and how lovely it would be for me to be there. Clapping her hands, she said, “It’s blue. Your favorite color, Adaline.”

I looked between my parents with a confused expression. “What’s blue?”

My mother turned to me and gave me a funny look as my father pulled up and stopped in front of the Marriott. “Why, your gown, of course.”

I gave my mother a stupefied look. I asked, “Are you both crazy? Seriously, have you lost your minds? You didn’t even tell me about a dinner! All you said was you wanted to take me out to celebrate me graduating nursing school.”

My father got out of the truck and grabbed my suitcase from the back of the truck bed as he opened my door and helped me out. “We’ll be back in two hours to pick you up, Adaline.”

Oh. My. God. Was he seriously ignoring me right now?

I scrubbed my hands over my face as I said, “Fine. Fine. You want me to be the dotting daughter for one evening, I’m more than happy to do it. If you can pretend Emmit isn’t pissed off I’m here, I guess I can pretend too.”

I grabbed my suitcase and stomped off like a five-year-old girl. “Two hours, sweetheart!” my mother called out as I lifted my hand and waved her off.

After finding out my parents had already checked in for me, I made my way to the elevator as I pulled up my voice messages on my phone.

I had two voice mails. One from a guy named Kurt who my best friend Elle set me up with. The guy was a class-act asshole.

“Hey, Adaline. I enjoyed dinner the other night. How about you come on over to my place tonight and I make you something to eat. I already know what will be for dessert.”

“Ohmygod. He didn’t just say that!” I said as I hit delete. The only reason I went out with him was because he was Elle’s cousin and she begged me.

The second message was from Clark, another nursing student who had been in a study group with me most of the year. He was nice, but I got the feeling he wanted more than a friendship with me.

“Hey. It’s me, um, Clark. Just seeing if you were going to be free next Wednesday. I have tickets to that art museum you mentioned you wanted to check out. Got a great deal and would love for you to join me.”

Hitting save, I chewed on my lip as I pressed the elevators up button. Clark. Could I see myself dating him?

I closed my eyes and tried to picture Clark and me, but all I could picture was Emmit’s gray eyes looking into mine as he made love to me.

With a sigh, I tossed my phone into my precious purse, the only thing left in this world that loved me as much as I loved it. My purse.

How sad is my life? Pulling my phone out, I quickly sent Clark a text message.

Me: Awe thanks so much, Clark, but I’ll have to pass.

Yep. My life is sad indeed.

The elevator doors opened directly in front of me as I kept my eyes fixed on the floor and walked into the elevator, only to hit head-on with another person.

“Oh! I’m so very s—sorry.”

Gray eyes captured my blue as I sucked in a breath. “Emmit?”

I quickly noticed the blonde standing next to him.

Emmit walked around me as I stood there like a fool. Giving me a weak smile, the blonde whispered, “Excuse me,” as she made her way around me.

As I got my wits about me, I turned around. My shaking hand lifted as I pushed the number seven.

My eyes landed on the back of Emmit’s head as I heard him talking to the front desk agent. “Miss Elliot will be needing to extend her stay for another day.”

The doors shut, and I fell back against the wall as I whispered, “Holy shit, Emmit.”

“I know. He’s dreamy isn’t he?”

I turned to my left only to see a girl my age was standing there wearing a goofy smile. “Excuse me?”

“Emmit Lewis. He’s dreamy as hell. Believe me, I had the same reaction when I saw him get on the elevator. I mean look at me. I was supposed to get off on the lobby floor and here I am riding it back up because I was so taken by him I couldn’t think straight! He totally had me wetting my panties!”

I stared at the girl. “What?” I asked, not even sure why.

She giggled as she rolled her eyes. “I know, I shouldn’t even say things like that. I heard he’s nothing but a player. Hasn’t had a girlfriend in a few years. Word on the circuit is he was about to ask his long-time girlfriend to marry him, but she dumped him because she didn’t like all the traveling or something like that. Wanted him to walk away from his career because she didn’t like racing. What a bitch, right?”

The doors to the seventh floor opened. “It’s your floor. Nice talking to ya!” she called out as I made my way out. Turning to look at her, she waved as the elevator doors closed.