“Oh. When will you know?”
“Not until tomorrow.”
She knew that all the top five cars were always inspected after the races, as well as a group of randomly selected cars from the rest of the pack. That was why the race standings were always unofficial until the following day. If anything out of the ordinary was found on the car the driver could be fined or disqualified.
Dave left to join Vinnie and the officials, and Annie left the garage following her brother and taking pictures of the event.
Everyone was mumbling about the complaint that Jenner Racing had lodged. She tried to catch Jared’s eye but he and Tucker were both talking to the officials.
When he did glance up, he gave her a hard look before stalking away.
Annie knew that the fact that they were both a part of rival teams mattered and Jared had just proved that. She found her brother and did her job taking photos of him, finding solace in her work so that she wouldn’t have time to think about the look on Jared’s face.
CHAPTER TEN
THE INQUIRY THAT Dave had requested didn’t turn up anything illegal on Tucker’s tires. That had only served to drive a deeper wedge between the two men. Annie felt pulled in two directions.
She’d flown home on Monday morning and there had been no call from Jared. In fact, he’d said nothing to her after Tucker’s win. She’d thought about letting this situation with him simmer until he brought it up, but that had been one of the things that had soured her relationship with Malcolm. Instead of confronting him with his infidelity she’d tried to ignore it and keeping it inside had ultimately caused her far too much pain. She wouldn’t let that happen with Jared. She needed to see him.
“Um…can you wait for a moment?” she asked the taxi driver when he pulled up to Jared’s Atlanta house. The driveway was gated and she didn’t want to talk to him through the box with the taxi driver.
“Sure, miss. I’m going to keep the meter running.”
“No problem.”
She got out of the car at the gate that protected Jared’s privacy. A light rain began to fall and she shivered, wishing she’d worn a jacket. But the sun had been shining when she’d left Florida.
She knew he was in residence at this house because she’d called earlier and spoken to his housekeeper, who had told her that Jared wasn’t taking calls this morning.
She hit the buzzer.
“Yes.”
She took a deep breath. “Hi. This is Annie Jenner. I’m here to see Jared.”
“Are you expected?” the woman asked.
“No.”
“Just a minute.”
She stood there for what seemed like an hour, but in reality was only five minutes. “Come on up.”
She went back to the cab and climbed in as the gates opened. The taxi took her to the front of the house. She paid the driver and got out, stopping on the step and remembering the closeness she’d felt to Jared the last time she’d been here.
The door opened before she rang the bell and Jared stood there in a pair of faded jeans and a faded college T-shirt. His feet were bare and his hair was damp, as if he’d come from the shower. He looked tired.
“Hey,” she said, adjusting the strap of her overnight bag on her shoulder.
“What are you doing here?”
“I…things felt unsettled between us,” she said.
“It’s not us…it’s, ah, come on in, Annie.”
She followed him into the house. He went to the living room and leaned against the wet bar the way he had the last time she was there. But this time she felt less sure of herself. This was the kind of rift that wasn’t going to go away no matter what the two of them decided.
“Tucker and Dave are always going to be rivals,” she stated.
“I know. I’m not angry at you or even at Dave,” Jared said. “He has the right to lodge a complaint after a race.”
“So why do I feel like it has affected us?” she asked, wrapping one arm around her waist.
He shook his head. “I wanted to pretend that Dave and Tucker weren’t really a part of what’s been going on between us.”
“They aren’t. That’s stuff that happens at the track.”
“Yeah, right. Your brother doesn’t like the fact that we’re dating.”
Annie had a sinking feeling in her stomach that she and Jared weren’t going to be able to move past this. “He wouldn’t accuse Tucker of something just because he doesn’t like you.”
“I’m not so sure about it.”
She took a deep breath. “I am. I know that Dave can be overprotective when it comes to me, but the rest of the guys on his team don’t care about who I date.”