Her gaze roamed his face. She followed the look with her fingers. “You changed your life, changed who you are. If you ask me, you should let everyone see it.”
It stunned him that, like Susan, she saw his mark as a symbol of triumph rather than as the evidence of his worthlessness. She wanted him to recognize it, too. Just as Susan had said, Harper was good for him.
In that moment, as he held her tight in his arms and she held him right back, Will vowed to do everything in his power to prove he could be good for her as well. He wouldn’t let her down.
No matter what.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“I still can’t believe you rented the entire Laguna Seca Raceway,” Harper said a week later. “How is that even possible?”
The man could do anything. He wasn’t just amazing—he was completely overwhelming.
Will hadn’t sprung this trip to the racetrack on her, but checked with her first whether it was okay before mentioning it to her brother. “I swear,” he’d said, “we’ll keep it to one hundred twenty, tops. Slower in the turns.”
One hundred twenty. He’d said it as if she should be reassured by that number. She wasn’t, of course, since one-twenty was way too fast. But he had promised to keep her brother safe, no matter what. And despite the blitz of fear at the thought of her brother going that fast in a car, she realized she trusted Will. Trusted him with Jeremy in a way she’d never trusted anyone else.
Will’s mechanic, Leland, had trailered the Cobra down to the Monterey Peninsula. Its paint job gleamed in the summer sun as it sat on the track. They’d both taken Friday off work for this, but the raceway wasn’t empty. There were people working, mechanics along pit row, golf carts whizzing by.
Jeremy and Will had helped Leland roll the Cobra out of the trailer. Harper had been expecting a gruff old guy with grease under his nails, but Leland was younger than Will, and reminded her of Elvis in some of his early racing movies.
In the pits, Will had introduced them around, never letting go of her hand, the same way he’d kept her close when he’d introduced her during intermission that night at the theater. She’d been half expecting pictures of her and Will in the society blogs after that night, but there’d been nothing. Most likely because she hadn’t even been worth the question, Who’s the mystery woman with Will Franconi?
Will, with his constant attention, erased any slight from the thought. Who cared about the society pages when he gazed at her with such heat, desire, and sweet emotion in his eyes?
Leland, Will, and Jeremy were leaning over the open hood of the car out on the track, a small crowd of onlookers two steps behind observing the precheck procedure as if they were preparing for a flight around the world.
“What do you think, Jeremy?” Will pointed at something Harper had no clue about. “Should we change the timing?”
“That sounds good, Will,” her brother agreed, his concentration intense. It was serious stuff when Will asked his opinion—and it always made Harper smile. And fall just a little bit more for her deliciously sweet billionaire.
“Yep,” Leland added. “Changing the timing will give you a little more torque and squeeze out a little more speed.”
Harper had no idea what any of that meant. She wasn’t entirely sure that Jeremy did either, but he nodded gravely. She felt another flutter of emotion in her stomach. Will was so good to Jeremy, making him feel a part of things, as if he were a man instead of a kid.
Leland was pointing into the engine. “But you’ll have to watch out on the turns or you might lose the back end.”
A bald man gave Will a wrench as though he were a nurse handing the surgeon a scalpel. Every visible inch of skin except his face was armored with tattoos. His name was Zeke or Duke or something with a hard sound to it. There’d been too many names for her to catch. Everyone watched in silence, as if they were all holding their breath, Harper included.
She didn’t want the extra torque if it spelled danger. Before she’d worried only about Jeremy. Now her heart also went into a frenzy worrying about Will and his need for speed.
He laid his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. “Lesson one with fast cars: Sometimes you’ve got to decide between putting a few more digits on your speedometer or making sure you don’t crash. Safety first, right?”
“Right, Will.” Will was his hero, and Jeremy agreed with everything.
“We’re not going to do it,” Will said as he handed the wrench back to Zeke/Duke, who tossed it into the tool chest.
And Harper’s tension eased. Will loved speed, but he wasn’t crazy. He wouldn’t take unnecessary risks, not with Jeremy. And now, she realized, not even with himself.
She didn’t know if it was a change she’d brought about; she only knew it was a worry she didn’t need to carry any more. Will wouldn’t let anything happen.
“Okay, let’s do it.” Will slammed down the Cobra’s hood. “Thanks, Dude.” Okay, maybe the guy’s name was Dude. “We’re ready.” He clapped Jeremy on the back.
“Are we gonna get on the track now, Will?” Her brother was vibrating with energy.
“We are. And we’re going real fast today, too.” But even as he said it, Will looked at her with silent communication, making sure she was still okay with it.
He was so careful with her and with Jeremy and it made everything inside her melt as she gave him the barest of nods. And a smile. The one he sent in return flipped her inside out with pure sweetness.