Racing Hard (Dirt Track Dogs Book 4) by P. Jameson Page B

ass that much when they walk. Not that you should ever, ever stop.”
    Tana laughed wickedly as he pulled the truck onto the road heading back to Cedar Valley.
    She stared out the window, watching the sun filter through the trees, and slowly let reality come back to her. The Surge bubble was nice, but she couldn’t live there. There were problems she had to work through. A baby she needed to care for. A house to be built.
    And he had problems too.
    “Who was that woman at the store?”
    She looked at him just in time to watch the shade fall over his expression. “It’s not important.”
    “Isn’t it though? She called you Brandon.”
    He was quiet, staring at the road, until they pulled into town.
    “Give me your hand,” he said.
    Tana frowned and he met her gaze. He was serious, his brow drawn together in a heartbreaking expression that made her want to hold him tight.
    She placed her hand in his palm and he laced his fingers with hers. As they turned into DTD, he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it.
    Tana shivered. No one had ever done that before. She’d come to a conclusion: it was impossible for her heart to beat normally when Surge had his lips on her.
    He parked and turned off the engine before he faced her. “That woman was my mother, and I haven’t seen her since I left home when I was seventeen.”
    Tana swallowed hard. His mother. Shit .
    “That woman was your mother?”
    He nodded, but his eyes seemed to plead with her. “I left to find my mate. I didn’t feel right going back after that.”
    She didn’t know what to say. She could tell him he’d made a mistake, but who was she to judge? Before her mother died, Tana hadn’t spoken to her for months. She regretted it, but she also understood what Surge felt.
    It wasn’t easy living with the sins of the parents, much less forgiving them.
    Surge’s thumb grazed her palm over and over, giving away his nerves. “Please don’t…” He hesitated. Cleared his throat around an uncomfortable laugh. Clenched his jaw tight, but it still didn’t quell the sound.
    He was struggling right now, and it broke her heart.
    “Don’t think less of me,” he pushed out. “Don’t think that I don’t care for her, because I do. It just wasn’t possible for her to be part of this life. I can’t… I can’t trust her. Not after what she did. The lies. She made the first seventeen years of my life fucking fiction.”
    Tana shook her head. “I don’t. I wouldn’t. I’ve been around long enough to see what kind of man you are.”
    He stared at their hands, his mouth opening and closing but producing no words.
    “I’m sure seeing her wasn’t easy.”
    “No. Not so much.”
    Maybe that was why he’d wanted her so much he’d pulled to the side of the road. Maybe he’d needed a distraction. She had to know. She wouldn’t be angry over it. How could she be when he’d been so attentive? But… she had to know.
    “What happened back there, with us, was that just… you coping?”
    His gaze jerked to hers, his expression severe. “Tana, no. That wasn’t coping. I’ve been there, done that. This was so much more. And it’s just the beginning of what I want for us.”
    Tana blinked at this unfamiliar serious side of him. “Like… what exactly?”
    Surge swallowed, his throat bobbing with the action. “I want absolutely fucking everything, baby. I want what my brothers have, and I want it with you. And this isn’t a new thing. I’ve wanted it from the moment you strolled into DTD with your fierce little attitude.”
    She shook her head, heart constricting in her chest. The mere idea of having someone to share life with was enough to make her panther purr. To never be alone again. To laugh everyday like she had earlier. To share grief and joy and have mutual goals. It was all she’d ever wanted, yet knew she’d never have.
    Tana squeezed her eyes closed. This was too much right now. And she could never commit to Surge without first making sure