“How could they force you to do that?”
Brody took a breath. “They’re my biggest sponsor, and without them, the other sponsors would probably drop out, as well. I could try to finance the team myself, but not indefinitely. So I went along with it. It’s not as though they were wrong—my image was a little rough.”
He braced himself for Hannah’s no-doubt scathing response, but it didn’t come.
“So they basically blackmailed you into this?” she asked, the sides of her pretty lips turning downward.
“No, not like that. Well, I suppose it sounds that way, but it’s been done before. It’s actually more of a second chance, I guess. It was my choice, ultimately. I could have said no, but...I want back into racing. I’m not ready to quit yet.”
“But the only option would have been to lose all of your sponsorship or to quit? That’s not fair,” she responded, looking angry on his behalf. Brody stared at her in amazement, not having expected that response.
He didn’t know if he would ever be ready to quit racing. Was there anyone, anything, he wouldn’t sacrifice to get back in a car? Certainly, it had been easy enough to let go of his integrity.
“Well, I appreciate that, but I still had a choice. I made this one.”
“So you have to hang out here and not get into trouble?”
“More or less,” he responded with a nod. “Though I wasn’t doing a very good job. Being home has been...tough. I spent some time getting the farm renovated, getting the horses, but I was bored out of my skull. I ended up going back out, drinking a little too much. Then there was the accident. I thought I’d lose my mind in the hospital. Then somehow it got out that I was retiring and looking to build a life, wanting to settle down. It caused a whole bunch of other problems.”
“That’s absurd, them trying to control your life like that! And your family—they don’t even know?”
“They can’t know. I shouldn’t even have told you, but...with how things are with us, I couldn’t let
us
go any further without your knowing the truth. I also didn’t know if you might have thought, since I was retired, you know...that things could have changed,” he said with some degree of embarrassment. “I couldn’t sleep with you and let you think that, well—”
Realization dawned. “That marriage was a possibility. You couldn’t have me thinking
that
.”
“Yeah, but I realize that’s not why you came here now. I’m sorry about that. I completely understand if you’re upset,” he said, waiting for the moment when she would get up, walk out and tell him to go eat dirt. “But I don’t care about the others, or what they think. I do care about you, Hannah.”
“Thank you, but I wish you had told someone. Reece would have understood, surely.”
“Maybe. But it’s not only about me, Hannah. A lot of people’s livelihoods all depend on this. My team, the people who make what I do possible. I owe it to them to keep my mouth shut. If even one word of this leaked, it could leave a lot of people hanging out to dry.”
“Wow. You really are in a tough spot.”
Brody blinked, wondering why she still wasn’t marching off, telling him off or giving him the cold shoulder.
“So you see, we can’t be together, because... Well, things are complicated right now.”
“I guess the sex-club story was the one that broke the camel’s back with your sponsor?” she asked, her voice lower. The sidelong glance she sent him was hot with curiosity, as if she wanted to know what he was doing at a club like that.
“Yeah, they knew the truth, but it didn’t matter.”
“The truth?”
“Someone I know, a married friend, was there, and he got in a bind. I went to help out and the press showed up, so I covered for him and took the flack instead. I thought it would roll off, given my history, but not this time. That club has a reputation for being particularly kinky, and it was too much for the sponsor to
Brody took a breath. “They’re my biggest sponsor, and without them, the other sponsors would probably drop out, as well. I could try to finance the team myself, but not indefinitely. So I went along with it. It’s not as though they were wrong—my image was a little rough.”
He braced himself for Hannah’s no-doubt scathing response, but it didn’t come.
“So they basically blackmailed you into this?” she asked, the sides of her pretty lips turning downward.
“No, not like that. Well, I suppose it sounds that way, but it’s been done before. It’s actually more of a second chance, I guess. It was my choice, ultimately. I could have said no, but...I want back into racing. I’m not ready to quit yet.”
“But the only option would have been to lose all of your sponsorship or to quit? That’s not fair,” she responded, looking angry on his behalf. Brody stared at her in amazement, not having expected that response.
He didn’t know if he would ever be ready to quit racing. Was there anyone, anything, he wouldn’t sacrifice to get back in a car? Certainly, it had been easy enough to let go of his integrity.
“Well, I appreciate that, but I still had a choice. I made this one.”
“So you have to hang out here and not get into trouble?”
“More or less,” he responded with a nod. “Though I wasn’t doing a very good job. Being home has been...tough. I spent some time getting the farm renovated, getting the horses, but I was bored out of my skull. I ended up going back out, drinking a little too much. Then there was the accident. I thought I’d lose my mind in the hospital. Then somehow it got out that I was retiring and looking to build a life, wanting to settle down. It caused a whole bunch of other problems.”
“That’s absurd, them trying to control your life like that! And your family—they don’t even know?”
“They can’t know. I shouldn’t even have told you, but...with how things are with us, I couldn’t let
us
go any further without your knowing the truth. I also didn’t know if you might have thought, since I was retired, you know...that things could have changed,” he said with some degree of embarrassment. “I couldn’t sleep with you and let you think that, well—”
Realization dawned. “That marriage was a possibility. You couldn’t have me thinking
that
.”
“Yeah, but I realize that’s not why you came here now. I’m sorry about that. I completely understand if you’re upset,” he said, waiting for the moment when she would get up, walk out and tell him to go eat dirt. “But I don’t care about the others, or what they think. I do care about you, Hannah.”
“Thank you, but I wish you had told someone. Reece would have understood, surely.”
“Maybe. But it’s not only about me, Hannah. A lot of people’s livelihoods all depend on this. My team, the people who make what I do possible. I owe it to them to keep my mouth shut. If even one word of this leaked, it could leave a lot of people hanging out to dry.”
“Wow. You really are in a tough spot.”
Brody blinked, wondering why she still wasn’t marching off, telling him off or giving him the cold shoulder.
“So you see, we can’t be together, because... Well, things are complicated right now.”
“I guess the sex-club story was the one that broke the camel’s back with your sponsor?” she asked, her voice lower. The sidelong glance she sent him was hot with curiosity, as if she wanted to know what he was doing at a club like that.
“Yeah, they knew the truth, but it didn’t matter.”
“The truth?”
“Someone I know, a married friend, was there, and he got in a bind. I went to help out and the press showed up, so I covered for him and took the flack instead. I thought it would roll off, given my history, but not this time. That club has a reputation for being particularly kinky, and it was too much for the sponsor to
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