“What in the hell did you just say?” Ashley asked while my sister still stared at me, but now with more of a concerned look.
“Did you wreck at practice?” Autumn asked.
I dropped my head back and moaned in frustration. “Please . . . will you both just leave? Paislie is going to be here soon.”
Autumn and Ashley both said, “Paislie!”
“What an adorable name. What does she look like?” Ashley asked.
My hands came up and covered my face as I dragged them down slowly. “If I tell you, will you leave?”
“Yep!”
I closed my eyes and shook my head as I counted to ten and looked back at them both. “She is gorgeous. Dark hair, emerald eyes, a voice that sounds like an angel, a body that’s sinfully perfect, and a smile that leaves me breathless.”
Both of them stood there and stared at me. Autumn had tears in her eyes and Ashley looked stunned. “Where in the fuck was this Malcolm when we were—”
“Don’t say it!” Autumn cried out.
Looking at Ashley, I tried to figure out where that came from. Even though I had spent more time with her than any other girl, I never had the feeling that it would have led us anywhere else and thought she felt the same. “Ash, I think you’re amazing and . . .”
She placed her finger over my mouth and smiled. “Don’t say anything. I was kidding. Malcolm, what we shared was fun, but that’s all it was for either of us and we both knew it wasn’t going anywhere outside of the bedroom. But this girl has changed something about you. I saw it in your eyes the moment I looked at you.”
Autumn wiped a tear away as I looked at her with a confused look. “Why are you crying?” I asked and pulled her into my arms. She pulled back and looked into my eyes.
“This Paislie, she’s brought a part of you back to life, Malcolm. I see it.”
I shook my head and laughed. “I’ve only ever seen her twice and talked to her twice on the phone. The two of you need to slow your roll.”
I lifted my hand and wiped my sister’s tears away. “Now please, will you both go?”
I’d never seen either one of them move so fast. Ashley opened the door and screamed out when she ran into Janet, my assistant.
“Hey, Janet! Don’t tell Emmit I was here!”
Autumn gave Janet a kiss on the cheek as she said, “Hey, Janet! See you later!”
Both girls walked off laughing and cackling about me finally meeting someone.
Janet turned to me and gave me a questioning look. “Do I want to know?”
I shook my head as Deuce ran up to his second-favorite person in the world. Janet was a retired fifty-nine-year-old teacher who lived her life for NASCAR. She had volunteered to help out in the office back in Charlotte and quickly started getting every single person organized. When I approached her about becoming my assistant, her husband had just retired so traveling for them was no problem. She gladly accepted and she has been covering my ass ever since.
“I have it all set up. I’m not asking questions, it’s none of my business but I will say this, I smiled the entire time I was setting it up.”
Walking up to her, I gave her a gentle hug. She was a tiny woman, five foot if that and thin. I was always afraid I would break her if I hugged her too tight.
Pulling back, I asked, “Wait. Who is there watching everything?”
She shot me a dirty look. “Are you saying I don’t know how to do my job?”
I lifted my hands up in a defensive move. “No! I would never.”
“Just know I had to pull some strings to get this done for you.”
With a peck on her forehead, I said, “I owe you.”
She patted me on the chest and winked. “I’ve always wanted to go to Aruba.”