Rock Solid by Samantha Hunter Read Free Book Online Page B

ten years ago, but this was a great place to be a kid, for sure. But once I made my first drive around a track, all I wanted to do was drive every second I could.”
    Hannah nodded, pondering. Turning to face him, she tried to ignore the romantic setting, the moist heat that suffused the air. Brody looked incredible, as though he had walked out of a fairy tale himself. He was strong, virile and so very sexy. In spite of his back injury, he was clearly in fine shape. Very, very fine.
    What she was feeling must have shown in her face, because his eyes darkened, his hand reaching out to slide over her shoulder, pulling her closer. The next thing she knew they were kissing, his fingers diving into her hair, her mouth meeting his hungrily as her hands slid over his chest.
    “We should stop,” she managed to gasp as he buried his face in her neck, leaving a trail of hot little nips and kisses there. She let her head drop back, wanting more. Stopping was the furthest thing from her mind.
    “I know. I can’t seem to get near you without wanting to touch, and taste,” he murmured against her skin. “You don’t know what it took to walk away from that bed last night.”
    One hand drifted down to her chest, palming her breast before circling her peaked nipple with his fingers, and she groaned, pressing into him.
    Her heart was slamming in her chest as she realized that right now she wanting nothing more than Brody as deep inside as she could get him. Right here, right now.
    “Are you going to walk away from me this time?” Hannah challenged, pulling back slightly to look at him.
    Brody’s gaze bored into hers, his chest rising and falling faster, his jaw tense as he shook his head.
    “I don’t want to, but you might, after you know the truth.”
    * * *
    B RODY KNEW HE was about to send Hannah packing. It was for the best, he tried to convince himself. He wanted her, and he couldn’t be around her for five minutes without acting on that desire.
    It wasn’t good for either of them. He should have let her say her goodbyes at the barn. That would have been the easy thing to do, but easy never was his preference.
    And...the truth was that he hadn’t wanted her to leave. The whole time they’d been riding along, making small talk, he’d been trying to find some sane way to have his cake and eat it, too—to maintain his secret and have Hannah in his bed—but that wasn’t possible.
    He either slept with her while lying to her about his situation, or told her the truth and watched her leave. Again.
    Both options sucked, but at least if he told her the truth, he wouldn’t hate himself as much later.
    “What do you mean? The truth about what?” she prompted. Her eyes widened and she looked worried. “Are you really sick? Brandi said she didn’t know why you would have retired, that you refused to talk about it with her or Reese,” she said hurriedly, putting all the wrong pieces together, so Brody shook his head, stopping her.
    “No, I promise, I’m
not
sick, but...there is a special situation. What I tell you, Hannah, it has to stay between us. You can’t tell anyone, not even Reece or Abby. No one.”
    Her pretty brow crunched, perplexed. “Okay, but why? If you aren’t sick, then what—”
    “I didn’t retire. Not really,” he responded quickly. “It’s a...it’s a publicity stunt, basically. To rebuild my image, make me more appealing to the fans. The sponsor was going to drop me if I didn’t straighten up after the sex-club scandal. I sit out this season, lie low, live a quiet life and then they’ll stage a comeback for the new and improved Brody Palmer.”
    Hannah was quiet, settling back on the bench, and Brody wasn’t sure what she was thinking. It was a relief, he had to admit, to tell someone the truth. Keeping it to himself had been difficult, but what would she say? Brody had always made a point of being a straight shooter, and now he was lying to everyone he knew.
    After a long pause, she said,