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His flippant responses used to make me snicker and go into fits of laughter, and when we were together, he would sneak attack me with kisses. I angrily poked the buttons to put my password into the computer.
“It’s an event for work.”
Tav hummed thoughtfully. “What kind of?—”
“Can you be quiet?” I snapped.
For a while he was silent, and the world outside flew past as he navigated the car toward the highway. I was deep into comparison of our tire prices with our closest competitors’ when he sighed, dragging my attention back to his strong profile.
“What?”
“Why did you ask me to do this? Really?” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and stole a quick glance at me out of the corner of his eye.
“Why don’t you just watch the road? You were in an accident recently.” I smirked, and excitement zinged through my belly as he grinned back.
“Yeah, well, you were technically in two accidents, so I suppose it makes sense you’d want me to drive.” He popped his tongue into his cheek and raised his eyebrows before cutting a longer look at me, but after a few seconds, he went back to paying attention to the road.
My first inclination was to laugh. Tav had been one of my favorite people, once upon a time, but the reminder of that fact made me want to curse him out. Instead of doing anything at all, I went back to silently glaring at my computer. Maybe tomorrow I would see if I could find another job for him in the company because I would probably have a stroke if I kept this shit up. There was only so much anger one person could hold in before it did something dangerous to them—or someone else.
What felt like seconds later my door was opening, and I glanced around because the car was parked. Tav leaned his forearm against the roof and had to bend down. I was taller, but God, there just weren’t many men like him around, and an instant sizzle shot through my belly to my dick. By the way his eyes widened as he stared at me, I thought maybe I wasn’t alone in that. He glanced at my mouth, then cleared his throat.
“You still wearing Armani Mania?” he asked, voice husky.
I felt like I was choking as I shook my head. He’d nailed my cologne choice perfectly, but like hell I was telling him that. Shit, did he just say I smell good? I put a foot on the ground, and he backed away. I felt a little stupid as he closed the door for me, tipping an imaginary cap. My face scalded as I turned toward the venue. The parking lot was crowded, and I knew who some of the vehicles belonged to by sight—most of the dealership owners in the area were here today.
“Tire expo?” Tav asked, sounding confused as he read the marquee.
I started walking without saying a word.
“You’re welcome,” he called after me. “Should I stay with the car or what?”
“No,” I snapped over my shoulder. “Come with me.” I gave in and rubbed my eyes with the heels of my palms. Why hadn’t I considered this when I’d asked him to drive me? What the hell would he do while I was working? At the ticket counter I simply waved and held up my badge for Dailey Tires, and the woman taking cash from other people nodded as I grabbed Tav’s elbow and tugged him through the turnstiles.
“Didn’t know you thought I would get lost so easily,” he joked. Maybe he was nervous because humor had always been his go-to in tough situations.
“Yeah, you do have a track record of running away,” I snarled.
He tensed under my hand, and I let him go before he could get his act together to shake me loose. Around the green at the center of the racetrack were about twenty booths displaying different types of tires for every occasion—sand, snow, all season, street racing, and track racing. We were the only ones manufactured specifically for ice, though.
I smirked at Mike June, who was holding down the counter at his booth. He owned Comet Tires, and he thought he had the winter market cornered. He waved back with a scowl he didn’t bother to hide, and I thought maybe his middle finger flashed my way, but I didn’t stop.
“So, why are we here?” Tav asked, sounding genuinely confused. I pointed at my booth, the biggest one on the right at the end of the row with Dailey Tires emblazoned across a huge banner at the top, then Home of the Ice Tire below that. Several employees were busy handing out fliers to men and women, who were likely from local dealerships, while they let the future customers run their fingers over the special microtread my company had created.
“My ice tires are going to change winter driving all over the world,” I said, feeling pretty proud. I flashed Tav a grin.
“Very cool,” he said. He did this thing when he was pleased where he bounced on his heels, and my heart skipped a beat as he did it. “So, you designed them?” He looked at me, eyebrows raised. “Always were pretty smart.”
“Well, no.” I slowed to a stop, and he followed my lead.
“You had input in it, though?”
Cupping my hands on the back of my neck, I eyed him up. “Not exactly.”
“Seems like they’re not really yours then?” He cocked his head to the side.
“I’m funding them and selling them. Well, Dailey Tires is doing all that, but I was essential in securing the capital to let us do the initial run on the new tires.” My face burned like the center of the sun.
He gave me a serious amount of side eye that I did not deserve.
