Fast Track to a Honeybun

CHAPTER ONE-2

FABIANA MARICRUZ DROVE to the spot where she knew she’d find Lautaro. He was well known in the racing world for his obsession with two things, women and booze. The racing came third on his priority list, which was why he was a second rate driver and always would be.

In Fabiana’s not so humble opinion.

Lautaro was happily indulging in both obsessions when she approached his table at Mario’s, his favorite drinking hole.

The woman he was nuzzling was tall, with masculine features and evidence of too many late nights with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s in her long body.

Fabiana slid a stiletto from her purse and stopped behind Lautaro, placing the knife at his throat. She flashed an angry gaze at the woman, who’d looked up with a startled gasp. “Beat it sugar. This one’s not gonna have any man parts left to court you with in a few minutes. You’d have better luck howling up some other tree tonight.”

The woman stood up so fast her chair fell backward with a bang.

Luckily for Fabiana the place was dark and only minimally inhabited. Even at a dive like Mario’s somebody would call the police if they saw a woman dismembering a skunk with a stiletto.

Lautaro gulped, his Adam’s apple rolling nervously under the knife. Fabiana twisted her wrist to bury the knife more deeply in his flesh. Warm blood trickled down to touch her fingers.

She leaned closer, placing her lips next to Lautaro’s ear. “If you ever...did you hear me say EVER...touch me again, I will kill you.” She twisted her wrist again, just enough to make him gasp. “Are we clear on that, estúpido?”

Lautaro gulped again and nodded very slightly.

Fabiana stepped away, sliding the knife back into her purse. Then she retrieved the fallen chair from the floor and sat down at the table across from him. The drink in front of her appeared untouched, Fabiana lifted it to her lips and took a sip. It was too sweet, but it was cold and fruity, so she took another sip.

Lautaro swiped his paper napkin across his neck, glaring at her when it came away with a smear of blood on it. “You’ll pay for that, bitch.”

She smiled, showing him a perfect set of bright, white teeth. The brightness of them was even more startling against the creamy caramel of her skin. “What were you doing to my car, Lautaro?”

He shrugged, slugging back his beer.

Fabiana watched his throat work as he swallowed and considered what she’d like to do to him. She’d scratched and clawed her way, sometimes literally, into racing. A seriously male dominated sport, she’d come up against overwhelming bias and a rampant lack of respect for her skills. But she’d fought her way through all of it. And she would fight through this too. Whatever it took.

If she’d learned anything from seventeen years in the Barrio, it was perseverance.

Lautaro set his beer down and looked around the bar, trying to ignore her. She noticed the dark stain of a bruise on his chin and felt a warm glow.

Warwicke Honeybun to the rescue. It made her all tingly to think about the sexy driver taking up for her. A tingly feeling she squashed mercilessly into submission. Tall, and leanly muscled, with intense light gray eyes and longish, curly, red-blond hair, Warwicke Honeybun was a favorite with the track bunnies. Women loved him for his smoldering sexuality first, and then, when they got to know him better, for his gentlemanly manners and innate sweetness toward women. Knowing he was everything a smart woman would want in a man, Fabiana had deliberately kept her distance from Warwicke Honeybun. She had no time or energy to think about men. She had only the racing.

“You started out as a street racer didn’t you, Frosty?”

Caught by surprise, Fabiana swung her gaze his way. Nobody was supposed to know that about her.

Lautaro had a smug smile on his face. He’d noticed her reaction.

She shrugged. “So what?”

He took another slug of his beer and stood up. “You have quite a colorful history, b***h. Most of it below the law. If that information got out, how long do you think you’d keep your spot at the track?” Lautaro c****d his head, his dark eyes flashing. “Especially when they hear about your brother.”

Fabiana clenched her fists on the table, her pulse pounding. “You just keep your mouth shut, Lautaro. You have a few skeletons in your closet too, I’m sure.”

He grinned, throwing a twenty onto the table. “Yeah, but you don’t know what they are do you? So they won’t do you much good.” He turned away and headed toward the door.

Fabiana drained the fruity drink and stood up, intending to follow him out. A wave of dizziness swept her and she had to grab the table until it passed. She hadn’t had much to eat all day and she’d sucked the fruity drink down pretty fast. Darn! She hated when that happened.

When the dizziness passed, Fabiana started toward the door. She’d find Lautaro and finish their conversation. Nobody threatened a Maricruz and got away with it.

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