No Place to Hide (Rocking Racers Book 2) Read online

  “With the exception of Quinn, who lives next door,”—I jerk my head—“everyone else lives in either of the two.”

  “But not you,” he says as he stands in front of me, hands on my hips. He gives me a quick kiss before moving further into my townhouse.

  “Nope, strictly South Yarra for me. I would consider South Melbourne or maybe Docklands if the place was right, but I don’t need to be tucked away in a multimillion-dollar mansion.”

  “Just a million-dollar townhouse for you, then?”

  “Something like that,” I say as I lead him to the kitchen. “You want anything?”

  “What have you got?”

  “Flavoured water, milk, a multitude of flavoured black teas.”

  He makes a face. “I’ll be right.”

  “So tell me about the Ryans,” I ask as Cole takes a seat on one of the stools lining my kitchen bench.

  “Well, there’s a lot of them, ten or twelve if you count Grayson and Rome.”

  “And they are?”

  “Rome is Ryan Racing’s head mechanic, and Grayson is his girl. They’re friends of Bria.”

  “And she is?”

  “Okay, I’ll start from the top. First you have Jay. His son is Nate, and Nate’s sons, Jay’s grandsons, are Parker, Reed, Liam, Mav, and Jax.”

  “And they’re about our age, right?”

  “A bit younger. Parker’s a year younger than us, and Jax is eighteen.”

  “Okay, got it.”

  “Parker has a kid, Christian, who’s almost four. Reed is married to Bria, who’s seven months pregnant.”

  “I’m never going to remember all this.”

  “You’ll be fine, and they’re all cool, so don’t stress.”

  “Why are you taking me to meet them?”

  “Why not? They’re basically my family, so why wouldn’t I bring a friend home to meet them?”

  “Friends? Is that what we are?” I ask as I lean against the counter opposite him.

  “I thought we were. What do you think we are?”

  I hate when someone turns the tables on me. “Friends is good.” I shrug. If he wants to play, I’ll play.

  “Just good?” he asks as he gets up and stalks towards me. His movements are smooth and graceful.

  “Mmmhmm.”

  “I dunno, Knley.” My name rolling off his tongue does strange things to my insides. “I think we can do much better than just good.” By now he’s standing with his chest up against mine, his hands gripping my hips. I open my mouth to reply, and he swoops down on my mouth, his tongue invading. His lips are strong and smooth, and I return the kiss with force, my hands going to his head, my fingers threading through his hair. I’m just about to deepen it when he pulls back.

  “Why’d you pull away?” I ask, panting.

  “Is that better than good, Knley?”

  “Huh?” Clearly my brain has been scrambled.

  “Was that kiss better than just good?” he asks again.

  In reply I lean up to take his lips. He pulls back.

  “I asked a question.”

  “I tried to answer it.” Once again I try to get to his lips, and once again he pulls back.

  “I want to hear it, love.”

  “You’re infuriating, you know that?” He chuckles in response. “Yes, Cole, it was more than good.” I sigh.

  He smiles. “Good.” Finally he retakes my lips. I’ve got to admit the man has a talented mouth, and it gets me wondering what it’d be like on other parts of my body. A rush of moisture dampens my panties. Finally, our need for oxygen overcomes our passion and we break apart, breathing heavily.

  “I don’t want to just be your friend, Knley,” he says, looking me straight in the eye, his thumbs drawing circles on my skin underneath my shirt.

  “You don’t?” I ask in a small voice.

  He shakes his head. “No, I don’t.”

  “What do you want then?”

  “I want you. I want to be an us.”

  “Oh.” I don’t know what else to say.

  “Is that maybe something you’d like too?”

  I blow out a breath. I know he asked me something similar this morning, but my life is complicated and any relationship I have is going to suffer because of that. “It’s not that simple.”

  “Why not?”

  “My life, my image, is complicated.”

  Cole takes a step back and runs his hand through his hair. “Do you like me, Knley?” Slowly I nod. “Do you want to be with me?” I pause. “Forget about everything else for a moment. Right now, it’s just you and me and I’m asking if you want to be with me.” I nod again. A massive smile crosses his face. “So let’s be together.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “It can be.” He comes up to me, hugging me tight. “I know you’re tired of being who everybody thinks and wants you to be. It’s time for you to do something just for you. Fuck everyone else. They don’t have to live your life. They don’t have to wake up day after day hiding their feelings and opinions. They don’t have to pretend to be something they’re not. You do, and I know how much it wears on you. I can see it, clear as day.”

  Anger flares within me. “There is no way you could possibly know all that about me!”

  “I do because I see you, Knley. I can see past the mask you wear when you’re amongst them. It calls to me. You’re twenty-seven years old, isn’t it time you do something purely for yourself?”

  I look up into his clear blue eyes. “It’s not going to be easy.”

  “The best things, the things that are truly worth it, never are. That’s what makes them so amazing.” His hand comes up and cups my cheek. “Just say yes, Knley,” he urges, his forehead resting on mine.

  “Yes,” I whisper.

  I feel his smile before his lips capture mine. The kiss is slow and gentle, and we’re both beaming when it ends.

  “It’s not going to be easy,” I warn again. I want to leave him in no doubt how rough things are going to get.

  “I don’t care. You’re worth it. But we should probably hit the road. If we leave now, we’ll get back to Booker for dinner, and you don’t want to miss out on a feed at Wheels.”

  Just over three hours later, we pull into the car park of a small diner pretty much smack bang in the middle of Cole’s moderately sized hometown. He sprints around the car to open my door and help me out.

  “Welcome to Booker and the best diner south of the equator.” I raise an eyebrow. “Just you wait.” He takes my hand and we walk inside. The diner is quite spacious inside, with a bar to the right and a large dining area to the left. There’s also a look-through window into the kitchen. Most of the tables are full, with a large group occupying several of them near a big screen playing an AFL game. The group cheer when they see Cole. He chuckles and leads us over. I recognise a couple of faces from the gala the other week, including the hunk I spotted on the red carpet. The girl whose dress was drowning her is perched on his lap, his hands beneath her shirt, rubbing a growing baby bump.

  “Ryans,” Cole says, “I’d like you to meet McKnley Rhodes. Knley, meet the Ryans. We’ve got Reed with Bria on his lap, baby boy Ryan two months from making his appearance,”—Bria rolls her eyes while Reed beams—“next, we have Jax, then Mav, Jay, and Christian.” Cole points to a gorgeous little boy with dark brown hair, big brown eyes, and the cutest dimples I’ve ever seen.

  “Hi,” I say, and give a little wave.

  “You’re in Places, right?” Bria asks as Cole and I take a seat.

  I nod. “Yeah, me and my sisters.”

  “Sisters, you say?” Jax, I think it is, says from the other side of Bria.

  “Yeah, four of them.”

  “Any of them younger?” Reed shoves him while Bria laughs.

  “You’re what, eighteen, right?” I ask.

  He clutches at his chest over his heart. “She knows how old I am.” Reed smacks him on the head this time, to the amusement of everyone.

&n
bsp; “My sister Sloane’s about your age.”

  “Is she as hot as you?”

  “She’s kind of a bitch,” I say truthfully. I know I’ve only just met these people, but they seem cool.

  “Yeah, that’s not a deal-breaker for me,” Jax says, and once again everyone laughs.

  “Trust me,” I say as Cole slings an arm around my chair and I angle my body so I’m resting against him, “you can do better.”

  “You have three other sisters, right?” I’m just about to reply when what has to be another Ryan saunters over. He seems more familiar to me than the others, but I can’t place him.

  “Hey guys, can I get you anything to eat?” he asks.

  “Oh hey, Park, this is Knley,” Cole says.

  Park smiles at me and I think I see a hint of sadness. “We’ve met before. I dated her sister Ashton for a bit back in the day.” Of course, that’s why he seems so familiar.

  “About five years ago, right?” I ask.

  “Yeah, just before the champ here came along.” He ruffles Christian’s hair. I remember that. Ashton was head over heels for Parker, who back then was making a name for himself doing some kind of racing. Mum flipped when she found out, and that was the end of that. It’s funny, though, I always thought they made a really good couple. Parker, despite being a couple of years younger than Ash, kind of mellowed her out a bit. It’s a shame; she would’ve been a lot easier to deal with these past years with Parker by her side.

  “How is she?” he asks.

  “The same. Bitter, angry.”

  “Your sisters sound like treasures,” Mav says, across from me.

  “Oh yeah, real treasures,” I say with a wink and a heavy dose of sarcasm, “except for my sister Quinn. She’s fantastic.”

  “Is she single?” Jax asks, and gets another slap to the back of the head. “What?” he demands.

  “Can you keep it in your pants for a minute?” Reed asks.

  “Hey man, just ’cause you got your happily ever after doesn’t mean the rest of us are going to stop looking.”

  “Doesn’t mean you need to go about it like a dog in heat.”

  “Fine, sorry, papa,” Jax says, hanging his head, and the whole table laughs again.

  “Is Uncle Jax in twouble?” Christian asks.

  “He’s being silly and not acting like a grown-up,” Reed tells his nephew.

  “Oh, don’t do dat, Uncle Jax,” Christian says, and everyone laughs again.

  “So now that the entertainment portion of tonight’s proceedings are done,” Parker says. “Something to eat?”

  I quickly take a look at the menu. “You have a smoker here?” I ask, impressed.

  “Out the back.” Parker jerks his head. “Our buddy Mike runs it.”

  “I love BBQ,” I say, bouncing in my seat. Next to me, Cole chuckles.

  “Well, we have the best BBQ south of Texas, so what can I get ya?”

  I settle for brisket with mac and cheese and chips. The food comes out a little while later and looks amazing. I take my phone out to snap a photo to upload to Instagram.

  “Do you guys mind if I post this to my accounts?” I ask.

  “That would be amazing,” Bria says, “but don’t feel like you have to.”

  “Yeah, Kn,” Cole says. “People will put the pieces together pretty quickly if you do.”

  “You don’t want me to advertise my relationship with you?” I ask, hurt. I thought that was what he wanted, what with his whole “you’re hiding” speech.

  “I don’t care if you pack the G and tell everyone we’re in a relationship. You’re the one who said this can get complicated. I assume this,”—he motions to my phone—“can lead to complications.”

  I take his face in my hands. “No more hiding.” I don’t know why I have the sudden urge to open myself up like this, but it feels right. Being here with Cole and the Ryans, everything just snaps into place and what’s important comes into focus. These people are real. They’re genuine and not out to suck me dry or use me so they can get ahead. They don’t care that I’m famous and in a band and can give them endless amounts of publicity; all they care about is who I am to Cole, what I do for him, because he’s their family, and I like that. I can appreciate that. I’d like to think they’ll be my friends too. Friends do stuff like this for each other, right?

  “Yeah?” he asks, unsure.

  “For some reason I feel safe here. This is no place to hide,” I tell him, and brush my lips against his softly before taking the photo and uploading it. We’re in it now.

  Is Knley Going to New Places?

  Has McKnley gone AWOL? The star uploaded a photo to her Instagram account this evening of what appeared to be a very figure unfriendly meal of roast beef, mac and cheese, and chips, captioning it “the best BBQ south of Texas.” While her diet choice might be questionable, it was the location that caught our eye. The photo was uploaded from Wheels diner in Booker, home to our favourite racing family, the Ryans, and one Cole Matthews, with whom McKnley was seen getting cosy with last night at the Bolt Energy party. Sources tell us McKnley spent the night in the city with a “friend,” not at her South Yarra townhouse. Furthermore, we’re told that she stormed out of a scheduled rehearsal for Places’ upcoming national tour after an argument with her mother and manager, Helen Rhodes.

  While we at Rocking Rumours are suckers for a good love story, we have to ask if this is the influence Cole Matthews has over McKnley already, what will happen a few weeks down the track?

  Never fear, Mongers, Rocking Rumours will be keeping their eyes on “Coley,” and is the only place you need to go for all the latest news on Australia’s newest power couple.

  Chapter Ten

  Cole

  Knley gets along with the Ryans great, like I knew she would. Her phone constantly dings with messages and notifications, but after about five minutes she turns it to Silent. She spends most of the night talking to Bria about the ins and outs of tabloid life, and from what I hear, it’s hell. We call it a night when Bria starts yawning—or rather, Reed calls it. That girl must have the patience of a saint to put up with his overbearing ways. It is highly entertaining to watch my best friend, former man whore extraordinaire, so head over heels in love. He worships the ground she walks on and is going to be an amazing father.

  I hold Knley’s hand on the drive to my place. It’s not far; I live about five minutes from Wheels.

  “It’s not a million-dollar townhouse in South Yarra, but it’s home,” I say as we pull into the driveway. The house is nothing fancy, just your average suburban house on the outside. Inside, it’s all me.

  “You think I give a shit about your house?” Knley asks. She seems kind of pissed, though I can’t figure out why or how I’ve done it this time. I shrug. “You really think I’m that shallow?” Now she seems hurt. What the fuck? Where did this come from?

  “What? No! What the hell?” She huffs and crosses her arms. I let out a breath. “Come on,” I say, and motion to the house. She just sits there.

  “Fine.” I get out of the car and stalk round to her side. I yank open the door, undo her seat belt, and throw her over my shoulder.

  “Cole!” she screams as she beats on my back. “Put me down!” She starts to kick, and I almost drop her.

  “Stop it. I’ll drop you if you’re not careful.”

  “So help me God if you drop me, Cole Matthews!”

  “Then calm down.”

  “No!” she exclaims stubbornly before I feel a sting on my lower back.

  “Did you just bite me?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  I chuckle. “Well aren’t you a little feral?”

  “Me? Feral? Says you, who tossed me over his shoulder like a caveman.” I unlock the front door and go into the house. It’s open-plan, so from here you can see pretty much everything, the living room, dining room and kitchen. I walk into the kitchen and put Knley down on the bench.

  “Wow,” she breathes as she takes in the
top-of-the-line appliances, mosaic tile splashback, and the slab of marble she’s sitting on. I grab her face and keep it between my palms.

  “No, I don’t think you’re shallow, nor do I think you give a shit about my house, this town, what I do for a living, or my family.” She goes to say something, but I cut her off. “Okay, so maybe you might not be besties with my dad, but I can live with that. We’re hardly joined at the hip as it is, which is a good thing. On the flip side, I don’t give a shit about your house, where you come from, what you do, your image surrounding that, all the bullshit that comes with it, and I especially do not give a shit about your mum or any of your sisters, evil or otherwise.”

  Her eyes widen. “O-okay.”

  “Yeah? You got it? ’Cause I’m not going to keep going over this shit with you, Knley. I know you’ve played the bad girl of rock ’n’ roll role for a while now, but you don’t have to with me. In fact, if you start pulling that shit with me, I’m going to have to take you over my knee.” At this, Knley’s pupils dilate, so much so I can barely see the chocolate brown that surrounds them. Her breathing has also increased and her boobs strain against the material of her tank top, nipples hard and pointing right at me. I have no doubt if I were to slip a finger between her legs that I’d find her wet and willing. “But I get the feeling you might enjoy that and that’s not the point of this, and with that,”—I grab her hips and lift her off the bench. Her knees are barely able to support her weight, which makes me feel like a fucking champ—“bed time.” I slap her arse for good measure.

  “Are you shitting me?” she says, her arms crossed, a pissed off look on her face.

  “Does it look like I am?” I ask, mirroring her pose. We stay like that for a good minute, Knley glaring at me the entire time. Finally she gives in when I arch an eyebrow at her. She huffs and shoves me.

  “You’re a real bastard, Cole Matthews.”

  I grab her by the waist and draw her tight to my chest.

  “Never said I wasn’t, love. Now come on, it’s been a long-arse day and I’m beat.” She huffs again and I lean down to give her a kiss. She tastes sweet, like the BBQ sauce from dinner plus a flavour that’s all her own. She melts into me, and I smile. This woman, this force of nature who has been strong for so long, who has played someone else for so long, is trusting me, is letting me in.