Suzanne didn’t look the least bit sorry, and Imogen almost felt bad for Nikki, who clearly was hanging around the track by herself. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure we can get you into the restricted area.”

“We have passes to sit in the boxes,” Suzanne said. “Where are you guys going? I’ll go with you.” “Hi!” Nikki said, making record time over to them despite her high heels. In the name of friendship to inform Imogen of all her physical flaws. Today it was going to result in fending insults from Nikki, who seemed to think it was her duty She always had to know what was going on, and it was highly likely her curiosity would be the death of her someday. She should have just run and asked questions later, but that wasn’t her personality. She did not want to spend her time at the racetrack trying to make small talk with Nikki, and it was her fault they were going to have to do the polite. Nikki was waving to them with a big smile, and Imogen stifled a groan. “Don’t turn around,” Tamara said to Imogen, horrified. None of which would bother Imogen, per se, except that Nikki was dating Ty McCordle, the stock car driver Imogen had an inexplicable attraction to. The few times Imogen had tried to have a conversation with Nikki, she had been left wondering if there were residual effects of the excessive use of hair dye because there was a whole lot of nothing going on in that girl’s head. Unfortunately, it seemed to be at the expense of nurturing her mind. She was definitely a beautiful girl by most male standards, and Imogen knew Nikki worked hard to maintain her appearance. Built like Barbie, thanks to Nikki’s campaign of personal starvation and the assistance of breast implants and lip injections. Stumbling to keep up with Tamara and their other friend Suzanne, Imogen glanced behind her to see why they needed to sprint, worried about a herd of angry race fans, a fire, or a sudden act of terrorism in the speedway. Imogen Wilson had her shoulder nearly dislocated from its socket when her friend Tamara yanked her arm, trying to drag her down the hallway. From How to Marry a Race Car Driver in Six Easy Steps When she proves herself too obnoxious or clingy, move right on past her into the lead. How to Work It:Hang back if your man is interested in another woman. SLINGSHOT:A maneuver in racing where the car following the leader in a draft steals his good air and takes the lead. Special thanks to Rhonda Stapleton for suggesting Shakespeare, to Kathy Love for suggesting the name Imogen, and to Jamie Denton for suggesting I get out of my own way and just write the book. For all the wives of racing and your true love stories

Hard and fast by erin mccarthy