Adeline's POV:

My heard was beginning to feel fuzzy from all the champagne I'd been drinking when I felt a slight tap on my shoulder. Turning slowly, I came face to face with Ty's crew chief, Chris Gayle. By the set of his jaw and the look in his eyes, I could tell that he wasn't happy about Ty not being here tonight. Neither was I but what the hell was I going to do about it? I'd did my part in trying to get him to come. Everyone dealt with grief in their own way and obviously that's what Ty was doing.

"Look Chris, I tried." I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I really did. He's just not in the right headspace tonight."

"I get that. But this is a once in a lifetime thing here." Said Chris. "You know that Coy wouldn't want him to miss this.

"I know that and so does he so I don't need you to remind me of it." I said, my anger flaring. "I did everything but beg on my knees for him to be here tonight. I did what I could to get him here. I'm sorry that ain't good enough for you."

"Addie—"

"I wasn't done, Chris." I said, cutting him off. "My family is doing good to even be standing. The last thing everyone was worried about was this banquet because we learned the hard way that there are more important things in life than racing. We learned that nothing in life is promised, that those that we love the most can be taken from us in the blink of an eye. So don't tell me that Ty is missing a once in a lifetime thing because believe me, he already knows. He knows that he's missing out on it and he knows that he's missing it because our daddy is no longer alive. Yes, I know that makes me sound hypocritical since I am part of one of the biggest known families in the industry but it's the damn truth. Even Pappy Joe ain't here tonight so how dare you want to come over here and start you mess about Ty."

"I just- he was expected to give a speech." Said Chris, scrubbing his hand over his face as if he knew he was going to regret saying what he said.

"Your point being?" I asked, placing a hand on my hip and cocking it to one side.

"Someone has to give it. And as a Gibbs, that someone should be you." Said Chris.

"You're kidding right?' I said with a disbelieving laugh.

"I wish I was. I think it would mean a lot to everyone here if you did his speech rather than one of us."

"I don't care what it would mean to everyone here. Everyone here should understand why Ty isn't here. They should understand why I am the only Gibbs in attendance. They should understand that all we want is the chance to grieve and be a family without the prying eyes of everyone in the damn industry."

"If things are so bad, why are you here?" asked Chris.

His comment made me see red. Before I even realized what happened, I'd slapped him across his face. I was prepared to do a whole lot more than that when I felt strong arms band around my waist, lifting me off the floor and way from Ty's crew chief. "Put me down!" I yelled as I trashed, trying to break the hold the man had on me. But the more I squirmed, the tighter he held me. "Not a chance." Said the man holding me. Instantly, I recognized the voice as that of Jeb's.

"Don't make me kick you in the shin. Would hate to damage that right leg and keep you from racing." I said, no longer screaming and my rage slowly ebbing away.

"Ahh, so you know who I am." Said Jeb, his playful tone making my residual anger wash away. "But I will say if kicking me will make you feel better, have at it. I don't have to drive again for a couple months. That should be plenty of time to heal any wounds you give me."

Before I could respond, the cool night air washed over my skin just as I was settled onto my feet. I aimed to step away from Jeb's hold but when I did, he simply spun me around so that I was facing him before pulling me against him again. Knowing that I would think about this long after the moment was gone, I let him pull me to him and rested my cheek against his muscled chest. I don't know how long we stood there like that but it was Jeb who finally broke the silence.

"You all good now streetfighter?" he said, a playful note to his voice.

"Yeah." I said, suddenly realizing how cold it was.

Without a word, Jeb removed his jacket and draped it over my shoulders, pulling it around my body. As he did, the woody scent of his cologne wafted around me, making me dizzy in a good way. As if in slow motion, I tilted my head back and stared up at him. Maybe it was the aftereffects of the adrenaline from the altercation with Chris or maybe it was the champagne in my system but whatever it was had me doing something that I never did. I never made the first move. I never kissed a man that hadn't already kissed me.

Jeb's POV:

Champagne and Strawberries mixed with the taste of woman... that what her lips tasted like.

Ever since finding her on that balcony earlier, that was all I had been able to think about. Well, that and how I was going to get her in my arms again. Earlier, when she and I had touched, I felt that jolt of current that you hear people talking about. That jolt that people said was how they had known they had found the other half of their soul. Not that I was under the delusion that I was going to meet someone, fall head over heels in love at first sight, and live happily ever after. Lord knows my track record with women was more than enough to prove that finding that type of happiness wasn't going to be that easy for me.

My lips danced with Adeline's, slowly and deliberately, making the animal in me want to take charge, to ravage her mouth and leave my mark on her. But the tentative way that her hands roamed over my chest before her arms lopped around my neck told me that this wasn't something that she normally did. That nugget of information made me both excited and leery; excited because this was something that she never did and I knew that I wasn't just another man that she found at one of these banquets and used him to occupy her time and have a little fun. Leery because I knew all it would take was one wrong move, one thing moving too fast, and she would clam up.

Against he voices in my head telling me to lift her in my arms, plunder her mouth, and them ravage her body, I broke the kiss, but still held her in my arms. "Adeline, I'm all for being the guy that takes your mind off what's bothering you but I don't think that's what you really want now is it?" I said, lifting a hand to her cheek and gently letting my fingers slide over her smooth skin.

"Its exactly what I want." She said, her blue eyes boring into my brown ones. "It's exactly what I need." To prove her point, one of the arms that had been looped around my neck found its way to my beltline, the tips of her fingers dancing over deliciously close to where my body craved her most. My cock twitched, wanting to be touched. As if she knew what my body craved, her hand dipped, caressing over the hardened tip of my cock through the material of pants with such lightness that I wasn't even sure that she was touching me.

"Adeline—"

"Addie. Call me Addie." She said as she applied more pressure, rubbing the very tip of me. The feeling made my eyes roll to the back of my head.

"Addie..." her name on my lips was like a benediction, making the animal inside that had been threatening to claw its way out get just a little more adamant.

"Make me forget. Make me forget everything that's happening in my life. Make me forget that I'm broken. Make me feel whole again." She said, shrugging my suit jacket from her shoulder and once more looping her arms around my neck. My body cried out at the absences of her hands on my cock. The tips of her nails dug into the base of my neck, pulling my lips down to hers. Our lips were millimeters apart when she added "fuck me and make me forget everything but the feel of you sliding in and out of me."

I wanted to deny her -to be the good man that told her that this wasn't what she really wanted- but it seemed that part of my brain had checked out, leaving only my cock to do all the thinking. And lets face it, the 10-inch wonder in my pants had a one-track mind and it was nowhere near turning down what she was offering.

Bending slightly at the knees as a growl slipped past my lips, I lifted her into my arms and urged her legs around my hips, thankful for the slit at the side of gorgeous green dress that fit her as if it was made for her. The head of my cock aligned with the pulsing opening of her core, making the appendage grown even harder as it strained for freedom. Spinning us, I back us against the wall of the hotel and deepened the kiss, letting my hands roam over her body, landing on the swell of her breasts and caressing the globes with just the right amount of pressure. I knew I was doing it right when a breathy moan slipped past her lips just before her teeth sank into my bottom lip. Breaking the kiss to trail kissing down the column of her neck, I alternated between wet and biting kisses that had her wiggling in my arms, rubbing her pussy against the tenting in my pants. I knew what she was doing and put an immediate stop to it.

"Oh no you don't sweetheart." I said, pinning her body tightly against the wall stalling her movements. "No way am I going to let the first time I see and hear you cum be on a balcony at a NASCAR banquet while you rub yourself against my cock. Don't get me wrong, it feels amazing but when you come, it's going to be on my tongue so that I can taste every drop of your essence and remind you that I am responsible for the quivering in your legs and the racing of your heart."

"Then I guess you better find a room then huh?" she said, as her nails dug into the back of my neck once more and drew my mouth down to hers. I was just before taking back my words when she broke the kiss. "So what's it going to be? Are you going to let me rub my self into an orgasm right here or are you going to keep that deliciously wicked promise and make me cum with your tongue?"

Like that was even a choice!

With one more kiss, I placed her back down onto her feet and laced my fingers with hers. One destination on my mind: front desk. The whole way I prayed that there was a room available.