“I have heard that.” The same held true for attraction. Imogen had never dreamed she would find herself consumed by lust for a race car driver. But it was safe to say, given the cottony feeling in her mouth and the ever-present dampness between her thighs when she was with Ty, that she was head over heels in lust.

“So why do you have that book, Imogen? You looking to marry a race car driver?”

Damn. Imogen’s mouth went hot and she dug her fingernails into her thigh. She had been hoping that her own inquiries regarding his reading the book would not be turned around onto her. That had clearly been underestimating his curiosity.

“I believe we discussed my opinions on marriage once before,” she said vaguely, not wanting him to believe she was that mercenary or calculating, but also not wanting to explain her thesis. For some reason, she had the feeling he would not appreciate her admission to intentionally flirting with his coworkers for educational purposes.

“Yeah, we did. Which doesn’t explain why you’re hauling around that book.” Ty glanced over at her. “You got secrets, Emma Jean? You have a crush on some driver and you’re hoping to up the odds with that dating guide?”

If only it were that simple. But somehow she couldn’t imagine that anything in the Six Steps would help her wade through her attraction to Ty McCordle. “No, that is not why I have the book.”

Ty pulled into a parking lot going way too fast, and the force bounced Imogen around on her seat. She grabbed the door handle for leverage when he hit the brakes hard so he could swipe a security card in the gate kiosk.

“You sure?” he asked, his voice sounding casual. “Maybe it’s Evan Monroe. He’s a good-looking guy.”

Uh-oh. Warning bells went off in Imogen’s head. She was observant enough and well versed enough in human nature to know the edge of jealous anger when she heard it. Ty must have seen her at the gym talking to Evan. And considering she had actually given Evan Monroe her phone number, for future research only, of course, she could feel the stain of a guilty blush covering her checks.

Screw the consequences, she was incapable of sustaining a lie of that magnitude. She just couldn’t pretend that she was genuinely interested in Evan, nor did she want Ty to think that she was, therefore, off-limits to him. It was ludicrous, but she did not want to close any doors regarding Ty. Especially the bedroom door.

“I have the book for research. I’m working on my thesis.”

That seemed to take him aback. “Come again?”

“I am trying to determine if dating rules specific to stock car racing result in a higher percentage of successful relationships or if there is no correlation between following a set of rules and marriage.”