Page 17 of Fast-Track Fiancé

The moment she spoke the words, he froze, his hands tightening upon her waist for a split second. ‘Cristo, you could drive a man wild saying things like that.’

She hadn’t intended to drive him wild, but if the consequence of speaking honestly was him kissing her like this, she’d continue to give her thoughts free rein. ‘I feel like I should be honest that, um... I don’t usually do this. Like, I’ve never—’

He continued to kiss a trail down the side of her neck, so she wasn’t entirely sure if he’d heard her. A series of low murmurs was all he said in response.

‘Let’s get you to bed, Nina. Before I’m tempted to tuck you in myself.’

He walked her to her bedroom door and lingered for a long moment, one hand braced quite attractively on the doorjamb as he stared down at her with possession. ‘Three days,’ he repeated.

‘Three days.’ She nodded.

The executive box of the Spanish Premio was filled predictably with people that Tristan did not know. He knew of them, of course, politicians and celebrities schmoozing with one another in the hopes of gaining influence. Likely some of them might actually follow the sport, but Elite One race weekends were as much about the experience and atmosphere as the racing after all. He’d deliberately procured a spot near the back of the room, away from the windows, once the race had begun an hour ago.

Even after years of therapy following the aeroplane accident that had killed his uncle and almost killed him too, the sound of roaring engines still managed to set his teeth on edge. But he was managing it, as he always did. He was a master of the public performance, after all, his guests simply seeing their bored owner schmoozing and wishing he were anywhere but here. No one knew the truth was that the very idea of Nina whizzing around that track at such high speeds was almost more than he could bear.

She would laugh, of course, if she knew that he held her skill in complete regard and truly hoped that all of her dreams on the track would come true...if only it didn’t involve actually putting her life in the hands of a car.

The car was in great shape, and according to the mechanics on the team downstairs their strategy was sound and both of their drivers were in fighting form, as was evidenced by their current positions in fourth and fifth place out of twenty.

The Accardi team were in first and second, and had been for most of the race, but Nina’s expert defending and Roberts’s aggressive driving style had already moved them through several impressive overtakes. As he listened to the commentary he heard them each move up another spot.

‘Do my eyes deceive me?’ a British voice sounded out and Tristan looked up to see Astrid’s smiling face approaching him. ‘Tristan Falco, in the flesh at a race weekend. Don’t tell me you’re actually following my advice.’

‘Actually it was Nina who convinced me that I was actively impeding growth by not showing my full support to the team.’

Astrid smirked. ‘Yes, I noticed she seems to have made quite the impression on you.’

Tristan cleared his throat, tugging at his suddenly tight collar as Astrid continued to give him an all too knowing look.

‘You know, Tristan, I wasn’t quite sure at first if this plan would work but the narrative in the media has felt like a real romance. You’re doing a great job of making it look that way anyway. Even in private, it’s quite the dedication to the cause you’re both showing. Just...be careful with her, okay?’

Tristan thought of Nina’s hesitancy three weeks ago when she’d agreed to this deal, how he’d insisted he wouldn’t allow the lines between them to become blurred. How he’d been so confident in assuring her that everything between them was just for show. The trouble was, the more time they spent alone, the more they both seemed to forget. Or at least their bodies did anyway.

The attraction he felt to her was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. It was all-consuming, bordering upon an obsession at times, and he’d even found himself checking in on her at training or showing up at her hotel to take her for lunch over the past few days. She had taken it all in her stride, of course, giving him no indication of how she truly felt. But still, her words on the yacht had stuck with him.

‘My focus is on the race, but after that I’m yours.’

She hadn’t meant it in the way that his primitive brain had taken it. That she would be his. That he would possess her, finally. But to all intents and purposes, she would be in his bed at least. He fought to control the sudden reaction as his body got tighter.

‘I heard an interesting rumour,’ Astrid said, reminding him of where he was and helping him to refocus his thoughts.

‘A good one, I hope.’

‘An important one, for sure... Accardi have their eyes on Nina.’

Tristan paused with his glass midway to his mouth, his eyes snapping up to focus on his PR manager. ‘Over my dead body.’

Astrid pursed her lips, tilting her head at his rather emotional reaction. ‘I thought you might feel that way. But, as it stands, under the terms of your agreement with her, you’re going to free her from her contract at the end of the season, aren’t you?’

‘Yes, but they don’t know that.’

‘Are you planning to keep her, Tristan?’ Astrid asked, her bespectacled gaze as shrewd as ever. ‘Because after the decisions made by this team in the past month, I don’t think Nina is planning to stay.’

‘That’s not the point. The point is that this is blatant retaliation by Enzo Accardi for us signing his grandson. And he is not going to use Nina as a weapon to play games with me.’

‘You do realise this is Elite One, yes? The most game-playing of all the motorsports. It’s all drama, Tristan. The racing only takes up five per cent of the entertainment. Nina wants to leave anyway and just think of the media storm that would follow.’

He knew Enzo Accardi, and he also knew the stories about the old man and how lecherous he was, how ruthless and underhanded. There was a good reason why Apollo had refused to ever race for him again. To think that Enzo might get his hands on Nina... To think what kind of hoops he might require her to jump through in order for her to achieve her dreams...

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