Page 93 of Start Your Engines

“Noisy fucking,” Jacs says, and I shrug, although I’m smirking so hard. “Have you specified if you’re more than dating yet?”

“No. I’m in the most complicated relationship possible that isn’t technically a proper relationship, and I’ve never been happier. Although,” I stutter, “Niki called the other week.”

“Your brother who’d end Connor in a heartbeat if he knew what you two were doing? And?”

I drop my head. “He still won’t say when he’s coming home or where he is. I don’t understand what he’s doing. Why can’t he talk to his best friend or me? We’ve always been there for him. We know what racing is like better than anyone and what help is available.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want help.”

I wring my hands while studying the tattoo celebrating my racing career. A cheer from the crowd makes me look up. Connor stares at me, his brow furrowed, as he catches signs of my stress. He’s holding his shoe in the air and waits for my full attentionbefore pouring champagne into it. When I nod, he drinks it all, his stare never leaving my face.

He’s such a massive dickhead. A giggle rises in my throat. Everyone in the crowd screams his name. They love him nearly as much as I do.

“You’re smashing it this season, and I don’t just mean Connor’s junk,” Jacs teases, and I roll my eyes. “We’re climbing the table, and you’re showing your dad he can’t sell the team. We’re top seven, Senna. Top fucking seven!”

I pull my shoulders back. “We need to get top three in several more races to reach number six, but for the first time, it’s possible.”

“And your dad is proud?”

“Of course he isn’t. But he’s stopped speaking to me about Antoine or telling me about the board. I rarely answer his calls.”

“Any more problems with Antoine? I can’t believe I missed the drama in the garage a couple of weeks ago. Bloody Tawny dragging me to all her interviews.”

“She’s proud of her big sister, the mechanic.”

Jacs shrugs.

“I haven’t heard again from Antoine. I don’t think he’s completely out of the picture, but he believes I’ll make good on my threat. It wouldn’t surprise me if he has a lot of dodgy business dealings. I have to keep him away from this team, and the only way I can do it is by making this team a success.”

“And you’re doing it.”

Pressure builds in my chest. But what if it isn’t enough?

“Anyway, enough about me. Have you got anything going on that I can make fake vomiting sounds about?” I ask, nudging Jacs.

Jacs laughs loudly. “I have plenty of hookups, but I’m bored. And who am I going to date? I’m not going near any men orwomen in racing. They’d break my heart or try to be the most dominant person to prove something, especially the guys.”

“There was a reason I never dated in the industry until now.”

Connor licks his lips, and the heat between my thighs grows. I know what I’ll be getting tomorrow. I spend a lot of our time together with his face between my legs. He’s like an oral god, and I never get tired of his hands holding me against his face as I scream my orgasm. That’s the other reason we can’t share a hotel room. Everyone would learn within seconds that the best racer in the team was fucking the boss, especially with his dirty talk.

“As there’s no one in the industry I’d date, I’m left with someone I’ll only see a few times a year because of our impossible schedule. Please don’t tell me you’re going to be one of those friends who so desperately wants me to be as happy as her—yuck—that you start setting me up with people? Because I don’t want you to.”

Jacs elbows me, and I wrap my arms around her.

Connor swaggers around the podium. Everyone else is ready to pack up, but he’s doing it for me. He catches my eye to make sure I’m watching. I shake my head at him, which makes him grin wider. He’s a bellend. Yet my stomach does somersaults. Twenty-four hours until I’m back in his arms.

“God no,” I reply to Jacs before whispering, “If everyone has what I have, I don’t get to be smug. And I love being smug around you.”

“Oi,” Jacs says but wraps her arms around me. “I’m happy for you and your self-satisfied ass. I really am. But can you get your man to stop being such a wanker? He’s drinking out of his shoe again.”

“I have no control over him.” I laugh.

But as I shake my head and raise my eyebrows, he puts his shoe down. Maybe I have a little influence over him.

Jacs whispers, “He’d go to the end of the earth just to see your smile.”

She’s repeating what I told her Connor said in my office last week. I nearly fucked him on my desk when he dropped that comment into our conversation. Fuck knows how we’ll be able to get to the end of the season without getting caught.

---