Page 14 of Octane

“He’ll never take me seriously,” I say to Vic.

“Sawyer, you need to have a seat so we can start this meeting,” Vic whispers to me gently as he scrubs his hand down the back of his neck.

But I can’t. The anger I felt in the garage this morning is back.

“Why didn’t you cancel the meeting today?” I swing around so I’m facing Jackson once again.

I need to know why I’m here. Did he bring me here to embarrass me, or is he actually interested in my driving skills? Jackson’s playful smirk has turned serious when he realizes how upset I am.

“You admit you knew who I was in the elevator last week when you saw my badge. You even commented on my less than stellar driving skills in the garage this morning.”

“Sawyer, I knew who you were, and that’swhyI said those things this morning. I was just joking around with you. Your driving skills are incredible, and as long as there aren’t any parking garages on the track, I think you’ll be very successful.”

He adds the last bit in with a laugh. His comical attitude has returned, but I find it far from humorous. I can do nothing other than glare at him.

“Look, you gave me no reason to want to cancel. Did she tell you what happened?” he turns his attention to Vic. “We got stuck on the elevator in our building. She tried to pry the doors open so we could get out. I didn’t think she had it in her, but then she got the first set open. I was blown away. It started up again before she got the second set open, though.”

“Really?” Vic asks.

“Yeah,” I shrug, looking between them both.

I roll my eyes slightly and fold my arms across my chest. The attention is making me nervous.

“Why would you think I’d want to cancel? Because you’re a bit of a spitfire?”

“Partially.”

“Because you’re afemale?”

“Basically,” I reply again between gritted teeth.

“I’ll admit, it threw me for a loop when I realized that the badass who tried to escape the elevator was none other than the talented driver I wanted to interview for my team. But ultimately, no. I don’t care whether you’re a male, a female, a chimp, whatever. All I care about is creating the best, most talented team of drivers that I can create.”

JACKSON

I watchSawyer as she battles the demons in her head.

Either that or she’s seriously pissed at me right now. I guess I couldn’t blame her for that.

“I think that you can help me do that, Sawyer.”

Her gaze rises from the floor and meets mine again. Penetrating her stare, I plead for her to see that I want her here. That she does deserve to be here. What happened to the confident girl in the elevator? The she-devil who put me in my place in the garage this morning?

I’ll admit, I was an ass to pull out in front of her when I saw her coming, but I couldn’t help myself. I’d been thinking about her since last week. I knew she was a tenant in the building, but that was it. I wanted to see her one more time before the meeting today and kept hoping that we would run into one another again. I needed to see if her strong determination was a one-time thing or if that’s who she is at her core.

Maybe I can even figure out why she has the world’s biggest chip on her shoulder.

“Mr. Powell—” Vic begins.

“Please, call me Jackson,” I interrupt, my eyes still locked on hers.

“Jackson, would you mind if I have a moment with Sawyer?”

“Sure, I’ll be in my office. It’s just next door. You can come grab me whenever you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” Vic replies.

I walk from the room, but I don’t go anywhere. Standing outside of the doorway, I listen to their conversation. I’m not normally an eavesdropper, but I have to know what’s going on in that head of hers.

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