Page 23 of Fast & Reckless
At the mention of Will’s name, she turned just in time to see a gorgeous, curvy waitress beaming down at Will as she handed him a cup of coffee. The waitress’s bright smile flashed against her golden skin, a sleek mass of black hair twisted on the back of her head. Her black uniform dress fit her body far better than those things were supposed to.
She looked like she wanted to offer him a lot more than coffee, which wasn’t surprising. They were out on the circuit now and Will was … well, he was Will. Anything—anyone—he wanted would be his for the asking. That near-kiss between them back in London was about to be a distant memory … for him, anyway.
And that nightmare out in the lobby was all the reason she needed to make it a distant memory for herself as well.
She joined him once he was alone. “Morning.” She nudged his foot—with slightly more force than necessary—in greeting.
He’d been raising his coffee to his mouth, and he had to juggle not to spill it. “For fuck’s sake,” he growled. “I almost spilled this.”
She sank into the chair across from him. He was slouched in his chair, wearing his sunglasses, hair in disarray. He washeading back to London for some promo before the first race and had his roll-aboard suitcase with him, so she assumed he was just waiting for his driver to take him to the airport.
“I’m sure she would have brought you another one. Looks like she’d be happy to bring you anything you want.”
He scowled behind his sunglasses. “You can stop at any time, you know.”
She studied him in the morning light. Pale, unshaved, definitely not peak Will. “Hangover?”
“No, I’m not hungover. I just got in too late last night, considering how early my flight out is.”
“Looks like you thoroughly enjoyed yourself, whatever you were doing.” Was she fishing? It sounded like she was fishing.
“I’m off for over a week,” he said, dragging his sunglasses off. “A couple of drinks isn’t going to mess me up. I didnotgo on a bender, or engage in some drug-fueled orgy, or anything else you might be imagining.”
Really, she couldn’t blame him for celebrating a little. Will had thrown down a hell of a gauntlet in Bahrain. Matteo better watch his back.
“I don’t think my imagination could keep up with you.”
He hiked an eyebrow. “Want to try that out?”
“I’ll pass, thanks.”
He leaned back in his chair and stretched. “I promise you, Matteo is in much worse shape than me. And Rikkard got completely obliterated. He’s going to be hungover for a week.” He took a sip of his coffee and let out a small moan of pleasure. The sound had Mira clearing her throat as she looked away. Ifcoffeecould make him sound like that … No, she wouldn’t even finish that thought.
“I bet.”
“Like you’ve never had a bad morning after.”
“It’s been a while.”Forever.
“Seriously, you didn’t celebrate atallyesterday?”
She shook her head. “Too much to do.”
He tipped his cup up and polished off his coffee before leaning back in his club chair. “Mira, you missed the most legendary party. It was on a freakingprivate man-made island, just off the coast. Oil money, of course. The house was insane. Infinity pool overlooking the Persian Gulf. They flew in David Chang to design the menu. I’m pretty sure I saw Jay-Z there.”
“Sounds fun.”
“It was. Even your dad and Natalia came. You should’ve been there. I bet you never left the track.”
“I did,” she protested.
“The hotel doesn’t count.”
She made no reply because he was right. All she’d seen of Bahrain so far was the hotel, the track, and the airport. Yesterday, while the rest of the team had been partying on a private island, she’d been at the office, updating the company calendars and sending out reminder emails about the week’s upcoming deadlines. Even herfatherhad partied harder than she had. Grim.
“You’re about to spend months touring the world. Are you seriously going to work through the whole thing? Bahrain has amazing beaches and shopping, and—”
“Okay, I get it. I promise I’ll take more breaks.”
