Page 22 of Kiss & Collide
Fucker. That smile made his skin twitch, because he’d seen it before and he knew what it meant. And he held on to Violet’s hand longer than he needed to.
“I was at Lennox until recently,” she said.
“That’s right.” Liam’s eyes cut to Chase. “Well, have fun at Pinnacle.”
“I didn’t know you guys knew each other,” she said, eyes darting between him and Liam.
He shifted a step closer to her. “Oh yeah, me and Liam go way back,” he said easily, locking eyes with him. “All the way back to Hansbach’s young driver academy, right, Liam?”
Liam stared back at him. “That’s right.”
“How’s Sophie?” he asked, reveling in the flare of heat in Liam’s pale blue eyes.
Liam scoffed softly before answering, “She’s great. Sophie’s just great. So … guess I’ll see you out there?”
“Guess you will.”
“Okay, then. Good luck.”
“You, too.”
He watched Liam walk away and felt like kicking something.
Violet rounded on him. “What the fuck wasthatabout?”
“What?”
“You, and the fact that you hate Liam O’Neill’s guts. Pretty sure he loathes you, too. What’s the story?”
He shrugged. “No story.” At least, not one he had any interest in sharing.
Violet crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “Do you have any idea how good I am at digging up dirt?”
“Dig away,” he muttered, fastening the straps of his suit around his wrists. There was nothing to find. Nothing official, anyway. Just a lot of personal shit that didn’t even matter anymore. And a woman who left him for someone she thought was better.
He could feel her gaze still on him, but he kept his eyes fixed on the closures of his suit, even though he’d double- and triple-checked them all.
“You sure you’re okay?” she said at last.
Now he did look up, shooting her a grin. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about me, Violet.”
She scoffed and shoved at his arm. Then she blinked, her hand clamping down on his forearm. “Oh my god, there’s Clive Pennington.”
“Who?”
“He’s … never mind. Just wait right here. I’m serious.Don’t move.”
She darted away and inserted herself in front of some guy walking past in the pit lane. Fifties, salt-and-pepper hair, sports jacket. He watched, confused, as she chatted up this random stranger. Then she hooked her arm around his and led him back over to the Pinnacle garage.
“Chase, I want you to meet Clive Pennington, head of marketing at Arrow Beverages. Clive, this is Chase Navarro, Pinnacle’s new driver.”
Clive shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Chase. Violet’s been telling me your story.”
He shot Violet a look.What story?
“Quite the thing, making it to Formula One like this.”
“Ah, yeah, it’s been a wild few weeks. But I’m excited to be here.”
