Page 37 of Kiss & Collide
“How’d you do out there?”
“Made it through to Q two. P fourteen.”
“Very good.”
“What’s going on? Everybody’s gone.”
Usually the car would be swarmed with mechanics working on it. But right now, the pit crew were milling around uneasily, murmuring to each other in hushed tones. No one from upper management was there.
She shrugged. “No idea.”
He eyed her narrowly. “What did you do, Violet?”
“If I’ve played my cards right, I’m getting you a functional team.”
Just then Rabia came down from the mobile offices over the garage. She looked shell-shocked. Leon was right behind her, grinning like it was Christmas morning.
“What’s going on?” Violet asked her, faking confusion.
Rabia looked at her, stunned. “Reece just fired Oscar. I’m interim chief technical officer.”
Well, that turned out even better than she’d hoped. She knew she could get rid of Oscar, but getting Rabia a promotion was an unexpected and very welcome bonus. “Congratulations, Rabia. You deserve this.”
Rabia shook her head in amusement. “I don’t know how you did it, Violet, but I’m grateful. The whole team is going to be grateful.”
“I just do what’s best for the team.”
Leon put his arm around Rabia’s shoulders and squeezed her in encouragement. “And what’s best for this team is you, Rab. You’re going to crush it.”
Rabia turned toward the pit crew and raised her voice. “Gather around, folks. I’ve got an announcement to make.”
Chase lowered his voice and bumped his shoulders to hers. “Violet, did you just do something unselfish for this team?”
“Don’t be a numpty. I was just being practical. Oscar was in the way.”
“Admit it. You feel the tiniest bit of team spirit right now.”
“I feel like a ruthless professional, which is what I am.”
Chase chuckled and leaned in, whispering in Violet’s ear: “You are terrifying. Sexy and terrifying.”
Yeah, she should probably shut him down, but as she felt a smile spread across her own face, she knew very well she wasn’t going to do that.
“See you later tonight?” she murmured.
The look he gave her—direct, heated, and ridiculously intimate—made her toes curl. Leon was right. There was no missing this. They were both practically lit up in neon. “Can’t wait,” he said with a wicked smile.
And fuck it, neither could she.
16Paris, France
The Square du Vert-Galant at the very tip of the Île de la Cité had been taken over entirely byVanity Fair’s production team. Behind them, at the base of the Pont Neuf, tents housed dressing rooms and hair and makeup. PAs hustled back and forth, rolling in racks of couture clothes, or ushering the photo shoot attendees into place up at the tip of the island.
Violet watched the whole glamorous event unfolding before her, squeezing her hands together to dispel her nerves. She still couldn’t believe she’d managed to land this for Chase. This was all soperfect, and she desperately needed it to go well.
The spread was called “Young Americans in Paris,” and it featured American notables twenty-five and under from across the spectrum of arts, entertainment, politics, and sports. Right now, Zuri Clark, the Olympic gymnast, was getting final touches to her hair as a PA spread the skirt of her navy blue dress on the grass around her. Dev Ahmed, Hollywood’s newest action hero, was standing next to her, getting the bow tie of his tux tweaked. There was Katrina Howard, prima ballerina; Anson Fitzpatrick, the young novelist; Madison Mitchell, the up-and-coming hot new thing in movies; and Julia Rodriguez, apolitical activist from Texas. And in the middle of all this would be Chase Navarro, America’s homegrown Formula One star.
“Hey.”
