Page 26 of Kiss & Collide
“I want you to makemoney. Arrow Beverages has half a dozen brands in their portfolio. Astro soft drinks, Essa coffee products, Jet Energy drinks … Your current sponsorships would pale in comparison to a deal with any of those. Nowgo find him.” She reached up and grabbed his jaw. “Smile. Make the most of this bloody gorgeous face. Be the charming bastard I know you can be, and land yourself a sponsorship deal.”
He stared back at her for a beat, then he leaned in to whisper in her ear, “On one condition.”
The heat of his breath washed over her cheek and she felt just a whisper of the scrape of his stubble. Her nipples got hard in response.
“What’s that?”
She felt him take her hand and press something against her palm. “My hotel room. In two hours.”
Her fingers curled around the key card and she caught her bottom lip in her teeth to hold back her grin.Cool. Play it cool.“Deal. Go land him.”
He pulled back and the heat in his eyes made her ache between her legs. “See you soon.”
She watched him weave his way through the crowded club, people stopping to stare at him as he passed. To her horror, shecould feel her face was flushed. Fucking hormones. She needed to pull herself together. And keep him safely in his place.
“You think you can get him more sponsorship money?” Rabia asked.
She turned to Rabia and Leon, grateful for the distraction. “If I work this right, we could be flush with cash by next season.”
Rabia sighed dramatically. “Wouldn’t that be nice?” Rabia was dressed exactly the same as she’d been at the track earlier—gray Pinnacle shirt and black pants, which was very like her, Violet was learning. Unassuming, utterly without pretension, and she absolutely lived for her job.
“Money doesn’t solve everything though,” Leon grumbled. He’d changed into a sharply tailored black suit with a dark purple dress shirt and matching tie. Also very Leon. Not flashy or loud, but always on point.
Violet turned to face him. He was a real sleeper. Quiet, soft-spoken, but always around, always watching. People like him were usually the ones who knew absolutely everything. “Okay, honesty time,” she said. “What are Pinnacle’s biggest problems? In your opinion. I mean, I know the entire place is toxic right now. So how would you fix it?”
Leon held his hands up. “Oh, that’s not for me to say—”
“The hell it’s not. Spill.” She turned to Rabia. “Both of you.”
The two of them exchanged a telling look, which told her she was about to get the serious dirt.
“To be honest, it starts at the top,” Rabia finally said.
“Reece? I know. I’m doing my best to neutralize him—”
“Not Reece,” Leon said quickly. “I mean, yes, he’s a disaster. But we’re talking about …” He looked to Rabia again.
“Ah,” Violet said. “Oscar Davies.”
“He’s just so … set in his ways,” Rabia groaned.
“I was going to say ‘utterly lacking in vision and completely incurious,’” Leon snarked, arching one eyebrow as he took a sip of his drink.
“Yes to all of that,” Rabia replied. “Not to mention he’s a pervert and a sexist.”
“And a racist,” Leon chimed in.
“He’s positively allergic to innovation. If it was good enough for Pinnacle in the nineties, then it’s good enough now.”
“And racing technology has improved by leaps and bounds since then,” Leon said. “It’s an entirely different world. We’re being left further behind every season.”
Rabia nodded in agreement. “The lack of money is a big problem, but we could be doing better with what we have. I mean, I’ve got ideas, Leon’s got ideas … but he doesn’t want to hear them and anything we suggest just goes nowhere.”
“Okay. Let me see what I can do.”
Rabia laughed in disbelief. “About Oscar? Look, I like you, Violet. You’re tough and kinda mean, which is fun. But what can you possibly do about Oscar?”
“You’d be amazed what I can accomplish when I’m motivated. Just ask Brody McKnight.”
