Page 46 of Octane

“Warren, nice to meet you,” I reply. “You own Kramer Enterprises, if I’m not mistaken, right?”

“That I do.”

“I’ve been shopping around for a new ad and marketing team.”

“Well, you ought to come by the office sometime, let us work up a pitch for you.”

“Actually, I was there a couple of weeks ago.”

My eyes shoot to Daniel, and if looks could kill, I’d be dead a thousand times over.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, Sawyer was helping me. She came up with a fantastic idea. Her talents off of the track are just as incredible as they are on it.” Warren looks like he couldn’t be more uninterested in what I’m saying.

“That’s great to hear. I’m looking forward to doing business with you.”

“Oh. Didn’t… Daniel tell you?” I try not to appear too eager for the rest of this conversation.

“Tell me what?” Both confusion and concern float in Warren’s gaze.

“That he didn’t want Sawyer working with me.”

“Oh?” Warren turns and looks at Daniel, whose scowl has a smug grin pulling at my lips. I’ve never had to work so hard to control my features.

“Yeah, I really wanted to work with her. You know, support an essential member of my team. But since you guys let her go, I had to take my 1.5-billion-dollar budget somewhere else. It’s a damn shame, I was really hoping to do business with you guys.”

I look between Warren, who looks like he’s going to blow a gasket, and Daniel, who is still staring me down.

“I thought you said she quit?” Carissa hisses at Daniel.

“And I thought I told you to stay out of our business,” Daniel fires back at her.

“You son of a—”

“Carissa, would you like to say hi to Sawyer?” I interrupt the argument that is about to ensue. “I have my headset here. She should be all wired up by now.”

“Really? Of course,” Carissa chirps, her expression quickly changing from rage to excitement.

“Follow me. It was nice to meet you,” I tell Zach and Warren, ignoring Daniel completely. “I hope you enjoy the race. And help yourself to all the complimentary food and drinks you want.”

I lead Carissa to the stands outside of the box so we’re away from everyone else.

“So… I have a confession,” I tell her. “You can’t actually talk to her with this headset, but you might be able to hear her.”

“What?” I can tell she’s disappointed, and I feel terrible.

“I’m sorry I lied. Truly. But I needed to get you alone to ask you something. Here, put these on, we can talk afterward.”

She looks confused, but puts the headset on when I hand it to her.

“You probably can’t see her well from here, but she’s all the way down there,” I point toward turn four, “at the very end. Purple car.”

“Oh, my gosh, I hear her! Aww, Sassy!”

I smile at what I assume is a nickname. It’s fitting. Sawyer is as sassy as they come. After a few minutes, she takes the headset off and gives it back.

“Thank you so much,” she beams. “What did you need to talk to me about?”

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