Page 30 of Hot Lap
God, I love Frankie. "Don’t worry, Mom. Reece defended me, but... I don't know. It felt like I'd stumbled into some family drama I want no part of."
"Hmm. So what's your plan?"
"I meet with the team boss tomorrow. Figure out if I want an annulment or..." I shrug.
"Or what? Stay married to a guy you just met?" Frankie scoffs. "That's a one-way ticket to heartbreak."
"No, Reece isn’t like that." My defensive tone surprises me.
She raises an eyebrow. "Oh? How would you know after only one drunken night?"
She has a point, and I'm too tired to argue. "Look, I'll figure it out, okay?"
"You’re not seriously thinking of trying to make this shitshow work, Maiken. That would be the dumbest thing ever.” I can always count on Frankie to make her opinions crystal clear.
I’m fiddling with the ring again. "I don’t know him well enough to know if that’s true."
"Well, you better figure it out soon." Nurse Frankie’s practicality kicks in. "These things get messier the longer they drag on."
We talk for another ten minutes, mostly with me reassuring her that no, I haven't been kidnapped or brainwashed, and yes, I'll be careful. She alternates between maternal concern and sisterly outrage, the way she has since I was old enough to realize most teenagers don't have babies. By the time we hang up, I'm roadkill — flat, desiccated, and soulless.
I glance at the adjoining door again. Still closed. No sound from the other side.
I should shower and change. Instead, I kick off my shoes and lose the belt, set an alarm for the morning, then curl up on top of the covers, still in my clothes.
Twenty-four hours ago, I was waking up to a man who'd put a ring on my finger and smiled at me like I was the answer to a question he'd been asking his whole life.
Now I'm alone in a foreign country, trying to decide whether to stay married to a stranger or go back to my regular life and pretend none of this ever happened.
What a difference a day makes.
Jeez, I guess that song really is true.
CHAPTER SEVEN
QATAR GRAND PRIX | WEDNESDAY
Gentle knockingjolts me awake and I bolt upright, momentarily disoriented as sunlight streams through a gap in curtains I don't recognize. For a heartbeat, I'm back in that hotel room in Vegas.
Then reality crashes into my brain.
Qatar. Another hotel suite. A wedding ring still on my finger.
The knocking sounds again. It's coming from the connecting door, not the hallway entrance.
"Maiken?" His voice is muffled through the wood. "Are you awake?"
My heart does a stupid little flippity-flop at the sound of his voice.
Sit still, you damn fool thing.
I swing my legs off the bed, and pad toward the door, but I don't open it.
"Yeah, I'm awake." I rest my palm against the cool wood. "What time is it?"
"Quarter to eight. I know you're meeting with Coy later."
"Right."
