Page 30 of Retrograde
‘What makes you think I don’t mean it?’
‘Have you ever looked at the type of women you go for?’
‘What?!’ His own eyes shot open, and he gawked at her in disbelief. ‘The women that I– Lucie, do you not remember that Iwent foryou? Igo foryou almost every day that I’m with you. I know you’re worried about boundaries, but that’s my whole point. I respect you, Sunny.’
‘I know, but I’m nothing like your ex or any of the girls you meet at parties.’
‘You’re right, you’re worlds apart from them, especially from Sienna, but not in the ways that you think. Your differences don’t equate to how beautiful you are, Luce. For astart,’ he emphasised, holding his hand up to signify a number one, ‘your eyes have gold flecks in them. When you insist on sleeping with the curtains open, those gold flecks are the first thing I see when the sunlight streams in and our alarm goes off. Don’t get me started on your body. Do you know how hard it is not to touch you? To not place my hand on the curve of your waist, touch your neck in the way Iknowmakesyou shiver, and take you back to that night in the Alps? That night has been on replay in my mind ever since, and watching your face when you reached your climax? Yeah, I’m telling you now, I’ve slept with plenty of other women and nobody cameclose.’
‘I –’ Lucie stuttered.
‘Wasn’t finished,’ Brett interrupted. ‘I don’t want you to think I’m trying to use you for sex. I just think that you and I both need a healthy release, and we trust and respect each other enough to be able to find that release in each other.’
‘I just don’t know if it’s wise, Brett. What if it changes how we are? Our dynamic?’
‘It’s risky, but we don’t know unless we try. I won’t ask you again, okay? But think about it, and just know that if the answer is yes, I’m open to it. But don’t think I’m expecting a yes, this is your choice.’
‘I’ll consider it,’ she agreed, already knowing her answer was a flat-out no. Her head was scrambled enough without throwing frequent casual sex into the mix of their relationship. She knew that she would always want more, and she knew that it would destroy them when Brett couldn’t give it to her. One night together was enough to mess her up. But he wasn’t going to ask again, which meant she could just never give him an answer, and they could brush it under the rug.
‘On another note, you want to come back to Sydney with me next week?’
‘To see your family?’
‘No shit. That’s where they live, Carolan.’ He rolledhis eyes as he uncrossed his legs and stood up, rolling up his pink yoga mat.
‘Yeah, I’ll come. I’ve missed them.’ It had been months since she’d seen his sisters outside of a video call, and she was long overdue a coffee catch-up with his mum.
Lucie had been planning on going back to Los Angeles to see her own siblings, or to Tuscany where her parents were renovating their farmhouse, but if Brett wanted her at home with him, then that was where she’d be. At least this way she could keep a close eye on him and still have a great time during the break between races.
Her siblings didn’t care either way, they were used to Lucie being a wild card. She’d never missed a holiday and she always video called and sent gifts on their birthdays, and that was all that mattered to them. There had been multiple times over the years when her family had flown to Australia or Brett’s family had flown to America so they could all hang out together. Their families meshed together in a way that just made sense. It wasn’t like she was ditching her family; she was just spending time with the other half of it.
She just had one concern about Sydney. They were in Brett’s apartment instead of a hotel room, and she knew from all her years of trying, and succeeding, that Brett was exceedingly hard to resist when he was standing in his kitchen shirtless, cooking her a fried breakfast and telling her how good she looked despite her bed hair. She was a glutton for punishment.
13
Lucielivedfor race day. Much like Brett, racing was in her blood. Neither of them had racing in their family history, but they had grown into adults within the motorsport industry and spent years trackside as children. Brett had been karting from a young age, and Lucie had been taken to other championships with her dad and siblings.
Her dad knew the owner of one of the major catering companies for the IEC, and they had taken Lucie on board as a waitress when she’d announced she didn’t want to go to college. Being young, enthusiastic and passionate, Gabriel Lopez had taken notice of her. She served him food three times a day during race week, striking up conversation each time, and two seasons in, he had told her he could see she was itching to get involved in the action.
He’d invited her into one of the garages and let her shadow an existing social media team. She’d learned the ropes from Louise Beacham, her predecessor in the IEC, offering to help her edit late into the night and following her round with a spare camera on her breaks from waitressing. She had taught herself how to use the necessary software, earned a marketing degree from the Open University, and a few months later, Jasperhad handed her a contract to be Revolution Racing’s social media assistant.
From that day forward, she had worked to prove that she belonged there. Early on, it often felt like she didn’t. Some of the interns tried to push her out, but Lucie fought back. She had forged working relationships with drivers, engineers and mechanics, showed off her portfolio and showered teams with content ideas, and invited herself to be part of their world, parties and casual drinks included. Her determination had resulted in her being able to get up close and personal and earn their trust.
These days, the team of interns had been carefully curated by her and Faith, and any behaviour like her fellow co-workers had exhibited back then would be firmly dealt with.
Adding Faith into the mix was like adding that last missing puzzle piece, and the entire organisation relied on them to maintain their stellar social media content. Sure, it was stressful. It meant holding meetings at every given opportunity, strict scheduling and constantly running around the paddock to check in with the other teams, but if it meant getting to share their beloved championship with the world, they’d do anything it took. The IEC deserved a chance to shine like some of the bigger championships did.
She and Faith had their entire filming schedule for today planned out down to the hour. It was based on the team’s race strategy, and which driver was in the car and when. They had spent the last few days getting thedrivers involved in various fun challenges with each other and with other teams, another part of their wider plan. Although there was competition between different teams and manufacturers, Gabriel and the other CEOs were committed to fans seeing and believing that the grid was a family.
‘Marco! Can you check this edit for me, tell me if you’re happy with it?’ Lucie passed him her headphones and pressed play on her laptop. She was huddled at the back of the garage in a camping chair, rushing to get a video uploaded onto the Revolution Racing channel.
She didn’t have to get the green light from the drivers when she posted, just Jasper or his assistant and a member of the PR team, but if there was time, she still liked to out of respect. She had spent years tiptoeing around Julien, who had been anti-social media until Faith came along.
Now, she left his social media presence entirely to his wife, who was slowly introducing the world to his daughter. He’d kept her hidden since she was born at the very start of his career with the IEC, but she was old enough to use social media herself now so there was little point in hiding her for her own protection. Jasmine wanted to get involved in her dad’s world.
‘Love it. You made me look like less of a stuttering idiot, and for that I thank you.’ He passed the headphones back. They had filmed a challenge video with Eden Racing, and because Esme had wanted a video for Eden’s channel too, she had been there. Marco had blushed. A lot.
‘You’re not a stuttering idiot, Mars. You’ve had plenty of media training.’
