Page 43 of Jump-Start
“Then you really can’t stop me, can you?” she says, and I stare at her, my jaw ticking with anger.
“Guess not.” But I really fucking want to.
“Good,” she adds, and I swallow down the nausea bubbling up in my throat.
“Fine,” I reply.
“Fine,” she mocks me, and I narrow my eyes at her.
“Good.”
She leaves me standing right where I am before walking toward Harry and placing a flirtatious smile on her lips.
Yeah. I’m going to fucking lose it.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
chiara
Ididn’t take Harry back to my hotel room. I wasn’t interested in him when he asked me to dance nor did I become so after my fight with Leonard. To spite him, I should have had sex with Harry, especially after his bullshit ‘I forbid it’ comment. But I couldn’t. I stood with that nice man as he asked me questions about my goals and passions in life, and all I could think about was the jealous man watching us from his spot on the other side of the room.
When we went home from the event—where I met so many people interested in the idea I have for the gallery I’d love to open in London—he didn’t speak to me at all. This morning, however, he was the chattiest person in the world. I don’t know what the fuck he ate that made him so talkative, but I was close to knocking him out to get a bit of silence.
Benz barks to get my attention, and I give it to her without a moment’s hesitation. I pat her head, and she throws herself into my lap. I tumble over, laughing loudly as she attacks my face with kisses. My hands move to her head to try and redirect her focus to my hand, but, instead, she lies down in front of me and places her head in the crook of my neck. My smile is so bright, my cheeks burn. I should probably watch Leonard’s Qualifying, but how could I move when Benz is acting so cute?
I still remember the day Leonard introduced me to her.
* * *
“You got a puppy?”I blurt out when this tiny being, its fur all soft and grey, and eyes so blue, starts running toward me.
“Yes, but don’t touch her. I don’t want your demon fingers anywhere near her.”
“Ha, ha,” I reply but I’m already meeting this little creature halfway. “What’s her name?” I ask, and Leonard stares down at us. The puppy is wagging, tongue swiping across my fingers and making me let out a little giggle.
“Benz,” he says, his voice low and firm. I look up at him to find a soft look in his eyes. I’ve never seen it before, not to this extent.
“You start racing for Mercedes, so you get yourself a dog to name Benz?” I challenge, earning me an eye roll from him.
“Yeah, Starling, that’s exactly what happened. I adopted her out of the shelter just to name her after the team I’m racing for.” I frown at him, and he glares at me. Graham clears his throat from beside me on the floor, waiting for Benz to give him the time of day, but she’s curled up in my lap now, not leaving.
“I grew up with dogs, you didn’t. How is this fair? I’m a dog whisperer,” my best friend complains, and I furrow my eyebrows at him.
“It surprises me too. Dogs are supposed to be great judges of character. Maybe not Benz,” Leonard says, and I shoot him a smile I don’t mean in the slightest.
“I hope Benz shits in all of your expensive shoes when you get home.” The corner of his mouth twitches in response to my wish. Benz snaps me out of my staring contest with Leonard, and I shift my attention to the little, demanding baby in my lap. “I’m sorry you got stuck with that jerk over there, but, I promise, you will always have a home with me,” I say to Benz, who is still wagging from excitement.
“Okay, give me my dog. I don’t need the two of you to become best friends.”
* * *
As the memoryfloods my mind, I realize how far we’ve come. Yes, we still bicker and fight, but we also smile at each other and find ways to make the other person laugh. That isn’t something either of us has ever experienced, which is probably the real reason we keep fighting at this point. It isn’t because I don’t like him anymore. It’s because I do, and it’s fucking with my head. Never in my wildest dreams could I have predicted Leonard would become someone as important to me as he is today. Hell, I would have punched Jonathan yesterday for the way he spoke about the man I keep telling myself I dislike.
“You’re working for a talentless cheater.”
One sentence out of Jonathan’s mouth, and I was ready to break his nose. No one speaks about Leonard like that, especially when he’s more talented than any other driver on the grid. He works harder than anyone else. He’s always focused, and I admire him for his determination. For him, business comes first. Even yesterday, Leonard was introducing me to everyone, getting straight to the point of why we were there and what our goal was. Business first, then, he danced with me. He held me pressed against his body, and I never felt safer than I did in his arms. Well, at least until the spell broke, and we were reminded for the hundredth time why we would never work.
The ringing of my phone pulls me out of my trance, and I flinch when I read Graham’s name. I haven’t told him about anything that has happened since he left. I’ve been avoiding him because there is no way he will be okay with Leonard and me living together, or even me working for him. Graham is my best friend and I love him more than anyone except Mamma, but even he has limits to how cool he can be about situations. I just don’t know how far his line is from what has been going on.
