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My body catches fire at the sight of every hard ridge. At the sight of his light skin having taken on a bit of a tan since coming to Brazil and spending a lot of time in the sun. At the sight of his cocky smile because he knows he’s turning me on simply by standing there without a shirt, but I can’t help the way my eyes trace every muscle lining his chest. The blonde hair dusting it, and the darker hair trailing from his belly button into his swim shorts.
I’ve never been more grateful for swim trunks because they pull me out of my ogling trance and back to reality.
“Gabriel and I were just about to take an ice bath to cool off after Qualifying,” Adrian explains, watching my mouth as I lick my suddenly dry lips. Fascination makes his eyes sparkle, causing heat to creep up my neck and settle on my cheeks.
“Is that something I’m supposed to write in the article?” I ask, a bit unsure why else I’d be here. Adrian’s smirk lingers as he takes a step toward me, while Gabriel turns to Daniel and his performance coach to start up a conversation.
“If you’d like to, sure, but the reason I called you here is so you could admire me the way everyone else does when they see the videos of my ice baths. My fans love them,” he says, and I almost snort because, good God, this man.
“I’m not a fan, so I think I’m not the right audience,” I tease, but he merely tilts his head down to smile at me. We both know I’m kidding. I am a fan. I’ve been a fan since the first race, but I willnotgive him the satisfaction of saying so out loud. His ego is big enough, and we still need some room to breathe out here.
“Whether or not you’re a fan, I do like seeing you blush at my half-naked body,” he says with a wink before spinning around and joining the other three men again.
“Cocky ass,” another familiar voice says, and I turn to see Valentina approaching, her sunglasses on her nose and her Alfa Adrenalina team shirt across her body. She’s wearing black shorts and sneakers from her biggest sponsor,Spin.
Adrian’s biggest sponsor isTrill, a clothing brand with a parrot as the logo. I’ve noticed it a few times now when he wore his black cargo pants because the logo is always printed on the left, front pocket.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, and she slips a hand onto my arm to give it a gentle squeeze. Her eyes are glued to her fiancé as he grins at her and cocks a suggestive brow.
“I love it when Gabriel does ice baths,” she says and leaves me standing by myself to go admire her future husband as he submerges himself in the ice water, cursing and breathing through groans. She smiles at him but keeps her distance as the social media person films Gabriel.
“Let’s go, Adrian,” Daniel says, and the gorgeous Monegasque places his left foot in the tub of water and ice, taking several deep breaths before almost throwing himself inside.
“Ah, fuck,” he breathes out, the sound a combination of pain and shock, but the little moan that leaves him after has my cheeks heating.
“What is this good for?” I ask Val, and she turns to me to give me her full attention.
“It helps get their body temperatures down quickly. I already did mine,” she replies with a smile before turning back to Gabriel.
Now that the social media person is gone, she walks toward him and cups his cheek in her hands. He closes his eyes and puckers his lips to get a kiss from her, my eyes drifting back to Adrian to see the longing in his gaze. The way he’s studying my mouth as if he wants nothing more than for me to walk over there and kiss him.
I break eye contact to scribble down some information and try not to smile at the fact that he wants to kiss me.
Gillian, Liz, Fallon, and I are at dinner while I’m being told a hundred things I need to take care of when we return to London. My boss wants me to proofread his articles, type up a report of the entire weekend based on the voice notes he apparently takes, and do countless other tasks.
The entire time he speaks, I feel his anger slicing through me, ruining my mood. He wants to yell at me, I can sense it by the way his eyes narrow slightly every time they drift to me.
Gillian taps his finger twice on the table, and, suddenly, Fallon and Liz excuse themselves to go to the washroom.
That can’t be good.
“I don’t know what I’ve done to make you so angry, but I’m truly sorry. I thought taking Adrian’s deal would be beneficial forGriffin Sports. I apologize if it was the wrong decision.”
The voice in my head screams for me to take it back. I didn’t mean a single word, but this job is all I have at the moment, and I’m terrified of losing it. I can’t fail. I have to be good enough to make it on my own.
“You’re a smart girl, Nevaeh. Can’t you figure out why I’m angry?” he asks, twisting the coaster of his glass between his fingers.
I’ve been sitting on a theory since I figured out he’s upset with me, but I don’t want to be a smartass, which is exactly how I’ll look if I answer.
“Spit it out. I know you know.” I stop myself from rolling my eyes.
“I fainted, which made you look like an ass in front of a Formula One driver, who has more than just a little power over your job. You let me take that deal because he put you on the spot, and you didn’t want to look like a bigger jerk than you’d already seemed at that moment,” I explain, wishing I’d never agreed to go to dinner.
Gillian leans back in his chair and smiles.
“I should fire you right now,” he spits, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up out of fear. “Unfortunately, Mrs. Lu and Ms. Martin think you’re valuable to the company. So, I will suggest this: enjoy this weekend. The next race weekend, you will do what I say and when I tell you to without a single complaint. Got it?”
My hands curl into fists under the table. I need to find another job. There has to be something, anything other than working with someone who hates me for no apparent reason. If my bosses think I’m valuable, I should work for them directly, not Gillian.
