Page 5 of Nitro
“We both know I did,” I shot back, lifting my chin.
One corner of his mouth tugged upward. “Smart-mouthed.”
“And still faster than the guys you recruited.”
That earned me a low chuckle, the opposite reaction from what I expected. Most men in racing didn’t know what to do with me. I was usually underestimated before I even hit the track. Or they propositioned me, as though my worth was only measured in what I could give them on my back.
The attraction between us was impossible to miss. But instead of acting on it, Nitro studied me like a puzzle he meant to solve. And that only made him harder to resist.
He pushed off the bench and stepped into my space, so close I had to tip my head back to meet his gaze. “Think you can keep it up? Or was last night a fluke?”
I arched a brow, refusing to step back even though my pulse thudded in my throat. “You’ll find out soon enough, won’t you?”
His gaze dropped to my mouth for a beat, then lingered there like he was debating whether to close the distance. “Guess I will.”
Every nerve in my body lit up, screaming at me to move. To push him away. Instead, I stayed rooted, betraying myself with the way my breath caught.
“I’m here to impress your boss. Not you.” My voice was steadier than I felt.
“Too late.”
The crooked smile that followed was pure trouble. He leaned a fraction closer, enough that I felt the brush of his leather vest against my arm.
I rolled my eyes to cover the hitch in my breath. “You’re impossible.”
“And you like it.”
I turned toward the car, grasping at anything to break the tension. “What’s the plan for this one?”
His silence stretched, heavy and thick. I felt his gaze trace me like a touch before he finally answered, “Don’t have a driver picked out for her yet. But it’s built for speed. Just like you.”
I smirked at the compliment. “Then I guess you just found your driver. Tomorrow you can show me the bike I’ll be racing.”
The moment stretched between us, taut as a live wire, until the heavy thud of boots on concrete cut through it. Nitro didn’t move away. He just shifted his stance, broad shoulders squaring as Kane strode back into the bay with another man at his side.
I didn’t recognize him, but it didn’t take me long to figure out he was Kane’s tech guy, Jax. He pushed a tablet into Nitro’s hand, his gaze flicking to me with unsettling precision. “Photo recognition flagged a resemblance to the real Jenna Carter, but you’re not her. Close, but not perfect.”
My throat tightened.
“If you want to drive for us, you need to explain,” Kane demanded.
My brain scrambled for excuses, but I didn’t come up with anything that would stand up to Jax’s scrutiny if he’d managed to figure out my fake name that fast. And all the while, I was too aware of Nitro’s stare burning into me, as though he could read every flicker of guilt across my face.
I swallowed, forcing myself not to fidget under the weight of three sets of eyes. “Can we—” My voice came out thinner than I liked. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Can we talk somewhere more private?”
Kane didn’t reply right away. He studied me for a long beat, like he was measuring whether I was worth the trouble. Finally,he nodded once and jerked his chin toward a hallway at the back of the garage. “My office.”
Nitro still hadn’t said a word. He just handed the tablet back to Jax, his silence heavy enough to make my skin prickle.
My pulse hammered in my ears, my legs suddenly too heavy as I trailed Kane. I felt Nitro fall into step behind me, making me even more nervous.
The office door creaked open, and Kane gestured for me to go inside first. The oversized wooden desk looked out of place in a garage, but I guessed billionaires could plant expensive furniture anywhere they wanted. As long as he also spared no expense on the bikes his team raced, it didn’t make a difference to me.
The door shut behind us, and I forced myself to meet Kane’s eyes. If I wanted a future here, I had to explain…and hope they’d understand my need to keep my real identity a secret.
The silence in Kane’s office pressed in on me. Nitro leaned against the wall like a watchful shadow, arms crossed, gaze locked on me with unnerving intensity. Kane sat behind the desk, waiting for me to speak. Jax was perched on the corner, scrolling on his tablet.
I forced a breath past the tightness in my chest. “Jax is right. My name’s not Jenna Carter.”
