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“Sir,” I say, in a voice that sounds distant.

“Yes?”

I swallow on a dry throat. “I want to be part of this team,” I say. “You have no idea how much I want that.”

Tom frowns as he sits back down. “Okay.”

I dig my fingernails into my palms. “There’s something you should know.”

Be completely honest, Amanda said. That way, if you get the job, you know it’s because they really want you.

Tom inclines his head. “Go on.”

I have to swallow a few more times before I can speak. “The year leading up to the crash... I was dating someone.” My heart

is hammering. Spit it out , I order myself. “Another driver.”

Tom’s eyebrows lift, just for a moment, then he stares at me so intensely I can feel myself start to sweat.

“Travis Keeping,” he says.

Holy shit.

“Um.” My hands are shaking. I wasn’t going to tell him it was Travis. “I don’t know if I should say...”

Tom is still staring at me. “It will not leave this room.”

I swallow hard. It’s just occurred to me that I don’t know this guy—this straight multimillionaire—at all.

And yet, something about him makes me trust him.

I rake a hand over my head. Have I gone completely insane?

I must have, because I find myself nodding jerkily. “How did you know?” My pulse spikes in sudden panic. Was it completely

obvious to everyone, all that time?

“Travis is our team’s greatest competition. He is almost faultless as a driver. We were interested in signing him four years

ago when he was coming out of F2, but Harper-Torrent got to him first.” My eyebrows lift. I didn’t know that. “His performance

was incredibly poor in the race after your crash, and he was distracted for several races afterward, which is uncharacteristic

of him. And he has always seemed withdrawn, as people who perceive themselves as outsiders often are.”

“Oh,” I say stupidly.

He studies me again for a moment. “I won’t pretend this doesn’t make things... complex.”

My stomach sinks. “Right.”

“All of our staff sign strict nondisclosure agreements, however I am not fool enough to think that those agreements stop them

from speaking to their partners and spouses about our work. But none of those partners or spouses are drivers who’ve just

beat us in the championship. And if you were ever to drive against him...” He trails off and drums his fingers on his desk,

looking so serious my heart rate triples.

It suddenly occurs to me what a huge problem this could be. The rivalry between Crosswire and Harper is notoriously contentious.

Why on earth would Crosswire hire a test driver who’s literally slept with their enemy?

“We’re not together anymore,” I blurt out. “We broke up months ago.”

“Do you think you’ll get back together?” he asks bluntly.

I hesitate. “I don’t think so. We don’t talk anymore, or anything.”

I don’t add that I wish we would get back together. Amanda told me to tell the truth, not to shoot myself directly in the

foot.

My knuckles are white on the edge of my chair. Please don’t take this away, I think desperately. Please, please.

“Hm.” Tom drums his fingers on the desk again.

“I really want to be a part of this team,” I say again, in a thin voice.

Tom tilts his head from side to side, as though he’s weighing something in his mind. I can’t help but feel he’s running through

a list of other drivers in his mind, weighing my skill and work ethic against their convenient lack of a relationship with

Travis Keeping.

“Yes,” he says finally. “We want you to be a part of this team, too.”

My shoulders sag in relief, even as a little voice in my head whispers, But Travis . I shake it away. I’ll cross that bridge if I have to.

“Was that all?” Tom asks.

I hesitate. I should probably just shut my mouth, but my father’s angry words are running through my mind. “What if...”

I lick my lips. “What if word got out? If I dated someone else. Not Travis, I mean, but another... guy.”

Tom snorts. “That would be quite the media circus, wouldn’t it?” He sounds amused by the idea, rather than horrified. “The

press could feast for months on a story like that.”

I swallow nervously. “I’m not saying I’m going to run around making it obvious, or anything. I just meant, if it got out accidentally—”

He shrugs. “If it does, we’ll sort it out. This is a massive operation, Jacob. We know how to deal with the media.”

I peer uncertainly into his face, but he seems genuinely unperturbed. I don’t think he cares if I date a guy, as long as that

guy isn’t Crosswire’s number one rival. My stomach twists a bit unhappily at the thought, but I force myself to ignore it.

There’s, like, a one-in-a-million chance Travis will take me back. He’s probably still dating that American guy, so it would

be stupid to ruin my chances with Crosswire on the slim possibility we’ll get back together.

I nod once, then again. A nervous laugh escapes my throat. “I guess that’s all, then.”

“Very good.” Tom rises to his feet, as though we’ve been talking about something totally mundane and normal. “Let me show

you around.”