Page 20 of Fast & Reckless (Racing Hearts #1)

19

Singapore

Two days after that night in Melbourne, a photo showed up online of Will and the dark-haired girl Mira had seen him with at the party. Except they were in the lobby of his hotel, clearly after they’d dropped him off.

She’d been stunned breathless, but if she needed yet another reminder that the kiss had been a mistake, there it was. Yes, he’d kissed her. Yes, he’d asked her to go home with him. But he’d clearly found a quick replacement when she’d told him no.

The close call strengthened her resolution to steer clear of him whenever possible. It turned out to be quite easy to accomplish. With everything she had on her plate as the team moved on to Singapore, she didn’t see him once. Maybe he was avoiding her, too. Despite his assurance that he considered her a friend, surely that aborted kiss and her subsequent freakout had put an end to it. He’d obviously moved on. Time for her to do the same.

So it shocked her on the team’s first full day in Singapore to get a text from Will an hour after the team press conference had ended.

His text was terse and urgent.

Meet me in the hotel lobby. I need help.

What could he possibly need her help with? If there was a problem with his suite, the hotel management would bend over backward to fix it. With the load-in and setup of the Lennox garage at the track still underway, it was a terrible time for her to be absent. But like it or not, Will was part of her job, and if he said he needed help, she had to go help him.

The cool air of the white marble lobby was a relief after the relentless humidity outside. She swiped the perspiration from her forehead as she scanned the room for him. Will was slouched in a leather armchair, scrolling on his phone. At the same moment she saw him, he looked up and spotted her. He smiled broadly. She’d done nothing but work since that night in Melbourne, determined to purge the moment from her memory through sheer exhaustion, but one flash of that devastating grin laid waste to all that.

She didn’t return his smile, instead schooling her face into impassivity. She also attempted to avert her eyes as he unfolded his gorgeous body from his chair and advanced across the lobby toward her. She was a hot, sweaty mess after the walk from the track and there he was looking like he’d just stepped out of a Calvin Klein underwear ad. Except with more clothes. Women—and one or two men—stopped what they were doing to watch him, a god among mortals. He seemed oblivious to their reactions.

“What is it?” she asked when he was close enough. “What’s wrong?”

“I need T-shirts,” he said, his expression somber.

“What?”

“I need new T-shirts, so I’m going shopping and you’re coming with me.”

Closing her eyes, she shook her head in confusion. “You pulled me out of the garage setup to help you buy T-shirts ? Are you serious?”

He waved a hand dismissively. “Those guys have set up the Lennox garage a million times before. They’re fine.”

“But what if something goes wrong? What if there’s a question? What if—”

“They can text you. Like I did.”

“Except that would be an actual emergency, not a T-shirt shortage!”

“My situation is definitely an emergency,” Will said gravely. “Besides, I told you I was going to make sure you had fun on the road.”

“Don’t you have someone else you can call for this?” she finally asked in exasperation. When he just looked confused, she elaborated. “That girl? In Melbourne? There were pictures of you with her online.”

He grinned, wide and shameless. “Keeping tabs on me, Mira?”

“Violet showed me.” That was a lie, but he didn’t have to know that.

He shrugged. “That was just Francesca. I think she’s hooking up with Rikkard. Whatever. So—”

“You didn’t sleep with her?”

The grin returned. “No, Mira. I didn’t sleep with her.”

Her face flamed with embarrassment and she looked down at her feet, unable to bear his undoubtedly smug expression. “I mean, it’s not like it’s any of my business—”

“I didn’t.”

“Okay.”

“So … T-shirts? And then a fun surprise.”

She was still discombobulated. He didn’t sleep with her. Not that it mattered. But still, some tiny part of her was crowing in delight, despite her best efforts. If she was smart, she’d tell him to go buy his own stupid T-shirts and leave her alone. Spending time socially with him had already proved to be dangerous. There was plenty of other work to do back at the track, even if Will was right and the garage setup didn’t strictly require her oversight. She should definitely turn around and leave.

But, that unfortunate kiss aside, she liked being his friend, and she was currently fighting a mighty wave of relief that he hadn’t hooked up with someone else that night.

Giving a weary sigh, she acquiesced. “You owe me for this one.”

He grinned, and she fought not to smile in return. She even put up a good show of complaining as he dragged her out of the hotel lobby.

“YOU PROMISED ME a fun surprise. So where is it?”

“Patience, Mira. And didn’t I buy you a Starbucks?”

“That wasn’t fun. That was a matter of survival.” She sucked down the last of her iced latte, ignoring Will’s smug smile. Thank God Starbucks was global. You could find them nearly everywhere, even at a mall in Singapore.

“Do you always consume caffeine with such enthusiasm?”

“Mmm … yes, always.” Caffeine was her favorite food, ahead of cheese and ice cream. It was that kind of love.

“I’m not surprised. That explains a lot about you.”

“So where are we going now?”

“Patience, I said.”

“Give me a hint.”

“You’re displaying the opposite of patience right now.”

“I don’t like surprises.”

“Also not surprising.”

“Will—”

“There.” He stopped walking and pointed straight ahead.

“A Ferris wheel?”

“That’s not a Ferris wheel; it’s an observation wheel. The Singapore Flyer: Asia’s largest observation wheel! You can see panoramic views of the entire city from air-conditioned observation compartments.”

“You sound like you’re quoting a website.”

“I am,” he conceded. “I saw someone post about the best Singapore tourist attractions and this was at the top of the list.”

“You’re serious.”

“A promise is a promise. Let’s go.”

When the ticket agent realized they were there with the Formula One race, they were immediately handed VIP passes and got an entire observation car to themselves, even though it could have easily fit twenty people.

“Do you do this in every city?” she asked as their car began its ascent.

“Buy T-shirts? No, I told you, this was an emergency.”

She laughed. “No, not shopping. This. Touristy stuff.”

“Nah. I spend most of time in my hotel suite and the gym.”

“And here you were giving me a hard time for never getting out.”

“See, getting out benefits me, too. Stop being so selfish, Mira.”

“Okay, okay.” She watched the view as they slowly rose over the harbor. “I admit, this isn’t so bad.”

He bumped his shoulder into hers. “No, it’s not.”

When had he gotten so close? They were sitting side by side on the bench in the middle of the compartment, his thigh so close to hers she could feel the warmth of his body. His hand was grasping the edge of the bench right next to hers, the outsides of their fingers so close she could swear sparks arced across the tiny gap.

What was it about him? She’d spent the past week avoiding him, reminding herself of all the reasons he was dangerous, and she’d nearly done it. Now, after an hour in his company, just sitting next to him was turning her into a bundle of raw nerves, her willpower forgotten, left down there on the ground as they rose into the air. Being alone in the compartment was a terrible idea. There was no one—no babbling tourists or screaming kids—to act as a buffer.

Taking a deep breath, she shot to her feet, leaving him on the bench in the center of the compartment, then moved to the rail along the glass wall. The sun was beginning to set. Beyond the skyline, the harbor stretched into the distance, lit up gold and orange.

“The view really is pretty,” she said with forced brightness. “You can see for miles from up here.”

Next she’d be making bland remarks about the weather, or asking him how his flight had been. But she had to say something to diffuse this aching want that was threatening to swallow her whole, and she couldn’t, for the life of her, think of anything more sensible.

Behind her, she heard him get up and walk toward her. “Yes, it is.”

Friends, friends, friends. She repeated the litany in her head to remind herself of what this was. They’d had fun today. Even buying his silly, overpriced T-shirts had been enjoyable. They couldn’t screw it up with anything more.

“Oh hey, look, you can see the track from here.” She pointed down at the twisting shape of the Marina Bay Street Circuit below them, roped off and cleared of traffic in preparation for tomorrow’s practices.

“Looks so easy from up here,” he said, leaning on the rail beside her.

“You just drive that, sixty-one times, really fast. Honestly, Will, I don’t know why you guys get paid so much. Anybody could do it.”

Will chuckled, close enough that their shoulders touched again. Did he know? He must realize that every time he touched her, her whole body flooded with heat. Even though their compartment was air-conditioned, it felt like the warm, humid Singapore air was pressing in on her. Her chest felt flushed, and the back of her neck felt damp.

Swallowing hard, she scanned the Singapore skyline, looking for something … anything … to focus on. “What’s that island out there?” she asked, painfully aware of the hint of desperation in her voice.

He shrugged with that enviable physical grace of his. He looked cool and unbothered. “That’s Sentosa Island. Have you never been? I figured your dad would have taken you.”

“He never had time for stuff like that.” Yes, good. Let’s talk about my dad. That’ll shut down this ridiculous flush of hormones.

“You’d have liked Sentosa Island as a kid. It’s full of theme parks and stuff.”

“You’ve been out there?”

He cleared his throat. “Um, yeah. My first year on the circuit. But not for the theme parks.”

She chuckled. “Got it. If there was a bar involved, I can imagine the rest.”

“Then you know more than me, because I blacked out for most of it. It was on a beach. There were some girls. After that, it’s a blur. The hangover was brutal. And I had to race the next day.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, I was an idiot.”

They were silent for a minute, watching the city grow smaller beneath them. The sun sank lower in the sky, and lights had started to come on across the city. Below them, they reflected in rainbow colors on the waters of Marina Bay.

“Mira?”

She knew. The minute she heard him say her name in that particular low rumble, she knew what would come next. When she turned to look at him, his eyes were fixed on hers. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure he could hear it, slamming against her ribs. Then he leaned in to kiss her. Except the kiss never came. He stopped, just a few inches away from her mouth. The setting sun brought out a riot of amber highlights in his dark hair that she’d never noticed before, and his blue eyes darkened dramatically. She blinked, unable to pull back or even breathe.

“Are we still not kissing?” he murmured.

His question rippled across her mouth, a seductive warm current of breath. Her lips tingled as if his were already on them. She knew exactly how he’d feel, how he’d taste. It would be good— great —because she’d kissed him before, and now she knew how he kissed, and that was a hard thing to forget. Fingers curling into the metal railing, she fought the impulse to lean into him.

“Yes,” she whispered when she could gather her wits enough to force the word out. Wait … “I mean, no. No, we’re not.”

His gaze dropped to her mouth and he held there, still just inches away. Then he tipped his head to the side and let out a sigh, one that also washed across her mouth, a hot, tantalizing promise of what she could have if she just leaned forward the tiniest amount. Her muscles tensed and she felt herself doing it, like he was a magnet and she was helplessly drawn to him.

“That’s too bad,” he said.

She felt his fingers brush against her hip, across to her lower back. “What are you doing?” The words came out as a whisper.

“Not kissing you.” He flattened his hand, his palm pressing against her lower back. Her thighs clenched and she stopped breathing, imagining the heat of his palm everywhere else, smoothing over every inch of her skin. Maybe if he just touched her enough she could stop thinking so much.

His lips curved into a wicked smile, and his hand slid lower, over the curve of her ass and down to the back of her thigh. She inhaled and it came back out in a slow, shuddering breath. His eyes darkened and his fingers tightened, fisting the back of her skirt. She’d worn a skirt today because it was so hot and humid, but now she felt half-naked, like any second he could slide his hand under the hem and up between her thighs.

Oh, god, she wanted that. She wanted him to press her back against the railing and lift her skirt. She wanted to slide her own hands up under that stupid overpriced, soft-as-sin T-shirt of his and feel the heat of his skin.

“This is …”

His eyes dropped to her mouth. “Still not a kiss. Right?” His eyes shot back up to hers. “Unless you want it to be?”

Yes, please, just kiss me so I can stop fighting with myself.

But she didn’t say that. She didn’t say anything at all, unable to push him away or give herself permission to give in. He watched her face for another moment, as if he could see the war she was waging inside. Then he sighed, and his hand dropped away.

Will leaned against the railing, his expression unreadable.

“You tell me when, Mira,” he said, his voice rough.

She was shaking as she turned back to the railing, biting her lip to keep herself from doing just that.