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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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I’ve been a racing fan my whole life. We went to the Grand Prix in Monaque every year. And my whole life I’ve been waiting to have a woman on the grid. Everyone said it wouldn’t happen. They said it so much I started to believe we’d never get there. So to see Vanessa get signed and have a chance to cheer her on? I’m ecstatic. Get me all the Paragon colors and clothes. I’m a Lennon girl for as long as she’s here. I think it’s incredible.

HAZEL RAINE, ACTRESS

My bed was so warm.

I could already tell today was one of those days where the dreary Britannian winter was going to tempt me to stay in bed far longer than I should. Which would then result in Annika dragging me out. Physically, if she had to.

Five more minutes.

Turning, I ran into something and my eyes flew open. This wasn’t my bed. Because the last time I checked, I hadn’t left a broad, shirtless man between my sheets. One who looked at me now with a soft smile.

I was in Grayson’s bed and didn’t remember how I got there. I flushed, realizing how close he was and how much skin he displayed. “Were you watching me sleep?”

His smile grew. “Forgive me, little one. I find it hard to stop looking at you.”

“Join the club.” I raised my head and looked around the room. Big windows like downstairs and a pale, creamy decor. It looked sparser than I imagined, but it was still beautiful.

“Does it meet your expectations?”

“It doesn’t really feel like you,” I said honestly.

Slowly, Grayson rolled toward me. Over me. Until his body pressed mine down into the mattress like Beck had last night. “That’s because this isn’t our home . This is where we stay when we’re in Britannia.”

“Isn’t that like… all the time?”

“A good amount of time. But there are benefits to being the Team Principal. And part owner.”

“Like?”

“Like working remotely.”

Couldn’t argue with that when he’d brokered our entire deal remotely. “Where’s your real house?”

“Monaque.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course it is.”

There wasn’t a country more associated with Formula 1 than Monaque. A lot of drivers ended up living there. Before yesterday, I doubted I ever would because even in this world, you needed serious money to live in a place like that.

“Don’t judge me too harshly,” Gray said. “I was born there.”

“I thought you were from?—”

“République Francaise? My mother was. My father was Monaques. The accents are similar.”

“Then I guess you get a pass for not being a total cliché.”

His laugh rumbled through my chest. “I’ll take it. Good morning.”

“Morning.”

Grayson’s hair was damp, and he wasn’t sleeping when I rolled over. “How long have you been awake?”

“A couple of hours. Sleep is a luxury I don’t always have.” He laughed. “But that doesn’t mean you needed to wake up. Or that you even need to right now.”

I narrowed my eyes, but he wasn’t wrong. Every part of me was still tired. Which wasn’t my normal. Not that I was a morning person, but I usually didn’t feel like I was fighting gravity to get out of bed.

The way he looked at me… “What?”

He shook his head. “I’m just happy I get to look at you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m only human,” he said. “And you are fucking beautiful. I didn’t just notice that when I scented you. For as long as we’ve been negotiating and meeting, I’ve focused everything I could on seeing you as a racing driver . Being professional.” He smiled like he remembered every moment. “And I got to know you as the funny, kind, intelligent human you are. But I never thought about this, because it wasn’t possible. Not in the real world. Now you’re here, and I can’t stop looking at you because I’m allowed to look at you. And I’m still struggling because my mind tells me this is unprofessional.”

My breath hitched, but I pushed past the emotion. Running my hands up his arms to his shoulders. I’d been doing the exact same thing. “ Very unprofessional.”

He groaned and dropped his face into the crook of my neck, inhaling deep. “But I don’t know that I can make myself get out of this bed again without having a taste of you.”

I swore both his scent and mine grew stronger. Lime was seriously underrated. Why the hell hadn’t I been breathing in lime every day of my fucking life?

But I needed one second. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.” Wiggling out from under him, I headed for the open bathroom door and his low laughter followed me. His words were what froze me.

“Three minutes, little Omega. Have your ass back in this bed.”

If someone had said those exact words to me three days ago I would have smacked them across the face. Now all I felt was heat and heard his words from last night. You can be both .

So I squeaked out, “Okay.”

“I left a toothbrush on the counter for you.”

Thank fuck .

Morning breath was a part of life, and given these men’s scents, I doubted it would be a problem. But it was the first morning. No one could blame me for wanting to make a good impression. Had it been three minutes?

I dove back into the bed right as Grayson checked his watch. He didn’t waste time pulling me back exactly to where I’d been—under him.

“Better?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Good.”

Grayson kissed me. He kissed me and kissed me and kissed me until I couldn’t breathe. Hands went everywhere—both his and mine. Now I could feel him. And just like I’d observed, Grayson wasn’t like other Team Principals. His body was broad and hard and I loved the way he sucked in a breath when I scraped my nails over his ribs.

When he pulled back to grab the sweatshirt I still wore, I helped him lift it over my head and toss it to the side. It didn’t matter that I wore a sports bra that was about as sexy as a box of pasta, Gray’s eyes filled with nothing but heat. “How am I supposed to go to work and pretend I haven’t seen you like this?”

I still hadn’t caught my breath. “I’m sure you’ll manage. I’ll have the same problem. Have you seen yourself?”

Tattoos stretched over one shoulder and down onto his chest where hair grew. Which had no right to be as attractive as it was. I couldn’t see much further where the shadows of blankets hid the trim waist and whatever else he was hiding, but this view was a damn good one.

All the worries Gray had swam in his eyes. I understood them. This was more complicated than either of us had wanted, but we did want it, and that was the only thing that mattered. We were the only ones who mattered.

He dropped his mouth to my skin, kissing along the lines of my bra and lower. Down to my stomach. “I can’t take nearly as long with you this morning as I want to.”

I opened my mouth to speak and was cut off by a blaring sound. We both startled like we’d missed a starting gun. “What is that?”

“My phone. Hadn’t silenced it yet.” Grayson’s mouth strayed near my hip and the band of Elias’s sweats. “I’m ignoring it.”

Glancing at the bedside table, I lifted just enough to see the name flashing on the screen. Shit. “It says James Robertson.”

Grayson groaned into my skin and reached for the phone, hauling himself back up to where he’d been before, our faces close. I wrapped my arms around him as he answered. “Hello?”

James Robertson was the majority owner of Paragon. Even Grayson didn’t get to ignore his phone calls.

I couldn’t hear the words through the phone, only the shape of them. They were angry or panicked, or both. A crease appeared between Gray’s eyes, but he smiled at me when I tried to smooth it out with my thumb. “I’ll be at the office soon. We predicted this, James.”

More angry yelling.

“Give me half an hour. I’ve got everything under control.” He didn’t wait for James to speak again before he hung up. Then he sighed before he kissed me. “Looks like I’ll be waiting for that taste after all.”

I whined, not at all on purpose. “Are you sure?”

“Duty calls. But we will finish this later. Promise.”

Watching him rise and walk away was a thing of beauty, but I already missed his warmth and weight.

“Your phone is over on the other side of the bed,” he said before walking into the closet. “We plugged it in.”

“Thanks.”

I rolled and grabbed it, gasping at the fact that it was ten am. “It’s already ten? Annika is going to murder me .”

“She won’t. You deserve a morning of rest after yesterday. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

As a friend, she’d understand and cheer me on. As my trainer, she was going to hand me my ass. There were messages from her.

Annika

Wake up, sleepyhead.

Where are you?

Half an hour later.

Annika

Okay, seriously, you okay? Did they kill you after all?

You better be passed out from some seriously *epic* fucking.

Another hour.

Annika

Just text me when you’re awake please, so I can stop worrying.

Vanessa

I’m so sorry. Didn’t set an alarm. I did pass out, but not from fucking. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it to our gym, but I’m sure they have one here. Can you tell me what the program is for today?

Annika

Damn, girl. I want to hear everything. But yeah, I don’t blame you. I’m at the gym and there are some cameras here. Not a lot, but enough.

They’re curious.

And yeah, I can send it.

But you better do it the way *I* would have you do it.

No shortcuts.

Vanessa

Yes, ma’am.

Annika

And you better tell me everything.

Vanessa

Don’t worry, I will.

Grayson was still in the closet, so I decided to look at the thousands of notifications I had that had been pouring in since yesterday.

Plenty of posts and tags. Some good and some bad. I saw River’s post and grinned. Half the drivers on the grid had done the same, posting some kind of congratulations. The best part was all the women in my comments who were so excited. That was what I wanted to see. I’d gone up in followers by almost half a million, which was… wow.

There were plenty of bad comments, but I tried to ignore them. I’d been avoiding them for long enough that most of them washed over me. Deleting some of them from my personal pages was probably smart, but I also didn’t want to deal with it.

The headline I scrolled past made my whole body go cold.

PARAGON RACING LOSES MAJOR SPONSORS IN WAKE OF TEAM DECISION

I clicked on the article and felt numb. The list of sponsors that had dropped the team was longer than I’d thought, and a hell of a lot worse than I’d feared.

So far the list was five sponsors. All of them big ones.

It took me three tries to find my voice. “Grayson?”

He stepped out of the closet in the clothes I knew best, and the ones that made him look scorching hot. I couldn’t help but marvel that he was all mine. Black slacks and a crisp white team shirt—with the logos of the sponsors who no longer backed the team—sleeves rolled to the elbows.

“Is this why you have to go?” I turned the phone screen.

“It is.”

I sat up, sick to my stomach. “I’m so sorry.”

Grayson frowned. “Why are you sorry?”

He chuckled at the look I gave him and came over, sinking to one knee in front of me like he had last night. “Do I look worried?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean you’re not. I’m worried.”

The team losing major sponsors wasn’t exactly going to endear me to anyone. Not the public, not all the employees at Paragon, and certainly not James Robertson. Hell, Lars was probably having a party right now.

Gray slid a hand behind my neck and tugged me forward. Something about that movement and the strength of his hold calmed me. No Alpha bark was needed, because Gray exuded everything my Omega craved. Confidence and security. Safety.

He squeezed once, silently commanding me to look at him, and I did. “I meant what I said yesterday, little one. And though it means a lot more now because you’re mine, it has nothing to do with you being my Omega. This is something we talked about at length before we even approached you. James and I considered every angle. We knew this could happen.”

“It’s so many.”

“And they are fucking fools .” He hauled me fully to the edge of the bed and kissed me, making sure my arms and legs wrapped all the way around him. The kiss softened into something slow and luxurious before he pulled back. “Hear me when I say this. If they’re truly so afraid of a female driver that they don’t want to sponsor us, then they are free to go. They have no reason to pull out other than that.

“If they had proof things will go badly, that would be one thing. They don’t. It’s purely misplaced fear and bowing to public perception. Nothing more.”

Everything he said was both true and logical. “All right.”

“Do you trust me?”

“I’d better. I slept in your bed.”

He laughed. Kissing me one more time before he untangled himself, he looked me in the eyes. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’ll try.”

“Don’t try. Do.”

I flopped backwards on the bed. “You guys have a gym?”

“We do. I’ll let you explore and find it.”

Then he was gone, and I was left staring at the ceiling. Needy. Wanting. Worried. Knowing that Gray had it handled, no matter what. That, at least, made me feel better.

My phone vibrated again, and I didn’t look at it. It could be Annika, and I didn’t want to say anything to her until I kept my word. So I got up and started exploring.