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CHAPTER SEVEN

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lost_in_night_vale: FUCK YES. FINALLY. We have a woman driver! In Formula 1! Let’s go! #LochNESSAmonster

oluchuckleberry: Seriously? With all the talent available they chose her? I thought Paragon had better sense than this.

friskyandspeed: So glad I’m not a member of Team Paragon right now. Fucking embarrassing.

morallyspicy: Not what I expected, but I guess we’ll see how it goes. No matter what, this season is going to be entertaining. #hereforthedrama #formula1

citizen_crave: Watch Paragon fall to 10 th place now. It’s gonna happen.

“I think that’s about every question I could ask you,” Holly Buchanan said with a laugh. “At least for today.”

I laughed with her. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll find some more.”

Holly was a Formula 1 reporter, and I was grateful to be ending the day with a smiling face. The other reporters I’d spoken with were nice, but I could tell they were skeptical. At least I knew they’d start from a neutral place and not a negative one.

On the table, she clicked off the recording on her phone. “Off the record, I can’t tell you how excited I am. This has been a long time coming.”

“Thanks.” The same nerves that had been coming in waves today rose once more. “I know it’s going to be a whirlwind.”

She nodded. “It is. And I’ll tell you right now that it’s not going to be easy. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of people who have been waiting for this, myself included. You’re going to have a lot of people behind you, not to mention when the FIA sees how much having a female driver boosts interests and sales they’ll wonder why it hadn’t happened earlier.” We both laughed. “But just as many people are going to be angry. It’s already starting.”

I winced. “I’m sure.”

“Stay strong,” she said. “It’ll be worth it. And if you ever need a friend in the press, you’ve got one.”

“I appreciate that.” I shook her hand when she extended it and breathed out a long sigh when she left the room. Tracy and Annika sat on the other side, unobtrusive. “That was the last?”

“It was,” Tracy said. “We can have a car brought so you don’t have to ride in the trunk this time.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Grayson wants to see me briefly. He said earlier. Just some minor contract stuff. But thank you. Annika will drive me.”

She didn’t catch the lie and nodded without looking up from her phone. “Sounds good. I’ll be in touch with Oliver about your schedule.”

I looked at Annika, and she looked just as confused as I was. “I’m sorry. Oliver?”

“Your assistant.”

“I don’t have an assistant.”

Tracy smirked. “You do now. Showed up this morning with a contract from Vance Lennon on your behalf.”

A laugh burst out of me before I covered my face with my hands. “Yeah, okay. Is he still here?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Thanks, Tracy.” I didn’t wait before pulling out my phone and dialing. He picked up on the second ring and I didn’t let him say hello. “You hired me an assistant?”

“You really think you’re not going to need one?”

“No, I know I need one. Annika can’t do double duty forever, but?—”

“Nessa,” he sighed. “Am I old? Yes. Decrepit? Yes.” I laughed at that. “But my mind isn’t gone, and neither is my money. He comes highly recommended, but if you don’t like him, or if he does anything out of line, you have full permission to fire him. But based on today, you’re going to be buried in messages you don’t have time for.”

He had no fucking idea. Because it was so much more than racing. The hollow place in the center of me ached because I couldn’t smell them right now. I knew they were close, and that drove me a little mad. The fact that I was still sitting here at all was a minor miracle.

“You watched?”

Grandpa coughed. “Not that it was easy. The world still hasn’t gotten its shit together. They never put racing conferences on normal sports channels.”

“I’m pretty sure they do.”

“Not in this place,” he mumbled under his breath. “Yes, I watched. Both yours and your teammate.”

“I haven’t seen it yet.”

He grunted. “Don’t bother. Nothing you need to see there.”

Great. That meant Lars had said something that was sure to fuel headlines and make drama before we’d even gotten to testing. “All right. I’ve got to go, but I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Okay. Proud of you.”

Sudden emotion choked me and I breathed through it. “Thank you. Love you.”

I ended the call before I turned into a bubbling fountain of tears from every emotion I’d experienced today. It was all over the place, and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen now.

“Now that you’re finished,” Annika came over and dropped into the seat across from me. “What the hell is going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you’ve been off all day. Don’t get me wrong, you did incredible, and if someone doesn’t know you the way I do, they’d never know, but I can tell. Something happened, but I have no idea what. Other than Lars, everything’s gone perfectly.”

How in the hell did I tell her this? I trusted Annika, but it felt so big . Like the words didn’t cover it. I swallowed, and swallowed again, trying to figure out what would convey how the earth’s gravitational pull had shifted in a fraction of a second.

Annika’s expression shifted to concern. “Are you okay? Do you need me to get a doctor? Anyone?”

“No.” I shook my head. “But… you can’t tell anyone this.”

She huffed a laugh. “Do you have any idea how tight the NDA I signed is? Even if I wanted to tell anyone, which I don’t, I can’t. Please tell me so I don’t think you’re dying.”

One deep breath in, and one breath out. “When I went out on stage. I—” It still didn’t feel real, and I had to whisper it. “I scent matched with Grayson. With his pack .”

Annika’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah.”

“And you’ve been doing this all day? How?”

“Honestly?” I asked. “I have no idea. But I lied to Tracy. Grayson doesn’t need to see me about anything contract related, but I needed a way to see him without tipping anyone off. No one can know about this. Not right now, at least.”

“That means River?” She covered her mouth. “Fuck, that’s complicated.”

“You’re telling me.”

“I assume you’re going home with them?”

“Should I?”

She laughed. “If it were someone you didn’t know, I’d tell you no, or that you need a chaperone. Or security. But given the fact that the man just signed a multi-million dollar contract with you, I’m pretty sure he’s not going to kill you even if you weren’t scent matched. Not to mention there’s absolutely no way he could cover that up.”

“I’m not sure that was as reassuring as you thought it was.”

“Don’t pretend I’m not brilliant. And yes, you should go with them. Let yourself have some fun and actually enjoy this because it’s going to be fucking hard.”

“Yeah. Okay.” A thrill ran through me.

She stood and grabbed her things. “I’ll check in with you in the morning, all right? You’re still going to get your ass kicked. Just cause you’re on the team now doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.”

I laughed but said nothing as she disappeared. Okay. Now I was free. And I could do this. An entirely different kind of nervous energy hovered in my stomach. Excitement and longing.

Where the hell was Grayson’s office?

I stepped out of the small room where we’d done the interviews and caught someone passing by. “Excuse me. Where’s Mr. De Clare’s office?”

“Third floor.” The man barely looked at me. Probably for the best. I needed this to be stealthy.

“Thanks.”

At least no one would think it strange that I was going to see him. One small favor. I’d spotted an elevator at the end of the hall earlier and found my way back to it. Third floor.

Lingering lime hovered in the air along with that rich, dark scent. They’d been here. Not for a while, but I could still taste those flavors on my tongue, faint as they were. Would it always be that way? Scents never felt like this, and already it was addicting.

Grayson’s office was easy to find. Hopefully he was inside and I wouldn’t have to go looking for him. Slowly, I knocked.

It was only a second before the door flew open and he was there, a wall of scent surging around me and beckoning me closer. “Vanessa. Come in, of course.” It sounded so casual, but I noticed the way he pressed a button at the side of the door so all the windows were shaded.

I stepped inside.

The second I closed the door behind me Grayson had me up against the wall. One hand sank into my hair and pulled my head to the side, his face buried in my neck.

“Thank fuck.” He murmured the words like he didn’t expect me to hear them.

Just the touch had my mind spinning. People didn’t touch me. Ever. I hadn’t really been touched since my last relationship, and even then we were young enough and separated enough that it wasn’t as much as I wanted or needed. The heat of his body sank through the racing suit all the way to my skin and called to me.

I was surrounded on all sides by citrus and green. Limes encrusted with sugar and the sweetness of graham crackers. Giddy and gooey and glowing. I melted into his hold, surrendering to the euphoric high I’d been fighting off all day. Right now, in this moment, it didn’t matter that this was the worst news imaginable at the same time as it was the best news imaginable and was going to make both our lives infinitely harder. Right now it was the only thing in the world that mattered.

A whine slipped from me, desperate. It made him hold me tighter. And I had to ask. “Did you know?”

His rough laugh shivered across my skin, that light accent making every word sharper. Then he purred once more and I was pretty sure I’d died and gone to heaven. Yes . “If I’d known I would have made sure our first meeting was alone, little one.”

My eyes fluttered closed. It felt like I was floating in a sea of sudden need and hormones. Perfume filled the air of his office despite the racing suit. It was too powerful.

“What do we do?”

Grayson pulled back and looked at me. Up close, his eyes were a hazel that felt warm and safe. One hand slid behind my neck, a thumb tilting my jaw up. “Before we get to that. May I?”

My stomach tumbled, not needing any other words to know what he was asking. I nodded, and his mouth came down on mine.

Fuck .

It was like I’d slammed my foot down on a gas pedal. Thrilling and crushing and life-changing all at the same time. There was no way to keep it soft or introductory. The way Grayson kissed me was the way he was always meant to kiss me. Like this was all meant to be and we’d only just caught up with it.

Actually, it was exactly that.

This was always meant to happen.

He dragged himself away, but only far enough that our foreheads pressed together, breath still mingling. “If you’re willing, come home with us and try to figure this out. We have a plan to get you out without being seen.”

I pressed my lips together. I didn’t like that we had to hide, because already this was so inevitable that I felt like shouting it to the world. But we had to. If we wanted both—no, all —of our careers to survive, we had to.

“I want to. Grayson?—”

“Call me Gray,” he murmured, that same thumb rubbing back and forth along my jaw.

Whatever I’d been about to say evaporated with those gentle words and the longing in them. I couldn’t stop my smile. “Gray. What’s the plan?”

He smirked, mischief in his eyes. “Since you’re now on the team, would you like a tour of headquarters?”