Page 30 of Kiss & Collide (Racing Hearts #2)

“So I explained that I’d just started at University of Chicago and I didn’t know how to get back to campus.”

“And I said that’s no problem! I go to University of Chicago, too. I’ll walk you home and show you the way.”

“So we walked through Chicago, talking the whole way,” Nicole said, looking at Javier with gentle affection.

Javier smiled back at her. “By the time we got back to campus, I knew I was going to marry her.”

“And four years later, we were!” Tyler and Chase chorused again, and the whole family burst out in laughter.

“That’s a great story.” She was pretty sure her parents had just had a drunken hookup, and her mother had gotten knocked up. “It’s great, the way you all tell it.”

“Just wait until you meet Dad’s side of the family,” Chase said. “Reenacting family beefs going back hundreds of years.” He took a swig of his beer, so he missed the shocked look she shot him. Did he realize he’d just said that?

Before any of his family could comment on it, their dinner arrived.

“Chase, how did you meet Violet?” Nicole asked, once they’d all started eating.

She glanced at Chase again, but he was leaning back in his chair, smiling easily, not the least bit thrown by the question. “Well, we work together. But we’ve been crossing paths on the circuit for a while now, right, Violet?”

“Sure. Everybody knows everybody on the circuit.”

“So tell us about you, Violet,” Javier said, topping up her wine. “I can hear from your accent that you’re English.”

“Got it in one,” she replied, nudging her grilled zucchini around her plate with her fork.

“I, um, grew up in Colchester. That’s in Essex.

I spent some time working in music before switching to auto racing.

” Just the bullet points of her existence, no hint of the drama and heartbreak behind those facts.

“Music, huh? Which are harder to work with, musicians or drivers?”

She couldn’t help flashing a quick, teasing smile in Chase’s direction. “Oh, drivers for sure. Pure chaos.”

“Don’t I know it?” Nicole groaned as the rest of the table laughed. Chase and Tyler reached out to fist-bump each other.

Javier elbowed Chase. “She’s got your number, doesn’t she?”

Chase turned to smile at her, a smile that was way too intimate to show off in front of his family. “She sure does.”

As they ate, Nicole and Javier passed along well-wishes from Chase’s large extended family.

In addition to Nicole’s tangle of American relatives, Javier had four sisters in Spain, so Chase had an army of aunts, uncles, and cousins in Europe as well, and it sounded as if they all talked constantly with each other in some massive WhatsApp chat.

“Nervous about the track?” Javier asked Chase as their plates were cleared.

Dinner was over, but no one seemed in a hurry to leave. As the sun set, the sky lit up in a brilliant explosion of orange, magenta, and purple, and the string lights overhead flickered on.

Chase shrugged. “I’ve driven some F2 races here. It’s not bad.”

“The car’s looking good,” Javier said.

“That’s all Rabia Dar,” Violet interjected.

Chase nodded in agreement. “It’s unbelievable what she’s been able to accomplish with the car in just a few weeks. Next year’s car could change everything for Pinnacle.”

“You should see Chase’s simulator times in the new car,” Violet said to Javier.

“Good?” he asked his son.

“Best I’ve ever driven.”

“Rabia’s a genius,” Violet added.

Nicole leaned forward to address Violet. “I’d apologize for all the car talk, Violet, but it’s clear you’re used to it.”

“I am.”

Nicole shook her head sadly. “Every single family meal, this is what it turns into with these four. Tire pressures and aerodynamics and engine power.”

“It’s nice you all have so much in common.”

“Everything I know about racing is thanks to Dad,” Chase said, smiling at his father.

Javier reached out to squeeze Chase’s shoulder. “I can’t believe my boy is driving in Formula One. I never dreamed …” He trailed off, choking up with emotion.

“Oh, here we go,” Tyler said. “You made the old man cry again, Chase.”

“He’s crying with pride ,” Chase teased back. “Unlike his tears of frustration over you.”

Tyler laughed and tossed his wadded-up napkin at Chase, who was laughing too as he ducked to the side. “Better watch out. I’ll tell Sam about that time we went karting and you fucked with her carburetor when she wasn’t looking.”

They were … Jesus, they were fucking adorable. All of them. So affectionate and open. She didn’t belong here, her with all her hard surfaces and razor-sharp edges.

Violet was getting that overwhelming urge to bolt, the way she always did when she got too close to human emotions that made her feel uncomfortable. It was only good manners that kept her rooted to her chair, smiling and responding in all the appropriate places.

It didn’t help that Chase kept glancing over at her with that look in his eyes. That look that meant he was feeling things he shouldn’t be feeling. And he shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t. Not for her, who didn’t belong here, and never would.

Chase reached out and nudged her knee under the table. “Hey. Mom wants to go see some band she likes that’s playing downtown tonight. Come with us.”

She forced a smile and shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Are you sure?” Nicole asked, having heard him ask.

“I have a million things to catch up on in my office,” she lied easily as she stood. “It’s been really lovely. Enjoy your night and I’ll see you at the race tomorrow. You’ll be watching from the garage.”

“Violet—” Chase protested, starting to stand up, but she put her hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“I really do have to go.”

And then she fled, as fast as she could go without breaking into a full-out run. Anything to put distance between herself and this clawing feeling of unease eating away at her.

CHASE WATCHED VIOLET striding rapidly across the deck, her long black hair snapping behind her in the warm breeze, and something twisted in his gut.

Everything had seemed fine. She was chatting with his family, and they clearly loved her.

Then all of a sudden she got that hunted look on her face and bolted.

As she disappeared through the glass doors that led to the stairs down to hospitality, he told himself to forget it.

His family was here for the race and that’s all that mattered.

But as Mom and Dad chatted, he kept looking back over at the door she’d disappeared through.

Finally he couldn’t stand it another minute.

He slid his chair away from the table. “Hey, there’s something I forgot to ask Violet about. I’m going to run downstairs and catch her in hospitality. I’ll be right back.”

“No problem,” Tyler said, but the slight smirk he threw at Chase said he’d clocked what was going on between them. Considering he was half obsessed with her, it was no wonder Tyler could see it on his face. He wasn’t sure how the whole world couldn’t see it.

Downstairs in the hospitality lounge things were relatively quiet. Pinnacle staffers were busy putting finishing touches on the space, but there were no guests. Violet was still there, across the room conferring with Liz from catering.

She finished up and turned, surprise in her expression when she saw him there.

“Oh, good. You’re here,” she recovered smoothly. “I just talked to Cam and Madison’s managed to clear her schedule.”

“What?”

“She’s flying in for the race. She’ll be in the garage with your parents.”

His stomach dropped. “Why the hell is she going to be in the garage?”

Violet got that hard, obstinate look on her face as her eyes cut to the Pinnacle staffers still working in the room.

“This way.” She jerked her head to the hallway off the reception room.

He followed her down it and into a small temporary office at the end.

She shut the door and leaned back against it.

“Madison is supposed to be your girlfriend,” she said patiently. “Your parents are here. It would seem weird if she wasn’t here.”

He raked a hand through his hair in frustration. “I just … I don’t like involving my parents in this. This is my job, not theirs.”

“Explain it to them. They can play along, right? I’m happy to give them some coaching—”

“No. I don’t want you coaching my parents on how to behave around this stranger I’m pretending to date. It’s fucked up.”

“You don’t need to be embarrassed about it. These sorts of things happen all the time.” Her calmness was infuriating, like he was just one more item on her to-do list, one more public relations issue to be managed.

“Not to me. Not to them. I just don’t want her here, in that part of my life.”

“Well, it’s already arranged. She’s arriving tonight. We’ve put her at your hotel so—”

“Violet, no. If everybody thinks I’m there with her, then I can’t come see you, and—”

“So don’t come see me. You shouldn’t anyway. Not when she’s around. If you were seen—”

“Fuck that. I don’t care.”

“I do. It’s my job to care.”

“I’m not just a part of your fucking job!” He was only aware as the words were coming out of his mouth that he was shouting, the sound echoing in the tiny space.

Up until now, she’d maintained that expressionless professional face, refusing to even look directly at him. Now her eyes snapped up to his, blazing with anger.

“You are my job. I’m not going to forget that and neither should you.”

There was a little alarm buzzing in his head, trying to warn him to shut up and stop pushing her, but he wouldn’t be the driver he was if he listened to the caution warnings that held most people back.

He took a step closer, crowding her against the door. “This—what we do—this is not a part of your job, and don’t you dare pretend otherwise.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he barreled on. “Don’t pretend like you don’t want me. Don’t pretend you don’t care.”

Her hands came up between them and she shoved hard against his shoulders. He stepped back out of her space as she pushed away from the door.

“Sex is just fucking, Chase. And don’t you pretend otherwise. You want a nice girlfriend to introduce to your fucking happy family, call up Madison and leave me out of it.”

Then she spun around, wrenched the door open, and stormed out. This time he didn’t follow her.