Page 4 of Kiss & Collide (Racing Hearts #2)
W hen Chase woke up this morning, he’d had nothing more interesting on his plate than a simulator session at the Hansbach factory. Then his phone rang, and some terrified girl—whom he now knew was Imogen—had asked him, between sniffles, how soon he could be at the Pinnacle factory.
While he’d driven at breakneck speed, he’d sorted out the details with his agent, Phil.
At first it hadn’t made any sense. In fact, he’d been so stunned that he’d asked Phil outright if Pinnacle knew how little sponsorship money he would bring with him.
How was it possible that a Formula One team, even Pinnacle— especially Pinnacle, which everybody knew was strapped for cash—was okay with that, even if their star was out?
Phil had tried to stall, but eventually he had to confess that Reece Hammond, Pinnacle’s brand-new American team principal, had handpicked him from the list of reserve drivers.
So he was only here because he was American, not because of his driving, and despite his lack of funding.
But fuck it, he was used to being an afterthought in racing, dismissed as insignificant before he’d ever gotten behind the wheel.
It just gave him motivation. He’d prove he had every right to be here. He’d done it his entire career.
And now, impossibly, because of the whims of one rich guy, he’d made a seat in Formula One, at last. He did not give one single solitary fuck how it had happened. All that mattered was that he was here.
The excitement, the flat-out euphoria, made him feel like he might just bust out of his own skin.
Ahead of them Imogen keyed in a code to unlock the door and ducked to the side as Reece pushed his way past her and through. It was early yet, and Chase was willing to give the guy some time to prove himself, but so far, it didn’t seem like Reece was winning over any Pinnacle hearts and minds.
“Um, this is Engineering,” Imogen murmured, so softly it was hard to hear.
Oscar Davies had been across the room with a couple of people but came to greet them with another guy and Rabia Dar, whom he’d seen around the track now and then.
“Welcome to Engineering,” Oscar said with a wide smile. He was a barrel-chested white guy in late middle age, ruddy faced, with a thick head of dark hair. He reached for Chase’s hand and shook it hard.
Then Oscar gave Violet a once-over that made his skin crawl. “And who’s this pretty face?”
Seriously? That’s how he talked to staff?
“Violet Harper,” she ground out between gritted teeth. “PR.”
“Nice to have you aboard, Violet,” Oscar said to her breasts. Jesus. It was disgusting.
He took a step forward to say something to redirect Oscar’s attention when Reece cut them all off.
“So is this where they build the cars? You guys build them, right?”
“Designed and built from scratch every season.” Oscar turned to Reece, leaving Violet to stare daggers at him.
He started describing the Engineering facilities to Reece, whose eyes quickly glazed over.
Oscar had never bothered introducing Rabia or the other guy, and he didn’t direct his conversation to anyone but Reece.
“Hey there,” Chase finally said, reaching out to shake Rabia’s hand. “I’ve seen you around, it’s nice to finally meet you. Chase Navarro.”
“Rabia Dar, associate design engineer. This is Leon Franklin, head of Engineering.”
Leon, a compact Black man with long, thin locs held off his face with a band, leaned past Rabia and shook his hand.
“Good to meet you, Chase.”
Chase gestured to Violet, who was watching all this unfold. “And this is Violet Harper. It’s her first day, too.”
He’d already been buzzing with adrenaline when he walked in the door this morning, and as soon as he set eyes on Violet, he started buzzing with an entirely different kind of energy.
She was in a tight, wine-red striped suit that made her legs look somehow even longer and more spectacular than he remembered, and her black hair was blown out straight and silky, reaching to the middle of her back.
Every time he looked at her, images of that night in Monte Carlo flooded his brain.
His fingers fisting in that long black hair as he pulled her head back and licked that long pale neck …
pushing his way between those long legs as he pressed her up against the wall and fucked her there …
It was incredibly distracting to say the least.
And now she was here, at Pinnacle. This day just kept getting better and better.
Violet gave Rabia a nod. “We’ve already met.”
“During this morning’s rousing welcome speech,” Rabia muttered, shooting a glance at Reece’s back.
“Looks like they’ll be a while,” Leon said, indicating Reece and Oscar, “so why don’t we take you over to the garage and introduce you around? The mechanics want to meet you.”
“Sounds good,” Chase replied. “I’d like to meet them, too.”
Leon cracked a smile. “A driver who hangs with the mechanics. Knew I liked you.”
“The mechanics always know where the good food is in every city on the circuit.”
Leon chuckled. “Guilty as charged. Follow me.”
As they followed Rabia and Leon down a hall lined with offices, he glanced over at Violet. She was watching Rabia and Leon, who were carrying on a conversation entirely in whispers.
Violet nudged his arm with her elbow. “Keep an eye on these two,” she murmured under her breath.
“Who? Rabia and Leon? Why?”
“I guarantee you, if you need something done around this place, it’s these two you need to talk to.”
“And Oscar?”
“Useless,” Violet said dismissively. “These two are the brains of the operation. Trust me. If you need help with the car, you go to them.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, I guess?”
“Okay,” Rabia said, swiping her ID at another door. “Here’s the car in all its glory. Don’t get your hopes up.”
The race bay was significantly smaller than the one back at Hansbach, and missing a lot of the high-tech bells and whistles, but he wasn’t under any illusions about Pinnacle.
“Your timing is good,” Leon said. “The body’s on. Yesterday it was in pieces all over the factory.”
One of Pinnacle’s cars was nearly fully assembled in the middle of the race bay, and Chase’s eyes traced over it, assessing. The floor edge looked like a straight line—unlike those of the top teams, but he wouldn’t know how it would play out until he got behind the wheel.
“When can I get in the sim and try it out?”
“When the engineers finally sort out which setups they want to start with in Austria,” Rabia said. “They’ve been bickering about it for days.”
“Hansbach’s got software that runs all the possible variables and determines the optimal—”
“Yeah, well, we don’t.” Rabia sighed. “One of the many upgrades Oscar has decided isn't worth the time and money. So they do it by hand, one variable at a time. Then you test them out and they decide on the next one. Hope you’re ready to spend a lot of time in the simulator.”
“I’m happy to do whatever it takes,” Chase said, and he meant it.
Rabia scoffed. “Then get comfortable in that sim, kid. You’ll still be in it when you’re my age.”