It was no wonder that picture had inspired no interest in me – it was out of date, clearly five or six years old. She looked like achild, not even a vague comparison to the bombshell of a woman who had sat before me. I eagerly scanned the information within the file until my eyes found what I was looking for.
Date of Birth: 3rd February 2015.
She was twenty–four. I groaned, feeling conflicted – a little disgusted with myself, and yet also titillated. I was twelve years her senior. When I started my career in this business, she would have been only seven or eight years old. I felt dirty.
I quickly closed the file and shoved it back amongst the stack of others. I didn’t know why I was even wasting time on this train of thought – even if the age gap between us wasn’t completely inappropriate, I couldn’t pursue Bianca. I was her boss, and this was my first opportunity to show the rest of the circuit what I could do. If I stood any chance at keeping my team principal title here at McLaren – or at any other team, for that matter – I needed to do my very best. Somehow, I doubted fucking one of mymuchyounger female drivers would portray the image I was hoping for. McLaren had already had enough scandal for one season. All eyes would be on us, and we needed to be whiter than white. I had to remember that. I would repeat it over and over in my head if necessary until I could keep my eyes off Rossi and her fucking perfect arse.
Chapter three
Bianca
“He’shot!” Sophia squealed beside me as we headed away from Kristian’s office and back to the garages. I wasn’t sure if it made me feel better or worse that I hadn’t been the only one to notice Kristian’s handsomeness – and lack of wedding ring. He reeked of stoic, playboy arsehole and unfortunately that was just my type, but not for the reasons people usually assumed. There was nothing I loved more than breaking down men like Kristian until they were gibbering wrecks, begging for my attention. I shivered, crossing my arms tighter over my body.
“Sophia, get your mind out of the gutter,” I chastised. “He’s old enough to be your dad.”
The blonde immediately flushed bright pink. “I d–didn’t mean I was—”
I stopped, turning to look at her. Keeping my voice low, I moved in closer. “Look, I’ve been around longer than you. Don’t be that girl. Women have worked too hard to be taken seriously in this sport for you to go opening your legs for the team principal and ruining it all.”
Was it harsh? Yes, but I couldn’t risk Sophia getting in my way. I needed her off the scent of Kristian becauseIwanted to be ‘that girl’, not her. I tolerated her out on track because I had to, I wasn’t about to compete with her over our attractive team principal as well. He was mine. I’d ensure it.
Sophia’s eyes widened and I wasn’t sure if she was about to cry. She nodded hastily. “You’re right. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Good, okay. I’m glad we’re on the same page.” I spun on my heel and began walking once more. Our trainers squeaked against the shiny marble floors, echoing around us. I burst through the doors leading to the garage, greeting mechanics and engineers as I passed them.
When I laid my eyes on the two McLaren cars – side by side, their orange, black and grey livery shining like a gemstone under the halogens – I shivered. I would never get over the thrill of being able to race one of these beasts. I smoothed my hand over my car – number 68 – with a smile.
“Hey, baby,” I breathed. “Ready for some fun?”
My car’s engineer approached, clipboard in hand, to run me through the tweaks and upgrades they’d made. I nodded, listening intently but never taking my eyes off my car as I circled her, checking over every inch.
“When will I get a chance to try her out?” I asked, interrupting the engineer’s flow of technical gibberish.
“Oh, well, um—” His gaze flitted over my shoulder.
“We’ll trailer them to Silverstone later this afternoon.”
I tensed up, hearing Kristian answer my question. I turned around, trying my best not to show my excitement to lay eyes on him.
“Good. I’d like to get a practice in before Vegas,” I replied, crossing my arms beneath my bust. To my annoyance, his attention turned away from me immediately and he pulled his phone from his pocket. His thumbs tapped against the screenas he typed, and I watched them intently. He had nice hands, I decided – strong, with neat, short nails. My mind began to dream up elaborate fantasies and I was lost in imagining how good those fingers would feel buried inside me. I shuddered.Man,I needed to get laid.
“We can set something up for tomorrow,” Kristian said, and I faltered, wondering for a moment if I’d spoken aloud. When I was slow to answer, his eyes – an attractive green colour – flickered up to look at me, brows raised. “I assume that suits you? The car will be at the track later this afternoon, but it won’t be ready to drive. I can arrange for a practice run tomorrow morning.”
Oh, thank fuck – he was talking about the test drive. I resisted a relieved laugh and instead ran my hand through my hair, flicking it over my shoulder. “Sure, I’ll be there.”
Kristian’s attention turned back to his phone. “I trust that fits with your busy schedule,” he replied sarcastically.
This time I did laugh aloud before pursing my lips with annoyance. “I’ll make it work.”
“Good.” Kristian turned away, phone still in hand, without so much as a goodbye. God, he was frustrating and shamefully that just fuelled my interest further. I was going to teach that rude, arrogant arsehole who therealboss was around here.
As if on cue, my own phone pinged, and I fished it out. With a heavy sigh, I spotted the reminder about a press conference. No rest for the wicked. I headed for the exit and noticed Kristian was talking with Sophia and her engineer. His phone was away now, and I felt a startling wave of jealousy swell up within me. So, Sophia was somehow more deserving of his full attention? That wouldn’t do. I waved to catch Sophia’s attention as I passed by.
“You coming?” I asked her.
The blonde’s face brightened and after muttering her farewells to her engineer and Kristian, she scurried out of the garage to catch me up.
“I didn’t realise we were travelling together today,” she said, falling in step beside me.
