“She remodeled it recently, expanded from one floor to two,” Val explains, and I raise both my brows. “Evangelin is the owner and a dear friend of mine. Her husband, Carlos Klein, bought it for her after he won his first championship,” she says and opens the door while I pick up my jaw off the floor.
Carlos Klein is a legend in Formula One. Papa has spoken about him many times. Never in my entire life did I expect to meet someone as close to him as his wife.
I manage to move my feet to follow Val inside. A tiny woman with long, white hair comes up to us, greeting Val with a hug and me with a warm smile.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I croak out in the best French I can muster. Evangelin holds out her hand, and I give it a gentle shake.
“We can speak in English, dear, don’t worry,” she says, and I barely hold back a sigh. “Feel free to call me when you need something,” she adds as I study her shop.
Casual clothes sit on the racks that are neatly distributed downstairs, so Val leads me upstairs with her instead.
“What are we looking for?” she asks while I move to one of the racks on the far right.
A sleeveless silk dark-orange dress with a slightly low v-neck, a slit up the thigh, and lace around the breast area catches my attention. I run my hands over the fabric, falling in love with the soft feel of it.
“Try it on,” Val says and pulls me out of my thoughts.
“I could never. My shoulders are too broad. It won’t look good,” I reply and walk past it, my heart staying with it as I browse through more options that will hide my scar and shoulders.
“Can I ask you something?” Val’s voice reveals how unsure she is about whatever she wants to know. I nod, my eyes and attention on her. “Do you not notice the way people fall at your feet no matter what you wear?”
A nervous chuckle escapes me, but she shakes her head, giving me a serious frown.
“I mean it. You put on that dress, and I promise you, you’ll knock the breath out of everyone, especially my brother.”
This makes a blush and a smile settle on my face.
The thought of Adrian drooling over my body does give the dress an advantage I can’t deny.
“Where are the dressing rooms?”
Chapter 41
Adrian
“Stopfussingwiththetie. I just fixed it,” Gabriel says and slaps my hand away from where I was about to place it on my tie for the third time in three minutes.
“It’s gotta look perfect,” I mumble, taking a deep breath and acknowledging the nervous feeling in my chest with a small groan.
“Why?” Gabriel teases, smirking at me because he clearly already knows the answer.
“Because Nevaeh is going to look perfect, and her date-not-date should match that,” I reply anyway, running a hand over my pocket square, the one Val gave me because it’s made of the same material and color as Nevaeh’s dress.
“You really, truly like her, don’t you?” Gabriel asks, a serious expression replacing the amused look he was wearing a moment before.
“So much,” I admit.
My heart confirms my words a second later when my eyes catch Nevaeh as she gets out of my sister’s Velocità Rossa SUV. Every single word in the English, Italian, and French vocabulary is knocked out of my head at the sight of her.
Good fucking God.
I don’t know what I did to deserve laying my eyes on her, but I’d do it over and over again if it meant I’d get to look at her every single day of my life. Preferably in that dress.
Who am I kidding?
Any piece of clothing on Nevaeh makes me a weak man.
Weak for her.
