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That made me laugh. “Unless you’ve had a killer face-lift, I suspect we’re about the same age.”
“Thirty-three. As you can see, I was a child bride.”
Shit. I barked a laugh before I could stop myself, and a sharp look from Jeremy had me biting it back. This guy was funny, though. Not like any CEO I’d spent time around.
“I’m thirty, so I guess that makes me a toddler.”
He finger gunned me. “Exactly.” Then he checked the time on his wide-face watch. I recognized it from the Rossi-Rolex collection when they’d partnered five years ago. It was a beauty, but my hands stayed under the hood too much to be a watch guy. Looking at it on Luca, I questioned that decision. “Meeting time. We don’t get in there, my sister will come hunting, and we don’t want to piss her off.”
Since Luca struck me as someone like me—who wouldn’t keep to a schedule if it had been up to him—it made sense his sibling counterpart was more like Jeremy. I racked my mind for the COO’s name. Surely that information had been in the dossier Jeremy had given me. I’d read it. Absorbed a lot of it. But not that.
I held out my hand. “Lead the way.”
There were several people milling around the conference room. A good balance of men and women. Luca and Sally guided us to the front of the room, where Jeremy would be presenting our offer of partnership. My role was moral support, as well as answering questions about the operational side of the business.
As I pulled my chair out, I looked up, my gaze catching on the back of a woman in a fitted navy-blue dress.
This time, I wasn’t fooled into thinking I was seeing a look-alike.
Before I could make sense of why she’d be here, Luca tapped her on the shoulder. “Clara, I’d like you to meet Jeremy and Jake Hayes.”
She spun, a practiced smile on her plump lips, focusing on Jeremy. When her gaze swung to me, her smile slipped, replaced by a look of complete confusion that had to mirror mine.
“Jake?” she uttered breathlessly. Her lips rolled over her teeth as soon as my name was out, but it was too late.
From my periphery, Luca’s head swung back and forth. “You’ve met my sister?”
Clara Rossi.
What a fuckin’ time for the name of Rossi Motors’ COO to emerge from the abyss of my memories. Would it have made a difference? I wouldn’t have associated my Clara with an executive—
No. Not my Clara.
This was the last place I would have expected to run into Clara. She belonged at The Tavern, with her wild hair and leather pants clinging to every one of her soft curves. More recently, she belonged in her fancy SUV and pretty, starched dress with her cute little girl holding her hand—not at the head of the company my brother had deemed necessary for ours to continue to grow. Yet, here she was, looking right at home.
She recovered before I did. “Yes. Remember when I told you about my brake lights going out? Jake was the mechanic who so kindly stayed late to fix them. But I suspect Jake is a lot more than a mechanic.”
Jeremy laughed tightly. “My brother likes to make sure his hands don’t get too clean. He works somewhat undercover in a Motor Zone garage once a week. It helps him keep his finger on the pulse of things.”
“Interesting.” Luca nodded. “While I like the idea, I don’t think they’ll let me work at the factory. I’ll just stick to riding our product.”
“Quality control,” Sally Fink deadpanned.
“That’s right. If I don’t make sure the new Triumph model runs as smooth as last year’s, who will?” Luca smirked at his CFO, who shook her head, a wry smile threatening to break out on her serious face.
I raised a brow at Clara. “Your lights still good?”
She straightened her spine and raised her chin, washing away her previous confusion.
“I haven’t been pulled over again, so I think so.” She offered the stiffest smile she could. “Thanks for saving the day.”
“Yes, thank you, Jake,” Luca added. “I appreciate you going out of your way to help Clara.”
I nodded. “Not a big deal. If I hadn’t been there, I suspect she and Nellie could have charmed one of the other guys to do it.”
Luca brightened visibly, almost bouncing on his toes. “That’s right, you got to meet my niece. She has a way about her, doesn’t she?”
“Cute kid,” I agreed.
