Page 144 of Downforce

I stuff my mouth with another piece of bread and chew slowly while my mind races with all of the what-ifs.

What if I mess up an athlete’s career?

What if I fail at this like I did big law?

What if I do irreparable harm to the sport?

The questions might seem outsized and absurd, but they race through my mind as if they were an unavoidable truth.

“I thought you were on vacation?” I tell Jen. “Not another work trip.” I try to make a joke out of it, but she eyes me as if she knows what I’m doing.

“I’m hungry. We came out to enjoy good seafood, the bay, and each other.”

She holds up her hands, conceding. “Alright, I’ll drop it … for now. But I’m not giving up.”

I call our waiter over before she can go on about how this would be such a great opportunity and enlighten me on how the time to strike is now. I refrain from telling her that mid-season would be the worst possible moment to try to take on the role. But that thought only leads me to also concede how right now is a terrible time for a F1 driver to lose their assistant.

Right in the middle of the season.

I can’t help but wonder how Travis is faring. I’d already booked the majority of his travel from now through December. Amato handles the direct travel for races, but changes or extra trips due to sponsorship deals or anything else were mostly my wheelhouse.

Even as I push those questions to the back of my mind and focus on my time with one of my closest friends, I’m well aware that they’re still there. This is the longest time Travis and I have gone without speaking in our adulthood. It hurts, but I also know I’m not the one being irrational here.

“I’ll see you when you come to the States, right?” Jennifer asks as we approach her hotel.

“Yeah—” I stop because now I’m not so certain. I would’ve traveled to the States for the American races later this year, but now I don’t know if I’ll even be needed. “I’ll let you know,” I tell her.

She frowns but then shakes her head before pulling me into a hug.

“I know fighting with your brother is the last thing you wanted, but mark my words, this is actually going to be a good thing. At the very least, you’ll likely end up married to that very hot, half-Brazilian, half-British stud that’s head over heels in love with you.”

I laugh as we break apart from the hug. “Who said anything about marriage?”

She rolls her eyes. “I saw the way he looked at you at breakfast today. The man looked at you like you were the only car he wanted to drive.”

I bark out a laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”

After leaving Jennifer’s hotel, I feel lighter than I have in days. I also missed the hell out of Max, which is absurd since I saw him less than ten hours ago. It’s not like he’s out of town. But he leaves tomorrow for Spain, the final of their European races for the season.

Thus, I follow my heart and press the button to his floor in our building. I knock only once before Max pulls the door open.

“Why didn’t you use your key?”

It takes a beat for me to answer because I’m too preoccupied staring him up and down. He’s dressed in a pair of black and green plaid pajama bottoms. I ignore the question about the key that he gave me last week to his place, and what the implications of that are.

I press my hand to his six pack, pushing him back inside, and close the door behind me, locking it without looking. Max’s smirk is lethal and has the muscles of my most intimate space tightening.

Without a word, I keep my hand against his stomach, pushing him backward until he walks into his room. My handbag falls somewhere on the floor between the hallway and the bedroom.

“What is this?” he asks, the playful yet sexy note in his voice hardening my nipples.

I press him until the backs of his legs hit the bed, and even then, I push him harder until he tumbles onto it. He doesn’t have time to bounce once before I straddle him, taking his lips with mine. I groan against his mouth when his hand comes up, cupping the back of my head, holding me to him as if he’s afraid of me somehow getting away.

The desperation of his hold sends a thrill straight to my core, soaking my panties.

“Do you want to tell me what’s gotten into you?” he asks.

I shake my head before crawling down the length of his body, bringing his pajama bottoms with me. His cock is semi-hard already.