Chapter 13
I’d probably fuckedup my chances at interviewing for VANT Racing already, by opening my big mouth on their star driver, but I wasn’t ever going to be the person who let someone with a huge ego talk down to my friends.
As much as I wanted to work for VANT, I was also happy flipping houses with Jesse right now. I told myself that over and over as I ate some kind of mini hamburger with Charlotte, who grilled me for information like she was in the CIA, while telling me very few details about The Daymakers or their lives. Honestly, it was a masterclass in being good at PR.
Antony walked over, and I stiffened. Charlotte leaned closer to me, dropping her voice low. “I love my guys, but holy hell, what a hottie.”
She was right, of course. Antony Barbieri was universally sexy. Perfectly straight men would look at him and question themselves. His hair was a dark gunmetal silver, his skin a warm gold that seemed to defy age. He was clean-shaven, and his jaw had clearly maintained its sharpness. I wondered if that was due to cosmetic surgery or just good genes. His eyes had crow’s feet, the only hint that he was older than you might think.
But the most attractive thing about him was the way he looked at Vanessa. His face softened as he gazed at her, like the sun rose just for her. It was sweet, and it made my heart clench in my chest. One day, someone would love me like that. I wouldn’t accept anything less.
He held out a glass of wine to Charlotte, and another to me. “Sparkling apple juice,” he murmured. I smiled gratefully at him, more touched by the small gesture than I normally would be, because… hormones.
Charlotte coughed. “Mine definitely isn’t apple juice.” She sipped again. “Delicious, though.” She smacked her lips, and Antony laughed.
“Thank you. We have a vineyard just north of here, and we like to pretend to be vintners.”
Charlotte tipped her glass to him. “I’m no expert, but it tastes better than the stuff you can get at Costco.” She smirked, then looked over her shoulder. “I think Poet wants to leave. Thank you for inviting us, Mr. Barbieri. We’ll be in touch?”
He nodded. “Absolutely. We look forward to working with you.”
Charlotte hugged me. “Stay in touch. I like you!” Then she bounced away. I watched her go, Moss following her with his eyes, as if he wanted to devour her right here on the lawn.
Antony shook his head, amused. “I remember being that young. Everything burns red hot all the time.” He turned back toward me. “I assume Hayes has informed you that we’re looking for test drivers over at VANT?”
I swallowed hard. “He has. Mr. Barbieri?—”
“Please, call me Antony.”
“Antony, I promise you, I can get the most out of any car you put me in, either on the track or in sims. However, I have to tell you that I kind of come with an extra for a little while.” I made a vague motion toward my stomach. “And it doesn’t really sit right with me to leave the baby at daycare from the day it’s born. So I wouldn’t be much good to you for a while. To be fair to the team, maybe you should find someone else. Someone who can make VANT Racing their number one focus.”
Antony made a noise of disagreement. “Just bring the baby with you. I remember the newborn stage—they sleep and eat a lot, and you’d have one hundred percent permission to do what you need to keep the baby happy. Hayes will also be there. In fact, as we get a little further into establishment, I might look at putting in a creche. The days of families being able to live on single incomes are long gone. To be honest, it’s getting difficult for families to even be able to live on dual incomes.
“We want to get the best people, and to get the best people, you have to pave roads to help them succeed. Best to start as we intend to go on, hmm?” I could see him considering the idea as I just gaped at him. “Something for the board later. If you wish to test drive for us, the opportunity is yours. We’ll figure out the rest when it becomes an issue.”
I was nodding slowly, as I tried to form words. “Yes. One hundred percent yes. I… You won’t regret it, Antony. I promise.”
He gave me a broad smile, and in that moment, I could see the young man Vanessa must have fallen in love with. “I know I won’t. You have a hunger I recognize. I saw it in a young woman breaking into an industry that had no space for her thirty years ago.” I had a feeling he was talking about Vanessa, and when he looked over at her in the crowd, I knew I was right. “As a testament to that young woman who wouldn’t give up, we try to provide opportunities to other women in male-dominated industries.”
It might not sit quite right that I was getting this position because I was a woman, but I didn’t care. I’d come up against so many drivers who had their seats because of who their daddy was, or their mentor, or simply because they were rich enough to pay for their seat. It wasn’t an industry that gave opportunities for fairness, so I’d take whatever hand-ups I could get.
My eyes snagged on Rocco Passero. “Uh, in the interest of starting off with honest communication, Antony, I might’ve already offended your star driver by pretending not to recognize him. And perhaps telling him that if he tried hard, he could also be a rockstar like Moss Aguilar one day.” I winced at my own words, but I was determined to start on a clean slate.
Antony threw back his head and laughed. “I am fairly sure Rocco’s ego can take it, Tally. Actually, I’m fairly sure his ego could take being run over by a monster truck several hundred times with no ill effects.” He shook his head, still chuckling. “That being said, we’ll soon be a team, so please, do not antagonize him on purpose.”
I nodded noncommittally, because as I found Rocco in the crowd, I found his gaze burning back at me. I wasn’t sure I could completely keep that promise. Something about his arrogance got a rise out of me.
However, this was my second chance, and I wasn’t about to fuck it up over a guy.
Again.
As the night wore on, I drifted back to Jesse. He was still holding up the railing on the deck, but had been talking to different people during the night, beer in hand. Every time someone came up to us, though, he introduced me first.
However, how he introduced me varied. Sometimes it was, “This is Tally; she’s my business partner.” But other times, it was, “This is Tally; she was the youngest rookie to ever drive in Daytona.” Either way, I flushed every time.
There was something about Jesse that drew people in. It was the casual way he held himself, like he didn’t care that he was in a mansion, surrounded by people who had nothing to do with him. He belonged wherever he said he belonged.
I shivered lightly as the sun set, taking the last vestiges of warmth with it. Jesse wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer without even skipping a beat in the conversation he was having with one of the VANT marketing guys. They were discussing wine from southwest California, of all things, but Jesse somehow kept up with the conversation, even though I’d never seen him put a wine glass to his lips in the time I’d known him.
I rested my head against his chest, soaking in his warmth. He smelled so damn good, it should be against the law. Some kind of woodsy scent that one hundred percent came out of a bottle, but still made me want to lick him from head to toe.
Wait. No. Bad, Tally. Bad.
Warning signs were flashing in my brain, but my touch-starved soul hit the override button. Just for a moment, I could appreciate the warmth of holding another human being.
Where’s the harm?
It wasn’t like I was going to strip down on the back patio of my future employer’s house and ask him to take me. This was just a harmless hug between friends. That was it. If I couldn’t help but curl my fingers into the strong muscles of his back, that was on me, not Jesse.
His arm tightened around me a little more, his hand coming down to rub the top of my arm vigorously to warm it, as the topic moved on to burgeoning suburbs for real estate in San Francisco.
I breathed out deeply, feeling the steady thump of his heart against my cheek. This was getting a little desperate, but I’d take it. I closed my eyes for a moment. Man, this pregnancy thing was making me tired all the time. I really needed a cheeseburger and a nap.
Lips touched the top of my head. “You okay there, Tally? Want to head out?”
Sighing, I straightened. “Yes, please.”
His fingers trailed down my arm one last time. “Let’s go find Hayes.”
It didn’t take long to find Hayes, who was talking to what looked like a group of cowboys, judging by the hats and boots, as well as one of Vanessa’s other partners, Nathan. They were all laughing, and I felt almost bad dragging Hayes away.
Then the baby kicked me right in the bladder, and I wondered if there was a countdown of how many times it could do that before I peed myself.
Hayes reached out and grabbed my hand, dragging me close. “Tally, this is Tessa May. She was the first woman in professional bull riding. You might know her as T.M. Moore? She’s sponsored by VANT. And these are her partners, Branch and Frankie.” I looked at the two guys, who looked like they’d climbed straight out of Yellowstone and straight into any hot-blooded woman’s spank bank.
I blinked a little as shit suddenly came back to me. “Holy shit. T.M. Moore! I watched you ride in your debut season. You were amazing. You signed a rider number for my dad once in Texas. I still have it framed somewhere. Wow.” I shook her hand hard. She had to be in her early thirties now, not that you’d know it. I remembered watching her on the television, thinking if she could make it in bull riding, then I could definitely be a race car driver. “I got into NASCAR because I was inspired by you.”
Tessa May frowned. “Your dad was a cab driver?”
I nodded furiously. “Yes!”
She smiled widely. “I remember him. He said you wanted to be a driver. I’m so glad you got there! He really made an impression on me on that day. I was worried I was going to fuck everything up, and your dad was there, telling me about you, and how you looked up to me, and it made everything clear again. I owed him a lot more than an autograph. What a small world.” She shook her head like it was unbelievable, which it definitely was. “How is he?”
I swallowed hard, fighting to keep my smile on my face. “He died a couple of years ago.”
She gave me a look filled with empathy. “I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sure he’d be proud of you, though. He definitely was back then.”
I nodded, not trusting my voice. Jesse stepped closer, touching my back with gentle reassurance. “We should get Tally home,” he said softly to Hayes, who looked at me, his face softening with sympathy.
“Yeah, of course.” He stuck out his hand and said his farewells, and I did too.
Jesse’s hand remained on the small of my back as we navigated our way out of the still-thick crowd. It had been a hell of a night, but I was looking forward to being back in our little bubble. I hadn’t realized how secure I’d become in the routine that Hayes, Jesse and I now had.
The valet brought Hayes’s car, and we climbed in. I let my head flop back onto the head rest. “Is it just me, or was there a disproportionate amount of group relationships at that party?” Jesse asked, and I snorted a laugh. I’d noticed the same thing.
Hayes tapped the steering wheel as he waited for the gate to open. “Not just you. Maybe they have, like, a group-relationship social club or something? But they all seemed happy, right? I don’t know, man. It would be hard not to be a jealous asshole in that situation.”
I was keeping my mouth shut, because I’d struggled holding down a relationship with one guy, let alone five, like Charlotte and The Daymakers. But I mean… I could dream of a perfect world. A world where I could be loved by more than one partner. I could rely on them. I would never be alone again.
And the sex. Man… imagine the sex.
I swallowed the moan in my throat, letting out a choked sound. Hayes looked at me in the rearview mirror, and I worked to keep my face impassive. Oblivious to my inner thoughts, he continued. “I mean, it obviously works some of the time, because Vanessa and her little polycule have been together, what? Thirty years? I think, with the right person, I’d be open to it too.”
Jesse’s face whipped toward Hayes. “Seriously?”
Hayes’s eyes met mine, then darted away. “Sure. I mean, I don’t want to fuck another guy, but I wouldn’t mind sharing a woman. Especially if it was with the right person. Or people, I guess.”
Jesse looked out the windshield. “Yeah. Me either, for the right girl.” He pointed to a fast food place. “Let’s go through the drive-thru. Tally’s hungry.”
Holy shit. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I kept reminding myself that they weren’t talking about me in particular. They hadn’t been anything but friendly, really. But there’d been that moment with Jesse the other day at the taco truck. And there were a lot of those moments with Hayes.
Had we just soft launched the idea of a three-way relationship?
“Can I take your order?”
I’ll have a threesome with two handsome guys, who already take care of me better than any of my exes ever have. And a side of fries. Thank you.