Chapter Two #2
Astrid felt a flare of irritation. ‘Busy recovering from a raging party with a gang of models?’ She took a step closer.
‘You may have a lot more power than most drivers out there, but your contractual obligations to your team remain the same. In this business, every second counts, and I won’t leave until you agree to make a statement. ’
‘You seem upset about the models, Astrid, are you feeling jealous?’ A wry ghost of a smile appeared on his lips, one strong hand rising from the water to trace a lazy path along the rim of the steel tub.
The way he’d said her name sent a warm shiver down her spine.
As did the unmistakeable flash of hunger in his gaze.
She remembered how openly Apollo had flirted with her during those first weeks, and how quickly and primly she had made clear to him her rules about never dating a driver.
He’d flashed her his stunning smile and made a point never to press the issue again. But these hungry looks had persisted…
As had a curiosity of her own at how tempted she’d been to allow her tightly knit boundaries to be unravelled by a man like Apollo Accardi.
A vision of what that might look like entered her mind: being held and touched in a way she had denied herself for almost eight years.
But she knew all too well what happened when she threw caution to the wind and indulged in a little harmless fun.
There was a reason why she kept her world so tightly controlled, after all.
She pushed away her moment of weakness and reminded herself of the task at hand.
‘Apollo, it’s my job to stop drivers from ruining their careers, and I’m damned good at it.’ She crossed her arms over her chest, putting on her best stern, no-nonsense attitude. ‘So it’s in your best interests to let me help you. I won’t leave until we have agreed upon a course of action.’
‘You’re wasting your time,’ he growled.
‘This is important for your team, and—’
‘Not my team any more,’ he ground out. ‘Now, unless you want an eyeful, I’d suggest you leave while I get out of my little bath.’
Astrid paused, taking in the hard line of his jaw and feeling a cold foreboding in her stomach.
Despite Tristan’s insistence that this was an impulsive action, Apollo seemed utterly serious about breaking his contract.
She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose hard.
They could have threatened any other driver with sanctions and fines and kept the upper hand.
Apollo was not just any driver, though; he was a man with the power and means to pay his way out of any situation.
Before she could process his warning, Apollo was standing up, water sluicing down over his very muscular, very naked body. She couldn’t help but see every inch of skin he so brazenly put on show, and felt a blush begin immediately in her cheeks as she fought to look away without reacting.
She almost succeeded too, only for something to grab her attention so suddenly that her entire body seemed to freeze colder than the tub he still stood in.
The long, raised, curved line was a darker shade of brown than the rest of his skin, and should have been completely innocuous, considering the tattoos that covered most of his upper torso and back.
But this… .marking was low in his groin, hidden from usual view.
Like a trigger, a memory unlocked in her mind: a masked auction in Venice; an instant attraction with a handsome stranger who’d made her laugh; her nervous excitement at his offer to go upstairs to the penthouse for a drink…
until they’d become trapped in the lift together during a power cut caused by a violent storm.
An agreement to keep their masks on, to stay anonymous. Pleasure so intense, she’d felt forever changed.
Her hands had explored his hard muscles in the semi-darkness of the lift.
Her fingertips had followed a long, curved line of a scar, and she’d asked how it came to be.
He’d given a vague description of a childhood accident with a bow and arrow, and how he’d wanted to have a funny tattoo designed around it, but hadn’t got round to it yet—a tattoo of a bow, sending an arrow free…
.identical to the one that now sat low on Apollo Accardi’s groin.
‘I told you I was getting out,’ Apollo said gruffly as he grabbed a towel to sling across his hips, shielding his skin from her shell-shocked view.
Astrid was only half aware of her own movements as she shakily took a step backwards, half-stumbling over her luggage on the floor.
Her stomach tightened as her eyes rose up to lock on his face.
This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Because if it was…
‘Are you okay?’ Apollo asked, frowning now. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
Perhaps she had. Or perhaps her mind had just finally made the connection with the memory that her body seemed to have recognised instantly the moment this powerfully built, enigmatic man had walked into her meeting room on the day he’d signed his Falco Roux contract last summer, and every damned day ever since.
His accent was different, his body covered in tattoos and more muscles that the man she remembered. It couldn’t be him, and yet…
It was.
Her breathing shallowed and a tremor began in her legs so suddenly that she feared she might collapse completely. So, she did the only logical thing she could think of when faced with the realisation that the most famous driver in Elite One racing was the father of her six-year-old son.
She grabbed her bags and ran.