8. Nevaeh
After staring at my clothes for a very long moment, I realize it’s time for backup. Otherwise, I’ll stand in front of my closet for another hour and remain uncertain. I know what could look good, and what I should definitely not wear, but I need to look wow. Adrian is going to be at this meeting, and I want his jaw to drop when he sees me.
If anyone knows how to dress to get that reaction, it’s Aileen. She always wears the most breathtaking outfits.
I walk down the hallway, finding her in Nova’s room.
A curious grin spreads across her face when she sees the uncertainty on my face.
How can I help you, darling?she signs, and relief washes over me.
It takes me a minute to explain the situation to her, and she immediately goes for the black dress that hugs my curves in all the right ways. The long sleeves will keep me warm and so will the turtleneck shape of it. It’s sophisticated, but my breasts and ass make it less so. It’s perfect.
Aileen tells me to spin once before clapping approvingly.
A dropped jaw won’t be the only reaction you’ll get from him, I can assure you,she signs and winks, making a small laugh fall from my lips.
I don’t know if Adrian will even remember me. Three months is a long time, especially for someone like him who meets thousands and thousands of people, but I hope he’ll see me and remember me because I haven’t been able to forget him.
“Thank you, Aileen,” I say and sign before giving her a brief hug and hurrying into the bathroom to put on some makeup.
I draw a thin line of purple eyeliner on my lid, making sure it’s not too much for work. I tie up my hair so half of it is in a bun and half is falling freely down my shoulders with a few strands framing my face.
Once I’m happy with my look, I rush downstairs to my car. I’m close to being late, and today is not the day to be. Luckily, there isn’t a lot of traffic, and I even arrive before Gillian does. There is a note on my desk from him, asking me to get some more chairs for the drivers and put them in his office. Holly, a woman from marketing, helps me locate them, and I carry two of them to Gillian’s office. I pick up the third one when a too-familiar hand moves on top of mine to stop me.
My eyes shift to Lincoln’s hazel ones.
“Let me,” he offers, but I smack his hand away and bring the chair to the office myself. “You look beautiful,” Lincoln says when he joins me in the big room.
His compliment takes me by surprise, but I don’t respond.
“Come on, talk to me, butterfly. Don’t you want to make a mean comment or throw an insult my way? Isn’t that the greatest part of your day?” His words cause a low, involuntary chuckle to leave me.
“I’m at work, Linc. Unlike you, I’m capable of being professional,” I reply while cleaning up some of Gillian’s paperwork. It allows me to distract myself from the excitement bubbling in my chest.
Adrian is going to be here soon.
“Ah, there is the mean comment. Thank God, I was starting to think you weren’t feeling well,” he says as he sinks down on one of the chairs I brought.
I roll my eyes and turn around to hide my smile. Why am I in such a good mood around Lincoln? Some of the usual anger I feel toward him has somehow lifted, but not enough to make me forgive him, not even remotely close.
“Actually, I’m feeling great, Linc, despite your presence,” I say and spin around to see Adrian Romana standing in the door frame.
His eyes widen as soon as they lock onto mine, and I try to hide my smile by pulling part of my bottom lip between my teeth. He looks very handsome in his blue dress shirt and black jeans. His blonde hair sits in waves on his head, and his lips, the bottom one a bit bigger than the upper one, are pinker than the last time I saw them.
Adrian is smiling now as he takes a step toward me.
“It’s you,” he states, an expression of awe on his face. “Did you know we’d see each other again?” Adrian asks, and I beam up at him.
He remembers me…
“Wait, how do you two know each other?” Lincoln says, trying to interrupt my moment with the gorgeous Monegasque.
“I didn’t. I only found out a few days ago,” I reply, focusing solely on Adrian, whose attention hasn’t drifted from my face once since he came into the room.
I like capturing his gaze because, when he directs it at me, my heart races. Shivers run down my spine when he smirks at me.
“Well, a deal is a deal,” he points out and extends his hand for me to shake. “Hi, I’m Adrian,” he says, so I slide my hand into his.
Electricity shoots through me from my fingertips all the way down to my toes. Every cell in my body bursts to life as if they’ve all been dormant until this very second. Until I got to touch Adrian Romana.
For a moment, I forget to answer, making a blush settle on my cheeks.
“Hi, I’m Nevaeh,” I blurt out, my words too quick and breathless to come across in the cool, unaffected way I wish they would.
“Nevaeh. That’s ‘heaven’ spelled backward, isn’t it?” Not a lot of people pick up on that, and I’m surprised Adrian did this quickly. I smile at him with a nod.
Lincoln stands up, capturing my attention.
“Yes, it is, now back off, Romana,” he growls, his fingers curling into fists.
Adrian cocks an unimpressed brow as he studies the irrational man who is trying, and failing, to intimidate him. I can’t help but laugh at how ridiculous Lincoln looks, especially next to the taller, older F1 driver.
Both their heads turn in my direction, and I cover my mouth.
“I’m sorry, but what was that?” I ask, making Adrian turn away from Lincoln to hide his own smile. Lincoln shoots daggers my way, but I merely go back to cleaning up Gillian’s paperwork to get my heart to stop hammering so hard in my chest.
The moment is interrupted by Gabriel Biancheri and Kyle Hughes entering the room. The World Champion introduces himself politely and so does the second Grenzenlos driver. I offer for them to sit down when my phone starts ringing. Gillian’s name flashes on my screen, sending a bad feeling through me.
“Hello?” I step away from all four drivers to get some privacy.
Eyes burn my backside. I try to ignore them, convinced they’re either Adrian’s or Lincoln”s. They could also both be staring at me, but I have other things to worry about right now.
“Nevaeh, I’m going to be a bit late for the meeting. Please start it without me.” Anxiety immediately floods my chest. Sensing my distress from his demand, he goes on, “Just introduce yourself, ask them some questions. You’ll be fine.” Gillian hangs up on me before I’m allowed to respond.
Perfect.
My feet bring me back over to where all four men are sitting. Kyle is reading something on his phone, and Gabriel is texting someone who is making him grin from ear to ear. I bet it’s Valentina Romana. They’ve been dating for a while now, and from what they’ve said in interviews, they’re quite happy.
“Um, I apologize, but Mr. Fender will be a bit late,” I start and decide to sit down in the chair next to Gillian’s. Lincoln watches me like a hawk while Adrian’s gaze shifts between me and the floor.
“No problem. We’re not in a rush,” Adrian replies to make me feel better, and I let out a small laugh I don’t mean.
I’m too nervous.
“Why don’t you introduce yourself? I mean, that’s what the meeting is for anyway, right?” Adrian suggests and leans forward to ensure I only look at him.
I could kiss him for giving me a place to start, for distracting me from the way my hands are shaking from anxiety.
“Okay, well, my name is Nevaeh Fuchs, I’m German, and I’ve been at Griffin Sports for two days now.”
“And you like photography,” Adrian adds, causing my heart to flutter. I nod with a small grin. “Well, it’s a pleasure, Nevaeh. We never get to meet journalists and reporters beforehand, especially ones who are as beautiful as you,” he says, and my breathing hitches.
Heat rushes into my cheeks at his flirtatiousness. I can’t help but flash him a smile.
“Seriously, Romana, watch yourself,” Lincoln growls, jealousy dripping from his lips. What the fuck is wrong with him? At this point, he’s just embarrassing himself with this territorial shit.
“You need to calm down, Nash,” Adrian warns. “You’re acting like a child.” I couldn’t agree more.
“Ah, I see. You’re still pissed because I got the seat at Grenzenlos that you weren’t good enough for all those years ago,” Lincoln replies.
I didn’t know Adrian had been a candidate for a Grenzenlos seat in the past, but it’s unsurprising. He’s one of the best drivers I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. Papa met Adrian’s grandfather and father a few years before their passing, and he always told me what great racers they were in their times.
It must be in their genes.
“Says the guy whose daddy is best friends with my father, the team principal of the Grenzenlos team,” I blurt out, causing all of their eyes to go wide.
Adrian snickers and leans forward in the chair to run his hands over his face. Gabriel bites down on the inside of his cheek to hide his amusement, and Kyle pulls his thin lips into a straight line. Lincoln, on the other hand, is boiling from anger. If I look closely enough, I’m sure I could see steam coming out of his ears.
“Can I talk to you in private for a moment?” Lincoln says with a husky, rough voice, letting me know he’s more upset with me than he’s ever been.
“Mr. Fender is counting on me to—” I’m cut off by Gillian hurrying into the room.
“I’m here. I apologize for being late, gentlemen,” he says and turns to me. “Nevaeh, you may take a moment to speak with Mr. Nash in private,” Gillian adds, and I want to ask him why the hell he’s doing this to me, but, of course, he doesn’t know my history with the Formula One driver.
Lincoln gets up and waits for me to walk past him before following closely behind.
I decide to lead him into one of the empty conference rooms.
He moves past me while I hold the door open for him. None of the walls are made of glass as they would be in most conference rooms, which means we have complete privacy.
My heart is beating even faster now, and guilt is slowly creeping in as I think about what just happened, but Lincoln’s words make me more mad than anything else.
“Do you feel good now?” is the first thing he asks.
I close the door and lean against it, watching the angry man figure out what to do with himself.
“You humiliated me in there,” he points out, but I stay quiet. “Why won’t you speak to me?” Lincoln runs his fingers through his hair and then leans against the table in the middle of the room.
“Because you’re a hypocrite. You were practically pissing on me to mark your goddamn territory, and I didn’t react the way you are about my saying something everyone knows,” I say, and he narrows his eyes at me.
“It’s not the same, and you know it. You just undermined my ability as a racer. You basically called me a nepotism baby,” he replies, rolling up the sleeves of his black button-up before running a hand down the length of his face.
“You acted as if I was your fucking property, Lincoln.” My voice is so calm, I’m convinced it irritates him.
“You’re the fucking hypocrite, Nevs, do you know that?” Lincoln lets out a dry laugh and then a groan of frustration. “You can’t forgive me for something stupid I said, but here you are, using your words to hurt me.” This makes my heart drop. No matter how much I dislike him right now, I don’t want to hurt him.
“You don’t care enough about me to be offended by what I say,” I defend, and he closes the distance between us until his hot, uneven breath is on my skin.
“You don’t think I care?” Linc asks and lowers his mouth so his lips are almost touching mine. “Your opinion matters to me. Your words affect me. Now, tell me, what makes you think I don’t care about you because I sure as hell never gave you that idea,” he explains as his hands lift to each side of my face and press against the door, caging me between them.
I don’t like this at all. There was a time when I adored his proximity, but that time has long passed. Now, I just want to push him away.
“Do I have to remind you how angry I am with you?” I ask, and he grins for the first time since I made that comment in Gillian’s office.
“No, but you might have to remind yourself because I can tell how badly you want me.”
I place my hand on his chest before pushing him back to create space between us.
“You’re out of your mind if you think anything will ever happen between us. I loathe you,” I spit the last three words and open the door to get back to the other drivers.