Chapter 30
JONAH
“You lose again.” Alex chuckled.
I removed my helmet, my heart racing as I looked at the driver in the race car next to me, Alex Montluke.
Alex took his helmet off. “But you’re an asshole, man, you know that?” he asked, rubbing his head gingerly. “I almost thought you’d kill me when you cut in front of me at the last turn.”
The air crackled with anticipation as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the racetrack at The Thermal Club in Palm Springs, California. It was a beautiful Saturday.
Alex and I gathered here every other month to race. So far, Alex had beaten me every time in the past three visits.
“Have you met Sean or Desmond lately?” he asked as I adjusted my leather gloves.
Alex was the only one of my former business partners who had free time on weekends.
I put a hand to my neck, feeling my pulse race as I hungered for speed. Beside me, Alex—the owner of Montluke Hotels—adjusted the straps of his helmet. His family crest adorned the side of his sleek black race car. He was old money, with wealth going back many generations.
“I met Sean for tennis recently. Desmond said something about Ava’s baby shower coming up.”
Dark-haired and brown-eyed, Alex was the one women were drawn to easily. Especially at race courses, and I could see that he was itching to get out there and meet some of the pretty women who were watching us from the stands, drinks in their hand.
Usually, I’d be interested too. But after meeting Lexi, I couldn’t find it in me to show interest in another woman.
“Fancy another round?” I asked.
His eyes narrowed at me. “Something’s going on,” he said, his look intense and searching.
“Nothing’s going on,” I contradicted.
Hell, I’d been thinking about Lexi’s body, her scent every hour, and had to resist the damn urge to call her up to my office just as often.
“The way you’re driving today?” He shook his head, “You almost sent my car spinning out there, Jonah. You’re taking risks and being reckless. This isn’t like you. What’s going on?”
“Race with me once more, and I’ll tell you,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
Alex liked to pretend that he could read the people around him well, and I liked to pretend that he was full of jack shit.
But today, racing didn’t feel like it used to. The thrill was still there, sure, but I wasn’t twenty-five anymore.
I hated that I could feel age creeping in while Lexi still had all that wild, electric energy ahead of her. She had years left to be reckless while I was starting to crave the quiet. We couldn’t be more different, and I found it mildly troubling.
“You almost ruined my car during the last round,” Alex protested, getting out of his car to survey the minor scratch.
“For this scratch, you’re buying me another car,” he announced.
I laughed. “It’s a trivial paint job. How about I buy you dinner after and call it even?”
“I think it’s even only when I ding your car, Walkers,” Alex said wryly. “I swear, someday, I will.”
He was silent for a moment before he finally asked, “So, what’s up?”
I cast a glance at my name that was stitched on my fireproof suit, my monogram shimmering in gold thread. And all I could think of was a certain woman with red-gold hair, unusually blue eyes and a fiery temper.
“Are things that bad at Altika?” he demanded, walking over to stand next to my car. “I thought things had improved since you’d been there.”
I nodded. “Things haven’t really improved, and I got an earful from an employee about a month ago.”
That made Alex stop in his tracks. “An employee?” He paused.
“Even worse. It was an intern.”
“I bet they’re out on the street, searching for another job now. I don’t blame you.”
“Actually, no. She’s still employed.”
“She?”
I chucked him a wry look. “She,” I confirmed.
He shook his head. “I’d watch out if I were you.”
I nodded. “You don’t have to tell me. She’s fifteen years younger than me.”
He grimaced, and that look instantly set a fire to a desire I hadn’t known I had. I wasn’t supposed to want Lexi for many reasons, but Alex insinuating that I shouldn’t want her? Well, that only made me want her more.
“Let me guess. She’s pretty, and you decided to forgive her?”
I thought back to her looks. Beautiful hair, skin, and body.
I shook my head, “That’s not why. I met her once before at Aurelius.”
Alex cursed, and I turned around to look at him.
“You slept with her, didn’t you, you prick?”
He knew me too well. I didn’t bother responding.
“We didn’t know who each other were back then,” I admitted. “She wasn’t an Altika employee at that time. She started working the following Monday.”
The sun dipped low, casting long shadows across the racetrack. The air smelled of gasoline and anticipation. The two of us leaned against our race cars, thoughtful.
“Go to HR. Tell them you made a mistake and ask them to place her in another office building.”
“Next option.”
“You place her elsewhere. Don’t you know a meditation app company that works out of New Jersey where she could work?”
“Next option.”
“Move her to the fortieth floor since you’re so desperate to keep her close,” he said, in frustration. “Seriously, was the sex that good?”
Mind-blowing, I wanted to say, but I didn’t.
I still remembered the way she had shuddered when she came on my fingers. The way she had rocked her hips while we fucked, meeting my rhythm and challenging me. The feel of her plump, round breast in the palm of my hand and under my tongue. The little gasps she’d made as I drove her to pleasure.
“I’d stay away from her if I were you, Jonah,” Alex said. “The board is going to decide who is going to be the CEO, and you are the candidate everyone wants. Don’t ruin it. No woman is worth jeopardizing a career over.”
That much was true.
“Let’s make a bet,” I said, seized by an impossible urge to see her again and wanting to justify it. Just once more. “If I win the next race, I see her.”
Alex put his helmet back on. “And if you lose?”
“I’ll stay away from her.”
“Well, that’s easy. You always lose, Jonah.”
We’ll see about that.
Alex got into his car, looking like he’d already decided he was going to win again. But I needed to see Lexi, and I was willing to push myself to the edge to make that happen. The engines roared to life as we both gripped our steering wheels, the sound of exhaust filling the air.
The flag dropped, and we shot forward. We raced through tight turns and long, open straights.
Alex stuck close to the inside line while I stayed on the outside, waiting for the right moment to overtake him.
As we approached the final series of turns, I felt like I could hear Lexi’s voice, urging me on.
My heart was pounding when I saw my chance coming out of the last corner. I pulled in close, took the inside line, and hit the gas. My Ferrari shot forward. The finish line was coming fast, and I held my breath. We were nearly side by side, only inches apart.
We crossed the line, and I looked up at the scoreboard as it lit up.
I’d won.
We climbed out of our cars, still in our racing suits. The engines cooled behind us, the smell of burned rubber hanging in the air. And under it all, I felt that rush, the high of victory.
I wasn’t too old for Lexi after all.
Alex shook his head. “Don’t do it,” he warned.
“I won the bet,” I said.
He shook his head. “Don’t meet her. She can’t be worth the trouble.”
I was starting to think that she was.