15. Everest
Everest
I can’t stop touching her.
I need to focus on the car and make sure everything is set up for the free practice today.
All competing drivers have an hour to test out the track and familiarize themselves with it before the qualifying race tomorrow.
Except for Jaxx, who is racing with Harmony this evening as part of her training.
But with Harmony silently watching me, it’s simply too much.
She arrived half an hour ago in the same exercise clothes as last time. But rather than panic, she looked like she wanted to cry. She asked if she could stay, and I would have been the worst person in the world if I told her no.
I've already lost five minutes of my routine making coffee, and now she simply sits there, glancing between the car, myself, and the jacket I hung on my tool trolley.
It’s obvious what she wants by the way her eyes hop between me and it, and I don’t need it, despite the cool Texas night air.
And there was something so satisfying about the way she clung to my jacket the last time she wore it.
She never returned the last one, and part of me hopes she kept it and brought it with her.
I need to make a note to wear two jackets next time so she can have my scent for the rest of the day. I don’t care if people give her looks. The useless alpha part of me wants her to be drenched in my scent all the time.
Life would be much easier if I were a beta.
Each time I inspect a particular part of the car, I glance at her to see if she’s okay. And she just sips her coffee and tries to be subtle about how much she wants my jacket.
Until I can’t take it any longer, and I sweep the jacket from my tool trolley and go over to her.
“Arms,” I say, standing over her. Her head tilts back, exposing the sleek line of her neck, and my cock reacts instantly.
“Excuse me?” she asks.
“Put out your arms.”
Her gaze sparks, and her shy smile makes me tremble as she extends one bare arm.
Just my fingers brushing her wrist as I feed the fabric over her right hand is almost too much for me.
Her scent swirls as I lean in close, wrapping the jacket around her back.
She passes her coffee cup to her right hand as she pushes her left arm through it, and I’m left standing over her.
With my hands on her shoulders, our gazes fixed, my need for her rises as she smiles at me again.
It’s enough for now. I nod, turning from her and back to the car, fully intending to return to my routine.
Except now that she has my jacket, I can see how she keeps holding the collar or the cuffs up to her nose and taking inhales so deep she has to be doing it to tease me.
And then it’s nothing but an hour of me flitting between my routine and her. Going over to adjust the collar, zip up the jacket, make her fresh coffee. I end up going into my office to fish out a blanket for her knees and feet, and even offer her gloves.
By the time 4:30 AM comes around, she’s unnecessarily wrapped up. But I keep worrying and fussing over her. I want to make sure she feels completely comfortable, especially when her expression brightens every time I come over to her.
My routine is ruined. But the last time she sat with me, Maddock won first place.
So, I force myself to believe that she’s a lucky charm so I don’t have an anxiety attack over the fact that none of it has gone right.
I have to remind myself I do this routine at least three times every morning, and I can start again when she’s gone.
“What is it?” I ask as I adjust the cuffs of my jacket to make sure there are no gaps between them and the gloves. “Why are you smiling at me like that?”
“This is just really nice,” she replies softly.
“What do you mean?”
“I like sitting here with you. I don’t think I’ve been with another person and just been able to be quiet. It’s so peaceful.”
“So you’re not bothered that I don’t talk to you?” Because I thought I needed to make conversation. If it were a group of people, they would naturally pick up the conversation themselves, but when it’s just me and her, I feel responsible.
“There’s no need to, is there? Unless you have something important that you want to say?”
I shake my head, and she smiles more widely.
“And do you mind me sitting here watching you?” she asks.
I hesitate, but I shake my head again. Because her presence is actually calming when I stop using my brain and just focus on regaining my routine.
Even just hearing her light breaths seems to wash away that edge of worry that always hangs around me that I might miss a screw or a seal and Maddock or Jaxx will crash.
“Then we're all good, aren't we?” she asks.
I nod a final time and get back to work.
The rest of the team will begin arriving at 6 AM, and I want to show her the tweak I gave the DRS after Jaxx struggled to pick up speed on the straight in Vegas. But I don’t know how to naturally slide it into conversation, especially after she said she’s happy not to talk.
I try to focus on my last checks instead of the gorgeous omega keeping me company.
Until Harmony sighs deeply, and I shoot up from bending over the car. My desire to comfort her is taking over my common sense, and I can’t ignore my omega in need.
I clear my throat, staring even more intensely at the car so I don’t have to see her reaction.
“You can actually talk to me, you know,” I say. “We don't have to sit here in silence, even though we’ve said we like it.”
But she’s quiet for too long, so I look back at her.
Harmony bites her lip, destroying any last hope I have of concentrating.
But there's no way I’m qualified to hold a conversation about anything other than my sport. I’ve tried and failed so many times over the years that I’ve stopped trying to hide the fact that I’m not interested in anything else apart from my job.
I step toward her and offer her a hand, gulping as she looks down at it.
Touching people isn’t ideal. I had to grow used to hugs and pats on the back when the team did a good job, but I have never extended a hand to someone like this.
A sigh of relief goes through me as she gives me another smile, placing her small hand in my rough fingers. I like that I can close my entire hand around hers, and how she looks at me like she trusts me. I want to keep that going, which is why I guide her over to Maddock’s car.
“We’ve actually designed one for you in exactly the same style,” I say, keeping a firm hold on her hand.
“They are building it separately from the others. We’ll make sure it’s put together for your training session with Maddock and Jaxx this evening.”
She stiffens under me, and my brow furrows. I didn’t think that would be a problem, but maybe she’s worried about getting into a car again. It doesn’t feel like we are close enough for me to ask her that yet, so I carry on.
“If you look at the curves of the back wing here, you can see how we've changed it to direct the wind at a steeper angle. Hopefully that will help Maddock with his more enthusiastic braking style.”
She leans forward, inspecting it even more closely, tipping forward, along with her coffee cup.
“Hang on, your coffee is—” I reach out for it, and she shoots back up to save it.
But she moves too quickly, knocking into me, and throwing the coffee over her chest.
She lets out a sharp shout as it splashes on my jacket, and panic suddenly bursts through me.
I quickly grab the collar, not thinking for a second as I tear it open, exposing her chest.
I have to see if she’s burned, but it’s happening too fast. I grab the towel sitting on my trolley, whipping it up to press against her chest and dab at the coffee.
She winces, and I’m scared it isn’t enough. If she ends up getting burned because of me, I’ll never forgive myself.
I grab the neck of her sports bra, yanking at it to get the fabric off of her skin. I don’t think about what it will mean as I pull it away, instantly exposing her breasts.
Panic is eating me up, and I don’t stop patting at her chest until she suddenly grabs my wrists.
“Wait, Everest, hang on,” she gasps with a laugh. “At least buy me a drink first.”
But I can’t go along with her joke. I’ve seen too many drivers scarred from crashes and fires, and she isn’t just an actress who needs to be perfect in every way. She’s my scent match, and I can’t stand the idea that she could be hurt, especially because of me.
“Your burns,” I say, my hands shaking so much I can barely wipe her skin. “Are you okay? Your skin is so red.”
My gaze runs over every bump and ridge of her chest, from the lines of her collarbones, down to her hard nipples that are barely an inch away from my fingers.
She has to cool her skin down so she doesn’t burn. And my awful alpha brain is saying I need to lick her until she’s better.
Everything is spiraling around me, and I have to do something. I need to make sure she isn’t hurt, but what else can I do apart from stand here like an idiot? I can’t protect her. I can’t even stop her from being burned, so how can I be worthy of her?
“Everest!” she shouts. I don’t realize I’m almost wheezing as I keep dabbing at her chest.
Harmony grabs the towel, throwing it away before she pulls my hands from hers stopping me as my breaths speed up. Her bra snaps back against her chest, and I gasp.
The reason I became the Chief Mechanic was because of my cool head. No matter what the situation, I could keep myself together, but I can’t stand that she might be hurt.
She presses my hand against her chest, brushing my fingers over her skin.
“Look, I’m okay. There’s no burns. I’m safe. You don’t need to worry about it.”
But it’s like something has been switched in my brain, and all I can think of is what would happen if she were to crash.
I talked about us creating her a car, but what if the car that we built for her is the thing that kills her?
It’s the same for all the drivers, but none of them are my scent match.
“Everest,” she says as my hands continue to shake. “It’s okay, really. You don’t need to worry.”
I look at her with wide eyes, still panting, my shoulders heaving even though she is smiling gently.
Without warning, she suddenly flings her arms around my shoulders, and her sweet scent blooms around me.
I take a deep breath, my eyelids stuttering as she fills my senses, overwhelming me in the best way. Her perfume is so powerful that my heartbeat slows and the pheromones that I dislike so much flow out of me again.
A tremor goes through her as she molds her body to mine and sighs into me as well.
Suddenly, we’re standing there, my chest growing wet from her bra, my body hot from her contact.
My hands still tremble as I wrap them around her back, holding her as close as I can.
Suddenly the idea of her getting behind the wheel is terrifying. But there’s also her confident smile, and the peace that she brings as she sits with me.
I’m making assumptions, and the alpha in me is becoming overprotective.
When I found out we were scent matches years ago, I watched all of her races—I saw the way she drove.
She barely ever crashed, and she was a competent driver.
And that was all from watching her on a screen instead of seeing her in action.
It’s just my anxiety taking control. As I hold her closer, our scents blend. And the freshness of her strawberries and cream merges with pine and rainwater to create such a gentle scent that we both moan.
It’s too dangerous to be close to her like this. I don’t know what I’ll do if I get hard, but my desire is already swelling, and I want to give in.
“Thank you, Everest,” she says softly against my neck. “I really needed that.”
She slips her arms down from my shoulders and into my hands as she pulls back.
“You needed to spill hot coffee on yourself?” I ask bluntly, and she laughs, instantly making the last of my tension vanish.
“Yeah, exactly. It looks like hot coffee is the way to go.”
I don’t know if it’s right to thank her when I was the one that nearly had a panic attack.
“I’m sorry. I was just scared that you were hurt,” I say.
“I get that, totally. But maybe take a second to think before you rip my clothes off. I hope next time we can do that in a more romantic setting.”
My eyes widen, and it feels like my brain short-circuits as she bursts out laughing again.
“You’re pretty cute, you know that?” she says as she squeezes my hands.
I don’t know how long we stayed there for, just holding each other, watching each other, our scents blending as our chests rose and fell together. It’s like time has stopped, and I’m finally standing where I want to be after so many years.
“Will you come again?” I ask her, worrying that I’ve blown it with the coffee fiasco.
But she just grins. “You’ll be here at four, yeah?”
“I’m here every night, all night. Just come whenever you want.”
“When do you sleep?” she asks.
“When the season’s over and we've done the best we can do.”
She bites her lip, looking like she wants to say more. Instead, she just says, “I’ll see you soon, okay?” as she adjusts my jacket around her shoulders.
She gives it another sniff, sending me a smirk before she spins on one foot and sashays away.
I watch her go, her ass swaying in the bright light of the hangar and I realize we never actually said out loud that we were scent matches.