Chapter 10
ten
MILAN, ITALY
The next afternoon, Avery was sitting outdoors at a charming cafe savoring a perfectly hot cappuccino (another must while in Italy) with an array of gossip rags fanned out on the table in front of her.
The photos from the AC Milan game were everywhere.
At least one photographer had managed to catch the exact moment that she and Teddy had leaned into each other to try to have a conversation over the noise.
In the photos, it looked like Avery was nuzzling Teddy, his eyes completely locked on her. It looked so real.
She felt a tightness in her chest when she looked at the accompanying headlines. The tabloid writers were having a field day: “Silver Heiress and Scottish Speedster Caught Canoodling” and “Daddy’s New Driver Becomes Daughter’s New Boy Toy” were two of the more benign of what she had seen so far.
She was pleased that they were succeeding in looking like a real couple, but being in the spotlight for her relationship with a man made her feel twitchy.
She’d only ever been known as Michael Silver’s daughter, and now she was going to be known publicly as Teddy’s rich girlfriend.
She wanted to make news for her contributions to the community, for knocking the gala out of the park.
If she screwed it up, she’d not only let herself and the charities down, but she’d be proving her mother, and the gossip columnists, right—that she was most valuable as an accessory for a notable man.
She inhaled a long breath. Time to get to work.
She folded the papers back up in a neat stack on the empty chair across from her and opened her laptop to turn her attention to the gala.
She still had several sponsorship opportunities to fill if there was any chance of raising double last year’s total, and now it was go-time on all of the other event details—seating charts, the evening program, decor, and menus.
It was enough to make her head spin. Adding to the stress was the fact that she’d convinced her parents to try a new venue as part of her strategy to bring in a new crowd.
She’d proposed that they hold it downtown at a sleek, new hotel that hadn’t opened yet; the gala would be the first major event there.
She got so lost in thought composing emails that hit exactly the right tone and updating her spreadsheets, that she hadn’t even looked up to enjoy the splendid view of the Duomo or the art nouveau tiling on the patio below her feet by the time she had to meet Teddy.
She took a final sip of her cappuccino, which was now cold, licking the last of the foam, before patting her lips dry with a napkin and reapplying her lipstick.
Not that I’m trying to impress Teddy or anything.
A little color always looked better in photos.
She gathered her belongings and walked across the plaza on Milan’s signature pavé streets to meet Teddy at one of the city’s most famous gelato shops, carefully placing each foot on one cobblestone and then another.
Brand new boots were not a practical choice.
But the camel-colored pair made with local Italian leather had been too perfect not to wear immediately after purchasing them the day before.
She’d paired them with cropped bootcut jeans, a white tee, and an oversized blazer.
The put-together ensemble left her feeling very Euro-chic for her date with Teddy.
When she got there, Teddy was waiting for her, bouncing on his toes while he waited in a long line that went out the shop’s front doors, his chocolate-brown hair falling into his eyes.
He had also dressed as if he were on a real date: jeans and a black t-shirt with a leather jacket, instead of the branded apparel he must have worn to his interviews earlier.
She was suddenly aware of her own heartbeat.
“Hello, Avery,” he said. His tone was neutral, but his eyes lit up as she approached. He took his hands out his pockets, stretching them out for a hug.
“Hello to you, too,” Avery eagerly stepped into his arms, and wrapped hers around his back, her nose searching for the cologne from the night before underneath the strong scent of leather.
She reluctantly let go after what felt like an appropriate amount of time for a friendly hug, ignoring the draw to stay in his arms indefinitely. She’d have an excuse to if there were an audience, but so far no one had recognized them.
“How’s media day going?” she asked.
“Nothing too exciting, fortunately. Routine questions from the reporters,” he answered. “What have you been up to?”
“Just working on the gala.” Her work was boring in comparison to his. He couldn’t possibly care about her spreadsheets, pitch emails, or the stress she was feeling about having the gala somewhere new.
But his attention was squarely on her, his head tilted in interest. “Tell me more about what goes into planning an event of that scale. I mean, I’m a part of a large-scale sporting event every weekend. But I never really know what’s going on behind the scenes.”
“You really want to know?” He’d made it very clear that he didn’t have the bandwidth for a real relationship, and unloading her worries and work minutiae on him seemed exactly like the type of thing he didn’t want to be burdened with.
“I do. Everyone tries to shield the drivers from thinking about anything other than the race itself, but I am interested in the business side of things. And I’m interested in learning more about you.”
She flushed. Even a polite interest in her work made her lose her cool when it came to him.
They stepped forward as the line moved.
“Well, today, I worked on the timeline of events for the evening and I sent reminder emails to everyone who had purchased a table last year but hasn’t yet this year.
I need to raise double last year’s total, so I’ll need them to return, and also find new donors.
And, I’m stressing about the venue.” She filled him in on the whole story as the line crawled forward.
His eyes, and his attention never wandered. A driver who can listen to me talk about work for more than thirty seconds is not at all what I was expecting. Not even my own family seems capable of that lately.
Teddy held open the glass doors for her as they entered the shop. The sweet scent of the freshly baked cones and the decadent aroma of dark chocolate stopped her in her tracks as she finally paused her monologue.
She inhaled. “Yum.”
Teddy’s eyes softened from their focused intensity as he watched her nearly drool at the scent. He licked his lips. The heady aroma must be making his mouth water too.
“Moving such a time-honored event is certainly bold. Was it hard to get your dad on board?” Teddy asked after their sense of smell adjusted.
She nodded her head slowly. “I almost forgot he’s your boss too. You know what it’s like to work with my family.”
“Not the whole family. I haven’t met your mum, or your brother. Is he involved with Silver Racing too?”
“Not really,” Avery answered. “He’s a stay-at-home parent in LA. But, my dad listens to him more than me. I’m afraid my dad will always see me as his little girl, and never as a capable businesswoman.”
“Ah, I see.” Teddy was quiet for a moment, deep in thought. “I don’t know what it’s like to work in the family business, but I do know what it’s like to feel like you have to prove your worth. My mom and brother gave up so much for me to pursue F1 and I’m still proving it was worth it.”
She reached out and leaned her head against his shoulder, the leather buttery soft against her cheek, as they read the menu.
They were on a fake date after all, a fan could spot them and her head on his shoulder would seem perfectly natural.
It didn’t matter that she really did it because her heart lurched thinking of the weight he had to carry each time he got in his race car.
“What are you going to get?” he asked, without flinching, as if her leaning on him was the most natural thing in the world.
Avery ordered two scoops of stracciatella in a cone; Teddy a single scoop of berry sorbet.
“Why don’t we take these outside and enjoy being in Italy for a few minutes?” Teddy offered.
“This is almost too beautiful to eat,” Avery said looking admiringly at her picture-perfect cone. The shop had even topped her double scoop with a cute mini macaron and a chocolate drizzle.
They walked outside and she held up her gelato with one hand, while using her other hand to take a picture of it before she took her first lick.
“Sadly, mine is not quite as photogenic,” Teddy said with a laugh, examining his relatively plain cup.
“I wasn’t going to say anything, but that is a sad-looking gelato,” Avery agreed, chuckling.
“Watching what I eat is a small price to pay for one of those twenty seats,” Teddy explained.
Like all athletes at his level of competition, Teddy carefully monitored his nutrition for top performance.
In addition, drivers have to maintain their weight at the right level because extra weight could make a car slower, and conversely, not enough weight could affect the driver’s safety.
Avery slowly took another big lick of her ice cream, savoring the creamy vanilla treat as it cooled her mouth.
“You are missing out,” she taunted him, trying on a more flirtatious tone, “Sure you don’t want a bit of mine?”
“I really shouldn’t,” he sighed, looking longingly as she plucked the macaron off the top and popped it in her mouth.
“Tell you what,” she answered. “Someday, after you’ve retired from F1, you and I will come back here and I’ll buy you a double scoop with as many toppings as you want.”
“It’s a date,” Teddy said, lifting his cup to toast with her cone. “Hopefully not for many, many, years.”
“Hopefully, your future wife doesn’t mind when I whisk you off to Italy for gelato,” Avery teased.
Teddy froze, his spoon left suspended in mid-air between his cup and his mouth.