Chapter 11 #2
When I see us nearing the paddock, the pit of disappointment settles in my stomach, not wanting this night to end.
Peter parks his Audi near the bus, and I look over to him one last time.
“Goodnight, Peter,” I say, and he grabs my hand before lifting it to his mouth and smacking a very sloppy kiss on top of it.
“Goodnight, Molly. It was a pleasure being your fake boyfriend for the night.”
I chuckle at his show of manners before I grab the door handle and make my way out of the car, a smile on my face.
All of my perfect evenings seem to come when I’m in the presence of Peter Centimo.
～
The next morning, I awake to several missed calls and texts from Jessica.
I guess the cat’s out of the bag.
The whole “I’m being Peter’s fake girlfriend because my freaking dad asked me to” story will make for a funny Sunday morning catch-up.
I bring my phone out to the bus lounge area where everything is quiet.
No one’s up just yet.
I call her up, and she answers immediately, asking for a FaceTime call.
I set up my phone, and Jessica is all on me the minute the call connects.
“Girl, what has happened since the last time we spoke about this man?”
I chuckle; the whole situation is absurd if you ask me.
Then I tell her about the meeting with my dad and Peter, where I was fully committed to not going through with this.
I meant what I said.
I don’t like being in the spotlight, but then the infuriating Peter Centimo just had to speak up and say I wasn’t bold enough to do this.
“For someone who claims he doesn’t want anything with you, it sure seems like he wanted to make this happen.”
I’ve been thinking the same thing.
Part of me knows Peter set me up and baited me into this, and I went right into the trap.
The emotions were clouding my judgment, and in a weak moment when he threw the challenge my way, I just couldn’t back down.
I didn’t want to prove him right.
My sexual relationship suggestion and the utter embarrassment when he turned me down are something I almost don’t tell her.
But I also need a boost, which Jessica provides by scoffing and telling me that Peter Centimo may be experiencing challenges down below.
In her eyes, there can’t be any other reason for him to turn me down.
That makes me laugh, and she boosts my ego like the good friend she is.
When I tell her about the evening we shared, I feel even more conflicted.
He’s so set on us not even having a casual relationship, yet he delivers the perfect evening together.
I don’t think either of us like to mingle for longer during these types of events, but it sure felt like we were hanging on to the illusion of being together for as long as we could.
Jessica sighs on the other end of the call.
“Gosh. These men and all the emotions they invoke in us. I’ll be here whenever you need it, Molly, and hopefully you’ll get what you want…or who,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows.
When we hang up, I can’t help myself and look up all the gossip sites I usually try to stay away from.
As expected, we’re gracing the cover of every single one.
“The bad boy and the millionaire daughter” is the hot topic, and even though the labels feel very cliché, I spend far too much time looking at the pictures of us.
We look incredible together.
The matching handkerchief was the right move.
What I didn’t realise yesterday was that Peter was looking at me, not the photographers. In most of the pictures, he’s looking at my face, rather than towards the camera.
The ugly voice in my head tells me he might just not like the flashes. The hopeful voice, on the other hand, says that he might enjoy looking at me more than he’d admit.
After I’ve spent too much time looking at the pictures, I start getting ready for the day.
I don’t really have much planned, since the race weekend is still a few days away and the action won’t be ramping up just yet.
I’ve just finished my makeup when my phone pings with a text from an unknown number.
Unknown: Up for a date, Moll doll?
Fucking hell.
A simple text shouldn’t raise the hairs on the back of my neck, but it does.
I text him back, and he says he’ll pick me up in twenty minutes.
Okay.
What should I wear?
I don’t want to seem even more desperate than I already feel, but I do want to make him think twice about rejecting me.
I settle on a pair of light-coloured dress pants and a tight top that makes my chest pop.
The girls got to shine sometimes, too.
I hear Peter’s car pull up and make my way out of the bus.
As always, he’s leaning against his car, a small smile on his lips as he takes in my outfit.
“Don’t you look ravishing, sweetheart.”
He steps closer to me and goes to touch my waist, but now I’m the one turning him down.
He said no; therefore, I’ll give him what he wanted, which was nothing.
I step past him, throwing my own smile his way.
“Yes. A shame you don’t want to take a bite.”
He shakes his head at me but respects my space as he brings his hands up before opening the passenger door for me.
I slip inside, and Peter closes my door before making his way around to the driver’s side.
“Missed me already, casanova?” I ask him as he starts driving.
It’s not been that many hours since he dropped me off outside my bus, and now we’re back in each other’s company.
Peter looks over at me, his eyes dropping to my lips before he recovers and turns his eyes back to the road.
“Something like that.”
Again, he surprises me.
I half-expected him to just tell me that this is all part of the fake-dating scheme, but again, he doesn’t really seem to care all that much about pleasing his team.
Can’t say I blame him.
Other than my dad, no one really seems to have his back, which is crazy considering he’s the one who earns the most money for this team.
I’m happy that he at least has someone in his corner.