“Yeah, I can guess what impressed them. It’s not exactly difficult to figure out. She’s sleeping with one of them.”
Inwardly he cringed. If he’d heard anyone else say it, he’d have told them they were an ass.
Damn the woman! She brought out the worst in him!
How in the hell was he going to race alongside her?
Not only was it a douchebag thing to say, it was downright stupid. Sex appeal? This woman? Not even an ounce of it. He’d seen enough of her body when she was talking to Casey. The woman didn’t possess even one curve. She was about as captivating as Highway 10 in Saudi Arabia. No going up, no going down, no bends left, no bends right—straight as a rod and nothing but desert for 159 miles. Okay, so she was wearing a racing suit. But what did that matter? If she had any curves, he’d have seen them.
“Maybe we should lower the volume,” Casey muttered before sighing. “Think about what you’re saying, Rocco. Do you really think I would make this kind of decision based on that? That the owner would? Do you think I would manage for an owner who would? And what about the mechanics, the entire team we’ve got here? You know a lot of these guys. They’ve worked for other F1 teams, including teams you’ve raced for.”
“He’s right, Rocco,” Dario said. “Just because you—” He paused when his eyes met Rocco’s, and he stammered, “Uh—”
Gaping at his cousin, Rocco’s heart stopped.
Jesus, Dario, have you forgotten Casey’s standing right here? Not to mention one Nico Angelini who is a couple feet away and within earshotand would like nothing better than to make my name trend … but for all the wrong reasons.
Dario quickly recovered. “Just because you don’t like the idea of having a woman on the team doesn’t mean she isn’t any good.”
Rocco cringed. He knew Dario was trying to come up with something—anything other than what he’d nearly divulged about Rocco’s past. But couldn’t he come up with something better?
It wasn’t her being a woman that was the problem. It was her being Nico Angelini that was.
“Let me get her, and I’ll introduce you,” Casey said, leaving them.
Rocco crossed his arms. “Why did you say that, Dar? You know better than anyone I’ve never objected to having a woman race Formula 1 as long as she can prove she deserves a spot. And you definitely know that I’ve never had a problem racing alongside one.”
Dario sighed. “I know. I know. I couldn’t think. I’m sorry. We both know how hard you tried to get Ceci promoted to F1.”
“That’s right,” Rocco huffed.
Ceci Rivers had raced F3 alongside Rocco years ago. When Rocco had been promoted to F1 and was racing for Blue Jet Lightning, he’d tried to persuade the owner to bring on Ceci as a third driver.
Dario nodded. “Right. So, explain to me why you’re trying to convince anyone within hearing distance that you’re the biggest sexist douche on the planet?”
“Do you really have to ask? It’s because of that woman—Nico Angelini. You know our history.”
“I know, but you’ve both said things on social media. Why don’t you just give her a chance?” Dario held up his hand. “Don’t answer that, here they come.”
Rocco lifted his chin, clenched his jaw, and looked off into the distance.
“Rocco, Dario,” he heard Casey saying, “this is Nico.”
“Dario Berlusconi. Nice to meet you.”
Damn, I’ll have to look at her now.
He lowered his gaze. She wasn’t wearing the racing suit. She was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt. He glanced at that triangle and the subtle ripple her collarbone made beneath her flesh. It reminded him of the woman at the bar. His eyes ventured south. Okay, so he’d been wrong.The woman does have curves, he thought as his glance dipped up and over her breasts and descended to the valley of her abs, roaming that tight niche where those bountiful hips blossomed out from her waist.
Really. Really. Curvy. Curves.
He lifted his gaze back to her collarbone. He told his eyes to move on to her face, but he was transfixed by the ridge that ran from shoulder to shoulder just above the neckline of her shirt. He fisted his hands.
Go north, his brain was telling him at the very moment his eyes drifted south, landing on her breasts.
Are those … ?
He bit his lip to stop from grinning.
