AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A little. You?”
Esteban grins. “I love this part.”
I wish I had his enthusiasm. This is the element I’ve been dreading. I’ve been able to handle everything else going sideways, like sleeping in the same bed as Max. But at least I’ve been able to stay out of the public eye. The press even ignored me on the red carpet and at that party the other night. But as is typical after qualifying, each team goes before the press and submits to a round of questions. Usually it’s my incredibly quotable father here in the press room with Jack and the drivers.
We’re all clustered in a closet-like room next to the press center, waiting for another team to finish up their media conference. Max tugs at my sleeve, and motions with his head to step to the back so we can talk.
“You’re sure about this?” he asks in a low voice, sending a hum of desire through me. Despite our intimate sleeping position last night, we haven’t so much as touched in a sexual way, but the tension remains—at least on my end.
Maybe not on his, a fact I was trying not to dwell on. As I’d pretended to sleep, he’d bounded out of bed early this morning and left without a good-bye. Neither of us wanted to make it any more awkward than it already was.
There had been his evident hard-on the other morning, an image that I hadn’t been able to shake. Surely that happened to him every morning, though, regardless of whether he was sleeping next to someone or not.
“I’m good. Really.”
“If there’s anything you don’t want to answer, I’ll step in, okay? I know how to get the press off my back.” Max is an expert at that. A glare and a two-word answer are all he needs to shut conversation down. I’ve watched him do it a hundred times.
“Thanks, but I’m okay.” It’s almost embarrassing to be this inept in front of the media, and surely Max thinks I’m ill equipped.
“It’s time,” Tanya calls, and we all file into the main room.
It’s packed, lined with cameras and photographers from around the globe, and at least a dozen print reporters. My stomach coils into a tight knot. Maybe I’m not ready for this.
I paste on a smile and take my seat. Jack is at the far end, then Max, me, and finally, Esteban. As is customary at these things, Jack begins with a short statement about how the team and drivers did during quali. The rest of us sit and listen, drinking water or staring at the back wall of the room, over the reporters’ heads.
A few reporters engage with Jack, all technical questions about the cars. Then Gordon, the guy who does the grid walk before each race, signals by waving his hand in the air. Jack calls on him.
“This is a question for Max. To what do you attribute your incredible qualifying times today? You were like night and day compared to yesterday’s practice.”
Max fixes his serious, icy stare on Gordon. “I had an off day yesterday.”
“But what changed between yesterday and today?” the reporter probes.
I try to will myself not to blush and reach for the pitcher of water. It’s shockingly heavy, like it’s filled with lead.
“Nothing changed,” Max says in a cool tone.
Another reporter, an older woman with a German accent, pipes up. “We are wondering if it’s the presence of Ms. Onassis that’s making your driving erratic.”
At that, I fumble with the pitcher and spill a little on Esteban’s leg. “Sorry, sorry,” I whisper to him.
The sound of camera shutters fills the air as Esteban grins and Tanya appears with a towel. “Sorry, it’s my first day drinking water,” I quip, mortified. Naturally I’d have to do this right as an embarrassing question is asked.
“Next question,” Max says.
“This is for Lily Onassis,” says a reporter, who looks like a thin grandpa type, complete with handlebar moustache. “We’re very happy your father is recovering.”
My heart is thrashing against my chest as I lean into the microphone. Sweat slides down my back, and at this point, I don’t even care if I’m making the table jiggle a little with my knee bouncing up and down. Why hadn’t I brought my worry beads with me?
“Thank you.”
“How are you finding running the team in your father’s absence?”
I exhale. A softball question. I’ve rehearsed an answer that will fit for this one. “Many of the people on this team have been with my father for years, so it almost runs itself. I’m enjoying being back in the racing world. I grew up around the track, and watched my father build this team into what it is today, and I’m proud I can step in for him while he recovers.”
The reporters scribble and nod. I allow myself to relax a little. Another journalist, one I don’t recognize, pipes up with a British accent.
“How are you finding Max now versus at the beginning of his career?” she asks.
