I walk her back to her hotel room, which, as luck would have it, is on the same floor as mine.
But just as I stop to say good night, hoping for a sneaky kiss out of sight in her doorway, we hear the ding of the elevator.Roles reversed from that night in Singapore, I spot Jack Sheppard exiting the lift.
“Hi, Matthew,” he says, eyes darting between us.“Chloe.”
“Matt was just going to bed,” she says, shoving me, but I stand firm against her hands like a tree trunk and don’t move an inch.Jack watches the exchange from twenty feet away.
“Lost your way?”I say, my voice impassive.
Chloe tries to subtly elbow me, but I move slightly in front of her as if trying to hide her.Or protect her.Or I’m just pathetic, alpha-male-ing out in front of this fool because he might fancy Chloe.
“Nah, I’m staying down the hall,” he says, thumbing toward the rooms with a view of the car park.His eyes flick back to me and they are filled with contempt.
I narrow my eyes at him, wanting to make some dig about family money, but I resist.
“Can we catch up tomorrow, Jack?”Chloe asks, her voice light.“Maybe grab a coffee before the race?”
“Yeah, maybe,” he replies, evasively.I watch his eyes drop to the floor as he searches his pockets for his room card.
I hear Chloe tut under her breath.“Can you go, please?”she says to me, before calling out to Jack.“Wait!I have been meaning to catch you.”
I take a step backward.I have to let her do whatever the hell she thinks she needs to do here.Even if it kills me.
“I got a bunch of things to get done,” Jack says, holding up his key card to show us he’s found it, before stepping backward, turning on his heel, and heading down the hall.
“Damn you, Matt,” says Chloe, when his door closes behind him.
“Did he get a room on this floor to be near you?”
“Now you’re being paranoid.”
“He works for a shit rag,” I say, staring at his closed door.
“His parents are loaded,” Chloe counters.
“I hate him.”
“Shhhhh.”
I do hate him.He was just suspiciously off with Chloe too.Is it because I’m here?
“You didn’t have to be so obnoxious,” she’s saying now.“He’s been good to me with the press.”
“He’s shady, Chloe.You should stay away from him.”
“He’s fine.I’ll just call him,” she says, tapping her card against the door and pushing it open.My eyes drop to her ass in her little shorts, but as I reach for her waist she ducks away.
“Not tonight, lover boy,” she says, shaking her head.“Go to bed.”
I nod, sighing heavily to let her know how hard it is to drag myself away.
Chloe places a hand on my arm, her touch warm and fizzy against my skin.“Matt.Get some rest.You’ve got a big race tomorrow.”She then pauses and looks back at me with a newfound intensity.“We’re going to do this, you know.We’re going to build this team from the ground up.”
I grin, and she tips her head, wondering out loud, “What is it?”
I lean my head against the doorframe and just drink her in.“Nothing.”
“Then go.”
