“Why?” I stop pacing and place my hands on my hips. “What’s the point? Rome was here to screw with our heads. He knows that things are shifting within Vanstone, and he took the opportunity to play on it. It’s water under the bridge as of today.”
It wasn’t on my bingo card to discuss Rome Pierce the morning of my first official day as an employee for Vanstone, so if we could wrap this up, that’d be great.
Plus, the sooner we get to work, the sooner I can figure out who is joining our team as our second driver.
One thing is for certain: it’s not Rome Pierce.
“She’s right.”
Beck, Graham, and Noah give Van their attention.
Of course I’m right.
Beck jumps up from the edge of the desk. “You’re siding with her?”
Van sighs but slowly nods his head.
It’s eerie to see him behind my father’s desk because they resemble each other so much. Both with light-green eyes and the same angular face with a faint scruff against their hard-linedjaws. The only difference between them is that my father has a light dusting of gray sprinkled throughout his hair.
“I knew this would happen,” Noah says jokingly. “Tess is already taking over.”
I lift a shoulder. “It’s not my fault I’m smarter than the three of you put together.”
“You’re clearly not,” Beck chuckles. “You can’t even count. There’s four of us.”
“Van isn’t included, idiot.”
Van, busy staring at his phone, glances upward. He swings his attention around the office, stopping to look at each of us briefly. “Just got word that our new driver is here.”
My heart skips a beat, and butterflies swoop low in my belly. “Are you going to spoil the surprise?” I ask eagerly.
His eyebrows rise at the same time he does. “I’m just as lost as you are. Dad wouldn’t tell me who was joining the team, and I didn’t want to press him.”
Oh?
That’s…conflicting.
Nothing but my brothers’ footsteps follow as I walk over the glossy marble floor toward the lobby. Nerves eat away at my insecurities, and I pray that my father informed our new driver that I’d be their head engineer.
I can’t imagine many men would be glad to know a woman is going to be calling the shots, especially in such a male-dominated sport.
Before I get too close to the lobby, I run my hands over my teal Vanstone polo to smooth any wrinkles. I put a smile on my face and round the corner, only to slam into something hard–orsomeone.
My face collides with his chest, the scent of expensive cologne mixing with my senses. Two strong hands wrap around my upper arms to steady me, and I hear Beck's voice in the distance.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding.”
I snap to attention.
Two icy-blue eyes peer down at me, and a smirk that sends me to the red curves across Rome’s lips. “Nice to see you again…Tess.”
Chapter Six
ROME
The scene unfoldingin front of me is so much better than I expected.
I stand back in the shadows of chaos as Vince slips in between Tessa and me, breaking us apart as soon as we collide.
