“Oh, God. Please don’t call me that.” Reese adjusted her black spaghetti strap top. She’d paired it with black pants and a pair of heels, but she was suddenly aware of how underdressed she felt amid all the glossy fabrics and subtle perfumes. “I’m probably going to be informed this whole thing is a mistake, and I should pack my bags for home.”
“Sure,” Marissa said, stepping forward to link arms with her. She wore a gorgeous red cocktail dress and black heels. Sexy as hell. Her versatility was really something. More than a couple of people turned their heads as she passed. “Keep pretending the entire paddock isn’t whispering about your pole streak. Very cute.”
Reese rolled her eyes, but couldn’t stop the grin that tugged. The air was warm, scented with garden roses and the faint waft of truffle arancini from a passing server. Lanterns hung across the courtyard, casting a honey-colored glow over everything,including old stone walls, crisp white linens, and polished shoes moving across centuries-old tile.
“Anyone else surprised they let us in here?” Reese asked, taking in every last impressive detail. The room was already full, drivers from all levels mingling and sipping expensive wine. Veronica held court in the corner. Reese scanned the room for Sloane but was disappointed not to spot her. Maybe she wasn’t coming.
“Wow. Look at Sloane,” Cassidy said and grabbed a glass of prosecco from a passing tray. “That dress, though.”
Reese swiveled and went still.
Sloane stood near the far side of the terrace, half-turned toward a small cluster of executives, a champagne flute loose in one hand. She wore an ice-blue cocktail dress that looked like it had been poured over her rather than sewn. The color sharpened everything about her, throwing her blond hair into brighter relief and making her blue eyes startlingly vivid. Her hair was swept back at the nape, a few soft strands loose around her temples, leaving her face open and impossible to ignore. The neckline on the dress offered a glimpse of the tops of her breasts, round and full, which almost did Reese in. Quite simply, Sloane devastated. “Yeah, that dress,” Reese murmured, captivated as she watched from across the room.
Sloane was on, but she wasn’t performing. She listened, head tilted slightly, a thoughtful line between her brows that smoothed when she smiled. People leaned toward her without realizing they were doing it.
She laughed at something someone said, low and brief, and Reese felt it land in her chest. She wondered what they were talking about. This wasn’t paddock-Sloane in team gear, or mentor-Sloane with her arms crossed and her patience worn thin. This was Sloane, polished and effortless, fully aware of her gravity.
Then Sloane glanced up, her gaze moving across the terrace and finding Reese.
For a suspended heartbeat, the world narrowed to that exchange. The conversation, the music, the clink of glass all faded for Reese. Sloane’s expression shifted, something warmer and sharper flickering through her eyes, and the corner of her mouth curved, just slightly.
Reese forgot to breathe.
“Anything you want to share with the class?” Delaney asked well within earshot of the others. Reese reluctantly pulled her gaze from Sloane and the impact of her beauty to see Delaney smiling expectantly at her.
“What?”
“Can we tell Cassidy and Marissa?”
The other two exchanged a glance that said they had no idea what was going on.
Reese blinked. “Okay. Well, um, in the name of friendship and transparency,” Reese forced her brain to rejoin the group, “I should probably tell you that there was a kiss. A good one.”
“I get the feeling this isn’t new for you,” Cassidy said. “That you kiss a lot of people. But I’m happy for you that this one seemed to resonate.”
“Ask her who she kissed,” Delaney said and tapped her lips. She was definitely ready to dish on this with other people.
“Someone we know? One of the drivers?” Marissa frowned and turned, scanning the crowd. When her gaze fell in Sloane’s direction, she went still. “Surely not with …”
Delaney rocked back on her heels.
Understanding descended like an excited lightning bolt. Marissa whirled back. “Oh my God, itwas. You stop that right now.”
“Reese, you and Sloane!” Cassidy said.
“Maybe not so loud,” Delaney cautioned.
“Have such a great working relationship,” Cassidy said, trying to course-correct at triple the volume for anyone who might be listening in. “What a mentor she is! The grandness of her advice. The knowledge and experience she brings to the table is a gift to us all.” She added an exaggerated sweeping of her arm.
“You’re out of control,” Marissa said calmly.
Cassidy turned to Reese and broke into a huge grin. “But that’s amazing,” she said, quieter this time. “And it makes total sense. The chemistry between the two of you fills the whole room like the sexiest elephant at the zoo.”
Reese frowned. “You might need to tweak your similes.”
Cassidy waved her off. “Translate me. You always do.”
And Reese did, because they were genuinely all good friends now, even though they wanted to wipe the floor clean with each other on race days. “Every day,” Reese said, placing a hand on top of Cassidy’s head.
