Race to the Top: Book one in the Racing to Find Love series (5 page)

Erik emerged from the spacious shower, grabbing a thick
towel from the rack and wrapping it round his waist. He checked his watch – an
incredibly expensive one which was apparently waterproof to 300ft. It was 7pm,
so he had half an hour or so before the team meal that Gary had been so excited
about. He hated those kind of forced occasions and only hoped that this time,
Gary wouldn’t insist he and Devlin sat at the same table. He thought not, as he
remembered how they had almost come to blows last year when Devlin had got
increasingly drunk and offensive.

He looked around the expensive suite he was in. It was very
nice, he had to admit, but he felt a little ashamed. He had seen Anna clock the
fancy key when Gary had given to him – she must think he was an entitled brat. He
sighed, stretching his back out. The flight had made him stiff, although the
hot shower had helped to relax his muscles slightly. He wondered what Anna was
doing right now, and his mind wandered to thoughts of her in the shower too.

It suddenly occurred to him she had said ‘See you tomorrow,’
as they said goodbye.

He crossed the room and ferreted in one of his bags,
eventually finding the crumped information sheet that detailed the itinerary.
Right enough, the meal wasn’t on there. Gary had been going on about it for
weeks, but Erik didn’t think Anna had been present for any of those
conversations. He thought for a moment, and then hurriedly got dressed.

He had noticed her room number when Gary had handed out the
keys, and, for some reason he couldn’t fathom, it had stuck in his mind.

He headed down to the fifth floor and found her room. He
found, to his surprise, he felt a bit nervous, and he had no idea why. He gave
himself a shake and knocked on the door.

He waited for a few seconds, wondering if she perhaps
already did know about the meal and had gone down, but then he heard the chain
being drawn back and the door opened.

He stared as Anna stared back at him. She seemed to be
dressed in some sort of clown suit. He stared a bit more and realised she was
wearing pyjamas, with little bears printed all over it. Her hair was a mess,
and she had mascara smeared around her eyes, so she looked like a panda. She
also wasn’t wearing a bra, Erik quickly noticed, and averted his gaze as Anna,
obviously realising this too, hurriedly crossed her arms over her chest.

Erik was used to women being dressed in expensive designer
clothing. Even in his last longish-term relationship, his girlfriend, Nikki,
had worn fancy lace nightwear to bed. Nikki had always been immaculate. The
television cameras always sought her out on race days, her perfectly
straightened blonde hair, and expertly applied make-up appealing to the
cameramen, and to the viewers at home. She was the epitome of a racing driver’s
girlfriend. Unfortunately, she was also extremely dull. He’d met her at a party
in Monaco – that’s where lots of his fellow drivers had met their fiancees,
wives, and girlfriends. He’d had a bit too much to drink, and she was utterly
gorgeous. They’d gotten together that night and he’d found himself in a
relationship, slightly to his surprise. Nikki had been dull, but she wasn’t
stupid, and she had manoeuvred herself expertly into the role of girlfriend.
She quickly ingratiated herself with the other wives and girlfriends, and Erik
had gone along with the whole thing. He hadn’t seen her a great deal during the
season, with all the travelling, and he had enjoyed having someone he could
enjoy physical contact with. It could be lonely, all that travelling, and Nikki
had made it a bit more bearable.

As the novelty had worn off, and he realised they had little
in common, he’d started trying to step back, suggesting that she perhaps stay
at home instead of accompanying him to Germany or Spain. He had realised, with
disgust, that he was treating her like Devlin treated his wife, and that had
spurred him to end it. She had been devastated – but he sensed more about losing
the lifestyle than him. He had seen her occasionally at other races, hanging
around, trying to catch the eye of other drivers.

To his utter amazement, he found Anna’s bear pyjamas
incredibly cute. He had enjoyed the glimpse of her without a bra on, too. He
had seen the outline of her breasts and he had an urge to stroke them through
the thin fabric. He shook himself, surprised at where his train of thought had
taken him.

‘I’m sorry if I woke you,’ he said, smiling to try to make
her feel more comfortable. She looked miserable. ‘It’s just – there’s a team
meal starting in 15 minutes and I wasn’t sure you knew about it. It’s not on
the schedule.’

Anna looked surprised.

‘Oh I had no idea. Thanks for letting me know.’

As they stood awkwardly, Erik in his expensive jeans,
expensive shirt, and extremely expensive shoes, and Anna in her bear pyjamas,
arms crossed across her chest, there was a whistle from the corridor.

Erik groaned inwardly. He recognised that whistle – it was
Devlin, and you could bet he would have something to say about Anna’s bear
pyjamas.

Devlin appeared at Erik’s side, clapping a hand on his
shoulder with a little more force than Erik thought was strictly friendly.

 ‘Nice PJs,’ Devlin observed, making
no efforts to disguise the fact he was trying to leer at Anna’s chest.

‘Give it a break, Devlin,’ Anna snapped, crossing her arms even
tighter.

She turned to Erik, clearly trying to ignore Devlin’s
laughter.

‘I’ll come down.’

Erik nodded, and he turned to leave, hoping Devlin would do
the same. It made him uncomfortable, Devlin being around Anna when she was
dressed like that.

‘Please don’t change your outfit,’ Devlin said, as Anna
started to close the door, ‘It’s beary nice as it is.’ And he howled with
laughter as he walked away, Erik shaking his head as he walked alongside him.

Anna closed the door, her face bright red. Two millionaire
racing drivers had just seen her in her cosy bear pyjamas. She crossed to the
mirror and noticed, to her horror, that her makeup was smeared all over her
face. She looked like she had two black eyes. This was an inauspicious first
trip with the team, she thought – first she had fallen asleep on Erik Jonasson,
and then both he and Devlin had seen her looking like she’d been dragged
through a hedge backwards.

She rifled through her suitcase, thinking it was remarkable
she had managed to bring pretty much her whole wardrobe and yet not have a
single thing to wear. She eventually settled on a skater-style dress and boots,
running a brush through her hair. Anna washed her face and reapplied her makeup
carefully, looking critically at herself in the mirror when done. Not worthy
perhaps of the racing circuit, but good enough for little old Anna Sawyer.

She left her room and headed downstairs, where a friendly
usher pointed her in the direction of the dining room. Anna went inside and
realised she was late – everyone was already seated. She cast about wildly for
a chair and noticed one free beside Erik. Anna started to head over to it when
she felt a hand close about her wrist. She looked down in surprise, and Devlin
Carter grinned up at her.

‘There’s a seat here,’ he said, pulling Anna down to sit
next to him. She didn’t want to make a scene in a room full of people, so she sat,
huffing under her breath. Of all the people in the room she didn’t want to sit
next to, Devlin Carter was top of the list. She thought she noticed Erik shoot
them an annoyed look.

 ‘Wow, you can eat,’ Devlin said, watching her with interest
as she dug in to the first course. She was starving.

‘Yes, I can also speak
and
walk,’ Anna said
sarcastically, breaking off a piece of bread.

‘You don’t like me much,’ Devlin observed, but he didn’t
seem to be upset about it, merely interested.

Anna shrugged.

‘I don’t know you,’ she said. ‘You may be a perfectly nice
guy.’ Although she doubted it. ‘I
do
know that you like yourself a lot.’

Devlin smiled at her.

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘If I don’t like myself, then no one
else will either. Plus I’m pretty awesome – I’m attractive, I’m the best racing
driver in the world, I’m rich.’

‘Some would say thinking that about yourself that makes you
pretty unlikeable,’ Anna pointed out.

‘Jealous people,’ he said, pouring himself a generous glass
of wine and topping Anna’s glass up too.

‘Are you really the best racing driver in the world?’ she asked,
curiously.

‘Without a doubt,’ Devlin said, lifting up his glass and
taking a deep draught from it.

‘What about Erik?’ Anna asked, looking over in his direction.
He had his back to her, though, so she couldn’t see his face.

‘Erik’s alright,’ Devlin said, shrugging, ‘But he doesn’t have
what it takes to win the championship.’

This was getting interesting, and Anna thought it was a
shame Gary had forbidden her from relaying these kind of conversations to the
magazine readers without his say-so.

‘What does it take?’ Anna asked, taking a sip of her own
wine.

‘Complete and utter dedication and passion,’ Devlin said,
the joking tone gone out of his voice. ‘You need to eat it, sleep it, breathe
it. You need to be willing to push yourself, mind and body, to the absolute
limit.’

Anna thought about Erik on the plane, what he had said about
racing. She thought he had a fierce passion too, but just wasn’t as forward
about showing it as Devlin.

‘Isn’t it hard,’ she asked, spearing a piece of lettuce with
her fork, ‘having to be around someone all the time when you’re meant to be
rivals?’

Devlin smiled.

‘We don’t spend that much time together, really,’ he said.
‘Only as much as we have to. My head is in my game, and his head is…well who
knows, it’s not my business to care. I only look out for myself.’

Anna wasn’t particularly surprised by this assertion. She
noticed, with surprise, as he lifted his fork to his mouth, that he was wearing
a ring on his wedding finger.

‘Are you married?’ she asked, incredulously.

He glanced at the ring, as if he’d forgotten he wore it.

‘Yes I am,’ he said, sounding disinterested.

‘I had no idea,’ Anna said, truthfully. She thought about
his leering and flirting, and felt a bit sorry for his wife. ‘Why isn’t she
here?’

Devlin laughed.

‘She doesn’t come to races,’ he said. ‘It’s not her scene.’

‘Oh,’ Anna said. She thought if her husband was somewhere
risking his life every couple of weeks, she would want to be there.

‘What’s her name?’

‘Felicity.’ He took another long glug of wine, and refilled
his glass again.

‘That’s a pretty name,’ Anna said. ‘What does she do?’

Devlin stared at her, blankly.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean what does she do for a living?’

Devli continued staring, and Anna felt like she was speaking
another language.

‘Is she a doctor, a pilot, an astronaut…?’ she asked,
irritated.

Devin looked at her strangely.

‘She’s my wife,’ he said, as if she was stupid.

Anna guessed Felicity Carter didn’t work for a living, then.

‘Is it not really difficult on your relationship during the
season, if she doesn’t come to races?’ she asked, watching as he swigged yet
more wine. He could really put it away.

She got the sense he didn’t want to talk about his wife
anymore, and he just shrugged and said, ‘We manage.’

He looked at Anna appraisingly.

‘What about you?’

‘I’m not married,’ she said, waving my ring-less finger
theatrically. ‘Single and happy.’

He winked at her.

Anna was glad to get up to her room after the meal had finished.
Devlin had got more drunk, and more inappropriate, and when his hand came to
rest on her leg, Anna had decided that was enough. She had stood up and bid the
rest of the table goodnight. She had a date with her bear pyjamas and she wasn’t
going to stand them up for anything. Anna locked the chain on the door, changed
into her pyjamas, and crawled back under the covers. She fell asleep almost at
once.

Erik hadn’t slept particularly well, and he felt a bit
cranky. Last night’s dinner had been as boring as he had feared. He’d had a
jolt of hope when he saw Anna enter, but that quickly turned to annoyance as he
saw Devlin grab her – actually physically grab her – and pull her down next to
him. Erik had been tempted to cross the room and punch him for laying hands on
a woman like that, but had controlled himself. He had snuck a few glances at
them during the meal – he had been disappointed to see they were chatting but,
as the evening wore on, he could see Devlin was becoming more drunk – and Anna
more annoyed. Eventually she had got up and left, Devlin staring after her.

He rolled out of bed, grimacing slightly at the pain in his
shoulder and neck. He had obviously slept in a weird position, and he stretched
to try to release some of the tightness.

He wasn’t looking forward to today. It was the first of many
media engagements Gary had arranged for the next few days, and it would mean
close quarters with Devlin and having to answer the same questions over and
over again. He just wanted to race. He wished he could fast-forward to Friday,
when all that would matter was him and the car.

He showered quickly and pulled on a media-friendly outfit – team
shirt and jeans. He checked the time, and headed out of his room and downstairs
to find some breakfast. He was in desperate need of some coffee to give him the
strength to face the day.

There were some people from his team in the breakfast room,
and he waved politely, but picked an empty table off to the side. He couldn’t
be bothered with dealing with more people than he had to today. He ordered a
coffee and some toast. His coffee had just arrived, and he had just taken his
first sip, when he noticed Anna come in through the door. She looked good, he
thought, in skinny jeans and a tight-fitting top. He thought back briefly to
the previous night, and the bear pyjamas. She’d looked good in those, too.

Anna was hovering at the edge of the restaurant, looking for
somewhere to sit, and she caught Erik’s eye. He waved her over, surprised at
himself. He had just wanted to sit with his own thoughts.

‘I thought you’d get room service or something in your room.
Isn’t that what celebrities do?’ she asked, a joking tone in her voice, as she
sat down opposite him.

Erik laughed.

‘Devlin always eats in his room,’ he said. ‘But I just hear
my mother’s voice telling me not to be so lazy.’

Anna laughed at that.

‘I don’t know,’ she said, ‘I like the idea of being served
breakfast in bed.’

Erik smiled, and an image flashed in his head suddenly of
him serving breakfast to Anna, as she lay in bed in her bear pyjamas. Or even
better, without her bear pyjamas. He shook himself. He couldn’t afford to lose
any focus this week, especially not because of a woman – even if she was smart,
funny, and pretty gorgeous.

‘I saw Devlin cornered you at dinner last night,’ Erik said,
interested to know what they had chatted about.

Anna nodded, rolling my eyes dramatically.

‘He was telling me how he’s the best racing driver in the
world.’

‘He tells us all that,’ said Erik, smiling, waving down a
waiter who was passing.

Anna ordered a coffee and the waiter hurried off.

‘I’m not sure I believe him,’ Anna said.

Erik laughed again.

‘I’ll let you in on a secret,’ he said, beckoning her in
closer. She obliged – Erik could smell her hair again, and he breathed it in,
trying not to appear too obvious. ‘I don’t believe him either,’ he whispered,
and Anna laughed.

‘I didn’t realise he was married,’ Anna said, and Erik
nodded. ‘What’s his wife like?’

‘Beautiful,’ said Erik. ‘And incredibly boring. She doesn’t
come to races any more, Devlin got bored of her hanging around and told her not
to come.’

‘That’s awful,’ Anna said, sounding horrified.

‘It happens a lot here,’ Erik said, smiling sadly. ‘It’s a
difficult environment for relationships, the travelling and the stress. A lot
of wives choose not to come of their own accord.’

‘What about yours?’ Anna asked.

Erik shook his head, and thought he detected a slight glow
of pleasure on Anna’s face. Perhaps he was imagining it, though.

‘I’m not married,’ he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

 ‘No girlfriend either?’

‘No,’ Erik said, simply. Then figuring he should explain
himself more, added, ‘I’m totally focused on winning the championship this
year, I can’t have any distractions.’

He knew that was true, but he wouldn’t have minded having
Anna as a distraction.

‘That’s romantic,’ Anna said, laughing, and Erik smiled
back, shrugging slightly.

‘How about you?’ Erik asked, watching her reaction
carefully. He hadn’t thought she might have a boyfriend, or even a husband, and
now the thought had occurred to him, he felt odd, suddenly.

Anna shook her head quickly.

‘I’m single,’ she said.

Erik disguised his relieved smile by lifting his coffee to
his lips.