Nor would me or Tate.
“She’s a good racer,” I said, meandering into the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee. “She’s worked hard and deserves her spot.”
“I agree. She’ll give you boys a run for your money.”
I nodded. “I don’t doubt it for a second.”
She folded the paper and pushed it across the table. “Jared, I need to tell you something.”
I sat next to her, reaching for a coaster for my cup. “It’s twins,” I said, grinning.
Her eyes widened. “Don’t even fucking joke, mister.”
I laughed and held my hands in the air in mock surrender. “Hit me with it, then.”
She nibbled her lip and picked at her thumbnail rather than look at me.
“I’m sorry, but I kind of told my parents about the baby.” She lifted her eyes to mine. “I should have told you first, but I panicked. And then I started thinking all these crazy thoughts like you might leave me, or you wouldn’t want me anymore, or you’d accuse me of forgetting to take the pill or that I’d tricked you into being a father before we’d even discussed whether we wanted kids. And none of that is true. You know that, right? I would never do anything so awful.”
I could have interrupted after her first sentence, but I let her get it all out.
“Finished?”
She blinked rapidly. “Yes.”
“Good.”
I rose from my chair and thoroughly kissed her. Show not tell. That had been my promise to her last night, and this was my way of keeping that promise.
I straightened, then traced her cheek with my fingertips. “Better?”
She heaved a deep sigh. “You’re not mad?”
I retook my seat, a tinge of frustration in my expression. “Why the hell would I be mad? Of course you’d talk to your parents about something so momentous, Ley. I’d be more surprised if you hadn’t. You’re incredibly close to them, and I wasn’t here, and if you really were worrying as much as you say, then it’s perfectly normal to reach out to them for reassurance.” I inclined my head. “Are they pleased?”
She nodded. “Absolutely thrilled. Dad might even give you a raise.”
I laughed. “We should go and see them together. Or invite them over here for dinner one night this week.”
“Good idea. I’ll call Mum later today. Maybe they could here on Wednesday after Noah’s flight leaves.” She clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh god, Noah. I ruined his weekend, too. I’ll have to apologize. Where did he sleep? I feel awful. Tell him to come over for dinner tonight.”
“Ley.” I clasped her wrist. “It’s all good. If pregnancy has ramped up your alert level to Defcon Ten, it’s going to be a fucking long few months.”
She shot me an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
“I’m banning that word. You have nothing to be sorry for. Where’s my feisty ‘I don’t give a shit’ girl disappeared to?”
She offered up a soft smile. “She’s still here.”
“Good.” I finished my coffee. “Noah is fine. He stayed in a hotel. I said I’d catch up with him today. And yes, when I see him, I’ll invite him over for dinner tonight. He might as well stay in the hotel, though, given he’s flying home tomorrow.”
“Don’t tell him,” she said. “Let’s tell him together.”
“Okay.” I moved behind her and massaged her neck. “I have a few errands to run this morning. Why don’t you take a long soak in the bath, relax, read a book, and I’ll be back in time to take you to lunch.”
She groaned as I dug my thumbs into her tight muscles. “Sounds like heaven.”
I hated lying to Ley, but I wanted to run my idea past Jack without getting her hopes up. He might not go for it, in which case, my plan would require a rethink. Knowing how much Jack adored his princess, though, I doubted he’d put any obstacles in my way.
Drive time to Jack’s was surprisingly swift given the usual fender-to-fender line of traffic permanently clogging up London’s streets. A lot like Los Angeles, my hometown. Some days it could take an hour to travel a mile. Other days, a lightning fast five minutes. Today, I got lucky. Parking up, I crunched through the gravel and knocked on the door. Jack answered, his surprise evident in his furrowed brow and startled expression.
“Jared. Is everything okay? Is Paisley alright?”
“She’s fine, Jack. All good. Both her and the baby.” I wanted him to be aware she’d told me the news. “She doesn’t know I’m here. Could we have a quick chat?”
Jack flashed me an odd look, then stood back and gestured for me to come inside. Bypassing the living room, he led me straight to his study. He indicated for me to take the chair opposite his desk, then he wandered around the other side and sat behind the large oak monstrosity, an antique, so Paisley told me, passed down from Jack’s great-grandfather.
“Spill, Jared,” Jack said in his inimitable direct manner, one I’d become well accustomed to over the last three years of racing for his Formula One team. “But be warned. If you’re here to tell me you’re unhappy about the pregnancy, I’d advise a different course of action.”
I laughed. “Fuck off, Jack. I’m thrilled. But Paisley being pregnant does present us with a problem. One I think I have a solution to, if you’ll hear me out.”
He motioned to me. “Go ahead.”
I briefed him on my plan. His expression morphed from disbelief to surprise to outright shock as I laid out the details in meticulous fashion.
“Jesus, Jared, are you sure?” he asked when I’d finished briefing him.
I nodded. “I’ve never been surer about anything in my life.”
“Well, fuck if that doesn’t prove how much my daughter means to you.”
“She means everything.”
“I believe you.”
I stood. “Will you come with me to tell her? I think it’s better if we break the news together.”
Jack grinned. “Coward.”
On the journey back to my apartment, we ironed out a few minor details to ensure we were on the same page. I couldn’t call Paisley’s reaction. As time passed, I thought a few regrets might start to creep in, but no, I stood firm in my decision. I’d never felt so certain about anything in my life.
I opened the door to my apartment to find the living space empty. “Ley?” I called out.
On reflection, I should have added that I had her dad in tow. I didn’t. Hence when Paisley shouted, “Get ready, hotshot”, and tottered out of our bedroom wearing a cherry-red teddy and four-inch heels we all gasped. Jack immediately spun around, muttering under his breath, probably along the lines of how he was going to have my balls chewed off by disease-ridden rats.
“Oh crap,” I mumbled.
“Fucking hell, Jared!” Paisley expelled, darting behind the door. She slammed it hard enough to crack the drywall and pop out a window or two.
Silence filled the air, each passing second growing more painful than the last.
“Drink, Jack?” Ignoring what just happened was probably for the best.
“No,” Jack barked. “I’d like a box of fucking matches so I can set fire to my eyeballs.”
“I’d better go see her,” I said, heat creeping up the back of my neck.
Jack simply glared at me with utter disdain.
This is going swimmingly.
I slipped inside our bedroom to find Paisley pulling on a pair of jeans and a thick sweater.
“You are fucking dead. Dead,” she railed. “I’ll never be able to look Dad in the face again.”
I should have diffused the situation, shared calming platitudes heavily laced with apologies.
Instead, I doubled over laughing.
Incandescent, Paisley planted her hands on her hips. “Jared! It is not funny.”
Trying to catch my breath between fits of laugher, I managed to croak, “It kind of is.”
The more I laughed, the angrier she became. “No more sex for you, jackass,” she hissed.
“We’ll see if you st
ill feel like that when your dad and I have told you our plan for you to keep working when the baby comes.”
Her anger dissipated in an instant, replaced with a hopefulness that tugged at my heartstrings. Ley’s career meant everything to her, and the fact I could give her this gift when her life had been unexpectedly turned upside down, meant the world to me.
“What plan?”
I held out my hand. “Let’s go see your dad.”
She shook her head violently. “I can’t,” she wailed. “He virtually saw my tits thanks to you.”
My lips twitched, resulting in a sharp poke in the chest.
“If you laugh one more time, I swear, you will pay a heavy price, mister.”
I bit back a chuckle. “It wasn’t that revealing.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you actually fucking with me right now?”
I leaned in. “Not fucking with you, but I’ll definitely fuck you once he’s gone. You know how turned on I get when you lose your shit. Just change back into that outfit first, and we’re golden.”
A growl sounded from deep in her throat. “You are infuriating.”
“But hot,” I said with an eyebrow waggle.
“Ugh.”
She shoved past me and strode outside with me on her heels.
“Hi, Dad,” she said breezily, crossing the room to give him a hug.
To his credit, Jack acted completely normally, wrapping her up in a warm embrace. “Hey, Princess.” He fired a glance my way. “You got off remarkably lightly, Jared. I expected you to stagger out with a knife between your shoulder blades.”
I grinned. “She loves me.”
Paisley snorted.
I sauntered over and slipped my arm around her waist, testing the water. She leaned in, and I knew she’d forgiven me already.
“What’s this master plan then?” she said, perching on the edge of a stool at the breakfast bar.
I looked at Jack. He gestured for me to begin.
“Okay, so work wise, as you get bigger, it’ll be difficult for you to carry on in your current role.”
“Brilliant,” Paisley cut in. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
I rolled my eyes at her interjection. “If you shut up for five minutes, I just might.”
Jack chuckled. “Brave. Or stupid.”
Paisley folded her arms across her chest. “Go on then.”
I pulled out a stool and sat next to her. “After you’ve had the baby, and you’ve completed the maternity leave that you’re entitled to which, I estimate, takes us through this season and to the beginning of next…” I took a deep breath. “You return to work and I take care of our baby.”
She wrinkled her nose. “How will that work? I mean we can get a nanny for part of the day, but you and I both work insane hours, Jared, especially during race weekends. What nanny will agree to an eighteen-hour shift pattern? If it were that simple, I’d have come up with that solution myself.”
I turned to Jack. “You raised a beautiful, intelligent, funny, but fucking annoying daughter, Jack.”
“Hey,” Paisley said, butting my shoulder with her palm.
“Let me put it another way,” I said. “After this season, I’m retiring from racing.”
Paisley
I stared at Jared, open-mouthed, shot a glance at Dad, then returned my gaze to Jared. “You can’t be serious?”
“Deadly serious,” Jared insisted. “I’ll be thirty-one next year which means I’ve been doing this for fifteen years. Time to look at other opportunities. I’ve already spoken to your dad, obviously, and he supports my decision. That doesn’t mean I’m taking my foot off the gas this year. There’s only one way to retire, and that’s as World fucking Champion.”
“But… but… you love racing.”
He hitched a shoulder. “I love you more.”
My insides went to mush. “Dad?” I asked tentatively.
“I’m with Jared, Princess. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very unhappy about losing a top driver, but delighted that I’ll still have one of my best mechanics on the team. Jared will be difficult to replace, though.” Dad fired a cheeky grin at him. “But not impossible.”
“Thanks,” Jared muttered.
For all their gruff, manly shit, Dad and Jared adored each other. They might have had a rocky beginning, but the ending was a solid bromance.
“You’re welcome,” Dad said. “So, Princess, what are your thoughts?”
I nibbled on my lip. “I think I’d like to talk to Jared alone if that’s alright with you.”
“Sure, sure.” Dad hugged me tightly. “Call your mother tomorrow. She worries.”
“I will.”
I saw Dad out, then shut the door and sagged against it. “Why didn’t you talk to me about this before going to Dad?”
“Because your father is my boss, Ley, and if I’m quitting, then he deserves to know.”
“And I’m your girlfriend, your partner, the soon-to-be mother of your child. You should have talked it through with me.”
He sighed deeply, his annoyance at the cold water I’d poured on his special surprise palpable. “I just want you to be happy, Ley, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
“Including giving up your own happiness?”
He flattened his lips. “That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Then answer me this. If I wasn’t pregnant, would you still be retiring next season?”
Biting the inside of his cheek, his dark gaze settled on mine. “No.”
I threw my hands in the air. “Then don’t do it!”
He strode toward me and gripped my upper arms, giving me a shake. “For Christ’s sake, Ley. Stop being a fucking hero, or playing the martyr, or whatever the shit this is. You told me you wanted to keep your job after the baby comes. I’ve made that happen.” He let me go, raking a hand through his hair. “What the fuck do you want from me?”
I burst into tears.
Goddamn hormones.
His face crumpled, and he threw his arms around me, holding my cheek against his chest, stroking my hair as he murmured sweet nothings in my ear.
“I just want you to be happy, Ley. If you’re happy, I’m happy. It’s that simple for me. I’ve conquered the racing world. Won every accolade going. By continuing, all that happens is I add to my tally. There aren’t any mountains left to conquer.” He cupped my face and tilted back my head, giving me no choice other than to meet his eyes. “Let me do this for you. For me.” He placed a hand over my stomach. “For our baby.”
I gulped in a lungful of air, my tears receding. The sacrifice he was willing to make on my behalf humbled me, stole my breath, sent tingles through my chest.
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”
He kissed my swollen, salty lips. “We’re the perfect match.”
Twelve Months Later
The familiar smell of engine grease and oil filled my nostrils even from my vantage point at the back of the garage. I waved at Angus, my boss and head of our mechanical engineering team. He returned the gesture, far too busy to come and chat when we were this close to the start of the race.
The crowds had gathered in their tens of thousands, a sea of blue-and-red Nash Racing flags mingled with the yellow-and-green of Jordan Racing. The last race of the season was always well attended, but this year even more so. Jared’s ardent fans had turned out in droves to bid goodbye to a driver they’d taken to their hearts when he arrived as a rookie from America over four years ago.
And he’d go out as World Champion having taken the title at the Brazilian Grand Prix two weeks ago. Abu Dhabi was a chance to celebrate all he’d achieved and to look to the future as a family of three.
It wouldn’t be easy juggling everything. I’d had a taste of it the last two races. Traveling with a seventeen-week-old baby required meticulous planning—and I was luckier than most. I had help. Tons of it. My racing family had rallied round to help the second I’d broken the news about the bundle of
joy we were expecting. I’d worked right up to the beginning of my third trimester, going out on a high at the Barcelona Grand Prix when it was obvious Jared was well on his way to winning his third World Championship.
I’d missed all this, though. Desperately. I couldn’t wait for the start of next season. To once again get stuck in to rebuilding a car after a smash, to feel the weight of a spanner in my hand, to have Angus point out I had a dirty great oil streak up my face—and then laugh as he broke the news it had been there for the last few hours.
“Hey, Paise.”
Madison Brady, Tate Flynn’s fiancé, sidled up alongside me. We hugged and kissed. Not air kisses, but proper “sister from another mister” kisses. I adored Madison. Over the last few years we’d grown extremely close. At least Tate was staying on racing for Dad, for a year or two at least, which meant I’d still see plenty of her.
“Where’s my angel?” Madison asked.
I laughed. “Penny is with him.” Penny was our nanny, and an absolute diamond. A real find who’d fitted into our family with ease. “And let me tell you, he wasn’t an angel at four a.m. this morning.”
“Aww, but he’s so cute. I can’t wait to squeeze his chubby cheek and breathe in that gorgeous baby smell.”
I nudged her arm. “Someone sounds broody.”
She rolled her eyes. “Let me get the wedding out of the way first.”
“How’s it coming along?”
She expelled a deep sigh. “It was going swimmingly until yours truly decided benevolence should win out over animosity. And now I think I’ve made a huge mistake.”
I wrinkled my nose, confused. “Why? What have you done?”
“I invited Tate’s parents to the wedding. Y’know, in the spirit of forgiveness and all that. I didn’t expect them to accept.”
“But they did?”
She nodded. “And now they’ve asked us over to their mausoleum—sorry, I mean home—for dinner.”
I chuckled. “Oh dear.” Tate didn’t see much of his parents. They weren’t nice people. “When’s that?”
The Full Velocity Series Box Set Page 60