Revved: A Driven World Novel (The Driven World)

by A. M. Mahler

  “Coffee?” Jamie asked me.

  “Uh, sure,” I said, unsure on whether I should sit or stand.

  Ryan gestured to the two visitor chairs in front of his desk as Jamie walked to the coffee bar. Reaching across the desk, I shook Ryan’s hand before sitting down and putting my blue folder on the desk. Behind Ryan was a credenza with photos of his family, his wife, kids, what looked like brothers and sisters, and various photos of his father in victory lane. I liked that he was a family man, too. It would make things easier when and if I had to leave to attend to my family unexpectedly.

  “Welcome aboard,” he said, sitting back. He pulled his glasses off his face and tossed them onto the desk. “I’m excited to get you started.”

  “It’s great to be here.” That was only a little lie. I was nervous about this new time in my life, but now that I had gotten a look at the kind of operation I’d be working for and the environment, I was intrigued enough to be a little excited, too. The production floor was impeccably clean, considering the business that ran here—and how dirty a typical mechanic’s garage tended to look. The offices likewise looked clean and organized. Jamie seemed to run a tight ship.

  She handed me my coffee and told Ryan she’d be at her desk. Taking a sip from the mug, I winced a bit from the heat.

  “She seems efficient,” I noted.

  “You have no idea,” Ryan replied. “I really should change her title, but I’m not sure what’s most appropriate. Not only is she my assistant, keeping me in line, but she’s also human resources, office services, and our payroll department, all while interfacing with accounting to make sure everything is being paid on time and our company is being paid. She handles outside vendors, insurance, like everything. I make sure her salary reflects her responsibilities, but the appropriate title eludes me. Overlord, maybe? I don’t know. I’m sure she’ll just change it herself one day.”

  “Wow.”

  “So, let’s get to some details.” Ryan kicked back and crossed his ankles on top of his desk. His feet landed on what looked to be a slide presentation and papers with a lot of graphs on them. I’m sure it was the type of thing that would piss off his assistant. “You probably parked in front, and that’s okay for today. Down the road more is my house. I have extra parking cleared down there for everyone. It keeps all the cars away from Ethan’s farm and Jackie’s house. Just watch out for farm animals while you’re driving.”

  Jamie said Ryan’s brother tended to the farm, so that must be Ethan. I looked at the pictures behind the credenza. One of the many was a photo of Ryan with three other dudes all in tuxedos, and I guessed one of them might be Ethan since those dudes also appeared in pictures with two other women.

  “There are golf carts in the garage at my house, but honestly, Jamie’s the only one that uses them because she wears shoes in no way appropriate for a farm. Everyone else, including me, just walks.”

  I nodded. My shoes could be a little pricey too, but they could handle a dirt road. I was from Maine. I owned the appropriate footwear.

  “We’re casual dress,” Ryan continued. “It’s a garage, and clients only interact with me and Jamie. One girl in accounting must own leggings and yoga pants in every color. On occasion, clients can talk with Maggie, but she doesn’t like to deal with them.

  “I think Jamie put a refrigerator in your office. She has for everyone else, so I don’t see why you would be any different. You can chill anything you bring from home. You can even put alcohol in there, but I just ask that you don’t indulge in the office until after work hours. There are a few places in town that will deliver lunch, a deli, Chinese, pizza, and the brewery. But you’re welcome to take your lunch hour away from here. I like to make sure everyone has the appropriate work-life balance.”

  I nodded some more, like a bobble head stuck on a car dashboard. I probably looked like Bambi, wide-eyed and innocent without a clue as to what was going on. I knew the first day of a new job is typically overwhelming, but I felt myself getting uncharacteristically disoriented.

  “I’m going to put it right out there,” he continued. “I pimped you out to my siblings. Once they heard I hired you, suddenly they all want to revamp their various websites. I don’t mind at all if you take on their extra work and feel free to charge them whatever your rates are. Ethan’s a vet though, Marines, so maybe you offer some kind of discount.”

  My head bobbled some more. More work. Sure. Freelancing was allowed. Got it.

  He was about to say something else when the door flew open and my life changed.

  A woman walked in speaking and looking down at the tablet nestled on her bare forearm. Jamie came in behind her.

  The new girl had brown hair piled up on top of her head in some kind of mess. She was wearing green cargo pants with black boots poking out at the hem. A white tank top clung to her torso and breasts. Black chunky glasses sat on her nose as she continued to look down, swiping a finger along her screen. A grease mark marred the otherwise unblemished skin of her cheek.

  “I think we have room to adjust the camber a little more to the negative,” she said, eyes still on her tablet. “That way,” she continued, looking up at the ceiling and gesturing with her hand, “when the car corners—”

  “Maggie!” Jamie stopped her.

  Maggie used a stained finger to push her glasses up on her nose before blowing hair out of her eyes as she looked at Jamie.

  “This is Simon Webster, our new web designer. Simon, Maggie Dalton, our lead engineer.”

  Maggie looked straight at me and some invisible force slammed right into my chest.

  There was no spark. There was a solar charge from the sun.

  She was my dream girl. And she was a hot mess.

  Maggie

  T

  he new guy was weird.

  I’m probably not one to talk, but he was staring at me like I suddenly sprouted another head or something. I brought a hand up and discreetly checked my nose to make sure nothing was hanging out. I think I was good.

  But the next thing that registered after his weirdness was how hot he was. This guy was smoking. Wearing jeans that I could tell had been pressed and a white collared shirt untucked with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, revealing very defined forearms. His russet eyes pierced me like he might be trying to see into my soul.

  “Hi,” I said dumbly and heard Jamie’s frustrated sigh. I somehow failed the sisterhood again.

  When Simon stood, he fumbled his coffee and some spilled over the rim.

  “Ow, shit!” He put the mug down and shook out his burned hand.

  I had to crane my neck to see his eyes when he rose from the chair. He had a good five or six inches on me, which wasn’t a big accomplishment considering I’m on the short side—or petite as my mother liked to say.

  I couldn’t help but take a quick visual tour of his body. He looked fit for a guy that sat at a computer all day. Brown hair cut short with that hipster five o’clock shadow I couldn’t figure out how they maintained. Everything about him was neat and tidy. He was probably Jamie’s wet dream, and when I snuck a glance at her, she definitely looked interested—almost animalistic.

  I couldn’t say I blamed her. He was a fine specimen of man—that I didn’t have time for. I didn’t date. Ryan was constantly on my ass about his work-life balance stuff, but the only people I knew in New Hampshire were my coworkers, brother, and various members of Ryan’s family as they breezed in and out. I knew the people at the track, but I wouldn’t call them my friends. They were just like more co-workers since Ryan and his sister owned the local short track, as well. I’d been in this town for something like three years and didn’t have a single friend outside work.

  Wow. Jamie was my only friend.

  Simon looked like he was going to stick his hand out for mine to shake and then seemed to remember it was covered in coffee and shoved it into his back pocket. This not only accented his lean hips, but also the bulge in his jeans.

  Was it getting hot i
n here?

  I pushed my glasses back up my nose again. Jamie’s growl could be heard from across the room, and she was giving me the look.

  “Take. Them. Off,” she muttered.

  I shoved my glasses off up on my head and looked back up to Simon. He sucked in a breath and held it. I don’t get it. Did I smell?

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said when his breath came out on a whoosh. I blinked at the sound of his deep rumble. It was raspy and sexy as hell.

  “Simon,” Ryan cut in. Neither of us could break our stare-off. The heat between us was building, and I couldn’t seem to pull away. “As Jamie said, Maggie is our lead engineer. She works too much. Maybe showing you around town and taking you to lunch today will be the dynamite she needs to blast her out of the building.”

  That got my attention as my head snapped in my boss’s direction. Jamie huffed, and I was totally confused. Now she sounded like she objected to Ryan’s idea? I was still stuck on my boss decreeing I show the new guy around town. Out and about town? Where would I even take him? There was Main Street where all the businesses were, and that was it. The neighborhoods were scattered around different areas of town. There was the ski resort, but it was closed for the summer. If he drove down Main Street to get here, he already saw the town.

  Ryan held out his hand and curled his fingers in the “gimme” sign.

  “Give me the tablet.”

  I clutched it to my chest, shaking my head frantically. My tablet was directly connected to my digital drafting desk, and I went nowhere without it. Nowhere. It was a part of my very being. It sat right on edge of the end table next to my bed when I slept. It wasn’t unusual for something to come to me in my sleep, so I’d just wake up and work the idea on my tablet.

  A workaholic, hot mess that forgot all about the fact that she had a vagina. That’s me. There were probably cobwebs up in there. A dry desert that hadn’t seen any action in .... in ... damn, when’s the last time I had sex?

  Maybe that’s why I was attracted to this guy. My girl parts sat up and took notice of his hotness and his weirdness because he was still staring at me like I might be lunch.

  Ryan cleared his throat, still holding out his hand. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the tablet closer to my chest. Briefly, I considered sticking it down my shirt, but that was just juvenile.

  Then again ...

  “Are you serious right now?” I croaked. Ryan lifted a single brow.

  “About you going to eat lunch? As a heart attack.”

  I didn’t realize I was shaking my head again until Jamie muttered and stormed across the room toward me. We grappled for a moment over the tablet, and when she sunk her claws into me, I yelped and let go. Like I’d just let go of my infant for the first time, I watched my tablet move in the air toward Ryan. Whimpering, I watched helplessly as he caught it and closed it away in a drawer. So unnecessary.

  “Simon,” Ryan said. “Maggie’s going to take you to lunch.”

  “Uhhh,” Simon said.

  Couldn’t have said it better myself.

  “She’ll be ready to go in two minutes,” Jamie announced, grabbing my hand and dragging me out of the office.

  Why did I get the feeling I was just set up?

  Simon

  M

  aggie sat across from me at a brewery in town cleverly named Over the Hop. She clutched her pint glass, sat ramrod straight, and looked around the room. We both got the Scottish Bastard Red. I liked that we had the same taste in beer, but neither of us seemed to know what to do in this situation. Had it been that long since I’d had a date?

  Spoiler alert: It has.

  It seemed like Jamie got her hands on Maggie after she pulled her from Ryan’s office because when Maggie came outside to meet me, she was wearing flipflops instead of boots and had a flannel shirt hanging open over her tank top—which Maggie probably put on after Jamie was done with her quick makeover—her hair was combed straight, and skin devoid of grease marks. And the glasses were gone. I was surprised when I realized I preferred the hot mess over this Jamified-version. Still, Maggie was a natural beauty. Her pale skin was flawless, and she wore no makeup. There was a flurry of delightful freckles spread over her face.

  But being forced into this situation made things awkward. The cold beer in my hand did nothing for my sweaty palms, and I cleared my throat for the tenth time since we sat down half an hour ago. She was going to think I was sick or something.

  This was ridiculous. We were co-workers now. New co-workers spoke to each other and got to know one another. I needed to get this to a place of not feeling like a blind date. It was not a date. We met an hour ago. I was projecting. I fell in love the second she looked at me, and now everything was weird. She didn’t know I had that response to her, so I had to find a way to make basic small talk.

  “So, how long have you worked for Willis-Reilly?” Her gaze snapped to mine, and her knuckles went white on her glass.

  “Um...” She looked up at the ceiling. “I guess about six years now maybe. We sort of knew each other a long time ago. His dad was a stock car driver, and my dad worked on Jimmy Reilly’s pit crew. Ryan’s older than me, so we were really just kind of familiar with each other.”

  “I have to admit, I don’t know a lot about cars or racing,” I said, ducking my chin. When I looked back up, I saw neither shock nor revulsion.

  “What do you know about?”

  “Baseball,” I answered quickly, before thinking about the boys. “And Star Wars, and superheroes, and Nerf guns.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “Zach Porter is Ryan’s half-brother. He moved here after he retired. This brewery is one of his favorite places.”

  My jaw dropped, and I snapped it shut before she saw how well I could impersonate a fish. I grew up on the New England Mavericks, and Zach Porter, hands down, had the best record in baseball when he retired. He was one of a very elite club of pitchers to throw a perfect game. I couldn’t believe it. Devon and the boys were going to shit their pants when they found that out.

  “He’s here all the time.” Maggie said. “If you sit here long enough, he’ll wander in. The locals around here are used to him now. He’s just a regular resident. He pops into the shop every now and then, too.”

  And when I saw him for the first time, I really, really hoped I didn’t embarrass myself and fanboy all over him.

  Her eyes began to wander around the room. Was I really that dull? I scanned my mind for topics a brainiac might be interested in talking about.

  “You seem kind of young to be lead engineer.”

  I closed my eyes and groaned internally. Really, dude? How insulting did that sound? I was trying to keep her interested, not put her on the defensive. Just when I thought she was going to ask to have our lunch wrapped before it even got here, she shrugged.

  “I guess it would seem that way. My family traveled with Jimmy’s race team, so I’ve been around cars my entire life. Getting an engineering degree was just technical. I took my first engine apart when I was eight. My mom tutored kids that traveled with the circuit. Growing up, I lived in a motor home ten months out of the year, and we stayed with my grandparents in the off-season.”

  “That’s fascinating,” I said, as our lunch showed up. We both ordered burgers, medium well, with cheese, lettuce, no tomato, and no onion. They came with a side of fries and a specialty dip, and we both asked for the roasted garlic flavored mayonnaise. I mean, what were the odds of that? “What was that like?”

  The tractor beam she had me enthralled in tugged me in a little more. I was captivated by her. What a non-traditional and amazing way to grow up. I had dozens of questions, but I didn’t want to scare her off. Those are things one asked on a date, and we were not on a date.

  Once the food came, Maggie relaxed and started talking. “Actually, there were a few other families that did the same thing. Plus, the drivers’ families were always around, too. The pit crew flies and usually stays in a hotel, but sin
ce my dad took us with him, and he was—well, is—a mechanic, we lived in a motorhome and stayed at the track with the cars and other mechanics. It wasn’t as luxurious as anything the drivers had, but being on the crew was good money, and my parents weren’t paying a mortgage on a house somewhere. It was a pretty nice ride. My brother and I each had our own spaces that we decorated like any kid. Storage was obviously tight, so I had to learn what I really couldn’t live without. It was easier than going from hotel to hotel and living out of a suitcase, though.” Fascinated by both her story and her movements, I watched as she stacked up her fries into a neat wall, frowning when she came up with an odd number.

  I took a big bite out of my burger. I wanted to keep her talking, but I didn’t want her to feel like she was on display as I stared at her while she ate. I also realized that she was probably an endless source of information on stock car racing. She probably knew everything there was to know while I ... liked baseball.

  “What was the social life like?” Did you have a lot of boyfriends? Do you have boyfriend now? Please don’t have a husband.

  Focused now on dipping her fries in her mayonnaise, she shrugged a shoulder.

  “I didn’t pay much attention to that, you know? In the summers, there were more kids around as they were out of school, but I’m kind of a loner.” Pausing in her fry consumption, she looked back up at me. “Actually, I’m surprised I’m even telling you this much. It’s come to my attention recently that I have exactly one friend. Pretty pathetic, huh?”

  “Not to me.” I started focusing on my fries, as well. She seemed to talk more when she had an idle task to do. “I’m from a small town. I have a few friends, but my closest and best friend has always been my brother.”