The Curve Read online

  “I can see you safely upstairs,” he offered in that sexy broken French accent I had been listening to all day, but I refused. “Will I see you again?” He asked holding tightly to my hand.

  “I’m sure,” I shrug, “race season is about to start. We are bound to run into one another.”

  “I look forward to running into you,” he said as he kissed the back of my hand. I smiled and took my hand back. Before I turned to see the door open, the doorman watching us, waiting for me to move through the door he held open.

  “Thanks again!” I called as I dashed inside, not wanting to make the doorman wait any longer as he looked quite annoyed.

  I went straight to the room, which was already dark. Ina was asleep on the farthest bed, quiet as a mouse, buried beneath the large duvet, only a tuft of her dark hair peeking out. I went to the bathroom and washed my face, rolled my hair up and put my pj’s on. I was asleep almost the moment my head hit the pillow thanks to all the wine and walking, but it wasn’t Paris or Luc that I dreamt about. It was Kelley. It was always Kelley.

  When I woke, Ina was sitting on the edge of my bed with a silly grin on her bright morning face.

  “Rise and shine,” she sang melodically. “Time to get up and let this old aunt of yours live vicariously through you. I want all the details, I also want champagne. Chop chop,” she patted the bed as she stood and threw open the heavy brocade curtains welcoming the warm morning sun into our room. “Let’s go find breakfast.”

  We walked for a bit and found a little place for breakfast. We feasted on waffles and the most perfect eggs. Ina ordered caviar with hers which was fitting I thought with her champagne breakfast. I didn’t care for caviar and absolutely hated eggs, but the waffle was delicious and the coffee perked me right up. I told her all about the Rodin museum and let her smell my new signature scent.

  “That smells like an old English rose garden,” she said as she handed me back the little vial. “It’s perfect for you, just what I would choose.” As the waiter opened the second bottle of champagne Ina’s cheeks got a little rosier, and we got a lot more giggly.

  “I envy you Kiki, to be young and free, the world at your fingertips. In this day and age, it wouldn’t be unheard of for you to take a lover in every country if you so desired. And a beautiful young woman like you, with your head screwed on straight. Oh honey, the possibilities make my head spin. You can have a Luc and a Kelley.” She winked, putting her champagne to her smiling lips.

  “Oh my God, Ina, what are you talking about?” I must have been ten shades of red, my cheeks were on fire. “First of all, do not say lover!”

  “I’m talking about Kelley, honey. You think I don’t know?” I took a small sip of champagne and it slid icily down the wrong pipe making me cough.

  “Know what?” I barely choked out.

  “You have loved that boy since you were twelve, Kiki. It’s written all over your face.” She stopped to pop a little spoonful of caviar in her mouth before continuing. “Don’t get me wrong. I get it, I always got it. He was a good boy and he has grown into a good man, albeit spoiled and a little egocentric, but honey,” she looked up with a smirk, “if he was ten years older, or I was ten years younger and your Uncle Robert had fallen off the face of the earth, I’d ride him like a bull.” I almost spit my champagne across the table and we both erupted into a fit of laughter. “I guess it’s time you know the truth about me, Kiki. Your poor Uncle Robert has suffered alone for too long. Your Aunt Ina is really just a dirty old woman!” She roared and we both laughed until our sides hurt and we struggled for breath.

  “You’re not old,” I managed to mutter once we calmed down a bit, “but you are definitely dirty.” She lifted her glass and we toasted to her dirty ways while we sat in the late morning sun at a café along the Seine.

  Chapter 7

  Return of the Mack

  After our sabbatical across the channel, I was anxious to get back. Robert insisted that Kelley had calmed down, but I was understandably weary. He had agreed to let me back in the office but I was forbidden, expressly by Kelley himself, to go anywhere near his cars. He threatened Robert on pain of being fired if he caught me so much as breathing in the direction of their development car. He was being so pompous and unreasonable, yet Robert just relented and stuck me in the office. I wasn’t even allowed to go onto the track because of Kelley’s tantrum. I was trapped behind the desk and it was a nightmare.

  Over the first week back Kelley came in almost every day. He looked right through me, pretending I wasn’t even there, reminding me silently that I make everything hard. It was cruel and cold and I didn’t understand what I had done to warrant such childish behavior. By Friday I was fucking fed up and I was going to let him have it. When he walked into the office I was ready for a fight, but when he dropped a large box on my desk he took the wind from my angry sails. I looked at the garment box and then up at him, struggling to hold on to my anger, anger he had been feeding with his behavior. He pushed the box towards me.

  “Consider it a peace offering,” he muttered meeting my eyes. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to respond but he stopped me with a finger in the air. “I implore you to think, Kiki…think about what you are about to say before you say it. I am trying to make things right here, please.” I swallowed back my retort and softened a bit as he pushed the box closer to me.

  “Go on, open it.” I took a deep breath and studied him before I sat back in my chair and reached for the box, pulling it into my lap. It was heavier than I expected, I pulled back the lid and then the tissue paper that wrapped the contents and there staring back at me was the reason the box was so heavy. Heavy-duty, flame resistant material, the Cooper racing patch, signature blue stripe, I had my own team jumpsuit. I ran my finger along the collar where my name was embroidered, my name and dad’s number. I forgot everything I was going to say, every reason I was angry. I forgot everything for a moment and just held the box and looked at Kelley.

  “What is this for?” I asked quietly, still not taking it from the box. Still unsure of why he was giving this to me. Unsure of him.

  “It’s for you, Makayla.” He moved around the desk and came before me, resting his hip against the edge, pulling the jumpsuit from the box. “I may have overreacted.” He held the jumpsuit out before me and I just stared in awe. “Stand up,” he commanded, his face impassive. I stood and pushed the chair back, putting a bit of space between us. He held the jumpsuit against my shoulders and cocked his head to the side.

  “You’ll need to try it on. I had to guess at your measurements,” he grinned. Before I got a chance to move, his eyes went to the door. I don’t know how I didn’t hear it but there is no way you could miss her. Statuesque was the only word that came to mind. That is exactly what she was, a perfectly sculpted woman the likes of which even Michelangelo could not replicate. Her long blonde hair spilled over her shoulders like corn silk. She wore a delicate blush-colored blouse and gray slacks with some hot as hell strappy heels that made her look like she was ten feet tall.

  The energy between them was heavy and neither of them tore their eyes from the other. It was as if I had completely disappeared from the moment, I was not even there. I looked at Kelley as he tossed the jumpsuit back in the box.

  “What are you doing here, Jo?” She looked from him to me, and back to him as she slowly sauntered towards us. Jo?

  “What are you doing here, honey?” She asked softly, her mouth turned in an oddly disconcerting grin. She ran her finger along the edge of my desk and curled in closer, “I haven’t seen you.” It came out as a needy purr, it grossed me out.

  “I’ve been busy,” Kelley returned coolly. She shifted on her feet with a huff, looking at me, looking at the space between me and Kelley, and then looking through me. I took my cue, equally as annoyed by her as she seemed to be becoming with me. I pushed back from my desk as quietly as I could as she followed him across the office and they disappeared behind closed
doors. I dropped the top back onto the box and left it.

  ***

  There was a soft knock at my bedroom door and I looked over to check the clock. Eleven fifteen.

  “Kiki,” I heard Uncle Robert whisper through the door. “Kiki, are you still awake?” he asked as the door slid open by a hair and he peeked around.

  “Yes, I’m up,” I replied, placing my book on the nightstand and sitting up.

  “You have a visitor.” He said opening the door all the way.

  “A visitor?” I asked, climbing out of bed, totally caught unaware of who or why anyone would be visiting me, especially at this hour.

  “It’s Kelley.” Ugh, I sighed pulling my sweater off the chair that sat next to my bed. I wrapped it around me and followed Robert down the stairs but he made off for his study and left Kelley and me in the foyer. I don’t come all the way down the stairs, staying on the landing three steps above him, yet we were looking eye to eye. I just crossed my arms over my middle and waited. For what I didn’t know, but I was pretty sure he should be doing the talking. He held the big white box from earlier in his hands and a pensive smile on his face.

  “I am sorry about this afternoon, Mack.” So now he was calling me Mack? He proffered the box to me but I didn’t take the bait.

  “Who is she?” He didn’t say a word, just stepped back on his heel and thought for a moment before he looked up at me again.

  “She is my…I don’t know,” he paused. “We have a history. We just keep it quiet, for her sake, and mine.”

  “History?” The word echoed in my head. No, we had a history. I was jealous and it was pissing me off. The way he stood before me just like that, when just a few hours ago he was probably fucking her. The thought sent me right over the irrational edge and I took the last three steps, pushing past him, heading towards the kitchen. I heard him behind me, push his way through the door I let swing shut on him and his full hands. He just chuckled and dropped the box on the counter before I turned around in a whirl of hair and attitude.

  “Why wouldn’t you tell me that you had a girlfriend? Why haven’t I seen you with her? Why didn’t anyone say anything?” I ask exasperated. He smiled and sat on a bar stool.

  “Is that was this is all about, Kiki? You’re mad because you didn’t know I had a woman?” Fuck! Damn it what the hell was I thinking. Now there he sat with that arrogant little half grin and I had hung myself out to dry. Damn. I just looked at him for a moment and collected my thoughts.

  “No, that’s not what this is about. I don’t care who your woman is.” I lied. “I just don’t understand why it was a big secret. I felt like an asshole today like she thought I was doing something wrong. I don’t know, I just didn’t like it. Not to mention that you have been nothing but a dick and then you just…left me there.”

  “Things are complicated between me and Jo, always have been.” Oh good, let’s talk about your history. I rounded the counter with two Boddingtons and put one in front of him. He went to wrap his hand around the beer before I had let go but I managed to slide my fingers away before he could touch me.

  “She isn’t my last goodnight; she is just someone who shares my bed when she is around.”

  “How romantic,” I scoffed as I took a long swig of my beer, hating every minute of this conversation.

  “The last I saw her was almost two months ago, and since then I have only seen pictures. Pictures of her with people I don’t care for and that’s enough for me to be done. You get me, Kiki? I don’t play games. The fact that she had been in town all week and hadn’t heard a peep from me should have given her pause, but she doesn’t think that way.” He stopped to take a drink of his beer and squared his eyes on me. “I must say though, this jealousy from you is a pleasant side effect.”

  “I am not jealous!” I exclaimed too adamantly, trying just as hard to convince myself as I was trying to convince him.

  “Of course not,” he smirked. “Well,” he mumbled with his lip to the bottle, “she knows me well enough to know that when I’m done, I’m done. She knows it; she knew it when she walked in this afternoon. Hell, she knew it when she let those photos be snapped of her and Mario. No boundaries,” He shook his head and continued. “But she felt she had a claim on me, felt she had something I needed, something I wouldn’t let go, despite her behavior. The thing is Kiki, nobody has a claim on me. There is nothing in this world that I need that badly.”

  I listened to him as he trailed off, his eyes looking past me. There was a warning in his words, a current that he wanted me to catch. He emptied his beer bottle and returned his attention to me, standing and handing me his empty. “You’re still going to need to try that on,” he gestured to the box that held my new jumpsuit. “If you want to drive for me, I am going to need to see what you can do. Be at the track with the sun in the morning. Tomorrow is test day.” He winked and disappeared, leaving me standing in the kitchen.

  Chapter 8

  Break of Dawn

  I didn’t sleep much, couldn’t think of anything but getting behind the wheel and showing Kelley what I was made of. I pulled on the under layers, twisted my hair into a long braid that spilled over my shoulder and left my face bare. I drove through the gates at Silverstone just as the sun was cresting the horizon. The pink clouds stretched over the track, dew clung to the grass and the pavement was peaceful. I didn’t see Kelley’s car in the parking lot, or anyone else’s for that matter so I was sure I was alone.

  I collected my jumpsuit that fit perfectly. I knew this because I spent two hours after Kelley left the night before wearing it around the house, doing various tasks. When I finally took it off this morning I folded it precisely and put it into a duffle bag with my shoes and left them sitting by the front door, as if I could forget them. I went up through the conference area and came down the grandstands just so I could have a look at the track at the break of day.

  It was breathtaking, the silence, the emptiness, the thought of thousands upon thousands of people filling up the seats; the roar of the crowd, the roar of the cars. I looked down at the Cooper garage to see a shiny, bad ass bike parked before the closed garage door. When I got closer, the garage door flew up and there stood Kelley, wearing blue jeans, black boots, tight, long sleeved black t-shirt and a smile.

  “Punctuality is key on my team,” he winked, ushering me inside the garage. The test car was rolled out and he had called in a skeleton crew to help us out. Open wheel racing was complicated; one couldn’t just hop in a car and go. It took a team to start the car and a team to read the car. The pit crew pulled the tire covers off and rolled her out onto the tarmac as Kelley led me to the back office.

  “Change,” he demanded as he opened a closet and pulled a non-descript white helmet with a blue, mirrored visor from a shelf lined with them. “This should fit,” he said tossing the helmet to me. “Meet me outside when you are done, and no primping!” He called behind him as he shut me in the office.

  I changed and met him out in the garage. He was standing at a bank of monitors watching the rpm climb as one of the crew revved the engine. He turned to look at me and I swear everything in the garage went silent. There was nobody but us. I couldn’t hear the car, I couldn’t hear the crew, all I could hear was my heart beating against the inside of my rib cage as Kelley looked at me that way. He narrowed his eyes at me and I swear I could feel him inspecting me as if his eyes had hands that roamed my body. He skimmed the curves, the jumpsuit fit so well there was nothing but curves. It was like a second skin and I felt amazing in it. I felt even more amazing in it, standing before Kelley, him looking at me like that. The moment was brief and passed like a bolt when the sound of a heavy wrench hitting the concrete floor took both our attention.

  “It fits,” I offered as Kelley’s gaze returned to me.

  “I can see that,” he muttered before flicking a finger and demanding I follow. He talked at me as we rounded the car, pointing out every little thing that Robert had al
ready gone over with me but I humor him and didn’t speak. He barely made eye contact, always rushing his gaze from mine when I met his eyes. Once he felt I had been thoroughly vetted I pulled the balaclava over my hair and put my helmet on. I climbed into the cockpit and he handed me the steering wheel.

  “Let’s take it easy on the first run. Just get a feeling for the track and the car. I’ll be in your ear.” He tapped my helmet and stepped back from the car. I looked forward to the crew chief, Garrett, standing in front of the quietly ferocious car and I wait for his signal. He moved to the side and waved me by and I took off from the pit; up to the top of the track and hugged that first wide curve before the track opened up before me.

  “I said take it easy,” I heard Kelley’s gruff voice come over the speaker in my helmet. As I came around the bend I saw the straight and I opened her up and dropped my foot. The thrust pushed me forward like a shot and the high pitched wail of the engine sang in my blood as I tried to get her as fast as possible. 180… 195… 210… 220.

  “Pull back on your speed kid, take this first curve as tight as possible. Let’s see if you can keep her steady.” I dropped down and headed into the tight turn, I leaned into it and held tight until I hit the apex; I aimed and put her through. When I came out I shifted and hit the gas again.

  “Well done.” I heard Kelley before I came upon a series of tight winding curves and had to drop my speed. “Ride that curb tight.” I stayed tight to the curb, my tires rolling fluidly over the red and white.

  “Coming up on the trick, this is a high-speed corner; let’s see how hard you can push it. Watch your drag, and keep those tires straight.” I came through the sequence of corners and hit a short straight before the wide curve presented itself. “Punch it” he commanded in my ear and I hit the throttle and yanked the wheel. It took every ounce of my strength to hold her steady, to keep the tires tight to the curb but I did it. 97 through the corner and my heart was pounding.