Race to the Top: Book one in the Racing to Find Love series (6 page)

The media event had been suitably
boring. Anna had been in the audience of enough of them to know what to expect,
even if she hadn’t ever attended one for racing drivers. Erik and Devlin sat at
a table, with Gary in the middle, as journalists asked them various questions
about how their cars were this year, what did they think of the new rules that
had just been brought in, would they be ‘racing’ each other… Anna thought the
latter one was a stupid question, and voiced as much on the phone to Jules that
night.

‘Hang on,’ she said, ‘I’ll ask Dan.’

There was a pause and Dan came on
the line. Anna repeated her remark and she could almost hear him shake his head
down the line.

‘No, no, it’s a valid question,’ he
explained. ‘Last season the team was really reluctant for them to challenge
each other out on the track, in case both cars got damaged or the drivers got
hurt. They came in for a lot of criticism during the off season for not
allowing them to race each other properly, to be more aggressive.’

Anna thought she understood.

‘They said that they would be allowed
to race at the interview,’ she told him.

Dan drew in a whistle.

‘Then be prepared for some good
races,’ he said, his voice excited. ‘I don’t think those boys will play nice.’

Anna thought of Devlin’s arrogant
boast that he was the best racing driver in the world, and Erik’s quiet but
intense passion, and thought Dan was probably right.

She had a few free days to explore
the city of Melbourne. Devlin and Erik were embroiled in a never-ending whirl
of publicity and, after the first few events, Anna had lost interest in tagging
along. There was nothing for her column here; it was all engine and tyre speak,
so she decided to use her time productively and do some sight-seeing.

She didn’t see either of them again much over the next few
days. She passed them a couple of times in the hotel foyer as they headed out
for meals at expensive restaurants with their rich friends. Anna ate in the
hotel every night, taking a book with her down to dinner in case no one wanted
to sit with her. She had been surprised, though, by the camaraderie of the
team, and she had been invited to sit a table with some of the mechanics. She
couldn’t understand much of what they were talking about, but she did realise
that their passion was no less intense than that of Devlin and Erik.

On Thursday evening, Gary had arranged a briefing at the
track, and Anna was amazed to find that the cars would be racing around the
streets of the city. She had imagined there would be a large, purpose-built
track somewhere out of town.

‘Isn’t it dangerous?’ she asked Erik on the coach as they headed
out. Anna had ended up sitting next to him again, not entirely by accident.

He roared with laughter and she glared at him.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ he said, holding up a hand and trying to
control himself. ‘You do know that normal cars aren’t allowed on it during a
race, right?’

‘What, you mean they cordon off part of the city for a whole
weekend?’ Anna asked, astounded.

Erik nodded.

‘There’s a few street circuits,’ he said. ‘Wait till we get
to Monaco.’

‘I’m not going there,’ Anna said, sounding slightly sad, but
laughed when Erik did a silly pouting face.

They arrived trackside and Anna followed the group into a
large building with Willis Mechanics written on the side.

‘Does this just sit here empty for 51 weeks of the year?’
she asked Erik, amazed at the amount of money that seemed to be flung around

He’d had to resist the urge to laugh again, Anna could tell.
He prodded the edge of the building with his foot and she noticed, to her
surprise, the walls were made of metal poles.

‘It’s temporary,’ he said. ‘When we go, it gets taken down
and flown to the next place.’

‘But it’s more luxurious than my house,’ Anna pointed out
and Erik laughed.

***

Gary’s pep-talk was particularly uninspiring, and they
trudged back to the coach, Anna relieved it was over.

‘So, what happens tomorrow?’ she asked Erik, once they were
back and seated.

‘It’s practices one and two tomorrow,’ he explained,
patiently. Anna thought he had the patience of a saint. She couldn’t imagine
Devlin taking the time to explain anything to her, other than why he was
apparently the best racing driver in the world. ‘So there’s a couple of hours
where we set up the car, make sure all the configurations are right, test any
new parts in the car, and just have a chance to get behind the wheel after our
journey.’

‘I’m quite excited,’ Anna admitted. She was looking forward
to finally seeing these two in action. She had heard the whole atmosphere at a
grand prix was something to be experienced, too.

‘Me too,’ said Erik. ‘You’ll love it, it’s really something
to be a part of. And not many people get to watch the race from the garage –
you’ll be right in the thick of the action. It’ll be noisy, though – make sure
Gary gives you earplugs.’

***

When they arrived at the track the next morning, Anna was
amazed by the sheer number of people milling around. It seemed like there were
people everywhere, all wearing brightly coloured race team shirts. She was
taken through to a long line of garages, where the logos of each team were displayed
outside. She supposed this must be the pit lane – she recognised it from a
picture in one of her books. So this was where the cars came in to have their
tyres changed, or bits repaired if they had fallen off.

‘How do you know where to park?’ she asked Erik and he
laughed.

‘The garages are usually in the same order,’ Erik explained.
‘So you get used to where they are. I did drive into the wrong team’s garage
last year as I had been with my previous team for a few years and had got used
to where they were. I got some ribbing for that.’

 ‘I would have liked to have seen that,’ Anna said,
laughing.

Gary took Anna inside the garage, but forbid her from
wandering around or touching anything. Anna moaned that it was like being on a
school trip, which made Erik snigger.

‘I’d be too scared to touch anything anyway,’ Anna said to
Erik. ‘Imagine I broke something off your car and you couldn’t race’

Erik shook his head, laughing.

‘Most stuff that can be easily broken off can also be easily
fixed,’ he said.

‘I  
am
tempted to break something off Devlin’s car,
though,’ Anna said, darkly. Devlin been particularly obnoxious on the few
occasions she had seen him the last couple of days, making sexual innuendos and
referring often to her bear pyjamas.

‘Oh, speak of the devil,’ she said, as Devlin came
sauntering over.

‘Well, Erik,’ he said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. It
didn’t seem like a particularly friendly gesture to me – and Anna could tell
from Erik’s body language that he hadn’t seen it as such either. ‘Here we are
again.’

Erik nodded, and said, ‘May the best man win, I suppose.’

Devlin laughed, not entirely pleasantly, Anna thought.

‘That’ll be me then,’ he said, and then swaggered off again,
winking at Anna as he went.

‘He is such an idiot,’ she ranted as she watched him go. ‘I
hope his wheels fall off.’

This had made Erik laugh again and that gave her a little
jolt of pleasure. She liked making him laugh – liked hearing the sound and
seeing his face light up. She thought he seemed a bit serious sometimes, and
needed a bit more laughter in his life.

Erik had left her then to go and get changed into his race
gear, and she had wandered around for a while. Gary came over and told her in
no uncertain terms to go to the seating area in the corner and sit down before
she caused an accident, so she did, sticking her tongue out at him behind his
back as he walked away.

She saw Devlin emerge first, clad in his racing gear. She had
to admit, the whole ensemble was pretty hot. With the helmet on, she could
pretend it wasn’t Devlin in there too, just an unidentified, sexy man. Then she
sucked a breath in as Erik stepped out. If Devlin was hot, Erik was scorching.
She watched, aware her mouth was probably hanging open slightly. He carried his
helmet under his arm, so she could see his face. His gorgeous face, she
thought, drinking him in. She stared as he took a swig from a water bottle, and
then emptied the remainder of it over his head. The water dripped down his
perfectly chiselled face. Anna felt hot herself, and closed her mouth. It
wouldn’t do to be caught gawping, she thought. She watched as Erik pulled on
his helmet and then climbed into the car. Devlin had already got in his car,
and the two of them waited, their engines loud. She was glad for the earplugs
Gary had pressed into her hand earlier.

Anna wondered what they were waiting for, and then she
noticed one of the mechanics waving at them. Devlin instantly pushed his car
forward – typical of him, she thought – and Erik had to wait, following behind.
Then they were away, the noise was almost deafening, even with the earplugs in,
and she clapped a hand to her mouth at the speed they took off at once they
reached the end of the pit lane.

She suddenly felt incredibly anxious for Erik. This all
looked quite dangerous, and she watched with her heart in her mouth as he flung
the car round the sharp bends. More and more cars joined them on the track, and
she glanced at the television above her head, which displayed all the drivers
and their lap times. She was pleased to see Erik’s name go on top, although she
knew that it didn’t
really
matter as this was just practice. But still.
Even as she watched, though, Devlin’s name overtook him then, a few minutes
later, Erik’s name was on top again. She thought back to what Dan had said
about what a fierce rivalry it would be this season, and figured he had been
right.

She was enthralled. She’d imagined racing just to be going
round in circles, but the twists and turns of the track amazed her. She had a
new respect for both drivers – they must need some level of skill to handle
their car without crashing, she thought.

Devlin was first in, climbing out of his car and shoving his
helmet at one of the mechanics. He ran a hand through his hair and Anna was
childishly amused to see that it was sticking up. He disappeared through the
back.

Erik came in shortly after, pulling back in beside Devlin’s
car. He clambered out, managing to make it actually look graceful, and removed
his helmet too. A mechanic came forward and Erik handed it to him, clapping him
on the shoulder and exchanging a few words. Anna thought of the way Devlin had
shoved his helmet at a mechanic, wordlessly, and thought that just summed up
the difference between the two drivers.

Erik started to head through to where Devlin had gone – Anna
assumed it was to look at graphs and statistics or something – but noticed her
and came over. He smelled of sweat but she didn’t find it unpleasant. To her
surprise, she actually found it vaguely arousing.

‘Well?’ Erik asked. His voice sounded expectant.

‘I loved it,’ Anna trilled enthusiastically. ‘And it wasn’t
even a race! How can you drive so fast round all those twists and turns? It’s
amazing.’ She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, ‘And I’m glad you
finished ahead of Devlin.’

Erik thought the two practice sessions had gone pretty well.
The car had felt good, better than last season, he thought. The team had
obviously listened to his feedback and made changes. He had checked his times
and was pleased to see he had been 0.1 seconds ahead of Devlin in both
sessions. It was practice, so didn’t mean anything, but he hoped this would be
the same for qualifying tomorrow.

He smiled thinking about Anna’s awestruck face as she had
asked him how he managed not to crash. He was glad she had enjoyed it – he had
sought her out when he pulled back into the garage after practice one. He
recalled the way she had whispered in his ear, the sensation of her breath on
his neck making him tingle slightly. And, of course, she had said she liked him
more than Devlin – that made him smile too.

He headed back to the hotel, trying to dodge the various
newspaper and television reporters determined to ambush him. He managed to make
it out with only having to do two interviews, which he thought was pretty good
going, considering. He arrived back in his room and lay on his bed, closing his
eyes.

A picture of Anna swam into view, her dark chocolate hair
falling about her pretty face. He opened his eyes with a jolt. He needed to get
his head straight, he couldn’t let a pretty girl distract him from opening
weekend. He closed his eye again, but she was still there. He knew that she
wasn’t just a pretty face, too. He enjoyed their conversations, looked forward
to hearing her speak. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d met a woman who
he found interesting and engaging.

He got up again, unable to concentrate and picked up the
phone, dialling his parents’ number. It should be about 8am there, he
calculated, doing the quick maths in his head.

‘Hej?’

‘Hi Mama, it’s Erik.’

‘Erik! Where are you? Australia?’

‘Yes, Mama. I’m just back from practice.’

‘Hold on, I’ll get your father to pick up the phone
upstairs. ‘

He heard his mother shouting to his father to hurry up and
pick up the phone, his celebrity son was on the line, and he smiled.

‘Erik?’

‘Hi, Dad.’

‘Erik was just about to tell us about practice,’ his mother
said, enthusiastically.

‘How’s the car?’ his dad asked.

‘It’s good,’ Erik said, as always finding these three-way
conversations far more complicated than he thought they should be. His mother
and father often ended up talking to each other instead of him, even though
they were in the same house. ‘I think it could be a winner this year.’

‘It better be,’ his father said, darkly. ‘I want to see that
grin wiped off that Devlin Carter’s face.’

‘Alfred…’ his mother said, chidingly. But Erik could tell
she thought the same.

‘I’ll do my best, Dad,’ Erik said, suddenly desperate to
make his parents proud.

‘You always do, kid,’ his father said, quietly.

They were silent for a moment and then his mother piped up.

‘So, Erik. What else is new?’

He knew she meant ‘have you got a girlfriend’ and sighed
down the phone.

‘Don’t sigh at me,’ she said, sternly, as his father
chuckled. ‘You need a good woman. And not like that awful Nikki person – one
who can string a sentence together and who’s read a book in their life.’

Erik agreed with her. He did need a woman like that.

‘Erik needs to keep his head down and win the championship,’
Alfred said, laughing. ‘And perhaps he’ll find someone along the way.’

Erik thought of Anna and wondered if maybe, just maybe, he
had.

***

After he had hung up on his parents, promising his mother he
would call her the minute qualifying was over the next day, he lay back on the
bed. He wasn’t sure what to do next. It was too early to sleep, but he couldn’t
face going out for the customary drinks and dinner with a cast of thousands. He
wanted peace and quiet. And to stay away from Devlin Carter.

He was surprised to hear a tentative knock at the door.
People rarely came by his room before a race and he eased himself off the bed
and went over to the door. He peered curiously through the peephole and was
surprised to see Anna standing there, clutching a laptop.

He opened the door, and she smiled at him with an apologetic
look on her face.

‘I’m really sorry to bother you,’ she said. ‘But I don’t
really know anyone else here to ask. I’m trying to connect to the hotel wifi to
check my e-mails and things but I can’t get it to work. I don’t suppose you
know anything about computers, do you?’

Erik felt slightly disappointed that she’d only sought him
out because she had computer problems, but he smiled at her and stood back,
inviting her into his suite.

She entered, and Erik noticed she was clad in jogging
bottoms which clung very nicely around her bottom. He pondered for a moment how
this woman managed to look attractive in garments that should, by rights, be
quite unappealing.

‘Let me take a look,’ Erik said, taking the laptop from her.
He saw the way Anna was gazing around the plush apartment and felt embarrassed
again. He sat down on the edge of the bed and after a moment, Anna sat down
next to him. She was quite close, he thought, as he fiddled with the settings
on the laptop. Distractingly close. She smelled of soap and a faint hint of
perfume, and he felt like his breathing was becoming ragged. It had been a long
time since he was on a bed with a woman he was this attracted to, even if they
were just looking at a computer screen. He wondered if Anna was picking up on
any of his body language – he was sure he was being incredibly obvious – but if
she was, she wasn’t saying anything about it.

‘There,’ he said, handing the laptop back. Their hands
brushed as she went to take it from him, and Erik felt a jolt right down his
body. He stood up, quickly.

‘Thank you,’ Anna said, sounding grateful. She scrolled
through her emails. ‘Nothing important anyway, just a reminder of when my first
column was due.’

He had forgotten she was here to write.

‘Have you any idea what to write in it yet?’ he asked,
hovering a bit awkwardly as Anna remained seated.

She shook her head.

‘Not really. I’m hoping inspiration will hit over the
weekend. Probably some sort of celebrity-spot.’

She pulled a face and Erik laughed. Even pulling faces she
was gorgeous, he thought. He loved that she had a sense of humour and didn’t
take herself too seriously – Nikki would never have made fun of herself, or
been self-aware enough to point out her shortcomings. Anna seemed so
refreshingly…normal, and in a world that was anything but, Erik loved it.

‘There should be some pretty big names,’ he said. ‘The first
race of the season is always a popular one with the Hollywood scene, so I’m
sure you won’t struggle.’

Anna smiled, looking glad. He sensed she was a bit worried
about her column, but from what he knew of her, she had no reason to be – she
was obviously talented way beyond a column about celebrities and fashion.

‘I hope so,’ she said, getting to her feet. ‘I’m sorry again
for bothering you.’

As she reached the door, Erik spoke, surprising himself by
what he said.

‘Would you like to get something to eat?’ he asked. He
thought he noticed the tip of Anna’s ears turn pink.

‘Now?’ she asked.

‘Sure,’ Erik said, warming to the idea. ‘I’m starving and I
know of a really great restaurant nearby. I can call them and reserve a table
if you want to get changed.’

‘Changed?’ Anna stared at him. ‘What’s wrong with what I’m
wearing?’

Erik started to stammer that it was fine, but she cut him
off, laughing.

‘I’ll go change,’ she said. ‘Meet you downstairs in half an
hour?’