“Why?”
“Well… those guys were sort of rough looking and you’re, um… not that big.”
“I’m six-one!”
He was offended. He shouldn’t be, but he was. He was certain she’d been just about to call him skinny.
“Um, yes. Tall is good.”
The sound of laughter coming from beside them pulled his attention.
Fern and Dizzy were watching and making no attempt to hide their amusement. He’d had enough. This meeting was a huge mistake.
Surging to his feet, he misjudged Crystal’s proximity and nearly knocked her over. Catching her before she could fall, he lifted her off the floor. They blinked at each other for a few moments before he carefully set her down. Without a backward glance, he walked away.
Standing outside, for the first time since her arrival, Shane felt the heat leave his face. No woman had ever affected him in this way and he realized leaving so abruptly was a mistake. Turning around, he headed back inside and marched up to Crystal, who still stood by the bar.
“I know this hasn’t been my finest moment, but I’d like to take you out, and show you that I do have some social graces.”
She didn’t respond, and he knew he’d done it again. Made a fool of himself in front of her, Dizzy and Fern. About to turn away, he felt a hand surround his wrist.
“I’d like that. When and where?”
“Really?” He asked with genuine surprise.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you just asked me.”
“Oh, alright then.”
“Well, if you don’t really want to–”
“I want to. I’m just surprised you want to.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t you just see me make a complete cock of meself, I know they did,” he nodded towards the still watching Dizzy and Fern.
“Forget them. They make a cock of themselves all the time,” Crystal laughed.
“You still haven’t said why?”
“Because I like you and I can’t wait to get my tweezers on those eyebrows.”
~~~
Shane had wanted to collect her from her home, but she had refused. She knew she liked him, but she was still a bit wary of his personality. She was sure he didn’t mean to, but for some reason he exuded an aura of unpredictability. In the end, they had agreed to meet at the tube station and he would pick her up from there.
Expecting a dinner date, she’d been surprised when he asked her to wear jeans and sneakers. They were also meeting at 1:00 pm which intrigued her.
Standing outside Mile End Tube Station, Crystal checked her watch yet again. She was early. Shane seemed so unsure of himself when they’d made the date, she hadn’t wanted to risk him arriving and her being late.
“Eager to see me were ya?”
Spinning around, Crystal came face to face with a still grim-faced Shane. The only way she knew he was joking was by the sparkle in his eyes.
“Not really, I just loath lateness.”
“Oh, you loathe it, do ya?” He teased.
“Well, I can go away and come back later if you like!”
“Nah, you’re here now so ya might as well stay. Anyway, it’s okay to want to see me. I wanted to see you too.”
Gearing up to tell him off for his cheeky comment. Crystal tuned into the latter half of his statement and for the first time she saw Shane smile. And he looked so handsome she couldn’t stop staring at him.
“What’s the matter with ya?” He asked as his smile disappeared.
Prepared to be strung up rather than admit her thoughts, Crystal changed the subject. “So where are we going?”
He was still giving her an odd look, but he didn’t push for an answer. “Go-Karting.”
“Go-Karting?”
“Yeah, have ya tried it before?”
“Well… no, I haven’t.”
“Don’t worry, you’re gonna love it!”
She wasn’t so sure. She drove around London and the suburbs because her job required it. But in all honesty, she could do without a driving date. She could see how excited he was and that was the only reason she smiled and lied through her teeth. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“What, more than going to some posh restaurant where ya can dress up all fancy-like and wear ya high heels?”
Crystal didn’t know what to say because he had just summed her up perfectly. So she just burrowed deeper into her winter coat and shrugged her shoulders.
“Go-Karting it is then. Come on, princess, we need to get going. We’ve still got a bit of a drive before we get there.”
~~~
It only took one circuit of the indoor track for her to realize two things: Shane was an excellent driver and she loved Go-Karting.
She did her best to beat him and on her fourth attempt she managed it. “I beat you! You better get used to eating dirt.” She joked as they stood beside the cars.
“You did alright for a beginner.”
“Well, nobody’s going to accuse you of giving too much praise, are they?”
“You’re right. Can’t say I’ve ever ‘ad that problem.”
She rolled her eyes at him. And before she knew what was happening, he kissed her. It was over so quickly she didn’t even have time to process it.
“Better?”
Crystal remained quiet not knowing what to say or make of the kiss.
“Go and change out of those coveralls. Here, take this,” he said handing her a VIP badge suspended from a yellow lanyard. “When you’re done, walk out the main doors and follow the crowd. Security will show ya where to go. By the time ya come back the real show should be about to start.”
She didn’t understand what he was talking about. But before she could ask, Shane pushed her forward. Glancing around she saw that the crowd had begun to change. The groups of families with children had disappeared. In their place were men and women who looked as though they had turned up for something other than Go-Karting.
Looking over her shoulder, she felt a reluctance to do his bidding. But she knew the sooner she changed, the sooner she would be back to make sense of what was going on.
Again dressed in her jeans and trainers, she walked out the dressing room and immediately felt the change in the atmosphere. Nothing of the fun day out remained. In its place, the roar of loud engines and fuel permeated the air.
The night was lit up with an abundance of floodlights. Loud music played and the crowd surged and pushed her along. People were everywhere, laughing and joking as they moved forward.
One flash of the badge Shane had given her and security led her away from the main body of the crowd. Her final destination was an outdoor stand that overlooked a huge racing track. Although they had arrived during daylight hours, she hadn’t noticed this section of the grounds.
Feeling isolated, she took in the tarmacked track that seemed completely out of place in the surrounding countryside.
Standing by the railings, Crystal buttoned her coat and pulled on her gloves while she searched the crowd for Shane. But the sea of multicolored uniforms made it impossible for her to pick him out.
The lights dimmed. Strobe lights bounced off the ground and reflected into the night sky. This was a world she didn’t know. This was where the rich and famous came to play. A shiver ran along her spine and she didn’t like the feeling.
“You came with Shane.”
It wasn’t a question, rather it was a statement that carried an air of accusation.
Reluctantly, she pulled her attention away from her search and looked in the direction of the person who had just spoken to her.
“Where is he?” Crystal asked the affluent looking man beside her.
“He’s down there,” he nodded towards the starting line.
About to probe further, she was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of a loud claxon. Everything was so different. The cars that were now before her reminded her of the vehicles she’d seen on TV at Fo
rmula 1 events.
“What is this place?”
“This is where Team Sinclair gets taken seriously.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m the man that’s going to take us to the top.”
Crystal had no idea what he meant. Nothing made any sense especially his cryptic comments. He spoke about us, as though she should understand his meaning. This was her first date with Shane and up to this point, she had been enjoying herself. Yet, in under an hour everything had changed. She searched the crowd again.
“He’s standing beside the green and white car.”
She followed the direction of his pointing finger and managed to find the starting line. Men and women walked towards the cars. People who looked like mechanics milled around the area with equipment she couldn’t give name to.
She finally found him. Even though his helmet obscured his face, she knew it was him because of the way he held himself at a distance. While others talked and gesticulated, Shane ignored everything going on around him. He appeared as a lonely figure in the sea of showmanship that surrounded him.
“Is this dangerous?”
“Only if you don’t know what you’re doing. Shane knows what he’s doing.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Oliver Sinclair. Remember it because I’m the man who’s going to take us to the top. And nothing and nobody is going to stand in my way.”
If Shane hadn’t preoccupied her thoughts, she would have paid closer attention to the look of ruthlessness in Oliver Sinclair’s eyes.
“How does this all work?” She asked.
“There are two groups each comprised of seven cars. Each group makes twenty circuits of the track which should last around thirty minutes. Shane is a part of the first group.”
She listened to him but didn’t give him her full attention because the race had already started. By the time Shane had completed five circuits, Crystal’s nerves had started to fray.
If there were any rules, she couldn’t figure them out. As far as she could tell it was all about the win, and how that came about—didn’t seem to matter.
Having led for most of the race, Shane eventually finished in second place. When his car came to a halt, men in green and white coveralls immediately surrounded it. Working with deft movements they inserted hydraulic jacks beneath the car and pulled it off the track. Looking over her shoulder, Crystal noticed that Oliver Sinclair had disappeared. When he had left, she couldn’t say.
Chapter 3
“What the hell was that?” Ollie shouted in Shane’s face.
“Back the fuck off before I make ya!”
“Do you think this is some kind of joke? Well, it’s not. This is about regaining my F1 license. This is my only chance and you just lost the race.”
“I’m in the finals ain’t I? So why don’t ya get lost so I can look at this engine, or you can keep running ya mouth, and I’ll leave!”
Shane wasn’t in the mood for Ollie. The track they were racing on was a piece of crap, and he needed to use all the time between now and his next race to make adjustments to the wheel alignments. He also wanted to check and tweak his engine.
“Just do what you have to. I don’t want any more mistakes. Do we understand each other?”
“Mate, if ya don’t get out of me face, I’m going to shove this wrench up ya ungrateful arse.” Shane looked Ollie in the eyes and did him the courtesy of lowering his voice before he continued. “Remember, you need me—not the other way around.”
Ollie surreptitiously glanced around. Then nodded and took two full steps backward. Without another word, Shane turned his attention to the stands. He had seen where Crystal was standing earlier, so he had no difficulty picking her out. She was staring back at him.
She looked so forlorn, he wanted to go to her, but that was impossible. Thinking he should wave or do something equally as frivolous, he didn’t follow through. Instead, he looked away. Frivolity wasn’t his style.
A persistent niggling caused him to turn back towards Crystal. She hadn’t moved a muscle. It was as though she was waiting for him to acknowledge her presence. She waved. Surrounded by the noise and bustle of drivers and mechanics, he didn’t know how to respond. So he left her gesture hanging in the air as he again turned away.
He had done all he could to the car. Sitting at the starting line, Shane rotated his shoulders and shut out the world. All his attention now focused on what he had to do—win the race.
Six cars stood side by side ready for the flash of the green light that would indicate the start of the race. He knew what his car could do. Now, all he had to do was show the rest of the motoring world.
Unlike a Formula 1 car where the controls are located on the steering wheel, his car was a direct-shift gearbox. What he’d also kept to himself was that he’d made changes to the components of the engine that he wasn’t ready to disclose. He needed to see how the car performed before he took anyone into his confidence. He still had a while to wait, but if things panned out as he’d planned, he was sure he was finally on his way to his future and his fortune.
~~~
The screen began the countdown at five. The light flashed green and the cars pulled away in a cloud of burning rubber. Her gaze remained glued on Shane’s car. Each time the thundering cars passed before the stand, Crystal’s amazement grew at just how fast they travelled.
Throughout the show stopping competition, she was sure her heart rate had never been so elevated. She jumped up and down and threw her fists in the air and cheered him on each time he roared past the stand. The atmosphere was electric and the race exhilarating. But, it was also the most dangerous sport she had ever witnessed.
Shane won the race. He didn’t just come in first, he annihilated his opponents and left them in his wake.
~~~
“You’re angry,” Shane said as he glanced over at Crystal whose concentration was fixed on the dark winding road.
“Not really. It’s just that maneuvering these country lanes is difficult at night.”
“Sorry love, I asked you to drive because I really need a break after all that driving.”
“What’s going on, Shane? What was that all about?”
“I’m not a hundred percent sure yet, but I hope tonight is the beginning of everything.”
His words were abstract, but Crystal somehow understood the importance of the night. Throughout every circuit he’d driven, she had been with him all the way. Her frayed nerves gave testament to that.
She understood that the races that had taken place were some form of test. She also knew Shane was a good driver, maybe even great, but she didn’t know enough about the sport to be certain. However, if the reaction of the crowd was anything to go by, his skills were real and they loved him.
Taking her eyes of the road for a few moments, she glanced over at him. He had pushed the seat as far back as it could go and appeared to have fallen asleep.
By the time they made it back to London, he was snoring softly. Not having the heart to wake him, she decided to drive to her house.
“Shane,” Crystal called quietly.
His eyes opened. He didn’t appear disoriented, just wide awake and alert.
He took his time looking out the window before turning back to her. “Is this where ya live then?”
“Yes, it is. I decided to drive here rather than wake you.”
“Does this mean I get to sleep over?”
“If you’re too tired to drive—then yes.”
Crystal didn’t know where her agreement came from. She had just met him and logically, she should be much more wary of allowing a near stranger to sleep at her house. But somehow she wasn’t worried.
As Shane looked around her sitting room, she tried to see it through his eyes. Since leaving home, everything she had acquired, was through her own hard work. And she was proud of her accomplishments.
There was no getting away from it, she loved color. And it was everywhere. She knew sh
e had overdone things, but she didn’t care. This was her place and she had expressed herself in her own way.
Her feature wall was decorated in multi-colored floor to ceiling stripes. The sofas were bright orange with lime green scatter cushions and a matching orange and green rug sat atop her treated hardwood floors. Crystal also loved plants. They were everywhere. While, the bold colors were too much for some people, for her, it was the perfect expression of her freedom of choice.
“Bit bright ain’t it, Crys?”
“Maybe, but I like it.”
“Why?”
“Because all the colors make me feel good inside.”
Shane remained quiet for so long, she steeled herself for his ridicule.
“Only ever do the things that make you feel good inside, Crys.”
“So you like it then?”
“Nah, looks like a drunk clown threw up in here.”
“Shane!”
Walking up to her, he placed an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “Sorry, but I have to ask. Didn’t ya tell me you were an interior designer?”
“I am.”
“Bloody hell, remind me to never hire you!”
“Actually, I’m extremely good at what I do!”
“Relax, will ya, I was joking.”
Giving him her dirtiest look, she attempted to shrug off his arm. He wouldn’t allow it. Pulling her around, she tried to look anywhere but into his eyes.
The finger he placed under her chin was difficult to resist. When she finally met his gaze, she found it impossible to ignore the amusement dancing throughout his eyes.
“You think you’re so cute don’t you?!”
“Yeah, I’ve kinda got a way about me. Want me to show ya?”
About to say something smart, he didn’t give her a chance. His head descended and he rubbed his lips against hers. This kiss bore no relation to the peck he’d given her at the track. This meeting of their lips carried an intent Crystal couldn’t ignore even if she had wanted to—which she didn’t.
The kiss began with a slow exploration. A back and forth rub of his lips, a gentle stroke of his tongue. His large hands urged her closer as they pressed against her back. Yet, all the while he gave her the opportunity to pull away if that was what she wanted.
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