Race to the Top: Book one in the Racing to Find Love series

by KT Shears

  He knew that was true, but he wouldn’t have minded having Anna as a distraction.

  ‘That’s romantic,’ Anna said, laughing, and Erik smiled back, shrugging slightly.

  ‘How about you?’ Erik asked, watching her reaction carefully. He hadn’t thought she might have a boyfriend, or even a husband, and now the thought had occurred to him, he felt odd, suddenly.

  Anna shook her head quickly.

  ‘I’m single,’ she said.

  Erik disguised his relieved smile by lifting his coffee to his lips.

  Chapter eleven

  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 bi
t 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.’

  Chapter twelve

  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,’ sh
e 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.