One Night to Risk It All

by Katherine Garbera

  “No, you can’t say that. But I’d be willing to try it again,” she said. “I like you, Inigo. We can’t ever have a relationship, because as much as I don’t like Bianca, she’s your sister. But the sex is good, you’re funny and I enjoy being around you.”

  He tipped his head to the side, studying her for a few minutes. It felt longer than waiting in the line at Ralph’s during rush hour. She had no idea what he was hoping to find in her expression, so she tried to look neutral and then started to feel self-conscious. She ended up just turning to stare out the window. Snow was falling, and from up here it looked peaceful. Like being inside a snow globe.

  From up here she could have one of those picture-perfect lives—the one that her followers on social media thought she had. She reached for her phone. But the reflection off the plate glass didn’t make a good photo.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Waiting for you and trying to figure out if I can capture the pristine snow falling on the city. From up here it seems...”

  “Ideal.”

  She nodded. Ideal. That was a good word.

  “So are we doing this?” she asked.

  “Let’s have dinner and then decide,” he said. “When you mentioned Bianca, it made me realize that I hadn’t thought of how this would affect anyone but you and me.”

  “We are the only ones who have a stake in this,” she said. Was his sister really going to be mad that he was dating her? Probably. Marielle would be ticked off if one of her brothers had dated a girl that had cheated with her ex. She sighed.

  “Okay.”

  * * *

  Dinner was good, but honestly, Inigo wasn’t in a frame of mind to savor it. He wished he’d stuck to his plan, but instead he had sat awkwardly across from Marielle thinking about the dumb-ass way he’d propositioned her. He’d meant to be smoother about it. To be Mr. Charming for once in his life. He should have called Diego. His older brother was good at knowing the right thing to say.

  But he didn’t really want to let his family know that he’d been sleeping with the woman Bianca hated. Over and over as they ate the meal, that was all he could think of. Marielle was working hard, trying to keep the conversation going, but he knew he was giving her nothing. Just one-word answers and long drawn-out silences between topics.

  He’d never been this awkward with a woman.

  His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he took it out to see that Keke was downstairs and wanted to come up.

  “Uh, one of my bosses is here,” he said to Marielle.

  “Okay,” she said. “Do you want me to leave?”

  “No. I’ve been so horrible, I need a chance to make it up to you. Let me see what he wants,” Inigo said.

  He texted that it was okay for him to come up. “At least we will have someone to help make conversation.”

  “Yeah. I had no idea that I would ever work this hard to talk about nothing,” she said.

  “I’m sorry. It’s not like me to say something inappropriate to a woman and then totally shut down,” he said.

  “I know. I get it. We really shouldn’t be doing this. It doesn’t matter if you think I’m the reason you drove faster today. Given our connection through Jose, we can’t ever do this,” she said.

  “I know. I had forgotten,” he said. “I mean, not really. But when I see you, Marielle, I don’t think about Jose or the past. But it is there.”

  Before she could answer, he heard Keke’s hard knock on the door and went to answer it. The German stood there with a big grin on his face, filling the doorway. Next to him was his wife, Elena.

  “Sorry to stop by unannounced, but I had an idea that I wanted you to think about tonight,” Keke said, coming in. He glanced over at the table and saw Marielle then looked back at Inigo.

  “You have a date?”

  “Yes, I do,” he said.

  “See, I told you to call first,” Elena said. “Nothing can sway him when he starts thinking about racing,” she added to Inigo.

  She brushed past Keke and walked over to Marielle. She introduced herself and then suggested that they take a bottle of wine and get comfy. “It’s supposed to be date night. Our first in three months, but Keke...well, racing is his first love.”

  “Woman, you know I love you more than racing. But Inigo and I need to discuss this. I promise we won’t be more than thirty minutes.”

  “I’ve heard that before,” Elena said, then looped her arm through Marielle’s and led her to the sofa in front of the fireplace.

  “Sorry,” Keke said, turning to him. “But this is important. Remember how we changed the setup on the second run today?”

  Inigo nodded, but his attention was divided between Keke’s explanation of how he could shave possibly up to a second more off his time by shifting at a different moment and watching Marielle pour two glasses of wine for herself and Elena.

  Keke kept talking, but all Inigo could hear was the women’s laughter. Finally his friend and boss put his arm over Inigo’s shoulder. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” he said. He’d just spent the evening trying to convince himself that Marielle was the key to winning and now...he was getting the message that maybe he hadn’t thought this through. His gaze drifted over to the women, and Keke noticed.

  “It’s not always easy to balance racing and a woman,” Keke said. “Elena had her own thing, which made it easier for us. Is she the woman that Marco mentioned?”

  Inigo turned away from them, walking to his den area, and Keke followed. “I wonder if today was a fluke.”

  “That’s why I’m here. One of the strengths that I had as a driver was the ability to analyze not just the car and the setup but also my physical well-being. What was going on in my head and my body. I stopped by so we could work through that,” he said.

  “I had spent the night and morning with Marielle,” Inigo said. “You know I’ve been careful about keeping myself focused on driving and not allowing anyone to distract me, but she’s different.”

  “Good. That’s the kind of thing you should log,” he said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small journal. He put it on the desk between them. “This is my journal from the year I won the championship. It’s got everything in there. Even the stuff I did wrong. I wasn’t on my A-game that year, but I was happier than I’d ever been before, and I think some of that joy translated behind the wheel.”

  Joy.

  Not sex. Inigo flipped open the journal and glanced down at it. Keke was very detailed, outlining everything from the moment he woke up. He detailed his sex with Elena too, which Inigo didn’t want to read about. But when he flipped the page, he saw that Keke had then described how he’d felt when he qualified for the race.

  “I went back at the end of the race and underlined the things I thought helped me,” Keke said. “Marco thinks this is all mumbo jumbo, but racing has never been just about the machine. The driver has as much to do with it. And I think you are on the verge of finally understanding what that means.”

  “I agree,” he said. “Thanks, Keke. I think this will help.”

  “Good. That’s what I was hoping to hear,” the other man said, clapping him on the back. “Marielle can make you into a better driver, but watch the balance, because some women can become the kind of distraction that no man wants.”

  * * *

  Marielle had more fun with Elena and Keke than she expected to. She’d been exposed to many drivers in her year as a trophy girl, but it had been different than this quiet evening at home. They ended up playing cards with the other couple, and she saw a different side to Inigo. He was relaxed but a little on edge at first, which made sense given that Keke was a former Formula One champ and his boss, but as the evening wore on, he started to loosen up.

  Elena had given her some advice about dating a driver. Marielle appreciated it, but it also made her r
ealize that many people didn’t know about her affair with Jose. Carlton had done a nice job of covering it up. At the time she’d been ticked off that he’d stepped in, but thinking about how Elena and Keke might have treated her if they knew, she was glad.

  And it drove home the fact that if she was going to keep doing this, even just as some sort of friends-with-benefits thing, she needed to make amends with Bianca. She was starting to really care about Inigo, but she had to be careful because she had a way of ruining even the simplest relationships.

  “We should be going. I told the sitter we’d be home by eleven,” Elena said. “Thank you for helping salvage our night.”

  “You’re very welcome,” Marielle said. “I really enjoyed it.”

  “Me too. You’ve got my number, so text me. We can have lunch or coffee,” Elena said.

  “I will,” she said when Elena leaned in to kiss her cheek before she and Keke left.

  When the door closed behind them, Inigo leaned back against it. “That was unexpected.”

  “It was. I think they saved our evening,” she said.

  “I think so too,” he said. “Listen, I think I was wrong to suggest we hook up so I can improve my time. I don’t want that to be the only reason we are together.”

  “Me neither,” she said. “But honestly, I don’t see a way for us to be together. I mean, I’m lucky that they didn’t know I had been with Jose, but that is bound to come up at some point. I don’t want that to affect how everyone sees you.”

  He shook his head and then rubbed the back of his neck. Something she realized he did when he was trying to figure out what to do. They were both caught between the past and this thing between them. It had almost been easier when it had been just sex. But tonight had changed that. She felt like they were becoming friends, and she couldn’t hurt a friend.

  She had so few, and each of them was cherished. She had to admit this was the first time she’d met a guy who made her feel this way. That didn’t mean she was going to pursue it. In fact she was pretty damn sure she was going to walk away.

  She had no idea how to handle him. She reflected on their evening with the older couple. What she’d seen between Keke and Elena was different than anything she’d experienced before. She liked it, but they were very domestic and that wasn’t where she was in her life. She’d pretty much decided that marriage wasn’t for her. And could she be satisfied with anything less? Would he?

  He’d just asked her to hook up, so she guessed he’d be happy with much less.

  “It’s too bad that we can’t just...never mind,” he said.

  “What? Don’t turn shy on me, speedy. You’ve never hesitated to say what’s on your mind.”

  He shrugged. “I was going to say sneak around, but I don’t think either of us would enjoy that.”

  “No,” she said, turning away from him and walking back to where she’d left her bag. She didn’t want to be his secret lover. She’d done that before. “I think this really is goodbye.”

  She turned to face him and then walked over to grab her coat and the container of leftovers the chef had prepared for her before he’d gone home for the evening. She put on her coat as Inigo stood near the door watching her as if he wasn’t sure what to do.

  But she was taking herself out of this equation. She’d had enough of this world. That confidence that had come from her early-morning discussion with Inigo was all she needed to make herself move on. This was fun right now, but history had taught her that it would become toxic in no time at all.

  “I hope you continue to post those faster times,” she said. “I think this year is going to be a good one for you.”

  She leaned over to kiss his cheek, but he turned his head and their lips brushed against each other. She deepened the kiss without thinking, thrusting her tongue into his mouth as she angled her head to grant her more access. She put her free hand on the back of his neck and enjoyed every second of the kiss before she stepped back.

  “Good night.”

  She opened the door and walked away without looking back. She knew she’d made the smartest decision in her history of dating. Though she had a few twinges of regret thinking she could have hooked up one more time with him, she knew in the end this move had been the best one for her.

  Her sleep that night was restless, and she dreamed of Inigo’s touch on her body, waking in a fever for him, but that was something she was going to have to live with.

  Twelve

  “Thanks for adjusting your schedule to mine,” her mom said as Marielle showed up for tea at the Waldorf the next afternoon. Their plan to meet at Ralph’s yesterday had fallen through when her mother’s lunch ran long. But she never missed a chance to stop by the Waldorf when she was in town, so this was the perfect chance to catch up.

  “Not a problem,” Marielle said, sliding into the chair across from her mother. “I’m sorry that things got so out of control the other day on our call. I know that your events have a certain standard to them, and I realized that I don’t want you to compromise anything to include me.”

  Her mother leaned back in the chair, her eyes narrowing a bit. “I’m not sure if you are serious or not.”

  “I am,” Marielle said. “The thing is, if you included me with the other influencers, it would be a nice bump in my profile, and I think it might bring me some more luxury brands as sponsors. But at the same time, it wouldn’t hurt me to build my following and work to increase my numbers on my own.”

  Her mom nodded. “Your social media handle was on the list of influencers that the charity thought should be invited, so someone thinks you are ready to move to the next level.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. I know you haven’t had a chance to see what I do on social media,” she said. “Maybe you’d like to accompany me to an event, so you can observe me interacting and see how I translate the event to my followers.”

  Her mom seemed surprised for a split second before she hid it. “I’m not sure that my schedule will accommodate that. I’ve had a look at your social media sites and really like what you are doing with those stories. I was surprised at how real it felt when I watched it. I liked what you did with your posts about New Year’s Eve.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “Most of that was Scarlet’s idea. She’s been mentoring me as I’m working to learn the right way to build my followers. She said to be authentic but also make sure to put limits in place. She’s kind of a trailblazer when it comes to this. She started out with her reality TV audience and has been growing it since then.”

  Marielle didn’t mention that she hadn’t had a chance to talk to Scarlet since New Year’s Day, when the thing with Bianca had happened. She wasn’t about to tell her mother about that. Her mother had liked Jose when Marielle had brought him home that one time, but when he had died, and her parents had realized that Jose was married, they’d been horrified. Especially her mom, who had been cheated on by Marielle’s father.

  Her therapist had asked if she’d had the affair to make a statement to her mother. Had it been a passive-aggressive move? But Marielle couldn’t make that connection. Other than wanting to be as different from her mother as she could be. She knew she couldn’t bring that subject up at their meeting. Maybe later she’d talk to her mom about the fallout on New Year’s.

  “That’s really nice of her. She’s on my list as well. Perhaps you two could come together. Many people know that you’re friends, and I think that would be a nice workaround for the situation. You and I can be ourselves without having to make a public statement about being mother and daughter. Would that work for you?” she asked.

  It was more than she’d hoped for, and Marielle nodded. “Thank you.”

  “No problem. I was impressed that you didn’t go to Dare to solve this for you. I thought about that a lot after your call. I know that there are times when our relationship has been strained, but com
ing to me on your own really meant a lot to me.”

  “Me too,” Marielle said. “I recently met someone who made me look at myself in a new way, and it really has helped me a lot.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. Who is it?”

  She wasn’t prepared to talk about Inigo and had surprised herself that she’d even mentioned him. “Just a man who was at Scarlet’s party. He was funny and charming, and he saw me not as Marielle Bisset but just as a woman. Does that make any sense?”

  Her mother laughed and nodded. “More than you can know. It’s nice to just be a woman every once in a while. Reminds us of who we are when we aren’t in the spotlight that follows your father around.”

  “Exactly,” she said. They finished having tea, and her mother gave her a hug before she left. Marielle was about to get in a cab when she felt someone watching her. She glanced up to see that it was Elena, Keke’s wife. She smiled and waved.

  “How do you know Juliette Bisset? I’ve been trying to get a meeting with her to see if she’ll use my swimsuit line at her summer Hamptons party, and she always says no.”

  “She’s my mom,” Marielle said.

  “She is? You seem so...different. God. Listen to me. I think I’ve spent too many hours with this one,” Elena said, lifting a cute little toddler into her arms. The boy had white-blond hair and Elena’s striking eyes. He smiled at Marielle, and she smiled back.

  “It’s okay. My family is complicated, and so is my mother. I’ve spent my entire life trying to not be like her, so it is a compliment of sorts.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. When I first started modeling, I didn’t speak English, so everyone thought I was a frosty bitch. It took a long time to shake that image. I guess what I’m saying is that I completely get what it’s like to have people think you are one thing and knowing it’s not you.”