“Again, thank you. He’s special to us.” Her eyes strayed to their other side of the table. “In a way, I feel like he’s one of my kids.”
“It’s my pleasure. I had no idea I’d be going to events such as these. I’ll have to buy more clothes if he insists I attend.”
She stood and placed her hand on my shoulder. I hoped Callum knew how lucky he was and was grateful to have them care about him as much as they did. This wasn’t a typical boss/employee relationship. “Good luck, there’s a lot of great shopping here, along with a few other legs in the season. I wish I could join you, but we’ll be heading back to California once the race is over. And don’t let the guys on the team intimidate you. You’re one of us now.”
“Thanks,” I gave her a tight-lipped smile. The crew hadn’t given me the time of day the little I’d been around them. The same could be said about Callum.
Callum sat back down next to me, sipping his water. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, she was saying how happy she is that you’re racing and that I’m helping. I told her you’re doing well, but that’s it. I would never tell her about our sessions.”
He shook his head, making a lock of hair fall onto his forehead. I wanted to push it away but stopped myself. “Never crossed my mind.”
A roar of laughter to our right had me turning to see two men with their heads together snickering in our direction. Callum’s body tensed, but his face remained impassive to everyone else. He growled ‘asshole’ under his breath as the servers came out with our salad plates. I wanted to ask him what that was about but didn’t feel like it was professional.
He must have felt my gaze on him, though, because he answered my unspoken question. “The guy with the pornstache is my teammate.” He spoke out of the side of his mouth. I giggled at the mention of said pornstache. It really was bad. I wasn’t sure why a young man would let such a thing grow on his face. “The other guy is our replacement driver. My replacement driver. While I was gone, they seem to have hit it off, and I’m the butt of all their jokes.”
Instinctually, I wanted to ask him how that made him feel, but in that moment, I wasn’t his therapist. I was his…I didn’t know what. We weren’t friends exactly, but more than acquaintances. Two people who were going to spend an immense amount of time together—unless he decided he wanted to set out solo at all of our locations.
When I remained silent for too long, he frowned at me. “I ignore them. All of them. It’s better that way. I can’t let them get in my head.”
I was sure he was more determined than ever not to let them get to him when he was already having problems driving.
“I bet you didn’t think there would be this much drama, did you?” He laughed out.
Taking a bite of my salad, I chewed before I spoke. “When I agreed to come, I hadn’t really thought about it. My decision was based on helping you, and not traveling around the world, attending yacht parties, or if the crew would like me or not.”
“I’m sure they’ll love you unless they dislike you because of me.”
“It’s not my job to be liked. Not even by you. It’s a perk to get along with a client.”
“Client,” he hummed. “I’m sure the money doesn’t hurt either, does it?” His tone was clipped.
I was shocked at his demeanor change but let it go. I understood he was under pressure, and I was sure it was hard to have your teammates laughing at you from across the room.
Aspen
Monaco
Strong, warm arms enveloped me from behind and picked me up off my feet. “You did it, Doc.”
Turning to look over my shoulder, I laughed. “I beg to differ. It was you who did all the hard work.”
Setting me down, Callum looked down at me with a smile so wide, it looked as if it might split his face in two. “If it wasn’t for you, I never would have been able to drive, let alone get first place. The track here is one of the hardest and…” He shook his head, speechless.
From the minimal amount of time I’d been in Monaco, I’d heard more than one fan talk about how difficult the track was and how being in the top three in that location was a high honor. I was sure it was extra special for Callum since he had missed five races after his accident and only raced once since.
“Congratulations, Callum.”
“I wish you had been up there on the podium with me. I would have told them it was all because of you.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and started moving us out of the small but luxurious room I’d watched the race in. “How about I buy you dinner and then we can visit a museum or something? Whatever you want. I think I’ve seen almost everything since I’ve been doing this for so long.”
The excitement on his face had me agreeing with him. It was infectious, and a little scary at how easily I melted at his illuminating smile and boyish charm.
“Let’s head back to the hotel to get changed. I’m in desperate need of a shower.” He pulled me closer with a squeeze of the shoulder and then let me go as he opened the door that led out to a waiting car.
The entire ride to the hotel, I could feel the vibration of his energy even with the couple of feet that separated us in the back of the town car. Every once in a while, I’d see his fingers tap against his knee, and his lips tip up.
Even though it was highly unprofessional, I couldn’t help but think how cute it was to see him so excited. I couldn’t imagine how difficult it would be to lose your dream job in a second. Actually, I could imagine because Callum was constantly hitting on me and definitely let me know that he wanted to hook up with me. Something that would have led me right back to Spain and quite possibly losing my license if they wanted to file a complaint against me. I couldn’t let that happen just because the man had a pretty face and a smile that melted me like butter on a sidewalk in August.
“Why the face?” he asked as we rode the elevator up to our rooms.
“It’s not important.” I tried to school my face, so it didn’t show any emotion.
“If it wasn’t important, you wouldn’t have looked like someone had pissed in your Cheerios.”
At that comment, I had to laugh. “Where are you from?” I finally asked. I hadn’t wanted to ask him where his sexy accent originated. I’d tried my best to ignore it up until now.
“Born and bred in Austin, Texas.” He dipped his head as if he was tipping his imaginary cowboy hat at me. I couldn’t imagine Callum as a cowboy, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him in a pair of leather chaps. “Where are you from?”
“I’m from a small town in Colorado that no one’s ever heard of.”
He chewed on the inside of his lip and then hummed. “I’ve been wondering where you came from since you don’t really have an accent. I have to be honest with you, I was shocked the first time I heard your voice, and there wasn’t a Spanish accent.”
He placed his hand at the opening of the elevator as I stepped out. Did he think I’d be slow to leave, or was he that much of a gentleman?
“That’s alright. I wasn’t sure what I’d get with you either. Most of my patients are local, so imagine my surprise when I got someone from the United States who doesn’t even live in Spain.”