“Excuse me, Sir,” I call out to get his attention. He turns my way.
“Sir?” he gives me a pointed look. “I’m far from a Sir, babe.”
I wince and unconsciously take a step back. I guess he’s having a bad day or something.
“Are you lost? This area is for employees only,” he says and runs his eyes down my body and back up again. He scratches his smooth chin and finally lifts his gaze to catch mine. His eyes soften. Right away, I notice his beautiful eyes that are blue with tiny specks of gray. I feel as if I saw them before. And then I remember—the jogger I saw on Friday morning. I almost got lost in his mesmerizing eyes. Not the kind of eyes you can easily forget.
“I’m searching for a bathroom. Could you please point me to the right direction?” I shift uncomfortably.
“You’ll have to go back,” his voice is friendlier. “Up the stairs and left, right by the entrance.”
“Thank you very much,” I give him an honest smile, and run up the stairs. When I’m done, I wash my hands and go find Sophie, who is standing by a coffee stand, flicking through the pictures on her camera.
“There you are,” she calls to me. “Let’s go to where all the fun is.” She hands me a cup of coffee she just bought, winks at me, and drags me next to the track. All the racers are gathered there, talking to the press, paddock girls, and the members of their team. As we’re approaching them, Sophie suddenly squeezes my wrist and stops in her tracks.
“What?” I raise my brow in question. She points her head to Honda’s team. I remembered the color of their motorcycles so I know it’s Honda, Sophie’s favorite team. We’re wearing our VIP passes around our necks, so everyone knows we are allowed to be here. One of the racers is standing with his back to us and is surrounded by three reporters with their microphones in his face. I see ‘The Beast’ written on the back of the racer’s suit. I pull Sophie by her sleeve. “Why do they call him beast?”
She rolls her eyes. “You really are clueless.” I shrug. “When he started racing, he was invincible in his class. The crowds adored him and his opponents respected him. Then he got the chance to compete in premier class, and made quite an impression in the first race. He surprised everyone when he won. They said he destroyed his opponents like a beast, and the name stuck.”
Sophie squeezes my arm, and takes me to the other racer from Honda’s team. Thankfully, a few other VIP guests come with us because I would be uncomfortable if it was only Sophie and I. Females in our group are squealing in excitement, making me want to cover my ears with my hands for being so loud.
“This is Mike Jones,” Sophie points to the racer.
“And what’s so special about him that all the women are about to drop their panties for?”
“Oh, girl, what planet have you been living on lately? Come here, you’ll see quickly.” She drags me to the group of women that are already surrounding Mike.
“What’s your name, sugar?” Mike asks, with his sexy Australian accent, one of the women that is holding her arm out for him to sign, and winks at her. Okay, I get it. It’s his accent that makes women lose their minds. While he’s signing autographs, I take a closer look at him. He has a buzz cut, strong cheekbones, and pretty blue eyes. His wide eyebrows make him look even more attractive. I admit he’s good looking, but I don’t know why women are losing their heads around him. For God’s sake, he’s just a man. Sophie takes the opportunity and talks with him for a few minutes. I more or less stand there and nod every once in a while. I don’t know anything about motorcycling, so I keep my mouth shut rather to embarrass myself with saying something stupid. Soon, the other racer from his team joins Mike. As he pats Mike on the shoulder, I notice it’s no one other than the man from the hallway.
Jake.
Shit, that’s why he was so harsh when he found me wandering around the halls. He must have thought I was one of the crazy groupies. I shake my head, and Sophie interrupts my inner monologue by elbowing me in the ribs.
“Isn’t he gorgeous?” she whispers in my ear.
“He’s okay,” I shrug, and try to appear unaffected, even though he already caught my attention a while ago. He’s so much more than just ‘okay’. He’s attractive, sexy, exuding raw power, self-confidence, and energy that cannot be missed. I didn’t have the chance to take a better look at him earlier due to the badly illuminated hall. Jake removes his baseball cap for a second to scratch his scalp, and I can finally see his hair is brown. Short at the sides and a little longer on the top, it’s playfully messy if he runs his hand through it. Compared to my measly height of 5’2, he is tall, a head and a half taller than me. And he has a piercing in his eyebrow.