Page 74 of Too Fast To Fall
A conversation with a friend, hopefully talking about any subject other than Tristan Highbridge and Vermillion racing soundedlike a breath of fresh air. “Where is he?”
“Right outside. Talking to his engineer.”
Emilio and Isabel walked out into the hall. “There he is,” Xander said. “The man of the hour. The miracle man. Whatever we’resupposed to call you, you deserve all of it.”
Isabel clapped them both on the shoulder. “I’m going home if it’s all good with you two. I’ve barely seen my cat since I gotback from Monaco.”
“Sure thing.” Emilio looked at Xander as Isabel made her exit. “How are you? How’s Mia?”
“All good. Just keeping busy. Of course, Mia has taken great satisfaction in having been right about Vermillion.”
“Piper said that exact thing when she heard about it.”
Xander nodded. “How areyoudoing? Piper left, right?”
“I’m hanging in there. And yes, she’s in Florida.” Answering those questions was like a dagger in his heart. He’d been sobusy it’d been relatively easy to ignore how unhappy he was. He feared what was coming—the weekend, with no race and nothingto do except cuddle with his emotionally distressed dog and think about Piper at the wedding. “That reminds me. One of themarketing people is watching Gus. I need to go get him. Walk with me?”
“Absolutely.”
They started down the corridor, striding past a long procession of trophy cases. There was so much history here at Mega, andthe team had treated him so well through what had been a very up-and-down season. After everything with Vermillion, he wasnothing but thankful for having landed there. Finally, he felt like he was standing firmly on both feet. “I’ll be honest.I haven’t had a ton of time to dwell on Piper’s departure. The interviews have been nonstop.”
“Well, yeah. You’re the only person who can say anything.”
“Finally, people want me to speak up.”
“I’m proud of you, mate. You stuck to your guns. That’s not easy.”
“I asked the question that needed to be asked. You would’ve done the same thing. All I really care about is putting this behindme. Moving forward.”
“After Monaco, I think I’d better be watching you closer.”
Emilio laughed as they came to a stop outside the marketing department office. “Don’t jinx me. I’ll end up in the wall inCanada if we aren’t careful.”
“Canada isn’t that far from Florida. Are you planning to visit Piper?”
“We haven’t made plans. I invited her to the Grand Prix, but she hasn’t accepted yet. I think she needs a break from the races.I’d like to see her, but I’m not sure if she wants that.”
“Emilio. Seriously. I’ve seen the way she looked at you. Mia and I talked about it. After the night we came over.”
“Nothing had even happened between us at that point.”
“Uh, let’s just say the sexual tension was palpable. The second we got in the car to go home, Mia said she guessed it wouldbe less than a day before you two, well... you know. I think Mia used the wordboned.”
Emilio laughed. Mia had quite the way with words. “Isn’t it strange when you’re feeling something, but aren’t sure if someoneelse feels it, too?”
“Whatever happened in the past, I’m sure she wants you to visit her.”
It was so odd, but after everything he and Piper had been through, Emilio still wasn’t sure of her feelings for him. She’dplayed things so close to the vest and who could blame her? She’d had her heart stomped on.
The one thing he’d never thought to ask her was whether she everwantedto fall in love again. He knew he wanted to be in love, now that he’d had a real taste of it. But it would hurt so much ifshe didn’t feel the same way. As much as he was trying harder to feel his feelings, it was a process.
“We’ll see,” Emilio said. “I’d better grab Gus. It’s not technically the marketing department’s job to watch my dog.”
Emilio said goodbye and walked into the marketing office and soon heard the jingle of the tags on Gus’s collar. His dog walkedover to him, tail wagging, but this still wasn’t the usual hyper-enthusiastic Gus. “Hey, buddy.”
Jason, the social media guy who’d offered to watch Gus, appeared from his cubicle. “Gus was great. Very low-key. No problem.”
“Thanks for your help. I really need to find a dog nanny.”
