Free Thrust: Bad Boy Racing Romance (Fastlane Series Book 2) by Sloan Storm Page B

caught me by surprise - mostly it was the way he said it. His voice carried a tone of sincerity.
    “It’s okay, Marco. I understand. Don’t feel like you need to apologize.”
    He nodded and offered up a faint hint of a smile in return before turning to look out over the horizon once more. I wanted to walk towards him, touch him and be near his side. But, I was having a hard time understanding the boundaries between us.
    What was happening?
    We’d been alone together a couple of times and we weren’t any closer to him signing the agreement. What was worse — with each passing hour, I felt my focus shift from the coldness of doing a business transaction to the much more dangerous pangs of desire.
    In moments like this, when he showed me a tender side, it only confused me more. I hadn’t come to Monte Carlo looking for anything other than another stepping stone to my dreams. With Marco, I sensed I straddled a line that was both thrilling and lethal, at least where my career was concerned. And I felt that if I didn’t make one last effort to finish the business between us, and do it immediately, the opportunity would probably be gone forever. By now, I’d had enough of my cocktail to infuse me with the last bit of courage I needed. I cleared my throat, swallowing the final remnants of nerves in the process.
    “Marco,” I began, tossing my hair to one side and focusing my attention in his direction. “I have something to say to you.”
    I paused. He turned and looked at me.
    “I’ve got to return to New York. I realize this is a trying time for you – your father hasn’t been gone for long. But, just like you have obligations to your racing team, I too have obligations of my own. If you want to work with our firm, I want you to know that you can trust me. We’ve shared something together. It’s not something I've ever done. I just want you to know that being with you had nothing to do with the agreement. If you don’t intend to sign with us, I’ll respect your decision, but I just wanted you to know that.”
    My confession complete, Marco turned away. He remained still, leaning against the railing. He only broke his pose to bring his drink to his mouth and gulped down the remainder of his cocktail.
    “Is there anything else you want to say, Dani?”
    I rolled my eyes, thinking I’d already said much more than I should have.
    Swallowing hard, I replied, “No.”
    Marco eased himself into an upright position, turning to face me.
    “Dani, if I didn’t think you had integrity, and further, that I could trust you, you wouldn’t be here right now.”
    I sucked in my lower lip, pinching it between my teeth. Marco walked in my direction and I looked up at him. Darkness stretched across the sky now, covering us like a blanket. The only light came from inside his penthouse, hugging the angles of his square jaw.
    “I haven’t made a decision about what I’m going to do, Dani. Like you said, I’ve got a lot going on right now. The reason I brought you here tonight was to let you know that what happened between us… It won’t be a factor in any decision I make.”
    A breath of relief escaped from my mouth.
    Marco continued. “I’m only going to tell you this one time. I don’t want to be pressured by you or anyone else in your firm about this decision. If I am, I can promise you that you won’t hear from me again. Is that clear?”
    I nodded. “I understand. Please, take all the time you need to think it over. I’m available when, or if, you want to talk about it.”
    He nodded, then gestured with his chin towards the interior of the penthouse.
    “I’m assuming you brought the signature page with you?”
    I did my best to conceal a hard swallow at the question. I’m not sure why it bothered me. After all, the way we’d just laid out everything between us… I really had no reason to feel uncomfortable about it. But, for some reason I can’t explain, I did.
    “Mmm, hmm,” I muttered, nodding in