Trackside Temptation

Chapter Seven

FRANCESCA

After a month of vigorous and competitive racing, Matthias was leading the competition, with Andy Lambert in second and Romain in third.

We were now in Miami for the first US Grand Prix. Thousands of supporters and famous faces could be seen roaming the paddock.

I met the team for our standard post-race meeting before Matthias and I headed off to warm up.

The team were in a much better mood today. Qualifying saw Romain take a penalty for causing a crash with another team's driver. He initially managed to finish on pole, but the penalty pushed him back five places, and so Matthias was starting at the front of the grid.

"Did you do your stretches already?" I asked as Matthias went to the treadmill for a light jog.

He nodded. "Yeah. Since you were late again."

I cringed. It was no secret that I had poor time management, and I'd tried my best to improve this year—especially with the new job. But with new cities, new routines and a bunch of new directions to follow, I was more late than on time.

"I'm sorry about that. I brought you an energy drink for after the race though." I threw it to him, and he caught it with ease. "We'll do more of those reaction time tests after."

Matthias placed the drink in the cup holder and wiped his face with the sweat towel. "Why don't you train with me today?"

I laughed. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "Well, you're always just standing there while I do all this hard work."

I folded my arms. "Trust me, it's hard work dealing with you."

Matt looked pleased with my comeback. "Just do the warmup with me today. It'll help you loosen up."

"I don't need to loosen up. I'm not stressed," I said as I folded my arms.

"Francesca."

I didn't know why but hearing my name come out of his mouth didn't sound right. It was like it didn't belong there, but it was also the nicest thing I'd heard him say.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine." I lifted my De Rossi shirt off and threw it on the bench beside me. I didn't think Matthias expected me to strip down into my activewear, but I couldn't warm up in my regular shirt.

I was wearing a tight sports bra underneath which matched my black leggings. I may have forgotten to add the padding into it today, so I prayed my nipples were not obviously peering through.

Matt held his eye contact as I walked over to the second treadmill. I could tell he wanted to look at other places, but he was trying to stay respectful. I couldn't help but laugh in my head.

I did a few stretches on the ground next to him, deciding to end with a downward dog just to make him sweat. I'd never felt so threatened by a pair of eyes before. Matthias didn't need to say a word for me to gather how he was feeling.

"Okay, Maestro. What's first on the plan?" I said as I hopped on the belt.

He shook his head and looked at the treadmill. "Small incline, six kilometres for the first ten minutes."

I was impressed that he'd memorised the plan. I always thought he'd be too stubborn to retain something that was created by me.

We spent an hour doing cardio before I left Matt to do his neck exercises. I promised I'd do the warmup, but neck training was the one part I had to opt out of.

I helped Matt with some reaction exercises, dropping some green balls in front of him to catch. I chuckled every time his brow furrowed with concentration. He was so serious when it came to his training, and I had to admire him for that. There was a reason he already had two championships under his belt at the age of twenty-five.