Her lips curved. “You can go ahead and make your speech. I won’t mind.”
“I’ll save it for another time when you piss me off.”
“You’re thinking there’ll be another time.”
“I’m sure of it. And apology accepted. I need a drink. Let’s go to my trailer.”
She walked in step beside him. “That’s not really a trailer, Gray. It’s more like a complete house on wheels.”
He held the door for her and she stepped in. “It has to be. During the racing season we spend so much time on the road we rarely get home. This is comfortable and I hate hotels.”
He opened the fridge and pulled out a bottled water, then turned to her. “You want one?”
“Yes, that would be nice. Thank you.”
He grabbed another and handed it to her as he slid onto one of the sofas. “You don’t always have to be so formal, Evelyn. If we’re going to be spending a lot of time together over the next few months, you’re going to have to chill a little.”
She unscrewed the top and took a sip. “I don’t really chill. Besides, this is work for me.”
“Yeah, well, racing is work for me. Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it.”
“I do enjoy my work. Very much. I just take it seriously.”
She was serious. And too formal. He was going to have to lighten her up. Maybe when he went home, which couldn’t be soon enough for him. “So tell me what the next steps are.”
“Well, now that word is out—and again, I’m sorry about that—we need to do some rallying of your fans, make sure they get to know the senator and your connection to him. On your terms, of course.”
“Okay. And how would you suggest doing that?”
She pulled open her laptop. “You could start mentioning him on your social media accounts. And of course, being seen in person with him would be very helpful.”
He sighed. His mother had asked if he’d spend the Fourth of July with them. He preferred limiting the time spent with his father to as little as possible, usually at family events and only when his mother commanded. He never attended political functions.
This was going to be a nightmare.
“We’ll do the Fourth of July thing my mom mentioned.”
“The one at your family’s home?” She smiled. “That’s great. I’ll make arrangements.”
“I have a race that week so it’ll have to be a fly in and out thing. And I want to spend one of those days at home, so I mean it when I say I want to spend as little time with my father as possible.”
“No problem. I’ll take care of everything. Let me pull up your schedule.” Her fingers flew across the keyboard. “You have a race in Daytona the weekend after the fourth, is that correct?”
“Yeah. So we’ll be running practices, but everyone will get a few days off.”
“Okay.”
Within ten minutes she’d made arrangements. “Okay, that’s done. I’ll alert your father’s private secretary that you’ll be at the family home. If you could give a speech —”
“No. Photographs with him will be enough, won’t they?”
“You don’t want to speak?”
He let out a short laugh. “No. I don’t want to speak.”
Evelyn let out a resigned sigh. “All right. Then photos will do. Now, on to the social media aspect. We can promote this visit home. You can upload photos on Facebook and Twitter, talk about visiting with your parents—”
“Yeah, I don’t really do that.”
“I’ve noticed. For someone with your popularity, your social media accounts are rather threadbare. You could gain a lot more fans if you were more active. I can work with you on that. I’m part of your father’s social media team. I’m very adept at that sort of integration.”
That’s what his sponsors had talked to him about, but hell, he was too busy running his business and racing cars to invest a lot of time in social media. “It’s something I planned to work on. I just haven’t had a lot of extra time.”
“I can help you. Why don’t you give me access to your social media accounts and I can take care of it for you. I promise not to upload anything without you approving it first. I know you’ll be busy and you won’t want to deal with the minutiae.”
“That’s fine.” He gave her passwords to his accounts, then stood. “I’ve got work to do. You get started on that.”
She looked up at him. “Where to now?”
“I’ve got meetings.”
She grabbed her laptop. “Can I come along?”
“It’s mostly boring car stuff.”
“I don’t find it boring at all. I have a lot to learn and I’d really enjoy sitting in, if you don’t mind.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
*
BY THE END OF THE DAY, EVELYN HAD LEARNED ONE thing—there was a lot more to being a car owner and a driver than just writing the check and getting behind the wheel. There were meetings and phone calls with sponsors and talking to crew. After that came working with engineers and discussions about engines and body design followed by the selection of paint schemes and so many other things her head spun.