“Uh-uh. But he must be thinking about it too. We return to racing in a week. You’re even thinking about it.” Nico paused. “Charles, why are you thinking about it? Are you thinking it can’t work once we’re back to racing? That we’ll have to end it? That we can’t have both?”
“No! Absolutely not! What I am thinking and what you two have to decide is whether or not you make it public.”
“Well, we can’t keep it private forever.”
Ifwe continue after the racing starts, she thought. She couldn’t bring herself to say that out loud. It was painful enough just to think it.
Perhaps Rocco was thinking this was a romantic fling that would stop once racing resumed. That must stop once it did. He’d probably had such flings before, lots of them.
“I wasn’t suggesting you keep it private forever,” Charles said. “You might want to keep it private at the beginning. Or maybe until the season ends. And then take it from there.”
If there was anywhere to take it by then.
Charles was right, of course. How could they make it public? What would Casey say? The press? The other drivers? No, no, and no. It would be a mess.
But if they kept it private, didn’t that suggest all this was too much trouble, too much drama? It was bound to interfere with the racing.
How could they have been so stupid? How could she have been so stupid? Not to have thought about any of this?
But she had thought about it. It was just that other things drowned out such thoughts. Things like Rocco and how she felt when she was near him. How she felt when he did things. The smell of him. Even the sound of his voice. And it had gotten worse. Far, far worse. Because it had gone far, far beyond that. Being around his family. And seeing that sweet, endearing part of him. That feeling of pure joy when she’d seen him on that podium. When she’d seen him win in Monaco.
She was falling for him.
No, it was worse than that.
She’d already fallen.
And what about New Year’s Eve at Drink and Dive? She might have been able to live with not telling him had they just remained teammates. But now?
Just then she heard the door open.
“He’s back. Call you later?”
“Sure,” Charles said.
Rocco came in, carrying coffee and a paper sack. He set them down. “What are you doing out of bed?”
He didn’t give her a chance to respond. He picked her up and carried her to the bed, kicking and screaming, threw her on it, and then threw himself on top of her.
Nico laughed. “I don’t know why we came to this beautiful location, when all our time here has been spent in bed.”
“Because I want to have you all to myself. I don’t want to share you with anyone. And that includes my family. Actually, now that we’re here, I’ve realized I don’t want to share you with any of what’s out there either.” He paused. “Are you disappointed? Do you want to go out?”
She shook her head. “But what took you so long? You said you were just going to get coffee and croissants.”
“You missed me? Can’t have me out of sight for even an hour?”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re cocky?”
“Once or twice.”
“There’s a reason the little prince’s head grew to be so enormous.”
“You still haven’t finished that fairy tale.”
“Would you like me to finish it now?”
“Later,” he said, reaching for the bag.
