Chapter 29
Marco watched as Savannah’s eyes lit up with every merch tent they passed, every food truck or display of historic cars.
They’d walked the twenty-five minutes from their hotel to the circuit so they could take in everything at their own pace, appreciating the walk despite it being the crack of dawn and their eyes barely being open.
One episode last night had turned into two, then three, and before they knew it they’d had three hours’ sleep, nose to nose. They had somehow managed to wake up before their alarms went off, and then Savannah had high-tailed it back to her room to change.
They were expected to wear official team clothing all week because Le Mans was so high profile; the media were constantly on the prowl for drivers to interview, and the cameras were always rolling to get B-roll footage ready for the international television broadcast over the weekend.
Marco’s dream of matching cowboy gear would have to wait.
He wore his usual red tee and black jeans, and Savi had borrowed his spare black tee after deciding that her own red one didn’t hang off her body the way she wanted it to.
She wanted oversized for fashion purposes, and the team had only supplied her with fitted.
Marco felt somewhat smug that she was wearing his shirt, he just couldn’t help but wish it were in an entirely different context.
Still, they walked into the paddock hand in hand, having not quite worked out how and when or even if to tell people they were no longer a couple and never really had been.
As far as Marco was concerned, the threat of those indecent photos being linked to Savannah was still looming over her, and therefore he didn’t intend to go anywhere.
‘De Luca, my boy.’ Brett clapped him on the back in a bone-crushing embrace, ‘Savi, my lady. How was your little Western getaway?’
‘Do not ever call me “My Lady”, this isn’t the eighteen-hundreds,’ she tutted. ‘But it was really good. Please excuse me while I go and find Kodie and Meeks, catch up later!’
They watched her in silence as she headed into the garage, and then the second she was out of earshot, Brett pounced with all the questions he’d been dying to ask.
‘So how was it, meeting the parents?’ he smirked.
‘It must have gone well because they’re here with us.’
‘No way, man! That’s amazing. What are they like?’
‘Everything I expected them to be and more. Being with them felt like I was at home away from home, and honestly? I’m sad that we had to leave.’
‘I get that, I feel the same every time Lucie and I visit her parents in Tuscany. I think a lot of racing drivers feel like they have family in all four corners of the world, and it’s just such a good feeling, right?
’ Brett gushed, reminding Marco of how much he missed his friends when they weren’t exploring the world together.
‘Anderson, I’ve really fallen for her.’ He emphasised by widening his eyes as he said it. ‘She’s in a league of her own, seriously.’
‘Is this more intense than Esme, then?’ his teammate questioned. ‘Because you were pretty into her judging by the way you buried yourself in chocolate chip pancakes… and those women.’
‘Absolutely. It’s not even a question. Savannah is just…
magic. I don’t know how else to put it. She lights up every room she’s in, she’s sassy and the perfect mix of serious and fun, and most importantly, she makes me feel seen.
I know I’m going to have to separate from her at some point when we have to go to our individual homes, but man, I can’t bear the thought of it. ’
Marco wasn’t just saying these things to try and sell their relationship anymore; he was so far past that.
He meant every word, and call him crazy, but he was starting to think Savannah might be starting to question her own feelings towards him.
There had been something in her eyes when she showed up at his hotel room last night.
He didn’t know what it was, but when they’d woken up that morning, they’d spent a long time lying there just looking at each other as they let the world come into focus.
Something was different. It was as if the end of her relationship with Jesse had planted a seed in her mind.
‘Don’t go home,’ Brett shrugged. ‘She’s said a couple of things about wanting adventures, hasn’t she?
So, take her on some. See the world with her, show her things from your point of view.
That’s one of the best things about being part of this team; not having to do shit alone.
Hell, come visit the rest of us in Malmedy, if you want. Let her in on our little clique.’
‘We are not a clique,’ Marco frowned. ‘Everyone’s welcome.’
‘Yeah, but we don’t really know Miko and Kodie very well yet, outside of the buddy scheme, although we would like to soon because they seem great. It’s just that Savi is basically an extension of you. We want to see what the fuss is about, you know? You can’t hog her forever.’
‘She’d probably love that,’ Marco nodded. ‘I just know she loves to help out at the ranch when she can, and we just set up her racing sim in the guest bedroom…’
‘End of the season is coming up fast. No reason you can’t travel for a month and still have plenty of time to see family. Speaking of, where are they? Are they at the track yet?’
‘They’re still asleep. We ended up doing a tour of the city immediately after getting off the plane, so I imagine they’re shattered.
It is only seven a.m. after all, and they’re probably pretty jetlagged too.
’ Marco rubbed his temple, trying to rid himself of the headache that was threatening to form.
‘Don’t tell me your head hurts from lack of sleep,’ Brett scowled.
‘You’re new at this I guess, sharing a room with your girlfriend in race week.
You’ll soon learn that having sex past ten p.m. is out of bounds if you want a full night’s sleep.
What did you squeeze in, two rounds? Three?
If it was more than that then I have no sympathy at all. ’
‘If you must know, we watched a dating show and fell asleep. She also isn’t officially in my room, yet.
She’s got her own, but she couldn’t sleep so she came to mine.
’ He wished he could tell Brett the truth about their situation and get his friend’s advice.
After all, he’d been friends with Lucie for years before they got their happily ever after. He understood the pain.
‘That’s adorable.’ Brett wrinkled his nose, ‘But still, you tell her she’s banned. And for the love of all that is holy, do not have sex during the twenty-four hours of Le Mans. You won’t survive it; you might think the adrenaline will help but you’ll be exhausted.’
‘Brett, you don’t need to tell me these things. I have had sexual relationships before, you know. During race week, too.’
‘Have you?!’ Brett gasped. ‘We all thought you were a bit of a monk.’
Marco left him standing outside the trailer, confused, while he headed into the garage after Savannah.
He left her to it when he noticed her standing to one side, chatting animatedly with her teammates and laughing away, all tension from the last race dissipated.
He didn’t want to intrude, so he busied himself with the stat screens and catching up with his engineer, trying not to glance over at her too often.
She was admittedly a bit of a distraction.
‘De Luca,’ Jasper joined him, ‘how you feeling about giving us our first test lap of the week?’ He folded his arms, doing his classic authoritative team principal pose.
‘Yeah, I’m keen. Let me just change into my suit and grab my helmet.’
He disappeared into the trailer for less than five minutes, having perfected the art of getting race-ready in record time.
When he came back out, Savannah was at Jasper’s side, deep in conversation.
Alarm bells were ringing in Marco’s mind; she seemed anxious, and their boss looked concerned, but he didn’t want to intrude so he went over to the car and greeted the mechanics, climbing into the seat.
He drove down the pit lane, bypassing multiple garages busy with teams rushing to fix issues with their cars or doing interviews with the press.
They were all focused on the biggest race of the season, but Marco?
He was focused on his cowgirl and how he wanted to give her the entire world on a silver platter, all the things she’d wished for.
But still, even after she’d left the man who had wasted four years of her life and no longer owed anyone her loyalty, it wasn’t Marco’s place to do so.
Marco didn’t know if what he was feeling was even real.
After Esme, and believing that could be something, his radar for the spectrum of human emotion was wildly off kilter.
This thing with Savannah could just be a friendship, a unique bond that came about because they were teammates, and he felt a duty to protect her and care for her.
But then he thought about Lucie, Faith and Bea who were also part of his team, his inner circle, and while he would forever be willing to go into battle for them, he didn’t get butterflies in his stomach when he looked at them.
He didn’t have to constantly resist the urge to brush his hand across their cheek, move their hair out of their face or place his hand on the small of their back.
He didn’t lie awake hoping they’d knock on his door or look forward to their spontaneous evenings of binge watching the latest TV shows cuddled up under bed sheets, wondering if they would move away if he moved a couple of inches closer.
Savannah was different. She was special, one of a kind, and every second that he spent with her only further solidified their connection.
That night they’d spent together in the barn had been incredible, but maybe that was all it was ever going to be. Just one night.