Page 30 of Rush
It wasn’t right. It wasn’t okay. He knew that, and he knew if her boyfriend ever found out he would make Marco’s life hell. It wasn’t fair that he was falling for her. On Savannah or on him or on Jesse Montalvo. And Marco had seen enough of Jesse Montalvo in the press to know he wasn’t keen on the bloke and thought Savannah deserved better, but it wasn’t his place. Or maybe it was? He felt somewhat responsible for her wellbeing considering he was lying to the world, to his friends and family to protect her. Telling her he thought her superstar boyfriend was an asshole was looking out for her, right?
Marco knew what guys were like, he knew the red flags and Jesse had a lot of them, but it was too soon to break bro code. Not that he felt loyal to him over Savannah, but he had to witness their relationship first hand before he could really judge.
He should answer one of those texts, entertain one of his recent conquests on the yacht again. Take his mind off things. Harriet was a riot, as was her friend Gianna. He could get an NDA drawn up, save it going public. Protect his and Savannah’s façade. But he wasn’t willing to risk it, and he would much rather hang out with Savannah anyway, lounge around in bed with their clothes on and drink the most expensive wine on the room service menu.
Except she had drifted off to sleep on his shoulder forty-five minutes ago and he had coaxed her wine glass out of her hand and placed it on the bedside table. He had to wake her up soon so she could get ready for dinner; he thought she looked beautiful as she was, but she wouldn’t be his biggest fan if he let her go out with smudged eye makeupand hair that resembled a bird’s nest. All that crying must have taken it out of her, and he had been trying to drift off alongside her, but his mind kept going back to his hand on her chest.
Feeling her heartbeat had been so intimate it had made his head spin, although he knew she hadn’t meant for it to be like that. She hadn’t been thinking, that much had been clear, and she had done a stellar job of acting totally normal in the moments that followed. It was just him reading into it. As he always did.
He paid little attention to the film playing, some action movie that they had taken forever to agree on. His back was starting to lock up, having stayed in an awkward position so as not to disturb the sleeping cowgirl, and he used it as his opportunity to wake her up gently. Shifting his body, he heard a soft little moan escape her lips. It went straight to his groin, and he prayed she wasn’t awake enough to notice, not that she ever looked at that part of him anyway. He was the only one who ever did the staring here.
‘Shit, are we late?’ Savi shot up, rubbing her eyes and further smudging her mascara. With full lips and rosy cheeks, she looked more like they’d gone a few rounds in bed than she did an anxious, crying wreck. Perfect look for dinner since they were showing up together and were likely to be twenty minutes late if she didn’t move at the speed of light.
‘Not quite. You go sort yourself out, I’ll tidy up.’ He started gathering the empty bottles and glasses and straightened the bed sheets, not wanting Savannah to have any visual reminders of her emotional breakdown when she came to bed tonight.
‘Mars?’ she called out from the bathroom and the nickname made his heart flutter in his chest. She had hardly called him that since they met, it was either his full name or Monaco. Another nickname that worked for him, and one that turned him on more than anything.
‘What’s up?’ He poked his head round the door and was met with her naked, tanned back and shoulders. She was more muscular than he’d expected, and he could see the effort she put into her training. It was the body of an athlete.
He couldn’t help but picture the rest of her, most importantly those legs wrapped around his waist when he carried her through his hotel room door. Which wasn’t going to happen, because yet again he had fallen for someone who was otherwise engaged.
‘I can’t zip this stupid thing up.’ She gestured to the white corset dress she was clutching to herself and sighed, clearly getting flustered at the delay it was causing. If there was one thing he’d noticed about her it was that she was punctual. Always on time or early to every team meeting, every press conference aside from the one after they’d been cornered by her boyfriend’s PR guy.
‘Allow me.’ He refused to let their eyes meet in the mirror, already feeling like he was majorly overstepping and should have asked one of her female friends to look after her.
‘Do I look okay?’ she asked. ‘Be honest, because I’m not feeling so hot right now.’
‘You look perfect,’ he murmured. ‘What’s bothering you?’
Savi sighed, and he felt his heart break just that little bitmore knowing he couldn’t take her pain away. ‘I feel like everyone will know I’ve been crying even if Julien doesn’t tell them, and they’ll see right through me. The wine was supposed to get me tipsy in time for dinner so I’m a little less self-conscious and instead, I slept it off. I think I even drooled on your shoulder, which is not part of the deal and not at all what you signed up for.’
‘What I signed up for is irrelevant, Savannah,’ he murmured as he held the fabric together and zipped her into the corset. ‘We’re teammates over and above everything else and what are teammates for if not for drooling on one another in their sleep? Besides, Brett has done it to me numerous times.’ He watched as she let go of her curls and they fell over her shoulders.
‘It’s still gross.’ She scrunched her nose up.
‘Oh, and by the way…’ He chose that moment to look up at her reflection, catching her gaze in his and making sure he spoke with confidence so she could really feel his next words and know that they were the truth: ‘You look incredible. Never seen red cowboy boots and a corset look so good.’
‘Thanks, Monaco,’ she smiled back at him.
‘Julien won’t tell anyone, you know.’ He fixed his hair, running his hands through it and making sure his own curls were perfectly placed. ‘It’s highly unlikely he even told his wife but if he did, Faith will keep it hush hush. She’s a girl’s girl, and also a teammate, you haven’t got to worry about it.’
‘I just don’t want people to see me as weak,’ she said, frowning as she put her jewellery on. Without a word, he took her necklace from her and looped it around her neck,focusing on the clasp at her nape. Jewellery was so fiddly, but he often wore a chain, so he was used to it.
‘Your anxiety doesn’t make you weak, Savannah. It makes you strong. Because you constantly choose to fight it instead of letting it win. And look where that strength has got you…’ He put his hands on her shoulders, gripping them tightly as if his touch would really drive it home. ‘You’re a badass, Savannah. I don’t label many people that, but you’ve earned it. And I don’t even know half of your story.’
He wanted to know. Savannah didn’t talk about her family much, not unless it was directly related to their support of her racing career. But he didn’t know the little things; what was her favourite family recipe, the best holiday she’d been on, did she go to prom or was she too cool for it? There wasn’t always a reason for anxiety, some people were just born with it, but a lot of the time it came from trauma and Marco knew nobody’s life was perfect. Savannah seemed like the type to keep parts of her past, and present, a secret unless someone had earned the right to know, and he hoped he would qualify one day.
‘We should probably get going if we don’t want them to accuse us of something we haven’t been doing. No amount of liquid blush will hidethatkind of embarrassment.’ She shooed him out of the bathroom and towards the door. ‘Your shirt is creased.’
‘My shirt is always creased; I have developed a bit of a reputation for it. I don’t even have an iron in my apartment.’ He held the door for her, and she ducked under his arm.
‘Don’t you have a housekeeper?’
‘Yes, but she doesn’t do my laundry. Just cleans once a week whenever I’m not home.’
‘Chef?’ she quizzed.
‘Chef slash nutritionist. He works for Jules, too. You should get one of those.’
