Page 31 of Rush
‘I don’t need a chef; I’ve got my ma. Nobody on this planet can cook like her, but I come in close,’ Savi beamed with pride. ‘As for a nutritionist? Google exists. I don’t need to pay somebody to tell me what I can research for free.’
‘Shh. Don’t let Ben hear you say that.’ He put his hand over her mouth, chuckling when she licked his palm to force him to let go.
‘You can keep him. He should consider himself lucky that his racing driver clients are too damn lazy to teach themselves.’
‘Also don’t tell him I’m going to stuff my face with a very expensive vegan burger with all the trimmings and side dishes.’
‘You’re vegan?’ Savi looked genuinely surprised. ‘Huh, I never noticed.’
‘I wouldn’t survive long in Wyoming, I take it.’
‘Not a second. Although my family does a lot of barbecues so if you like corn then I guess you wouldn’t starve to death.’
‘Might be nice to attend one some time.’ He was pushing his luck a little, especially considering he didn’t think even Esme had been invited to visit Savannah’s family. And they were thick as thieves.
‘Maybe,’ she shrugged, smiling when she must’ve thought he wasn’t looking.
The moment they stepped through the door of the restaurant, they realised not only were they very late, but all eyes were on them. Marco hated causing a scene, not that you would know based on his public behaviour after Esme shut him down. Brett sat there grinning at them and Marco knew he was about to yell out to them and make their presence known.
‘There’s the happy couple!’ And just like that, the entire restaurant looked up and the phones came out, cameras pointed right at them. They had found a local, family-owned place. The kind of establishment where the waiters liked to chit chat and the walls were lined with black and white photos of previous generations. It was full of fans wearing racing merchandise, a hint that perhaps the team should start taking advantage of their bank accounts and exploring higher-end places where everyone else was trying to be private, too. Marco reached for Savannah’s hand in a rush to put her at ease, because while he was used to this, she still wasn’t.
He ushered her into the empty seat next to Kodie and sat down next to her, only letting go of her hand so she could shakily reach for a glass of water. ‘Hi, sorry we’re late.’
‘Don’t stress.’ Faith shot her a smile across the table and Marco reassuringly squeezed her thigh before finally leaving her be. He didn’t want to overdo it. ‘We waited to order. We’ve been sampling the mocktails, though. Brett’s influence. Highly recommend the watermelon spritzer.’
‘So, who’s headed where after this little extended trip?’ Lucie asked the table.
Racing drivers never stayed in one place for long, but as the years went on, the Revolution team tended to adopt home bases and go there as often as they could. Marco’s was Monaco.
‘Faith and I are off home to Oahu to spend as much of the summer break as we can with my biggest kid while she’s home from college,’ Julien said. His daughter’s mum had passed when she was a baby, and that was right around when Marco met Jasmine. He had quickly fallen into the role of Uncle Mars and he loved it just as much as he loved watching Faith take on the role of stepmum, blending their family over the last few years. ‘She wants to be around her friends and told us if we take the twins to Malmedy and away from her, she’ll never forgive us. Claims she hates kids but is the first to offer to play with them, take care of them. Bit scary watching her take on a maternal role but it means Faith and I can go off on waterfall hikes and drive round the island to find the best acai bowls.’
‘We’ll be in Malmedy so if you want us to look after Ford, let us know,’ Brett added. ‘As long as he doesn’t get muddy paw prints on our new carpets.’
‘Why would you get carpets when you’ve got two young nieces down the road and you dog-sit our giant Husky on the regular?’ Julien demanded.
‘It feels soft under my feet,’ Brett argued without a care in the world. Marco gave it two years before Lucie convinced him to rip it up and put hardwood down.
‘I’m going home to Japan,’ Miko smiled softly. ‘Haven’t seen my cat in a while.’
‘Your cat?’ Faith laughed. ‘Not your family?’
‘We’re not super close, they’re always in business mode. Mochi is a Persian, she’s my pride and joy. I have one of those clear cat backpacks for her and everything.’
‘Oh my god. I love it,’ Savi giggled at the photos Miko showed off.
‘I am going wherever the wind takes me,’ Kodie shrugged. ‘With Esme and Thalia and their friends, because life is short, and the world is wide. We’re thinking Kenya first.’
‘Then Tanzania, too. But that will be after Le Mans. We want to do some volunteering so we’re looking into that,’ Esme added.
‘Savannah and I are off to Los Angeles. Gonna go to the Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and see some concerts.’
‘I’m going to force him to listen to some country music,’ Savannah grinned. ‘He can’t wait.’
Marco smiled back at her, not letting his distaste show. He did actually like country, he just didn’t like the particular artist they were going to see or the complications for his poor, wounded heart that came with it. If he was being honest, he was dreading this week.
What if Jesse could tell that Marco was into his girlfriend? What if he was jealous and possessive and called this whole thing off? That would be beneficial in lifting the weight of responsibility from Marco’s shoulders and would mean he could focus on just being friends with Savannah,but it would mean he didn’t get to kiss her and touch her without consequence.
He sounded insane. He knew he did. He was repeating the Esme situation, only this was worse and a million times more complicated. He couldn’t believe thathis feelings for the cowgirl were already stronger than the ones he’d held for Esme. He was going to be ruined. Why couldn’t he fall for someone who was open and available and wanted him back just once in his life?
