Page 113 of Warming the Sheikh's Bed & Love in the Fast Lane

Aurora frowned. “Do you really think so?”

“Of course. You two have been inseparable for years. She’ll get over this.”

“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Lying to her never felt right. Even at the time, I hated keeping the truth from her. Now I wonder why we didn’t just tell her about us from the beginning.”

He reached out and took one of her hands in his. “Because she would have become a third wheel in our relationship. And she would have been jealous. We got to keep our relationship to ourselves and she got to keep her best friend to herself. It was sensible.”

“Was it?” She shook her head. “Even now, you really think that? You don’t think that, in hindsight, we should have just been honest and let the cards fall where they may?”

“No.”

It forced a smile from her, regardless of how serious her mood was. “You’re incredibly confident, aren’t you?”

“My sister would have stuck her nose in at every opportunity.”

Aurora sighed. “Still. I can see why she’s angry. Have you talked to Rita and Lucien?”

“A brief call in the early hours of the morning.”

“What did they say?”

“Congratulations.” He grinned, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course. I meant about us.”

“They were anxious to know I am looking after you. I have little doubt they value you above me. That they would ostracise me if I did anything wrong by you.”

“Then you’d better be good,” she said with a wink, leaning back in her sofa.

“You’re too sexy to be good with. I’d prefer to be bad. Really bad.”

She laughed but put aside her magazine. “That’s a really corny line, you know.”

“Absolutely. Did it work?”

In response, she moved towards him and kissed the tip of his nose. “Yes. But I need you to do something important for me, first.”

“Anything.”

“Go to bloody bed!” She said sternly. “You’ve hardly slept in twenty four hours. I’m exhausted just looking at you.”

He nodded, rubbing a hand across his stubble. “On one condition. Come with me.”

She grinned. “That, I can do.”

They lay, side by side, in the enormous bed. She watched him from beneath shuttered eyes, and he watched her right back. He lifted a hand and tucked her hair behind her ear, his expression difficult to comprehend.

“What changed your mind? About my racing?”

Her heart turned over. “My mind hasn’t changed.” She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “I hate that you put yourself in a piece of metal and drive it around a track at impossibly fast speeds.” She shuddered. “But when you won, and I wasn’t there, it felt all kinds of wrong. I do love you, Leo. And I guess I just realised that I can’t love you without accepting that racing is a part of your make up. I wish it weren’t. I really wish that you loved tennis or baseball instead… but it’s racing, and I have no choice but to back you.”

His eyes closed and he fell asleep, finally, his face grey beneath his tanned complexion. She reached a hand out and ran her fingers through his thick dark hair. He was a Formula One champion; he was happy, and he loved her. Loving someone who had a dangerous job was hard, but she couldn’t love anyone but him. He was her match.

The race in Malaysia was the next on the calendar, and as the plane touched down on the humid island, she wondered how she’d ended up back on this crazy ride. Flitting from one race city to another, an unofficial part of the team; Leonardo Fontana’s lover and companion. One look at him, as he studied the track for the hundredth time in the flight, she felt a jolt in her heart.

She reached over and put a hand on his, to catch his attention.“Are you nervous?”

His eyes were smiling at her. Reassuring her. “Yes. As I always am before a race.”

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