My heart pounds against my ribs. He’s saying everything I’ve been thinking, and I’m elated to hear those words pass his lips.
“Do you want the same thing?” he asks as one hand moves to my lower back again, rubbing it up and down. “Because I don’t think I can handle the idea of you being with any other man like this.”
“I don’t want to share you with any other woman,” I say. “I can’t.”
Nothing is said for a moment, but the air between us is charged with emotional understanding.
Caleb isn’t willing to share me, either.
He brushes his lips against mine, and his kiss says everything that needs to be said.
And I know, without a doubt, I fell a little bit more for Caleb Collings tonight.
* * *
It’s another pinch-me moment in Monaco.
Well, to be honest, I’ve been pinching myself ever since my date with Caleb last night. I got home late, but I couldn’t sleep. Thoughts of him kept flooding my mind. The way he looked at me. Touched me. Responded to things I said and listened to me …
And oh God, the way he kissed me.
I think I kept my fingertips on my lips half the night as I lay awake in bed, thinking of his kisses over and over again.
Needless to say, I’m operating on very little sleep and a lot of caffeine. But I don’t care.
My mind has managed to shift from Caleb to what I’m doing right now. It’s a glorious Friday morning in Monaco, with blue skies and brilliant sunshine overhead. Monte Carlo is still waking up—no doubt sleeping in from some partying at clubs or yachts last night—but I’m already full of energy at this early hour.
I’m getting ready to shoot another segment for The Downforce Network. I’m standing in front of our location, mini mic in hand, eager to get to work.
“Are you ready, Isla?” Luke, today’s intern, asks me. He’s doing the shooting with an iPhone, because this is going to be social media content.
I nod.
“Recording,” he says.
“Hello, I’m Isla Foley, and today I’m going to take you behind the scenes at the Monaco Grand Prix. Specifically, I’m taking you to the paddock for Formula 2 this weekend. I’m at Parking Chemin des Pecheurs, a car park here in Monaco. And would you believe the top two levels of this car park serve as the paddock for F2 for the weekend? I have to say, you really can’t beat the scenery here. I have a view of the harbor on one side, rock on the other. The teams call this Alcatraz, because the car park is partially built into the rock, and is located on the other side of the Rock of Monaco.”
I explain how the cars are pushed downhill to the circuit when it’s time for practice, qualifying, and the race—and where they will use F1 garages, too.
“I haven’t come to the F2 paddock today for the view, but to meet with the drivers for Skadi Motorsport—points leader Maks Mlakar and his teammate, Fionn O’Riley—to see just how they learn to sharpen those finely-tuned reaction times that drivers need. So let’s go on in and catch up with them.”
I tell Luke I’m done recording this bit, so he stops shooting and I walk with him into the paddock. Once inside, he begins recording again, with me pointing out what we see—everything from the motorhomes to the racks of tires to mechanics working on the cars ahead of the qualifying session this afternoon. We stop when I get that and make our way to the Skadi motorhome. We’re quickly greeted by one of their communications liaison officers, Victor. He escorts us inside.
“I hope it’s okay that we split your time with the drivers,” he says. “You’ll do reaction activities with Maks, and your interview with Fionn.”
“That’s fine,” I say. And it really is. It’s not what I was scheduled to do, but I can make it work.
I’m escorted into Maks’s room—not nearly as big or as nice as the ones Caleb and Mason have with Collings Motors, but this is F2. Maks is a gifted driver. I have a feeling the handsome brown-haired, hazel-eyed Slovenian will have a seat in F1 very soon.
“Hi, Isla, good to see you again,” he says in lightly-accented English, flashing me a smile.
Maks talked to me during my circuit walk in Italy, and I’ll always be grateful for how kind he was to me, with it being my first live assignment for the network.
“Likewise, Maks. Thank you for taking some time to show me some of your reaction training,” I say.
We chat for a few minutes, and then meet his trainer, Leonardo. When we begin to film, Leonardo explains the importance of having quick reaction times in driving and how drivers have to work on them. This can be anything from juggling to dropping a tennis ball for Maks to catch—and it can also involve technology.
Maks shows me a set of lights positioned on a desk. He sits down in front of them and explains what they are to me.