It's not a long drive until Daniel and I reach a cute cottage. There aren't any signs outside to indicate that this is actually a restaurant. "What is this, it looks really cute and all, but is this a restaurant?" I ask confused.
"It is, it's a place a lot of the McLaren staff go to often. It's just not very well known, which is nice, because that means it's not so busy and well, for us that's nice. Not having pictures all over social media, just for grabbing a bite to eat." He explains.
"I can imagine that gets really annoying, you really don't have a lot of privacy do you?" I grab my purse and phone and want to open the door of the car. "No wait I will open that for you" he jumps out of the car and runs to my side. "Really? We do live in the 21st century you know." I roll my eyes, but it is also quite charming he tries so hard.
"I can be a gentleman, I just want you to feel special." He helps me get out of the car again.
"You have made me feel special all day, you don't have to try so hard." I gently touch his arm as we walk through the door of the restaurant.
Inside looks just as nice as the outside. There are only a few tables and there is only one actually occupied at the moment, but by the looks of their clothes, they are people who work at the team.
Daniel is greeted by one of the servers, you can tell they know him, because it's like friends who see each other again.
He introduces me to the server:"Nick this is Skylar, she has spent the day with me at the factory and now we are really hungry"
"Nice to meet you Skylar, let's get you a table and make sure you guys get fed then" he shakes my hand and leads us to a nice table. The menu's are already opened at the table so I take a quick look at it.
It has only a few options, but that's fine by me. It all sounds great to be honest. "What can you recommend?" I ask Nick.
"Well if you are not a vegetarian, I would suggest the steak, it's amazing." He points it out on the menu.
"Ok I'll follow your advice then, I would like the steak please." I also order a glass of red wine. I'm not really a drinker but red wine with steak is just delicious. I also order some water to go with it because I haven't had alcohol in quite some time.
Daniel orders the same except for the wine, because he still has to drive. After that Nick leaves to tell the chef what to prepare for us.
Even though we have spend the entire day together we still have plenty to talk about. I want to know everything about his life before he got into F1 and about his home in Australia.
After a while our food arrives and it looks really good. The steak melts in my mouth and is seasoned just right. The grilled vegetables that go with it are also perfectly cooked.
When we finish our food, I lean backwards to give my stomach some space. "Pff that was amazing, but I'm really full now."
"Well that was the whole idea right?" Daniel laughs.
"Yeah you're right. You know, I decided to see if I can get tickets for the race in Imola. I really want to experience a race weekend, so when I get home I'll see if there are tickets left and if I can find a hotel and a flight there." I tell Daniel.
"You'll love it I'm sure. Are you gonna go by yourself then?" He asks as he wipes his mouth with his napkin.
"Yeah I think so, I've travelled on my own before, so I'm fine by myself." At that moment Nick comes to clear the table," would you guys like a dessert?"
"I would love dessert, but I'm so full I'm afraid I might burst if I have anything more. I would like some coffee though."
"Sure I will get that for you, Danny you want something?" He looks at Daniel.
"I would like some espresso, I have to drive Skylar home so I could use a bit of caffeine." Daniel also relaxes in his chair.
"Do you have to drive the entire way back to the factory after you drop me off?" I ask a bit worried, because it's getting late and that would mean he has to drive one hour to my home and then 2 hours back.
"No, I'm staying at a hotel about half an hour away from your town, I'll take the car back tomorrow." He answers.
"Ok good, because otherwise I could get a cab from here to take me home." Nick brings us our coffee and leaves us.
"No that's not going to happen, I'm taking you home myself. I'll be fine." He reassures me.
After the coffee we decide to leave, we thank Nick and we head out into the fresh air.
As we reach the car Daniel again opens the door for me. When he wants to help me to get in the car I spot a little ladybug in his hair. "Wait don't move there's a ladybug in your hair, I'll get it for you." I get a bit closer and pick the bug out of his hair. When I want to move away to get in the car Daniel holds my wrist and keeps me close to him. "What's going on?" I ask and look into his eyes.
Even though it's getting dark I can see he is looking at my mouth.
"Is there something on my face or my teeth?" I try to turn away to look in the car mirror.
"No you look perfect, I'm sorry, but I really have been wanting to do this all day." He says as he moves his face towards me and I realize what's about to happen. I close my eyes and I feel his lips touch mine. He let's go of my wrist and puts his arms around my waist to pull me even closer.
I wrap my arms around his neck as I feel him intensify the kiss. I feel his lips open a bit and I follow him to give his tongue acces to find mine. I'm glad he is holding me around the waist otherwise my legs would have given in already.
How on earth is this possible. I'm kissing Daniel out here after spending an entire day with him.
The butterflies in my stomach are going crazy right now and as I feel one hand moving down towards my ass. He pulls my pelvis against his and I feel like I just died and went to heaven.
After what feels like forever we break up the kiss to catch our breath.
"Well I didn't see that one coming" I say while I still have my arms around his neck. Not only because I don't want to let go, but also because I need the support. My legs still feel like they won't be able to hold me on their own.
"I did, I was just hoping it wasn't just me who wanted it." He replies as he looks into my eyes as if he is trying to figure out how I'm feeling about it all.
"Off course I wanted to kiss you, but I've wanted to kiss you ever since I first saw you in F1. The only thing was that I didn't know you, I just knew you as the F1 driver and I had a crush on you. Today however I got to know the real you, just Daniel and actually that only made me want you more. I just hope you realize that, I didn't kiss you back because you are Danny Ric, McLaren driver. I kissed you back because you are Daniel Ricciardo, a sweet and funny man who happens to be incredibly handsome and well hot as hell." I run my hand through his hair as I pull him to me to kiss him again. Damn his lips feel so good on mine. He pushes me against the car and I moan into his mouth. He is turning me on so badly right now, but suddenly we hear somebody clear their throat. We let go of each other to see who it is. It's actually Nick who is going home;"sorry to interrupt guys, but your car is blocking mine" he says with a grin on his face.
"Oh sorry man, we will move out of your way."
Daniel opens the car door for me and I get in. I forget to be a bit careful and as I get in the car my injury hurts like hell. As Daniel gets in he sees my face and that I'm breathing through my teeth. "Hey are you ok, you look like you are in pain, what's going on?" He looks so worried and you melt a little.
"It's ok I just got in the car a bit to clumsy, so I hurt myself. Don't worry, I'm fine now." I relax a little and luckily the pain subsides.
"Hmm ok are you sure?" He doesn't really believe me.
"Yeah I'm good. Let's get out of here so Nick can also go home." I squeeze his hand to reassure him.
He still looks a bit concerned, but starts the car and he drives of to take me home.
"I want to ask you something." He starts when we reach the motorway.
"Ok sure ask me anything." I reply.
"Well I'm actually flying to Monaco tomorrow evening to spend some days at home before going to Italy. And I know it might be a bit soon and maybe I'm pushing my luck here, but would you like to join me. I have two bedrooms and plenty of space in my apartment. We can meet up with some of the other guys, I think Max will be there and Lando is going home as well and maybe Pierre and George. And off course Charles is going to be there as well." He looks at me to see my first reaction.
I did not expect him to actually ask me this, but it's really tempting to say yes straight away. I would love to spend some more time with him and continue to get to know him better. I'm just not 100% sure if I should. After all I am still recovering from the attack, not only physically but also mentally. I do feel pretty good though, maybe this is exactly what I need.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked, I'm going way too fast. Forget about it." He thinks because it takes me some time to answer that I'm going to say no to him.
"No, no please, I was just thinking about it. And yeah maybe it is all a bit soon, but I do really want to spend that time with you, I would love to see where you live and I don't have to go back to work in a while anyway so I don't really see a reason why I wouldn't come with you."
He looks relieved when he hears that I want to come with him.
"When will you leave for Italy? Because then I can see if I can find a hotel there to stay at if I can get tickets for the raceweekend at Imola." I ask.
"You don't have to get tickets for the raceweekend. If we still like each other after spending more time together you can come with me and you can watch everything from the paddock. You will be my guest and I'll make sure you'll be taken care of when I'm working." He grabs my hand.
"That is too much Daniel, I don't expect you to do all that. I can buy tickets. What if you are done with me after a couple of days?" I protest.
"I highly doubt that, but even if that happens I will still make sure you will have an amazing experience during the weekend." He reassures me.
We are almost at my place, so I make up my mind.
"Ok I will go with you to Monaco, and to Italy, but if we find out we don't like each other as much as we think we do now. I'll find myself a hotel and rent a car to get to the track, ok?"
"Sure, if that's what you want, that's fine. But I really don't think that will be necessary." He gives me the cutest smile and he parks in front of my door.
"So where do I have to go to tomorrow?" I ask him as he turns of the car.
"I will pick you up at 4 in the afternoon. The plane leaves at 6, so we'll have plenty of time to get there." He answers and he gets out of the car.
This time I am faster than him and I open my door before he can. "Ha! Beat you to it." I laugh and get out of the car a lot more careful then how I got in to it.
"Hmm well this time maybe, I'll get you next time." He walks me to my door. "Get some sleep, you've got some busy days ahead of you. I will see you tomorrow beautiful." He gently touches my cheek and my lips before putting his lips where his fingers had just been.
I still can't believe how good this feels and that this is actually happening, but I just surrender to his kiss.
Suddenly the door opens and it's Jenna who apparently has been waiting for me.
"Oh shit I'm sorry I didn't want to disturb you. Keep going I'll wait inside." She quickly closes the door and Daniel and I start laughing.
"That was Jenna, one of my best friends who is also one of the two who signed me up for the contest." I explain.
"Ah I see, well maybe we can be properly introduced someday, I should get going. I really had an amazing day and I will see you tomorrow. Bring some clothes with you to go out in. I know a nice place we can go." He quickly gives me a small kiss on the lips and then turns around to get to the car.
"Same here, I'll see you tomorrow. Drive safely and goodnight!" I wave at him and wait for him to drive away.
Then I open the door and go inside. I lean against the door when it's closed and smile. Jenna comes out of the kitchen and all she says is:"I need to know everything, right now!"