Daniel and Michael aren't back when I come in, so I just start rummaging through the kitchen to find everything I need.
I've got chicken, brown rice, avocado and some other things that were on the menu so I can make sure he gets in the nutrients he needs.
I found fresh mint in the store as well, because I know he likes mint tea.
While I'm cooking I put on music. I really can't function without music in my life, so whenever I cook or clean I listen to music. But to be honest I listen to music whenever I can.
So as I'm in the kitchen cooking and dancing at the same time the door opens and Daniel and Michael walk in.
"Hey there guys! You both still alive?" Daniel walks up to me and gives me a sweet kiss.
"Hey babe. Sorry I'm sweaty, but I'll take a shower after lunch. It looks and smells really nice."
"Let's hope it tastes just as nice, handsome. Sit down it's pretty much done. So perfect timing." Seeing him post work out is definitely a sight for sore eyes. I might have to join him for that shower later.
"Thanks for inviting me Skylar, it's really nice of you." Michael says as he sits down.
"No problem. I mean if I want to know anything embarrassing about Danny I think you'd be the perfect person to interrogate. You guys know each other so well."
Daniel looks up and smiles,"don't you dare tell her embarrassing things about me."
Michael laughs and says,"I won't". But then he winks at me and looks at Daniel with an innocent look in his eyes.
Daniel rolls his eyes,"sure you won't."
I love the banter between them. It just feels like brothers having a go at each other.
I fill up the plates and put them in front of Dan and Michael. "Enjoy boys. I hope I won't give you food poisoning."
They both look at their plates a bit scared and then start to laugh. "Well it looks fine by me, so let's see about the taste."
"So did you have a good work out?" I ask.
"Yeah we did. It's good to be getting ready for the race."
"When are you going to Italy?" I take a bite out of the food and it's actually pretty good. I'm proud of myself.
"Well if you want then WE will go on Tuesday? Because we have media day Thursday, and maybe Wednesday after I finish with some meetings with the team we can do something together." He seems to be enjoying the food, but he looks a bit anxious to find out what I'll do. "I do have to be honest. Racing weekends are extremely busy and I won't have that much time to spend with you. But we will have the evenings and nights together. That is. If you will go with me. And I kinda hope you will."
I look at him while I pretend to think about it.
"I totally understand that. I'm sure those weekends are insane and everybody wants something from you. I would love to go, but I don't want to distract you or anything or get in anybodies way."
Daniel finishes his lunch,"This was amazing babe. You can cook for me anytime. And about distracting me. I don't get distracted very easily when I'm with the team and in the car. So don't worry about that. And you won't get in the way, there are special guests in the garage all the time. You can be one of them. But then my special guest."
"Well why don't we just give it a try. I would absolutely love to see the action from up close. Experience everything during a race weekend. And I'm not one of those dependent, clingy women that needs to be around a guy all the time. I can entertain myself. So ok I'll go with you."
We're all done so I start to clean up the plates.
While I'm in the kitchen Daniel asks me about my morning.
"I went for a walk after I finished shopping and I decided to go to the beach. It was so lovely, the water was chilly but I didn't mind it. Oh and I called my doctor and he told me I can do any physical exercise I want I just have to listen to my body. He did advise me not to go bungee jumping yet. But other then that I got the green light." I wink at Daniel. And he immediately understands what I mean, by the looks of the redness of his cheeks.
"That's good to hear, so tomorrow you can work out with us?" He asks hoping Michael didn't understand the underlying meaning of my words.
"That might be a good idea. I will make a program for you that you can do if you want? I mean you don't need to, but you mentioned it this morning." Michael adds.
"I would actually like that yeah. When I go home again I might even be skinny for once in my life." I joke.
"I hope not, I love your curves and how soft you feel. Besides your body is perfect as it is, you really don't need to change." Daniel protests. "And also I don't really want to think about you going home any time soon"
Ok now I know for sure, I'm completely in love with this man and I can only hope he feels the same about me.
"That's so sweet of you, but exercising is something I love to do anyways so yeah I'll join you tomorrow.
Anyways when I was on the beach I ran into Charles and Charlotte. And they invited us to dinner tonight. I don't know where they want to go, but Charlotte reassured me it wouldn't be a big public place."
In the mean time I load everything in the dishwasher and then I lean back against the counter to see what his respons will be.
"It could be really nice, they know all the best places here." He says.
"I would really like to go, but I realize that there's no way we can avoid people that might take pictures and start the gossip. So I don't know how you feel about that." I tell him.
"Look I'm used to the gossip, but you aren't. And I don't want you to be chased away by speculations, gossip and even possible hate you might receive." He explains.
"I'm not afraid of that, I'm a big girl and I couldn't care less what people think about me. Especially people who don't know me who feel like they deserve to have an opinion about me or us." I walk up to Daniel and sit on his lap because I really feel the need to be close to him. He looks insecure and afraid that I would actually be chased away by other peoples opinions.
"'Mate she sounds pretty sure of herself and her ability to cope with the shit that will definitely hit the fan as soon as you will be seen in public. And well what you told me about her so far. And what she survived. I would definitely believe her when she says this." Michael tries to reassure Daniel, "I hope you don't mind that he told me about what you went through?" He adds.
"I don't. I told him he could talk about it. So it's fine. And thanks for the support."
"No problem, I'm going to leave you to it and get going with that program for you to start with tomorrow." He grabs his stuff and heads to the door.
"I really appreciate it, thanks Michael we'll see you tomorrow." I say and then focus back on Daniel who still hasn't said anything.
"Babe, please believe in me. I have no intention of letting anybody get in between us and whatever we are at the moment." I cup his face with my hands and love the way his stubbles tickle the inside of my hands.
"What are we? What do you want us to be?" He asks and looks me in the eyes.
"I know exactly what I want us to be, I've known it from the moment you got out of the car Friday. I fell in love with you instantly, but I just needed to figure out if it was me fangirling over you or the real thing."
I lay it all out and hand over my heart to him hoping he won't break it.
"And is it the real thing or are you in love with the person you are a fan of?" He asks.
"I'm definitely in love with the person I was already a fan of, but I'm in love with all of him, I've never met a more caring, funny, sweet man in my life and I would want nothing more then to start building a relationship with you.
Even if you would have nothing to do with racing, nobody would know you and you would have no money.
I would still feel the same about you, because I don't care about all of that. I just care about you." I've really opened up myself and now all I can do is wait to see how he responds.
I can see so many emotions in his eyes, happiness, fear, insecurity, hope.
"The moment I called you and you needed proof to see if it was not a scam I already admired you, then when I saw you on FaceTime I could only think about how beautiful you were.
But I fell in love with you when I got out of the car and saw you in real life. And then learning about you, hearing what you went through, only made that feeling stronger."
I can see his eyes start to tear up.
"I want to protect you from any harm that might get done to you, I don't want to lose you because of what other people might say about you and us. And I can only hope that you are indeed strong enough to endure the things life will throw at you when you are with me." He swallows and takes a sip of his tea before he continues.
"So yeah I'm deeply in love with you, I never thought I would fall for somebody so fast. I guess I do believe in love at first sight now. So let's just go for it, take the plunge and see what the future has in store for us."
I cannot believe what I'm hearing right now. He feels the same about me and him telling me that makes my heart skip several beats.
"So Skylar Hayes, would you be my girlfriend?"
"Oh you're going all teenager on me now huh?"
I smile, but then I can't resist anymore and I plunge my lips on his to show him my answer. I can feel tears burning behind my closed eyes, but they are definitely happy tears.
The kisses we shared before were nothing like this one.
In this kiss we share love, not just passion and with this kiss we make promises.
I don't want to take my lips of off his, but we both need air.
Our foreheads and noses still touch as we reluctantly break up the kiss.
I still have my eyes closed and I feel his thumb wiping away a tear that has escaped.
I then open my eyes and look into his. "Yes I will be your girlfriend."
His eyes light up with happiness and I see so much love in there it makes my heart melt.
I can hardly comprehend what just happened. This man that I am crazy in love with, has the same feelings for me.
"So what did you say about the doctor clearing you for physical exercise?" He asks with a grin on his face.
I immediately start laughing,"you are cheeky aren't you? But yeah I can do whatever I want as long as I don't push myself or hurt myself more."
I'm going to head into the shower, or I will start to smell, you are very welcome to join me."
My breathing speeds up a bit and so does my heartbeat. He doesn't need to tell me that twice.
I hop off his lap and pull him on his feet. "Let's go!"