The Photographer

(23) Love in Azerbaijan

Iris just couldn't stop staring. Even though she'd got a shot of Seb as he laughed with Mikey and now had it saved on her phone to look at whenever she liked, she couldn't stop staring at the man himself.

He was glorious. He looked tanned and fit, sexy and beautiful, relaxed and happy.

And he was hers!

She couldn't hear what they were saying above the noise in the garage as the team made their final preparations on the car ahead of Seb hitting the track in around ten minutes time but she could hear his laughter and was spellbound by his bright, infectious smile, sparkling blue eyes, and his fingers as he fiddled with his earpieces and briefly warmed them with his breath just before popping them into his ears.

She knew what those hands and fingers were capable of. Admiring his perfect form in that Nomex top, she knew what that whole body was capable of, what he was capable of and that was making her cum and loving her like no one else ever had... and 'no one else' meant Ben.

It was crazy and she was quite worried about it but whenever she was working around Seb, her guilt over her marriage seemed to disappear. It was almost as if she'd got used to it, as if she'd already divorced Ben in her mind.

What Iris had with Seb was extremely precious, just like the man himself. It was new and exciting, an intoxicating head rush that gave her the most intense butterflies she'd ever experienced. Yet at the same time it felt familiar, comforting and grounding, like she was exactly where she was meant to be, with the person she was meant to be with. Wherever Seb was, he was her home and her happy place and she'd gladly follow him wherever he went.

"Just be a little careful," Britta quietly warned her, suddenly appearing by her side while she'd popped in to the garage briefly to check something with Seb. Or at least that was her excuse, it wasn't the first time she'd caught Iris looking at him in this way today and something needed to be said about it for her sake as well as his.

This snapped her attention from the handsome German and she looked at Britta with a slight scowl on her face, "careful?"

"I can see the affection and attraction you have for Seb just by the way you look at him and if I can see it then it's quite possible others can see it too," she clarified before patting the top of Iris's arm and adding, "I'm only saying this because I know it's a very private matter. Neither of you will want rumours or gossip going around."

Her shoulders sagged, it felt like Britta had come along and burst her bubble but Seb's press officer was right; if it was obvious to her then it would be obvious to others and with Seb being such a private person, being the subject of personal gossip wouldn't sit right with him at all and it would irritate the hell out of him.

Slipping an arm around her shoulders Britta gently ushered Iris away from temptation (Seb) and the two of them walked the short distance to hospitality together in relative silence. She found a table in the corner, away from listening ears and they both sat down, Iris eyeing her with suspicion, waiting for some kind of lecture. "You know that I know," Britta began, glancing at her phone and switching it to silent, "and that Mark and Antti know too."

Iris nodded, waiting for the lecture to begin and thinking that Seb probably wouldn't be too happy about it if he knew.

"And I'm well aware that you're in the early stages of your relationship with him and believe me when I say that he feels exactly the same way about you," she continued, putting her phone face down on the table, along with Seb's phone too. "Seb may be a very private person when he's in the public eye but behind closed doors, in the privacy of home, he can be something of an open book, he doesn't hide his feelings for you at all. He's crazy about you and I've not seen him this happy for a long time."