Snap Happy (A Daniel Ricciardo story)

23. Caught

EM

I awoke in that delicious loose-limbed languor that only seems to belong to the satisfied lover - that blissful state of existence where every position feels like the most comfortable place you've ever been in. I opened my eyes slowly, blinking as the face before me came gradually into focus. I leaned forward and gently enclosed his lips with my own, sighing contentedly as his arms came round me a little tighter. 

Daniel Ricciardo's girlfriend. 

I kept repeating the phrase in my mind as if to remind myself that it was actually true, not that the devastatingly attractive man next to me in an even more enticing state of undress wasn't a big enough hint. 

"Did you say something?" he murmured sleepily, dragging me out of my thoughts and into an equally pleasant reality. It was probably the first thing he'd said to me since last night, the first coherent sentence at least. I chuckled, thinking of some of the less articulate utterances to come out of Daniel's mouth a few hours before.  

"I didn't say anything" I smiled at him, and received another of those heart-melting beams in return. The day those stopped having an effect on me would be the day I knew either hell or my soul had frozen over.

Beside me my phone vibrated across the tabletop.

'It was you wasn't it - I'd recognise your legs anywhere. x' A typically blunt but ambiguous text from my best friend sent my mind scrambling to fill in the gaps.

'Exactly where have my legs been spotted??? x'

'Hold on and I'll show you x'

They were definitely my legs.

 'Race Ace Ricciardo and Mystery Brunette Enjoy The Belgian Nightlife' read the caption below the photograph. It was from an Australian website I'd never even heard of so how a girl who didn't know her Daniils from her Daniels had stumbled across it I had no idea. My back view was climbing up the steps into the minibus as the rest of the team attempted to shield me from sight, fairly successfully it would seem as I was pretty sure most of my own family wouldn't even recognise me from that shot

'How did you of all people spot that? x'

'Googled him like you said. When I eventually got his name right: voila! x '

Voila indeed. Ignoring the fact that I'd asked LJ to google Daniel months ago, the fact that even she could  find us meant that things couldn't stay quiet for long. I looked across at him as he slumbered peacefully once more, blissfully unaware of the rising panic within my chest. 

***

'Love' is an overused word, but to say that I love Italy is no exaggeration. The history, the scenery, the climate, the cuisine, even the language all reaffirmed it as my favourite country in the World. Even my beloved Blighty paled in comparison. 

Talking of pale...

I had hoped that the amount of time I'd been spending in the open air these past weeks would have meant that I could show up in Italy looking like a native. Unfortunately a combination of Factor 30 and my own naturally ghostly colouring had meant that the mearest hint of a tan seemed to disappear the minute I even looked at a cloud. Daniel on the other hand looked very much at home (which I guess in a sense he was). His own golden glow was even more exaggerated under the Mediterranean sun, particularly when contrasted with the blinding white t-shirt he currently wore.