It wouldn’t work.  She knew better.  She knew she couldn’t keep Rex with her.  She knew he couldn’t stay around.  They both knew he’d be happier if he never had to go away and live this double life where she was just some clandestine affair that he saw a handful of times a year, but it wasn’t a mere matter of desire.  There were… logistics.  Things were complicated.  Still, that burning question remained— what if she were to get pregnant during one of their rendezvous?

She obviously couldn’t just ask Rex for a baby.  He was a cautious man.  With his secret identity and job, she could already hear him telling her that it was far too risky.  Their relationship might not have been public, but she was.  In the racing circuit, she was almost as much of a celebrity as the drivers themselves.  There was great interest in her dating life.  As the next head of Royale Rubbers, she had money and power that others in the industry couldn’t wait to see married off.  Anytime she was too hospitable with a racer, it wound up in the tabloids.  It was amusing that rumors spread about her and almost every racer but Racer X.  If she were to get pregnant, the press would have a field day trying to track down the father… And her own father would grow suspicious too.  They were close.  His daughter was his everything, and she infamously single.  She had no interest in relationships after losing her childhood sweetheart.  She’d gone on a few dates, but never anything serious.  None of the prospects he introduced her to could ever compete with that Racer boy, no matter how many years passed.  He’d be the first to know something was up and it’d be difficult trying to come up with a cover up convincing enough to fool him.  And the Racer family?  Speed was a bit dense, Pops was no better, but Mary?  That woman was sharp.  No doubt she’d recognize her child’s child.  Would she feel betrayed at the secrets that she kept or would she understand?

To be frank, none of that mattered.  She could manage a way to work through all of that.  The real question was how would Rex react?  Would he stay with her… or stay away from her?  Would a child be the push he needed to finally retire from racing, get rid of the mask, and run away with her?  If not, could it at least lead to more visits?  Or would it backfire and cause her to lose him forever?

It’s something that kept her up at night following a scare that ended up being a false alarm.  To say she was upset when her period finally appeared would be an understatement.  She was devastated.  Rex’s child was something she didn’t even realize how badly she wanted until the idea was planted in her head like that.  For the briefest glimpse, the possibility of having the life that he had promised her as teenagers seemed like it could be a reality.  It was something she’d long buried; a dream that perished in the same crash that killed “Rex Racer,” but somehow wasn’t resurrected when he returned to her.  She was so overjoyed to have him back in some capacity that she couldn’t ask for more.  Yet after that bout of nausea that suspiciously coincided with her late cycle, it was all she could think about.  Month passed and it stayed with her.  She’d grown obsessed with the idea.  Neither of them were getting younger.  She was running out of time.  If she was ever going to have a kid, it needed to be soon.  She wanted his baby, she wanted him, and girls like her always got what they wanted.

The more she considered it, the easier it was to justify it to herself.  It wasn’t like she would have to be sneaky or deceptive.  Honestly, the fact that there wasn’t a kid already was a miracle.  Condoms were a rarity.  Neither of them carried them around and in the heat of the few moments they shared, who could blame them for forgetting?  There was some pill that prevented pregnancies, but she had never bothered with it and wasn’t about to start.  If it happened, it happened.  It wouldn’t be her fault… but she certainly wouldn’t go out of her way to prevent it.  She just had to be patient.  It was a matter of time.

This next season, she took more of an active role in the world of racing.  Any time the races were domestic, she’d be there with her father, but this year, she planned to attend as many as she could get away with.  Their brand presence abroad would look good for her and the company, she told Victor.  If he was suspicious, he didn’t show it.  In fact, he seemed thrilled that she was taking her position within the company seriously.  He embraced the idea and encouraged her to travel.

Travel she did.

The first grand prix of the season was held in Australia and she was right there watching the action.  The circuit was beautiful and the race was as exciting as ever, but she was more preoccupied with what would come long after the victory laps.  Rex didn’t disappoint.  After midnight, he let himself into her suite using the key that she had slipped Inspector Detector to pass to him.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Miss Royale?” Rex asked as he lowered the hat that had been perched upon his head as a lazy disguise.  “A bit far from home, aren’t you?”

She shrugged from her comfortable spot on a chaise and lowered the champagne she had been sipping on.

“Business.”

“Business…”  A smirk formed as he repeated the answer back to her.  He stalked slowly towards the bed.  “Finally succumbing to your corporate fate?”

“Something like that.”  She sat the flute off to the side and rose to her feet to meet him where he stood.  Now that he was so close, it took every fiber of her being not to pounce.  The feeling must have been mutual, because his hands were on her the moment she was within reach.  When his thumbs began to rub circles on her hipbones, she fought the urge to just melt against him, opting instead to slide her arms over his shoulders.  “Why, disappointed in me?”

Rex shook his head.  “Never…  But that’s not to say I believe that at face value.”

“Always too smart for your own good,” she laughed, resting her head against his chest.  “Maybe I realized that it’s the easiest way to get what I want.”

“Hmm… That sounds more like the Uni I know,” he said.  His fingers began to comb through her ruby locks.  “Now, what is it that you want?”

Lifting her head, her eyes locked with his.  Their enchanting green hue glistened with mischief and desire.

“You,” she said before rising to her toes to kiss him deeply.  The next words were spoken right against his lips.  “More time with you.”

It was the truth, even if it was a bit of an understatement.  This wasn’t about this particular evening or the evenings that would follow over the course of this racing season.  As he backed her against the lavish bed, she could feel the seeds of something a bit more permanent beginning to be sown.  Her breathing hitched as he painstakingly inched the satin nightgown up her thighs before dragging her panties the opposite direction.  Her greedy hands reached for his belt, only to be brushed away.  She wasn’t permitted a chance to pout before he had it unfastened and his pants unzipped— the Racer in him never disappointed.  In a blink of an eye, she was pinned beneath him and he was in her without a second thought.  Laughter threatened to bubble up in her chest as he entered, but she contained it.  This was too easy.  For a man who was so cautious in every aspect of his life, he never hesitated when it came to loving her.  Perhaps she was projecting, but with the way he thrust into her with wild abandon, she couldn’t help but wonder if he wanted this as badly as she did.  He wasn’t naïve.  He was a grown man that knew the risks of being together like this without protection— hell, he was the one who told her where babies came from when they were kids.  She clung to him with a smile on her face, riding out each rhythmic roll of his hips.