Love in Victory Lane (A Chase Elliott FanFic)

Chapter Forty One

"Attention ladies and gentlemen," the sound of the airplane's intercom system woke me up. "Please fasten your seat belts; we will be landing at Philadelphia International Airport shortly." Butterflies surged through my body when I remembered I would be seeing Chase in less than an hour. I wanted to text him so bad, but I couldn't because my phone had to be on airplane mode. Therefore, I closed my eyes and waited for us to land.

When I got off the plane, I found my bags in baggage claim, and walked across the airport to the pickup section. As I rode on the escalator, descending to the lower level where pickup was, I began looking for the driver Chase had sent for me. It was almost 5:00 a.m.; I was sure Chase was soundly asleep in his hauler.  I looked down at the floor, blushing and smiling to myself at the thought of Chase all bundled up in his bed. I stepped off the escalator and began searching for the sign which had my name on it, which would signify the driver Chase sent for me. Instead of seeing a sign, my eyes grew wide when I saw, not a driver, but  Chase Elliott holding a sign that said "Hunter" with a big heart around it. I squealed and started running over to him, and him to me, letting my luggage leave my hands as we got closer.

I jumped up into his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, my hands instantly roaming through his fluffy hair. His wonderful cologne filled my nose, the familiar scent making me feel at home. He put his arms under my butt, holding me up. I was raised slightly over his head, so I grabbed his face with my hands and raised his chin up so he could look me in the eyes. His beautiful smile instantly melted my heart, and I closed my eyes as he breathed out, "Oh, how I've missed my baby girl." 

I could not help but smile at this. "I was not expecting you to be here," I replied. "I was looking for a driver, not a racer." 

"Do you honestly think I would sit at Dover while I knew you were being driven to me by a driver?" he asked. I shrugged my shoulders, to which he replied, "Nuh uh, honey. I would have driven myself crazy in that RV. There's no way I would let that happen." He began lowering me down to the ground. "Besides," he began, "I wanted to surprise you." Chase kissed my cheek as my feet touched the ground. 

I felt flames of red creep into my cheeks as I realized several people had stopped to watch us in the airport, smiling and whispering "awwwww" as they walked by. "We have an audience," I laughed quietly. 

"I don't care," Chase commented. "All of NASCAR nation will know you're mine after tomorrow."

I gulped, remembering I had promised Darrell Waltrip an interview in no more than a few hours. "Yeah..." I trailed. "You sure you want everyone to know that THIS is what you chose?" I motioned up and down my body. 

"Hell. Yes." Chase answered. He grabbed my hips and pulled me closer to him, my hands resting on his chest. "Everybody will love you. Promise."

I chuckled. "Except the thousands of girls who will want to kill me." 

Chase rolled his eyes. "Why do they love me so much?" 

"Because you're the most amazing man on this planet. The fact that you drive a race car only makes our love worse," I smirked.

"But they get, like, super jealous." 

"Chase, I know that if you had announced to the world that you were dating someone, and she did an interview about being your girlfriend on television...I would have been green with envy. No kidding, I would have probably cried and cursed her name right there on the spot," I laughed. 

"Sooooo dramatic," Chase mocked me. 

"Excuse me, sir, if you want a kiss from me anytime tonight, I advise you not to mock me," I retorted with fake seriousness.