Most Eligible Baby Daddy (22 page)

“Be careful, Forrester.”

“I will, Lacey.”

“We all love you, you know.”

Forrester held the receiver to his face for a moment, pressing it against his cheek. “I know, Lacey.”

He hung up and went back to the attendant. “You didn’t happen to see a black Camaro come through here, by any chance, did you?”

The attendant looked up at him. “As a matter of fact I did. They parked outside for the night. I saw them there when I closed up for the night, and I saw them there this morning too.”

“They slept in the car?”

“Far as I could tell.”

“Did you talk to them?”

“Nope. I don’t mind people parking for the night. If you’re tired you’ve got to get off the road. And they didn’t come in for gas. They pulled off a little while ago.”

“Heading toward the Interstate?”

“Yes, sir,” the attendant said.

Forrester put another ten dollars on the counter as a thank you for the information, and left.

Chapter 41

Elle

E
LLE WASN’T SURE WHY SHE
kept looking in the rearview mirror. Was she hoping Forrester would come? It was impossible. He’d been locked up when they’d left last night. He was probably still locked up now.

But when she saw a motorcycle approaching from behind, she held her breath. She knew it was foolish. There was no way it was Forrester. But she watched it like a hawk as it inched closer and closer in the mirror.

“Where’s this guy going?” Gris said, when he saw the rider coming up behind them.

“He’s in a hurry,” Elle said, trying not to show her emotions.

Then, when the bike came up alongside them, she knew she’d been right. It was Forrester. He waved his arm, indicating for Gris to pull over.

“What the fuck?” Gris said.

“Gris, pull over. It’s for me.”

“The fuck I will.”

“It’s Forrester, Gris,” Elle said, the happiness in her voice so obvious she couldn’t hide it. “He came for me. He actually came for me.”

“He didn’t get you back yet.”

Elle was stunned. Forrester had actually come for her. She peered out through the front windshield. Forrester was in front of them now, and was slowing down, forcing Gris to come to a stop. Gris tried to go around but Forrester blocked him. Gris revved the engine but stopped short of ramming the bike.

“Gris, you know you have to let me go, right?”

Gris shook his head. “I can’t, Elle. I can’t live without you.”

“Yes you can, Gris.”

Gris brought the car to a stop and then reached into the glove box in front of Elle’s legs. He pulled out a black handgun. Elle gasped. She tried to stop him but he put his hand on her throat and began to squeeze.

Elle couldn’t breath. Her eyes filled with tears. She was being choked so hard that she could feel her throat collapse under the pressure of Gris’s grip. She tried to speak, to beg him to stop, but she couldn’t make a sound.

“If I can’t have you, no one can have you,” Gris said, and there was an anger in his eyes she’d never seen before.

And then there was a smashing sound. The entire windshield fell in on them in a million pieces. Gris released his grip of her neck and she gasped for air. Then she saw what had happened. Forrester had picked up the motorcycle, which must have weighed hundreds of pounds, and flung it through the windshield. Through the smashed glass she could see him standing there on the side of the road, holding himself up against the guardrail.

“That’s it, fucko,” Gris said, climbing out of the car through the broken windshield, the gun firmly in his hand. “You’re going to pay. You’re going to pay for ruining my life. For stealing my girl. She was
my
girl. She was always mine.”

“She was never yours, Gris. You just thought she was.”

“So she’s yours?” Gris said.

“She’s no one’s,” Forrester said. “Unless she wants to be. But I can tell you this. I’m
hers
. And I’m not going to let you hurt her ever again.”

Forrester was obviously still injured from everything that had happened to him in the jail, but Elle watched as he moved toward Gris. Gris strode toward him powerfully. When they met, Gris swung his pistol at Forrester’s face. Forrester blocked it, and threw a punch into Gris’s abdomen. Gris stepped back, surprised that Forrester could still fight, and then drew the weapon. Forrester stopped in his tracks.

“What’s stopping me from pulling this trigger, right now?” Gris said.

“No,” Elle cried, but the men didn’t hear her. Her voice was still weak from being choked. “No,” she tried again, but her voice was barely audible.

“You’re not going to pull the trigger,” Forrester said.

“And why’s that?” Gris snarled back at him.

“Because you know it wasn’t me that ruined your life. You know it wasn’t Elle either. I couldn’t steal her from you because you never owned her. A man never owns a woman. He just borrows her from God, and looks after her on behalf of God.”

“Where do you get this shit, fucko?”

“You know it’s true, Gris.”

“The hell I do.”

“A woman is like an angel in our life. Without them, everything’s cold and hard and empty. I know it. I learned it in my father’s basement as a child. You know it too, Gris.”

“Fuck you.”

“She was never yours. And you can’t keep her after she wants to leave. She was in your life for a period of time, and you should cherish that time. You should cherish the memory of it. Because I bet she was a million times better than what you deserved. I bet she brought nothing but joy and love into your life. I bet she gave you happiness, and warmth, and love.”

Gris was nodding his head. Elle couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe the words she was hearing from Forrester’s mouth. Was that really what he felt? Was that really the way he thought of her? That she was an angel, that was coming into his life to bring happiness and warmth? She didn’t know what to think. She started crying.

“Are you going to let her go peacefully?” Forrester said.

Gris dropped the gun. It was only then that Elle was able to breathe. She’d been holding her breath the entire time. Forrester bent down and picked up the gun, then strode toward Elle. She struggled to open her seat belt, she couldn’t get out of it fast enough. Forrester was limping toward her and it was clear he was a in a lot of pain. Elle finally got her seat belt opened and got out of the car. She ran toward Forrester and without thinking, leapt into his open arms. She couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t dared to dream she’d ever know such happiness.

Having Forrester, and then thinking she’d lost him. Going through the agony of thinking he’d given up on her. And now, having him back, it was too much for her senses to take. She burst into tears, even as Forrester started laughing. He was holding her up but she could feel his weakened body struggle.

“Oh god,” she cried. “You’re hurt. I’m so sorry.”

He put her back on the ground and she looked into his deep, loving eyes.

“I was afraid I’d never see you again, Forrester.”

“You’re going to see me every morning for the rest of your life, Elle. As soon as you open your eyes.”

“Did you really mean all those things you said to Gris, about a woman being an angel from heaven?”

“Every word of it, sweetie. I know you’re a treasure. I know you’re a gift from heaven. And I’ll never forget it.”

With that, Forrester leaned forward, and when his lips met hers, she thought she could feel herself melting. He wrapped his arms around her and made her feel so safe, so complete, that it was dizzying. She had no idea how she’d lived her life up to that point without him.

His tongue met hers, and she remembered all of the things that had made him impossible to forget. Impossible to live without. She could feel the heat inside her, the memory of the pleasures they’d shared, and would share again. She wanted him inside her. She wanted him to come inside her, without any protection, and make her pregnant with his child. She wanted his baby.

But she was getting ahead of herself. They broke their kiss and turned to Gris.

“I guess the car’s done for,” Gris said, dejectedly.

“Yeah, but the bike’s okay,” Forrester said, looking at it.

Elle looked at Gris. She knew she had to say goodbye to him, and she knew that this time it would be for good. It was difficult to take herself from Forrester’s arms but she did, and walked over to Gris.

“You can do this,” she said to him.

He looked terrified, like he didn’t understand what the future would hold for him without her.

“How can I?” he said. “How can I live without you, Elle?”

Elle just gave him a small smile. “You’ll figure it out.”

She turned and walked back toward Forrester. Gris’s voice stopped her.

“Elle,” he said.

“Yes?” she said, glancing over her shoulder.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything I did to you. For not treating you right.”

Elle nodded. “I know you are, Gris. Now don’t make the same mistakes with another woman. Women don’t deserve to be hurt or treated bad.”

“I’ll try not to,” he said.

Forrester had picked up the bike and started it. Elle ran over and climbed up onto it behind him, wrapping her arms around his chest, careful not to hurt his broken ribs.

It felt so right. As Forrester gunned the engine and headed down the highway, nothing could have felt more right in the entire world.

Chapter 42

Forrester

F
ORRESTER FLEW DOWN THE HIGHWAY,
speeding past cars and intersections in his haste to get back to the mountains. It felt so good to have Elle back. It felt like life had returned to his body. They’d barely spoken, but they didn’t need to speak. There would be time for that later. For now, just the feeling of her on the back of the bike was enough for him. Ahead of them the mountains loomed, getting closer and closer with every minute that passed. As they got closer it also got colder and he pulled over at the gas station he’d stopped at earlier in the morning.

He took off his jacket and handed it to Elle.

“I couldn’t,” she said. “You’ll freeze.”

“You’ll have to keep me warm, sweetheart,” he said, and watched her put on the jacket.

It was too big for her and she looked so cute, absolutely adorable, as she got into it.

“Is that warmer?” he said.

She nodded. They got back on the road and it wasn’t long before they were reentering the town of Stone Peak.

“I’ll never get tired of the beauty of this place,” he said as they passed an overlook, the wide vistas of the Rocky Mountains below them.

“Me neither,” Elle said.

“I think I could live here again.”

She looked at him. “Really?”

He smiled. “With the right person, I could.”

He pulled into the parking lot when they reached the diner. He wanted to give Elle a chance to let Grace and Kelly know she was all right. They would be worried.

He helped her off the bike and held her hand as they entered the diner. Elle’s eyes sparkled like diamonds. She was so beautiful he wanted to lift her up and throw her down on the diner counter. His cock was throbbing in his pants with every second that passed.

“Elle,” Kelly cried when she saw her friend entering.

Forrester watched as the two girls hugged. It was beautiful to see the relief on Kelly’s face.

“Where’s Grace?” Elle said.

“I’m right here,” Grace answered, coming out of the kitchen with her apron slung over her shoulder. “You gave us quite a scare, young lady.”

“I know.”

“But I knew you’d be all right once I saw that this one was going after you,” Grace said, cocking her head at Forrester.

Forrester put his arm on Elle’s shoulders.

“She gave me a scare too,” he said.

“I guess it’s true what they say,” Grace said. “Better late than never.”

Forrester was embarrassed. He felt awful that he’d made Elle worry while he was locked up. There’d been nothing he could do about it but it still wasn’t something he was proud of.

“Elle,” he said. “About that. We should go somewhere more private so that I can explain everything that happened.”

He had no intention of explaining anything to her. All he wanted to do was rip her clothes off, and slide his long, hard cock so deep inside her that she would be begging him for mercy. His cock was raging for her and he wasn’t going to wait another minute.

“We could get a table at the back,” Elle said, indicating the back of the restaurant.

Forrester laughed. “For what I have planned, we’re going to need a hell of a lot more privacy than that, sweetheart. How about we go back to your place?”

Elle blushed.

“That’s right sweetheart,” Forrester said, eyeing her from head to toe. “You know what I mean.”

Grace and Kelly were giggling as they left the diner. It was only a minute or two later that Forrester found himself following Elle up the tiny staircase that led to her attic apartment.

He looked around. It was hard to believe that just a few hours earlier, he’d been there, desperately searching for Elle, scared to death that something bad might have happened to her, or that he may not ever see her again. Now he had her right there with him. Right where he wanted her.

“We’ve got some lost time to catch up on,” he said.

Elle shivered as she looked back at him. He realized she was cold.

“But first, let me get this fire going.”

“I’ll make coffee,” Elle said.

Elle made the coffee while Forrester got a nice, big fire going, and the entire time he worked on the fire, he kept stealing glances at her. She was even prettier than he remembered. Her skin seemed smoother. Her eyes were bigger and brighter. Her hair was shinier. Her ass and hips were more seductive and alluring. The mounds of flesh on her chest were calling to him. His cock was rock hard, but he tried not to let it show.

He played it cool, or as cool as he could with that much lust flowing through his veins.

“I’m really sorry I didn’t show up the other morning,” he said.

“It’s okay,” Elle said, but he could tell from the quiver in her voice that she was emotional about it.