Forrester reached out and took her hand. Elle held her breath. She wasn’t sure what was about to happen. He looked at her small hand in his larger one and smiled. He brushed it lightly with his thumb, then lifted it up to his mouth and kissed it.
“This is what I wanted to do last night in the diner,” he said.
Elle just looked at him, her mouth open in surprise.
“Why?” she said. She really wanted to know. In fact, she was dying to know. Never in her life had someone just chosen her out of the blue, the way Forrester had, and given her so much attention.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “I just saw you there, in the diner, and then you came over, and without thinking, I took your hand.”
He let out a little laugh, as if surprised or embarrassed by what he’d just admitted, then turned on the truck and pulled out of the lot. Elle watched his every move. She looked at his hands. The way he turned the key. She looked at the fob on the key, it was a metal pit bull, and it dangled from the ignition like a dog bobbing it’s head. He turned to her and she looked away in embarrassment. He smiled. She looked out the window as they drove. It was starting to snow and the gentle white flakes glowed in the street light. He passed the intersection and didn’t turn for the diner or her little attic apartment, he kept going along the Main Street, all the way to the fancy hotel at the end of the street.
“You’re staying here?” she said.
“Seems like the only place in town worth staying,” Forrester said.
“It’s pretty fancy.”
They passed through the wrought iron gates, the flame torches giving the courtyard a romantic, antique feel.
“It’s okay,” Forrester said. “It’s nice to have the things you’re used to.”
Elle looked up at the hotel. It was like something out of a travel magazine, part rustic ski lodge, part French chateau. Through the windows, the glow of the warmth inside looked golden. The copper details on the doors and windows were polished so brightly they looked like flames. Two valets in uniforms resembling the guards of the Queen of England came down and took the keys to the pickup from Forrester.
“This is what you’re used to?” Elle said in disbelief.
Forrester shrugged. Elle looked at him more closely. Not only was he hot, he was rich too. She’d never have guessed from looking at him. His clothes, scars, tattoos, and old pickup truck sure didn’t give off the impression of wealth.
“You’re a real eligible bachelor aren’t you, Forrester?”
Forrester laughed. “Come on,” he said. “You can make up your own mind on that.”
A doorman in uniform greeted them as he held the brass revolving door. “Mister Snow, Madam.”
“Henry,” Forrester said, and slipped a bill into the man’s hand.
“Thank you very much, sir,” Henry said.
Elle looked around the hotel lobby and her jaw dropped. She felt as if she’d just been pulled into a fairytale. She’d heard that places like this existed, but she’d never have imagined that she’d find them up here in the mountains. She’d also never have imagined that a super hot guy would be inviting her in.
Up until that very night, Elle was a person who’d thought she knew what her life had in store for her. She wasn’t a pessimist, she didn’t have a bad outlook on life, but experience had taught her what she could expect. She liked to think of herself as a realist. She hadn’t had her life handed to her on a silver spoon. In fact, quite the opposite. She’d had to work her butt off for everything she’d ever had, and even then, it was often taken away from her. Being brought into a luxury hotel and greeted by servants dressed in red velvet jackets wasn’t exactly something that was on her radar.
“This place is incredible,” she gasped.
A huge chandelier hung from a vaulted ceiling and bathed the entire lobby in warm candlelight. A fire burned brightly in the fireplace facing them. By the entrance was a valet, a bellhop, a coat check, and a bunch of other attendants in uniform. To the side was the reception, and on the facing wall were floor to ceiling windows overlooking the pristine peaks and slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
“It’s beautiful,” Forrester said. “Wait till you see the views in the morning.”
Elle looked into his eyes. “The morning?” she said.
Forrester just grinned. He turned to the members of the hotel staff who were all watching him.
“Gentlemen,” he said, “this is Elle. She’s my guest. I beg you all to treat her with the greatest respect. Give her anything she wants.”
“Yes, sir,” one of the men said.
Forrester brought her to an intricately decorated elevator and pressed a button marked penthouse. Once the doors closed he turned to her.
“It’s just you and me now,” he said.
Elle didn’t know what to say. There was a lump in her throat and she felt as if she might cry. She wasn’t sure why she felt so emotional, but it was definitely happiness that was the dominant feeling.
“I see that,” she said, quietly.
“That’s all right with you, right?”
She nodded.