His deductions were based on wild guesses. Guesses that, if he was wrong, Ginny would no longer be the responsibility of the club or him. If she achieved her goal and successfully managed to slip away, Ginny could be out of his hair forever, or at least the time it took her to feel safe enough to return to Treepoint.
A shiny black hood caught his eye.
Speeding up, he rode the line between a semi and a red pickup, risking his neck to gain speed on the black car, hell-bent on catching her.
Then all he had to do was let her go.
He had a little something to give her to help her remember him.
Chapter Twenty
Getting in line behind a father with two young children wasn’t the best decision she had ever made. Ginny pretended to be patiently waiting for her turn in line while all she was doing was blasting herself. It would be quicker to get back in her car and go through the drive-thru. She had come into the fast food restaurant to use the restroom and grab something quick to eat and drink. She hadn’t planned on getting behind a five-year-old who couldn’t make up her mind on whether she wanted nuggets or a hamburger.
She should have waited until she was ready to stop for the night. Her rumbling stomach had disagreed, though, reminding her of why she was in line in the first place.
Finally able to give her order, Ginny then took the paper cup from the employee to fill up at the self-serve drinking fountain.
Putting the lid on the top when she was finished, Ginny poked a straw through the lid to take a sip when she heard her number called out.
The sip went down the wrong way when she saw Gavin standing in line to place an order. She started choking and felt a dozen pair of eyes on her as she tried to clear her throat.
“Are you okay?” the woman behind the counter asked, holding out her order.
“Yes.” Nodding, Ginny took her order, not knowing what to do next.
The employees behind the counter gave her curious looks when she didn’t move away. She couldn’t with her eyes locked with Gavin’s.
“Go sit down, Ginny.”
Trembling, Ginny found an empty booth and sat. Staring at the bag, she didn’t lift her eyes even when she felt the table shake as Gavin slid into the other side of the booth.
“Eat.”
Ginny licked her dry lips. “I need ketchup.” She made a move to slide out of the booth.
Two packets of ketchup were plonked down in front of her.
“Do you need salt?”
“No,” she mumbled.
Opening her bag, she took out her nuggets and fries, not knowing what to do next. She didn’t remember seeing a window in the bathroom. Maybe he would have to go—
“Don’t even think about it,” he advised her.
She had never believed she could be afraid of Gavin, but she kind of was now by the cold way he was talking to her.
“I’m not hungry anymore.”
“You should eat. I’m not planning on stopping until we need gas.”
“I’m not going with you.” Ginny finally lifted her eyes to meet his.
Gavin took out his food and started eating.
Ginny eyed the humongous sandwich he bought. “That burger took two cows to make.”
“There’s another one in the bag. I haven’t eaten in two days.”
Ginny guiltily picked up a chicken nugget. “How did you find me?”
“Wasn’t easy. Do you know how many fucking people drive the same type of car you bought?”
He went on before she could respond.
“A shit ton. I wouldn’t have been able to catch you if you hadn’t been pulled over for speeding last night.”
“It was a speed trap,” she said without remorse. It was easier to play the blame game instead of admitting outright to herself that her foot had been a tad heavy on the gas pedal. “I was tired, or I wouldn’t have signed the ticket.”
“We won’t go into how fucking tired I am, or how sore my ass is.”
Ginny winced at the thought. She knew how sore hers was, and she had a comfortable seat.
“Are you mad at me?”
Gavin moved on to his other burger. “Let’s put it this way …” Gavin placed his burger on the table before lowering his voice. “Be glad that I don’t believe we’re soul mates, or you’d be driving to Treepoint with an ass as sore as mine.”
Ginny frowned. “That’s not possible. The car I bought is very comfortab— Oh.” Ginny flushed when it dawned on her what Gavin was intimidating. Then anger came to her aid, easing the embarrassing thought of being bent over Gavin’s knee. “You and whose army?” she snapped. Her appetite lost, she began bagging up her leftover food.
“I don’t need an army when one hand of mine will do the job.”
“Are you for real?” Folding her hands on the table, Ginny leaned forward, clearly pronouncing every word coming out of her mouth. “Let me tell you something, Mr. I-Better-Get-A-Grip. I’ve only been spanked once in my life, and that was by my brother. You ever try to spank me, I’ll … I’ll …” Ginny trailed off, trying to come up with a threat scary enough to make him think twice about spanking her.