Beautifully Irresistible (24 page)

“I am thinking about pressing charges against you. You are a maniac, Zack!”

“Bring it on, you fucker! Do your worst. You started it. Don’t you ever come near her again or you will be very sorry!”

“You haven’t heard the last of this, Zack. I promise you that!” Alex spat before walking away from us.

“What a dick he is, Zack!”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself!” he growled.

We boarded the plane after a quick journey where we said our goodbyes to Paris. I didn’t want to leave but we had to get back to reality.

Ten minutes into the flight, Zack looked a bit worried.

“Shit, why does that read that?”

I decided to keep quiet as he figured out what the instruments said.

“Jennifer, I don’t want you to panic but the fuel gauge is reading really low. There could be a fault in the gauge but we could be losing fuel rapidly.”

“What do we need to do?” I asked him calmly whilst panicking wildly inside.

“We might have to bail out.”

“What? Jesus.”

“I will bring the plane lower and try and get over some woods or a lake.”

We went into a sharp descent and I felt my ears popping.

I was really scared but I tried to be brave. Well, if we died at least I was with the man I loved.

The ground seemed to be coming at us really quickly and suddenly it rushed towards us like some surreal dream.

“Shit! Brace yourself!”

I covered my head with my hands and I shut my eyes really tightly. I had never been so frightened.

We hit the ground with an almighty thump and branches and trees smashed the side of the small plane. Our bodies bounced around the cockpit like rag dolls and then suddenly there was complete silence. We had come to a stop in front of a wide tree and miraculously we were in one piece.

I cautiously looked around and I quickly realised that Zack was unconscious.

“Zack, wake up. Please wake up. I need you!” I shouted at him but I got no response.

I roughly shook his shoulder trying to wake him up. I undid my harness and clambered over to him.

“Zack, please, I’m scared. Wake up!”

He didn’t respond and I started really panicking.

“Somebody help! Please!”

We were in remote woodland somewhere in Northern France.

Who the hell was going to hear me?

I started to rifle through my bag looking for my phone. Shit! There was no signal!

Zack started to come round and I saw that he had quite a lot of blood running down the side of his face.

“Jennifer, are you okay?” he mumbled.

“I’m fine but you are hurt” I told him calmly.

“Use the radio. We need help now.”

After a few attempts, I managed to raise somebody and I tried to explain what had happened. Zack read off the coordinates so we could be located then we had to sit and wait.

I found a first aid kit and cleaned up the large wound on his forehead. We were lucky to be alive judging by the shape of the plane.

“I’m tired, Jennifer. I might shut my eyes just for a minute.”

“Zack, don’t go to sleep. Please stay awake. You have a concussion.”

I chattered on to him to keep him awake and luckily he didn’t close his eyes. Before long, we heard noises outside the plane and I was relieved to see several men clambering up to the plane.

They loaded Zack into the back of a pick-up and I sat next to him, holding his hand keeping him awake.

The hospital was a short drive away and the staff whisked him away on a gurney to assess his injury. I sat in the small waiting room eager for good news.

I gave Scarlett and Jasper a quick call and tried to calm them down when they got upset. I tried to reassure them and myself that everything would be ok.

A doctor strode into the waiting area looking around for me. I stood up expectantly.

“Miss Black, Mr Cole has sustained quite a serious head injury so we have sedated him until we can assess the injury fully,” he explained in broken English.

“Can I see him?”

“Yes and I will arrange a bed for you to stay with him.”

“Thank you.”

The doctor led me to a private room and Zack was lying in the bed with a bandage wrapped around his head. He was wired up to various monitors that beeped quietly. I couldn’t believe how fragile he looked.

I took a seat at the side of the bed and kissed his fingers. A stray tear fell down my cheek as I watched his still sleeping body. I sat with Zack for a while, summoning up the courage to ring the twins again.

“Scarlett, it’s Jennifer again. They are going to keep your Dad here for a few days at least. Why don’t you ask your Grandparents to stay? I hate to think of you two on your own with just Marcia.”

“Is he going to be alright, Jennifer? Tell me the truth. I can take it,” her voice caught as she swallowed a sob.

“He has a serious head injury so they are keeping him sedated a bit like they did when I had my accident. The doctors don’t really know the extent of his injury. I will let you know when I find something out. I promise, sweetheart.”

After a lot of loud crying, Scarlett agreed to call her Grandparents and arrange for them to stay. Next I rang Zack’s parents. I explained what had happened and I found out that Zack had told them about me which surprised and touched me.

I lay down tried to get some sleep in the uncomfortable makeshift bed next to him.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Zack had been sedated for three days and I hardly left his side during that time. I felt beyond grubby but someone from the rescue crew brought our cases to the hospital so I had some toiletries at least.

“We are going to bring him round later on, Miss Black. He is so very handsome. You are very lucky!” a large jolly nurse informed me.

Another nurse came in and took the drip out of his hand. It left a large bruise.

He looked terrible and he would probably have cringed if he could have seen himself. Zack could really use a shave.

The nurse left the room and he started to fidget around in the bed.

“Phoebe, are you there?” he croaked.

“No, it’s Jennifer?” I told him holding his hand.

“Jennifer?”

“Yes, your girlfriend.”

“I don’t know who you are.”

He stared blankly at me looking right through me. Oh no, he had amnesia.

This was not good.

“Please will you get Phoebe and my children? I need to see them,” he asked, getting agitated.

“Okay, I will be back in a minute,’ I told him, going to find the doctor.

“Doctor, he doesn’t know who I am. He is asking for his wife who has been missing for the last six months,” I explained to him, trying not to get upset.

“This is quite common with a head injury, Miss Black. Most likely he will be fine in a couple of days or it could take longer. The brain is a complex thing. You will have to be patient. I will come and see him now.”

We went back into the room and Zack was trying to take off the various monitors attached to his body.

“I need to get out of this place. Where the hell is this place?” he shouted.

“Mr Cole, please try and relax. I will explain everything to you.”

“Well?” he demanded, glaring at the doctor.

“You and Miss Black were travelling back to the UK in a small plane and you crashed. Miss Black didn’t sustain any injuries but you sustained a head injury. You have been here for four days.”

“Where are my wife, son and daughter? I don’t understand.”

The doctor looked at me for help.

“Zack, Phoebe is missing. She has been for the last six months and Scarlett and Jasper are at home with Phoebe’s parents,” I gently told him.

“What do you mean missing?”

“She’s missing, that’s all I know.”

“It doesn’t make any sense.”

He lay back, clearly worn out by his exertions.

“Just rest now. You need to recover.” I stroked his hair.

“Look,” he said, “you are very pretty and seem nice but I just don’t know who you are. I am very tired and confused.”

His beautiful blue eyes searched my face for answers.

“It’s okay. Everything will work out alright.”

I carried on stroking his hair and holding his hand. He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Whilst I was sitting watching Zack sleep, an insurance investigator came in and told me that they had checked the plane to identify the cause of the crash and the investigator found that the fuel lines had been tampered with.

Who would want to do that?

The lovely Alex sprung to mind.

There certainly hadn’t been a dull moment since I started this assignment.

Zack stayed in the hospital for the next few days and I kept Scarlett, Jasper and his parents regularly posted with updates. I didn’t mention the fact the he had lost his memory as I didn’t want to add to the worry.

“Good morning, Zack. How are you today?”

Yesterday, he let me shave him and he was back to his stunningly handsome self again.

“Better thanks, Jennifer.”

He smiled at me and my heart melted.

“I am starting to remember a few things. I remember being in the plane with you and I was shouting and telling you to brace yourself.”

“Yes, that’s what happened. You tried everything you could to land the plane safely. I was really impressed how cool you remained.”

“I also remember making love to you and how amazing and special it was every single time.”

I got up and shut the door.

“Do you remember these then?” I asked as I pulled my top up to reveal my breasts.

“Oh yes, I do. The world’s most perfect breasts,” he laughed, leaning over to grope me.

His touch felt so good.

I clambered on top of him and kissed him passionately as he pushed his hand inside my bra. My nipple swelled up to him.

I couldn’t help noticing that he had an erection. I undid my jeans and he slipped a finger inside me.

He must still fancy me.

Thank god!

“I can’t wait to get you out of here and do bad things with you, just like in the song!” I teased him, kissing him.

“I’m looking forward to it too, Jennifer. I love you.”

“I love you too, Zack.”

I climbed off him and straightened myself up.

“Zack, I need to tell you about what the insurance investigators turned up at the crash site. They said that the fuel lines had been tampered with. Somebody had cut them on purpose.”

“Jesus. That’s not good news.”

“Do you think that creep Alex could have anything to do with it?”

“I don’t think he would know about where the plane was. I really have no idea who it could have been.”

“Did the doctor say when they would be releasing you?”

“Yes, tomorrow.”

“How will we get home?”

“We can board a ferry just up the road. Greg, one of my drivers, will pick us up from Dover. I could get a plane sent over but I don’t really fancy flying at the moment,” he told me with a wry smile.

Chapter Twenty Eight

The following morning, Zack was thankfully released from the hospital and we took a taxi to the ferry terminal.

As we queued to buy tickets I got the distinct feeling that someone was watching us. I looked around but I couldn’t locate who it was.

After we boarded the ferry, we headed to the bar for a drink and the feeling was with me again.

“Zack, do you feel like we are being watched?”

“I haven’t noticed but to be honest I am a bit spaced out with these painkillers.”

I got up to go to the ladies and as I exited the toilet, someone grabbed me roughly from behind. Adrenaline surged through my body as I tried my hardest to shrug off my assailant.

“Get the fuck off me!” I screamed, pushing with all my strength.

What the assailant didn’t count on was my police training as I managed to push him backwards and slammed him against the wall. I turned around to grab him but he was too quick for me.

He took off up the corridor at a quick pace and I ran after him as fast as I could. He was tall and slim built with dark hair. His hair stuck out of the baseball cap he was wearing. He was wearing a dark tracksuit. Unfortunately he ducked into a door that led to a flight of stairs. My attacker noisily sprinted up the metal staircase and disappeared.

No one appeared to be in the slightest bit interested as I hurtled after him.

Knowing I would never catch him, I returned to the bar. I was quite out of breath and I was as mad as hell.