Read Online Her Forgotten Betrayal by Anna DeStefano - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Anna DeStefano
Ads: Link
the compassion that quickly eclipsed both reactions was what finally made her tears fall.
“Anything?” he asked. “Before I went upstairs, you said you’d forgotten…”
“Everything.” She pulled her hand from his grasp and gestured toward her head. “I was…hurt, and nothing before that night will come back to me.”
He collected the trash from his work, then closed up the kit, letting her cry without making a fuss about it, or making her feel childish for her loss of control. “And something about the way you were injured is making you think someone is still after you?”
He reached for her face. His finger brushed across her temple, her scar, and her memories, leaving her shivering with the almost-there sensation that he might be the first memory she could reach for, grab onto, and not watch slip through her fingers.
“I…I was shot,” she whispered. She cleared her throat. “I dream about it, but I can never see his face, the man who did this to me. They wanted to kill me and he tried. Or maybe I’m imagining all of it, and my bruised brain is hiding what really happened. Hysterical amnesia, the doctors call it. I’m supposed to be here so I can relax enough to get something of my life back. I’m told I was here every summer growing up. I guess while you lived on the mountain, too, with your family? My doctors thought it would be a nonthreatening, familiar retreat.”
“And it’s not?”
“What I keep thinking I remember about the night I was hurt is so horrible. People wanting me dead…”
Cole stretched out one powerful, jeans-clad leg and snagged a chair with the toe of his boot, dragging it over from the table. He rose from the floor, lifting her with him as if she were light as a doll. She stiffened in his grasp.
“I can do it,” she said, not entirely sure why she was struggling out of his arms, when the amazing feel of his hard, muscular body supporting hers was enough to make her dizzy all over again.
But he let her go, easing her onto her feet while he remained beside her until she’d settled in the chair. He took its nearest companion, turning it around before straddling the seat and propping his arms on the back. Her cat made a return appearance. Esmeralda rubbed her dainty body against Cole’s calf, purring with delight.
Shaw shook her head in amazement, trying not to take it personally, given the nonchalance the animal had always shown her in comparison. “Who knew she was such a flirt,” she said with a self-deprecating laugh.
Cole scooped up Esme and placed her in Shaw’s lap, where the Siamese curled up, content to gaze adoringly at her new conquest. It suddenly struck Shaw how similar Cole’s eye color was to her cat’s. Such a beautiful, brilliant blue. It had been one of the things she’d first loved about Esmeralda when she’d been told that the beautiful, if aloof, creature was her long-time pet.
Cole touched Esme’s gold charm, then withdrew his hand. The metal disk tinkled as it swung back and forth on the cat’s collar.
“Pretty,” he said, his gaze lifting to Shaw’s face. “It looks old.”
“I think it was my grandmother’s. I found it while ransacking the house for something that might jar my memory. It was so beautiful, I couldn’t just throw it back in a dusty drawer. I figured it was special enough for even my little queen to appreciate.” She hugged her purring companion close. “Esmeralda’s been wearing it ever since.”
Cole smiled, then his attention shifted to the floor between them. With a roll of his massive shoulders, he looked back up again, his expression solemn.
“Why would someone be trying to kill you?” he asked, as if what must have sounded like raging paranoia was the most logical thing in the world.
His easy acceptance sang through her. She found herself wanting to wrap Cole around her, close her eyes, and believe him into the reality of her forgotten life.
“I run an international corporation,” she
“Anything?” he asked. “Before I went upstairs, you said you’d forgotten…”
“Everything.” She pulled her hand from his grasp and gestured toward her head. “I was…hurt, and nothing before that night will come back to me.”
He collected the trash from his work, then closed up the kit, letting her cry without making a fuss about it, or making her feel childish for her loss of control. “And something about the way you were injured is making you think someone is still after you?”
He reached for her face. His finger brushed across her temple, her scar, and her memories, leaving her shivering with the almost-there sensation that he might be the first memory she could reach for, grab onto, and not watch slip through her fingers.
“I…I was shot,” she whispered. She cleared her throat. “I dream about it, but I can never see his face, the man who did this to me. They wanted to kill me and he tried. Or maybe I’m imagining all of it, and my bruised brain is hiding what really happened. Hysterical amnesia, the doctors call it. I’m supposed to be here so I can relax enough to get something of my life back. I’m told I was here every summer growing up. I guess while you lived on the mountain, too, with your family? My doctors thought it would be a nonthreatening, familiar retreat.”
“And it’s not?”
“What I keep thinking I remember about the night I was hurt is so horrible. People wanting me dead…”
Cole stretched out one powerful, jeans-clad leg and snagged a chair with the toe of his boot, dragging it over from the table. He rose from the floor, lifting her with him as if she were light as a doll. She stiffened in his grasp.
“I can do it,” she said, not entirely sure why she was struggling out of his arms, when the amazing feel of his hard, muscular body supporting hers was enough to make her dizzy all over again.
But he let her go, easing her onto her feet while he remained beside her until she’d settled in the chair. He took its nearest companion, turning it around before straddling the seat and propping his arms on the back. Her cat made a return appearance. Esmeralda rubbed her dainty body against Cole’s calf, purring with delight.
Shaw shook her head in amazement, trying not to take it personally, given the nonchalance the animal had always shown her in comparison. “Who knew she was such a flirt,” she said with a self-deprecating laugh.
Cole scooped up Esme and placed her in Shaw’s lap, where the Siamese curled up, content to gaze adoringly at her new conquest. It suddenly struck Shaw how similar Cole’s eye color was to her cat’s. Such a beautiful, brilliant blue. It had been one of the things she’d first loved about Esmeralda when she’d been told that the beautiful, if aloof, creature was her long-time pet.
Cole touched Esme’s gold charm, then withdrew his hand. The metal disk tinkled as it swung back and forth on the cat’s collar.
“Pretty,” he said, his gaze lifting to Shaw’s face. “It looks old.”
“I think it was my grandmother’s. I found it while ransacking the house for something that might jar my memory. It was so beautiful, I couldn’t just throw it back in a dusty drawer. I figured it was special enough for even my little queen to appreciate.” She hugged her purring companion close. “Esmeralda’s been wearing it ever since.”
Cole smiled, then his attention shifted to the floor between them. With a roll of his massive shoulders, he looked back up again, his expression solemn.
“Why would someone be trying to kill you?” he asked, as if what must have sounded like raging paranoia was the most logical thing in the world.
His easy acceptance sang through her. She found herself wanting to wrap Cole around her, close her eyes, and believe him into the reality of her forgotten life.
“I run an international corporation,” she
Similar Books
