“I’m Olivia Stuart.” My whispered words filled the silent room and seem to hang in the air as I continued to study myself in the reflection.
Will this ever stop feeling so strange?
***
By the following afternoon, I felt slightly better and hopeful about everything. The tests Dr. Miller had ran all came out normal and I was cleared to leave today.
“Hey, gorgeous.”
I looked up to find Connor at my door with a large bouquet of pink roses.
“Hi.” I smiled, happy to see a familiar face. “You came back.”
“Of course I’m back, silly. I told you I was going to take you home today.”
“Oh, right.” Our eyes met and I felt my stomach flip nervously. I immediately looked away and felt my face turn beet red when I remembered yesterday’s flashback of the intense orgasm this man had given me. I knew that for him, we were lovers in love, but for me, I felt embarrassed that this handsome stranger knew me more intimately than I knew myself.
“What’s wrong?” He walked over to me and kissed me lightly on my cheek.
“Nothing.” I pushed my thoughts aside and flashed him a smile.
He handed me the bouquet in his hands. “Pink roses are your favorite.”
“Thank you. They’re beautiful.” I took the stunning bouquet and was instantly hit with its intoxicating smell.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better,” I responded honestly.
“Are you ready to blow this popsicle stand?”
I let out a light chuckle and nodded.
Thirty minutes later, Connor had helped me finish all my paperwork to check out of the hospital. I had changed into a white Splendid cotton silk tee, dark-washed J Brand jeans, and a pair of black Christian Louboutin patent leather stilettos that Connor brought for me from my closet. Accordingly to him, this was one of my favorite casual outfits. I had stared dubiously at the three-inch heels when he had handed the stilettos to me. They looked more painful than comfortable to me. But when I put them on, they had fit perfectly and I was surprised by how at ease I was walking around in them.
“Hey, gorgeous.” Connor looked up from the hospital paperwork when I walked out of the bathroom. “You look like you’re back to your old self.” I watched as his eyes moved up and down my body, and a nervous shiver ran down my back.
“I guess my muscle memory’s still intact,” I joked as I looked at my heels.
He chuckled and shook his head. “I never did understand how you could walk in those heels. You know on one of our first dates, I called you Wonder Woman when I saw you running in a pair just like those.”
I smiled. “Why was I running?”
“We had just had an amazing date at Tria, this great wine bar, and you had a few glasses too many and you were running and skipping down the street without a care in the world and giggling uncontrollably.” He laughed at the memory and beamed at me. “It was at that moment that I knew I’d fall in love with you.”
I laughed along with him, wishing I could remember that memory.
A few minutes later we were outside, standing at the entrance of the hospital.
“Liv, I’m going to go get the car. You okay with waiting right here for me? I’ll bring the car around and pick you up.”
I nodded and smiled.
He’s such a gentleman.
He leaned in and kissed me gently on the forehead. “I love you, gorgeous.”
“Thanks.” I cringed inside as soon as the word came out. I wasn’t sure what to say. I had a feeling he wanted more, but telling a stranger I loved him wasn’t something I was ready to give.
He gave a light chuckle and smiled. “I’ll be back.”
As I watched him walk away and turn the corner toward the entrance of the parking garage, I was preoccupied with thoughts of how the following days, weeks, months will be for us. Suddenly I heard people approach me from the left.
“Excuse me! Please make way!” I turned and saw a couple barreling toward me. It was a man holding up a pregnant woman who appeared to be in a lot of pain. “My wife’s water broke! Please move!”
I finally realized that I was standing in the middle of the hospital entrance and blocking their path. I hastily took a step back to give them room to pass me, but it was too late. The man pushed passed me and as I took a step back, my heel caught onto a crack and I lost my balance and fell backwards.
Just as I thought I was about to fall onto the ground, a strong arm caught me from behind and pulled up. I gasped in surprise at my near-fall and found myself tightly clutched within someone’s protective arms.
“Careful there or you’re going to hurt yourself in those killer heels.”
I looked up and let out an audible gasp as my gaze locked with a pair of intensely-dark, smoldering brown eyes staring down at me.
CHAPTER TWO
I couldn’t remember how long I seemed to drown into those dark eyes, but it was like we were suspended in time and space as my neck rested against his arm while he looked down at me in silence. Finally at some point in time I felt the blood flowing to my head, causing me to become dizzy, which snapped me out of my trance.
I blinked, breaking our locked gaze. “Sorry about that,” I apologized as I reminded myself to breathe.
“Not a problem.” He beamed down at me, and I drew in a deep breath as a comforting warmth washed through me as I took in the contrast of his devious boyish grin set against his dangerously masculine, chiseled face. “Hi, I’m Ethan.” He pulled me straight up to a standing position and allowed me to regain my footing. But instead of letting me go, he held my arms and looked at me. There was something exciting and beautiful about him that captivated me, making me forget about anything and anyone else. It was his sudden chuckle that finally broke my silence.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Well I just introduced myself to you. This is usually where you would introduce yourself to me.”
My face grew hot and I cringed inside at how silly and childish I was behaving.
Is this how I am normally? Do I easily let random strangers have this effect on me?
I cleared my throat. “Hi.” I pulled away from him and took a step back to establish a more friendly—and a more
safe
—distance from him. I smoothed down my shirt, pretending to be preoccupied with some dust that was stuck on my clothes. “I’m Olivia.”
“Hey, Liv. I’m glad we bumped into each other.” He flashed me a heart-stopping smile.
His words caught me by surprise and it wasn’t until then that I realized that maybe I knew this stranger—maybe if I didn’t have amnesia, he wouldn’t actually be a stranger to me.
“Do I know you?”
He cocked his head and gave me a quizzical look. “Wouldn’t you
know
if you knew me?”
His question stung. “I…” I looked away. I was about to tell him that I had lost my memory, but I stopped myself.
You don’t know anything about this man!
“Okay. I don’t know you,” I responded firmly. “But why did you call me Liv?”
At first, he didn’t answer me. He just smirked and studied me, causing me to feel nervous and self-conscious. Finally he responded. “That’s your name, isn’t it?”
I could hear the smirk coated in his every word. “I told you my name was
Olivia
—”
“—And isn’t Liv short for Olivia?” he cut me off, and I could hear the smugness in his tone.
I frowned and felt slightly annoyed. “Maybe for some people, but I don’t think you should just assume that everyone named Olivia goes by Liv. So—”
“But,” cutting me off again, “I’m not talking to
everyone
.” His lips curled into a wide grin. “I’m talking to only you. Do
you
go by Liv?”
“Only
friends
call me Liv,” I retorted.
“Well there you go. So I wasn’t wrong to call you Liv.”
My annoyance grew as he so brazenly brushed off my comment.
“Seeing as I just saved your life, I’d say we’re at
least
friends.” He flashed me a glum smile.
“That’s pretty presumptuous of you.” I felt an odd mixture of irritation and curiosity over this man’s cocky forwardness. It wasn’t until then that I looked beyond his mesmerizing eyes and face. He had on a worn-down black motorcycle jacket, a grey t-shirt that looked like it’d seen better days, and a pair of dark-washed Levis that seemed to hug him in just the right ways. There was a purposely-casual style about this man that made him look like he could be Adam Levine’s younger brother.
“Is it?” he challenged, his eyes twinkled with amusement.
Yes, I’m definitely picking up that Adam Levine-esque cockiness about him.
“I guess I should thank you for catching me before I fell, but I hardly think you saved my life.” As intrigued as I was about him, I wasn’t about to let him think I’d ever give in to his forwardness. His ego didn’t need to get any bigger than it already appeared to be.
His lips twisted into a dangerous smirk as he looked down at my heels. “Like I said, those are some
killer
shoes.”
Then a thought crossed my mind and I looked at him. “What if I didn’t go by Liv?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if I only went by Olivia, and you just called me Liv?” I shot him a smirk of my own.
He laughed. “Well then,” he licked his lips. He took a step toward me and leaned down to my ear and whispered, “I’d have my own special nickname for you then, wouldn’t you say?” The heat of his breath teased my neck, sending a shiver down my back.
I immediately took two steps back, annoyed at myself that I had actually felt intrigued by this man and his behavior. “Thanks.” I kept my voice flat as I looked toward the parking garage, hoping to see Connor’s car so that I could escape from this man. I wasn’t sure why, but he made me feel something that left me feeling both excited and vulnerable. With everything that had happened since I woke up yesterday, I knew I wasn’t ready for this.
“So can I ask you something?” He didn’t seem at all put off by my coldness.
“No.”
He snickered. “Come on. It’s something that’s been bothering me since I saved your life.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine,” I said begrudgingly. “What is it?”
He smiled triumphantly. “For someone who was a very recent patient at the hospital, why are you torturing yourself with heels like that?” His dark piercing eyes looked me up and down.
I felt my face turn hot again with embarrassment and annoyance. “Do I know you?” I asked again. “How do you know I was a patient?”
He laughed and casually swung his arm around my shoulders. “Relax. You’re still wearing your ID wristband. Don’t flatter yourself. I’m not some crazy stalker. I’m just a nice guy who happened to be at the right place and saved your life.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to this stranger. To my surprise, I felt disappointed that I didn’t know him. I was even a little disappointed that he wasn’t stalking me.
Is this what losing your memory does to you?
I couldn’t explain it, but for some irrational reason I felt drawn to him and intrigued by how at ease he was around me.
“Liv…” He reached for my arm, causing me to freeze in place. I look at his hand and then up toward his eyes. “So this might sound forward, but as you’ve probably noticed,” he chuckled, “I’m a pretty forward person.”
“Yeah.” That was all I could muster in response as I braced myself for what he was about to say.
“Liv, I’d love to see you again. Maybe drinks? Dinner? Or if you’re more into the adventurous stuff, a skydiving date?” He flashed me a breathtaking smile that held promises of things I wasn’t sure I could handle.
“I…” I felt a heavy lump develop in my throat as a mixture of excitement and fear consumed me.
But before I could respond, I heard a familiar voice call out to me from behind.
“Liv?”
I turned around to see Connor sitting behind a silver Aston Martin convertible that had just pulled up to a stop in front of us.
“Sweet car, man.” Ethan whistled as he walked toward the shiny sports car to get a better look.
“Thanks.” Connor flashed Ethan a quick glance before looking at me. “Ready?”
I gave him a small smile and nodded. I was riddled with guilt as I walked toward the car. I realized that for the last few minutes, I had forgotten that I was engaged to Connor. And if Connor hadn’t pulled up just now, Ethan may have been able to convince me see him again.
When I got to the car, to my surprise, Ethan rushed over to open the passenger door for me. I saw Connor study Ethan in silence as I slid into the seat next to him.
“Well it was
very
nice to meet you, Liv.” Ethan gently closed the door behind me. His smooth words raised every hair on my body.
I turned toward him. “Yeah,” I replied softly. I could sense both Connor’s and Ethan’s eyes glued on me. I met Ethan gaze and flashed him a friendly smile, trying to think about anything but those deep, captivating eyes. “Thanks for catching my fall. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. Be careful with those killer shoes. I can’t always be around to save you.” He gave me a wink and my face grew hot as I felt Connor’s laser-like stare intensify on us.
Connor cleared his throat and gave Ethan a polite smile. “Thanks for your help.” Then I heard the engine rev, signaling to Ethan that we were leaving.
Ethan smiled, never taking his eyes off me. “See you around.” There was nothing casual about the way he said those words. It wasn’t a goodbye. It was a statement—a promise he intended to keep.
I felt my body tense at his words and finally pulled my eyes away from him as Connor stepped on the gas pedal, quickly taking us away from Ethan.
We drove in silence for a few minutes, and with each passing second, I felt the awkwardness and tension grow between us.
“Who was that?” Connor finally asked. To my surprise, he didn’t sound angry or upset. His voice was calm, business-like, and distant, perfected from years of training.
“No one,” I reassured him. But on the inside, I wondered if he was the only one I was trying to reassure.
“Has he been harassing you?”
I heard an edge of concern in his voice and smiled at how protective he was over me. “No,” I answered, though I knew that wasn’t exactly the truth. “I had almost tripped right before you pulled up and he caught my fall. And then you pulled up.”
This is the truth
, I told myself. But as much as I tried to convince myself of this, it felt like I had just lied to him.
Am I a bad person? Why am I lying to my fiancé when I haven’t done anything wrong?
I tried to push away the thought and turned to look at Connor. “Thanks for driving me home. I really appreciate it.”