Chapter Eight

“I can’t believe we pulled that off,” Jackson said when they were safely in his town car.

“I know the feeling,” she said. Part of her couldn’t believe they’d gotten through the day without anyone realizing what they were doing.

Jackson had been incredible. She’d only had to jump in a few times, when he’d signaled her by running his hands through his hair. The power of his brain continued to astonish her. Surely another man would not have been able to pull off this charade so expertly.

“One day down,” she said.

“Far too many to go,” he replied with a sigh.

“Just relax this evening. You’ve earned it.”

He glanced her way. “I should study and we both know it.”

She shrugged. “If you want to play hooky for an hour or two, who’s going to know?”

“I’ve got a strict handler these days,” he teased.

“Maybe I can put in a good word with her.”

He flashed a grin and reached over to rap on the divider to get their driver’s attention.

“Sir?” the chauffeur said as the divider slid down without a sound.

“We’re going to make a stop before heading home.”

“We are?” she asked.

“Where to, sir?”

“Somewhere with food.”

“There are several five-star restaurants in the area that I can—”

“No,” he cut off the driver. “Not five-star. Something cheap, fast, and in a part of town no one will recognize me.”

Lori saw the driver’s brows rise in the rearview mirror.

“Of course, sir. Give me a couple minutes and I’ll find somewhere appropriate.”

Jackson sat back in his seat as the divider went back up.

“What was that about?” she asked.

“So far, my entire world consists of the hospital, my house, and the company.” He shrugged. “I’d rather see something new than just head home.”

And everything in the city is new again.

Her heart twisted in her chest. He’d pulled off the impossible today. If he needed a break to gobble down some fast-food, she sure as hell wasn’t going to stand in his way.

“Besides,” he said, pinning her with his gaze. “If you won’t let me take you out to dinner, this is the next best thing.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m in the same car as you. Where you go, I go. This isn’t a dinner date. It’s low-key kidnapping.”

“Let’s hope the food makes up for it, then.”

“I could point out you have a personal chef on speed dial. We could ask him to come in and whip something up.”

“I don’t want fancy sauces and exorbitant cuts of meat.”

You always did before.

Jackson didn’t allow himself many liberties, but he’d always loved good food.

How different a man is he now?

Ignoring the unsettling question, she stared out her window and watched as the high-end stores around the financial district were swapped for the colorful signage of the city’s Little Italy. Bypassing the more expensive, standard go-to restaurants of the area, Jackson’s driver took them down a side street she’d never noticed before. He parked in front of what could only be called a hole-in-the-wall location.

“Best gnocchi in the city, in my opinion,” the driver said as the divider came down once more. “When would you like me to pick you up, sir?”

“Give us an hour,” she said. “We still have work to do tonight.”

“All work and no play, Lori,” Jackson said with sigh.

“Just go get your pasta.” She shooed him out of the car, tossing a commiserating smile to their driver. “I’ll get you a to-go order,” she promised before stepping out onto the street.

“I love it,” Jackson declared, heading for the door.

Shaking her head, she followed her billionaire boss into a restaurant that looked like it could only sit a handful of people comfortably.

The interior of the building was as quaint as she’d predicted. A few tables lay before them, red tablecloths tossed over the wood surfaces and dripping white candles flickering in the atmospheric light. A waitress appeared in seconds to seat them near the window, handing plastic protected menus to each of them.

“Do I like pasta?” he asked, glancing at the menu.

“Yes,” she replied. “Last time you had it, you flew in the ingredients directly from Italy, but yes, you like pasta.”

“What else do I like?”

She shrugged. “Fast cars, overpriced art, property in exotic locations. The usual for men of your means.”

“And what about you? What do you like?”

You.

She closed her menu. “I like coffee over tea and red wine over white.”

“Ah,” he nodded. “I feel so much closer to you. Now the mystery is gone.”

She rolled her eyes. “What does it matter what I like? I’m your employee and that’s all I’ll ever be.”

Blue eyes caught hers. “Maybe we really will never be more than colleagues,” he said, the teasing dropping from his tone. “But even if that’s true, I’d still want to know you.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “I’m not that interesting.”

“You are to me.”

Don’t say these things to me.

She wasn’t sure she had the willpower to resist him when he did.

Luckily, the arrival of their waitress saved her.

“I’ll take the bolognese,” Jackson said, holding out his menu to the waitress. “And two glasses of your best red.”

“Gnocchi,” Lori chimed in. “And one extra order to go, please.”

“I’ll be right back with your drinks,” the waitress said, clearing their menus before disappearing into the back.

She looked around the empty restaurant, wishing for some nearby distractions.

“Tell me something about you,” Jackson said, leaning his arms on the table as he moved forward. “Anything.”

“I hate peas.”

“Anything else.”

She sighed. “It’s not like my life is anywhere as interesting as yours. I come from a great family. They live out east and I try to visit a few times a year. I have an older brother who used to like playing tricks on me as a child. He once cut all the hair off my Barbies and tried to set me up for it.”

“I hope you got even.”

“I painted his Batman toys pink with my mom’s nail polish.”

Jackson laughed, and she had to remind herself to breathe. Usually he was reserved, shouldering every problem in the world on his own shoulders. It was rare that she ever saw this side of him. Relaxed, enjoying himself…happy.

Was this part of him always there, buried deep inside?

The waitress came back with two wine glasses and she gratefully accepted hers, taking a long drink.

“Liquid courage?” he purred.

“I need it around you.”

“I’m not that difficult, am I?”

“You have no idea.”

“Does that mean I’m getting under your skin, my unflappable assistant?”

You’ve done that for years.

But it had never felt this way before. She’d never been so unsure of her footing as she had been since he looked up at her in the hospital bed.

She took another sip to buy herself time.

“How did you end up moving out here?” he asked instead, clearly taking pity on her.

“My family lives in a little town and my dreams were…bigger.”

She’d never felt like she’d fit in where she’d grown up. Her girlfriends in school had been content with country life. They’d like the community and the familiar routine but she had always wanted something different. She’d dreamed of city lights and the hustle and bustle of the business world. She’d wanted to make something of herself, so she’d come looking for an adventure.

And found Jackson.

“Did those dreams ever pan out?” he asked.

“Working with you allows me to have an impact on global decisions. It’s a far cry from what I thought I’d be doing when I was getting back at my brother.”

“Funny to think how easily it would have been to have missed each other,” he mused. “If you’d stayed in your hometown or if you’d picked a different city to move to, I’d be screwed right now.”

No, if I’d gone somewhere else, none of this would have happened and you’d be yourself. The company would be safe and HynCor would be crushed.

Instead they were all hanging by a thread. Put that way, she was quite literally the worst thing to ever happen to him.

I’ll make it right.

“I wonder what I dreamed of being,” he said, glancing around the restaurant. “Don’t suppose I ever mentioned it?”

“Sorry,” she replied, shaking her head.

“Maybe I wanted to be an astronaut.” He rested his chin in his hand. “Or a pilot.”

“Or maybe you wanted to take after your father and run the company.”

He smiled. “I would have been a very boring child if that’s true.”

“I’m sorry I can’t fill in more of your personal past.”

He shrugged. “Seems fitting. I didn’t know anything about yours. We may have spent every minute of the day together, but in some ways, we clearly weren’t close.”

She jerked back, stung, only to realize he had a point.

Was I in love with a man I didn’t know?

How was that possible?

But if she’d known him the way she thought she had, wouldn’t she have more information to give him? More pieces of his blank puzzle to help him stitch together some semblance of a past?

“We’re private people,” she said.

“Mm-hmm,” he agreed. “But see, what I don’t understand is why I would have wanted us to be that way with each other.”

“I’m just an employee.”

“You’re a hell of a lot more than that, and you know it.”

Her gaze flew to his even as she wanted to deny the words.

I can’t be more. We’re on a ticking clock.

And eventually, no matter how hard she tried to avoid it, that clock was going to strike twelve.

…

It had been a mad day of trying to be someone he wasn’t. Or at least, someone he didn’t remember being. His mind had been a whirl of memorized facts and faces, he’d double- and triple-checked every word he’d uttered, gone over every decision a dozen times.

But right now, in a middle-of-nowhere restaurant with the only person to know the truth, the weight on his shoulders drained away.

Jackson sipped his wine, not even registering the flavor profile. It didn’t matter. The only thing that did was currently sitting uncomfortably in front of him.

She doesn’t like personal questions. She’s hard to know.

And yet, every newly awakened instinct within him said she was worth the effort.

Who are you to me?

She might think the answer was just his assistant, but he wasn’t anywhere near as sure.

“If you had to guess right now,” she said, “what do you think you dreamed of as a child?”

Shifting the focus back on me.

He had a suspicion she did that a lot with him. Had the other him never noticed? Or had he just not cared?

“What do I think I would have been?” he asked, playing along. “That’s easy. A cowboy.”

She laughed, making his chest tighten. “I can’t imagine you on a horse in one of your thousand-dollar suits.”

“Until I’m shown evidence to the contrary, I choose to believe I’m an excellent rider. In fact, I’d go so far as to say I once tried out for a rodeo.”

“Yeah?” she said, crossing her arms on the table to lean toward him. “And what happened then?”

“The usual. I fell in love with a rodeo clown. She broke my heart, took my horse, and I returned to the big city a disgrace to my family, never to strike out into the wild, wild West again.”

“Or,” she suggested, “you studied like a madman all through high school, went to a fancy college to get an impressive degree, and only ever rode horses from the stables at your summer home.”

“My fake past is way more exciting than your fake past.”

“My version is probably a lot closer to the truth.”

“Maybe.” He glanced back around the tiny restaurant. “But if my memories never return I can be anything I want. I can have whatever past I choose.”

Fingers touched his. Jerking back to her, he realized she’d reached out to take his hand. “Your memories will come back,” she told him, her eyes earnest. “You will remember your real history. And when you do, it will be better than any fake story could ever be.”

He squeezed his hand around hers. “I hope I remember more about you.”

She laughed lightly. “I hope you remember enough of your MBA to save us all from HynCor.”

Deflecting again.

Was that why they’d never moved beyond work colleagues? Had the other him thought she wasn’t worth the effort to unravel?

Moron.

Anyone could see a woman like Lori was worth the wait.

But then what? What do I have to offer right now except a broken shell of someone she used to know?

He was damaged goods. A man with half a brain. He couldn’t afford any distractions if he was going to be convincing in his role. And Lori was one hell of a distraction.

“I might have to guess at your past,” she said, cutting into his thoughts. “But I do know your future.”

“Hit me,” he said.

“Marc will get the alliance we need. You’ll save the company and one day soon, you’ll wake up with all your memories. You’ll use them to create the most powerful telecom empire in the country and when you take your customary one-week vacation, you’ll go ride horses over your sprawling acreage up north. And best of all, you’ll be happy and successful for the rest of your days.”

She squeezed his hand before slipping hers from his grasp.

“And you?” he asked. “Where do you fit into my future?”

A shadow passed over her expression before those hazel eyes dropped away from his. “I’ll be there cheering you on, of course.”

“As my assistant.”

She looked away. “Yeah.”

What am I missing?

But their food arrived before he could probe further. Leaning back, he reached for his wine as the waitress laid out their food and made small talk with Lori.

Just wait. I will figure you out.

Because of all the current mysteries in his life, Lori was by far the most fascinating.