For months, David Galloway had been in emotional freefall, swinging from despair to anger, back to despair, and finally to hatred. Now, looking at the woman who stood a few short feet from him, all the torment, all the rage that he’d suppressed came out in one word blasted into the quiet room. “Tessa!”
She turned from the bank of metal file cabinets, and his breath caught. He’d held his tongue while he and Frank Rhone, the doctor who’d been treating Tessa, had stood outside the door of the small hospital’s billing office. He’d listened to the doctor tell him again about Tessa’s condition when all he’d wanted to do was laugh in the man’s face. Rhone had reminded David that Tessa would look different from the photograph David’s private investigator had emailed him. Finally, Rhone had agreed to give David five minutes alone with Tessa for a private reunion.
For a brief moment, David entertained a vengeful fantasy about the damage he could do in five minutes to the woman who’d ruined his life. Like the civilized man he was, he swallowed back his anger and resentment, but he closed the distance between them, invading her personal space, intimidating her with his physical presence.
Her startling light blue eyes—not dark blue—widened in alarm. He smelled her perfume. Something with gardenia, her favorite scent, but not, he suspected, the expensive fragrance in the crystal bottle that still occupied space on their bathroom vanity. She looked like a different version of Tessa. A lot different. Tessa was all about conservative clothes. She’d never have worn the cheap pink-flowered cotton dress with a scoop neckline nor the white canvas sneakers.
When he’d last seen his wife, her hair had been pale blonde and perfectly styled in a sleek cut that framed her face and brushed the edge of her jaw line. Occasional telltale dark roots and the dark patch of hair between her legs had told him blond wasn’t her natural color. Still, the lustrous dark brown hair, with an auburn cast, surprised him. Her hair was longer, almost touching her shoulders. A thin, pink scar ran across her forehead near her hairline, marring her once perfect face. A slight smile lifted the corners of her full lips as she looked at him. His gaze locked on her lips, and pure lust rocketed through him, bringing with it full-blown anger that she still had this effect on him. His hands curled into tight fists.
“May I help—” She broke off. Her eyes widened and her smile vanished. She took a half-step back then stopped, squared her shoulders, and reclaimed that half-step of floor space. She met his gaze. In a resolute voice, she said, “If you’re here to talk about a patient’s bill, I’d suggest you get a grip on that attitude, bud.”
Taken aback by her assertive stance, David could only stare. More than her hair and her eye color had changed. The Tessa he’d known was non-confrontational. He said nothing, just gazed into her light blue eyes, made more striking by the contrast of the dark hair. The doctor had diagnosed retrograde amnesia. He’d nearly snorted in derision when he’d heard that. It sounded like a cheesy Lifetime movie. Tessa was good at fooling people. Look how she’d fooled him. No matter how closely he studied her sky blue eyes, he saw no hint of recognition.
Hell. Amnesia? No way. He didn’t know what kind of game she was playing, but he’d play along. After all, he needed her compliant and cooperative, and he needed her that way within the hour. And he had to keep her that way for the next two weeks. She was the key to unraveling the knotty mess he was in.
David forced his fists to uncurl. He smiled and dug deep for the charm he’d once wielded so effortlessly even though it twisted his guts to do so. “Sorry. I’ve been accused of so many things since you disappeared that I’m in constant fight or flight mode.” He waited to see how that bit of honesty went over.
Tessa paled. “Oh, you must be, uh, the man Dr. Rhone told me was coming.”
This time when she smiled, it was more than politeness. It was open and carefree, totally unlike Tessa who was always so guarded.
Genuine warmth infused her voice even though she blushed prettily and seemed embarrassed. “You’re David Galloway? You’re my—my husband?”
David studied the blush that washed over her face. She was good. She should have headed straight to Hollywood after she’d left him. “Darling, you do remember me, don’t you?”
He didn’t give her a chance to reply. He reached for her, his hands closing over her upper arms. The touch of her skin beneath his palms jolted him. Sensual awareness radiated from where he touched her.
Tessa’s smile vanished, and the pupils of her pale blue eyes dilated. He was so close he heard the shuddering breath she sucked in. Her lips parted. He pulled her into his arms, partly because he was playing the besotted husband. But also because he wanted to crush her body to his and shatter that invisible barrier she’d always kept between herself and the rest of the world. He’d never been able to reach her. Not even when he’d been inside her.
He waited for her to resist. To push him away as she’d done so often. But she didn’t. His blood heated. He waited no longer. His mouth crushed hers in a kiss meant to punish. She whimpered. The sound went straight to his groin. His mouth softened but grew hungrier. He coaxed her lips apart with his tongue, wanting—needing—to taste her.
Tessa felt his tongue slide into her mouth, and her whole body reacted. Every nerve ending flared to life. His arms held her as if he’d never let her go, making her feel cherished. Safe. For the first time since awakening from the coma, she felt secure in a confusing world. David, her husband. She pressed closer, marveling at the idea that this tall, handsome, hard-muscled man belonged to her. And he was hard. Everywhere. Rigid against her belly.
Their bodies fit together perfectly. Heat pooled between her legs and brought dampness that made her blush. His tongue stroked hers. His lips shaped hers. They kissed until she felt dizzy. Her body awoke much as she’d awakened from the coma, and she felt something she hadn’t experienced in all these lonely weeks. Hot desire. Like a tight rose bud that was suddenly coming to full bloom, desire unfurled inside her, making her weak with longing. She kissed him back, rocking her hips against his erection, seeking relief from the need that pulsed between her thighs.
David broke the kiss. He stared at her, breathing like a man who’d run wind sprints. “The doctor only gave me five minutes alone with you. But we’ll be alone later.”
Later. The word held a world of promise. The kiss told her she and David had a passionate relationship. The knowledge pleased her. She smiled warmly at him. She’d like to kiss him for hours. Days. “I guess I should be feeling shy because I really don’t remember you. Not consciously.” Regret that she couldn’t recall their life together dimmed her smile. Her gaze returned to his dark, velvety brown eyes. Softly, she said, “It’s as if my body remembers you. Your touch. Your smell.”
David’s anger blossomed even as his lust grew. He wanted to rail at her. He wanted to plunge inside her. He wanted to tell her she was a deceitful bitch. He wanted to sink into her warmth and take what she now offered that she’d so often denied him in the past. In the end, he shoved his emotions down and choked back his anger. Even if his traitorous body responded to her, he wouldn’t forget his mission. He had hundreds of employees whose livelihood depended on him not to mention his father who had founded the company that now teetered precariously on the edge of bankruptcy. All because of the woman he’d foolishly fallen in love with and married. He traced her lips with the tip of a finger. “I can’t wait to get you home, Tessa.”
Her nipples pebbled at his touch. At the promise his words implied. Looking into his eyes, Tessa felt a sudden shiver crawl up her spine. Promise or threat? She searched his dark eyes. No words or tone of voice could contradict the heat that blazed there. She was being silly. She ignored the moment of disquiet and thought instead about the passion in his dark gaze.
Two days ago, Dr. Rhone had told her she’d finally been identified. He’d told her she was twenty-seven year old Tessa Lorraine Galloway, nee Thompson. She was married to David Galloway, and she’d disappeared from her home in Houston in August of last year. Dr. Rhone had said her husband would be coming for her and would bring documentation to prove she was who he said. None of what the doctor said brought a flicker of memory. No mental images. Nothing. In fact, she hadn’t really believed it, not until this man had pulled her into his arms.
Now, she accepted that she was Tessa Galloway, and this sexy man belonged to her. “It’s nice to have a name. Everyone in town calls me LG.”
“Why?” His fingertip traveled from her lips to her cheekbones, traced over them to her earlobe.
Tessa shivered with sexual awareness. His touch distracted her and made her hungry for more. “It’s short for Lost Girl. I figured that was better than Jane Doe which they used when I was first brought in.”
She imagined him stroking the clothes from her body, tracing the curves of her breasts with his large hands. She’d been cautious around everyone for so long. The desire to give herself to this man she’d just met surprised her. In reality, even though she was married to him, he was still a stranger to her. Overcome by her emotions, she said, “I’m so glad you found me. You can’t imagine what a relief it is to know I have a name. A husband. A home.” She stepped closer until the cotton of her dress brushed against his shirt front. Her frustration surfaced. “If only I could remember.”
“It’s all right, Tessa. We’ll work things out. I don’t want to leave here without you. You will go with me, won’t you?”
Tessa hesitated, willing herself to remember. Nothing came. “What if I never remember my life prior to waking in the hospital here?”
“Then you’ll build a new life,” David murmured, pulling her close. “Say you’ll come home with me.”
Feeling him pressed against her—feeling the evidence of his desire—Tessa relaxed. Any misgivings she may have had vanished. Her arms looped around his neck, and she pressed her breasts to the solid wall of his chest. She had to suppress the desire to rub against him. Being close to him soothed her anxiety in some way, but touching him increased the aching need he aroused in her. David wanted her. Loved her. It was easy to believe she’d been in love with him.
They’d go home, and he’d help her remember that love. Her eyes shone with hope. “Home sounds wonderful. Yes, David, I’ll go with you.”