Chapter 13
Grace froze as the stranger embraced her and then let go, the force of his hug pushing them both out onto the porch.
He leaned back, his eyes wide. The sun shone down on them, highlighting streaks of natural blond in his hair and showing freckles across his face. “I don’t know what to say,” he said, rubbing her arm. “You’re alive. You’re awake and here.” He smiled and then started. “Crap. Sorry. Come inside where it’s warm. I’m just completely taken off guard.”
“Ditto,” Grace said, tripping over her own feet as she followed him inside. Who was this nice guy?
“Oh, watch out.” He kicked a couple of toy trains out of the way and led her to a faux leather sofa. “Here. Sit down. Um, would you like a drink?”
“No, thanks.” She looked around the small unit that contained a living room, cute breakfast nook, and open kitchen separated by a granite island covered with what looked like Legos. Colored pictures of puppies had been proudly taped to the refrigerator, the crayon lines more like scribbles. “So. Um, you know me?”
He frowned and slowly lowered himself to a chair facing the sofa across from a coffee table that held a couple of magazines. “You don’t remember.” He said the words slowly, as if realizing her situation. “Oh. Okay.”
Vulnerable and feeling unsure, she nodded. “Yeah. Who are you?”
He took a deep breath, his gaze wandering the apartment and then coming back to her. “Brian. I’m Brian.” He ran a hand through his thick hair, which was cut short and stylish. “Okay. This is so strange. I’m Brian, and we dated for about three months before, um, the attack.”
She blinked. He was cute and tall, and she could see herself dating him. Well, before she’d met someone like Adare. “My sister didn’t like the guy I was dating.” In fact, Faith had moved Grace to a hospital across town and hadn’t allowed anybody to visit her until they found the criminal who’d hurt her.
Brian winced. “Yeah. Your sister couldn’t stand me.” His grin was rueful. “I don’t blame her, not completely. Seven years ago I was a struggling musician and not really worth much. I also partied a lot and could have been considered an asshole, and she was this famous neurosurgeon and you were getting really successful with your photos.” He looked around at the assorted toys. “I grew up, I guess.”
It looked like it. “We dated?”
“Yeah.” His voice softened. “I really liked you, and I tried to visit you in the hospital, but your sister nixed that idea. Then you disappeared, and I never found out what happened.”
“I’m sorry.” That had to be so weird. “So, you rented my apartment?” That was kind of strange.
He chuckled. “I was living with you, and for a while, I waited for you to come home. Then, I met someone else, but I’m still here. For now. We just closed on a house across town, a cute bungalow with a fenced back yard, and I’m procrastinating with packing.” He leaned down and picked up a stuffed animal that looked like a cross between a dog and a unicorn. “I guess I’ve moved on, but I had to in order to deal with your loss. I’m sorry if that’s hurtful. Where have you been?”
She relaxed her body and took a couple of deep breaths. “I came out of the coma five years ago and have been, um, in rehabilitation. In Europe.” Yeah, that sounded like a good story.
He smiled again, his face lighting up. “I’m so glad. I really am.”
She stared at his handsome face, her headache intensifying. “I wish I remembered you.”
He breathed out. “Well. Maybe I can help. Is this the first time you’ve been back home?”
She no longer had a home. Not really. “Yes. I thought coming to Denver might help shake loose some memories, but so far, nothing.”
“Okay.” He leaned forward. “What if I showed you around town? Like went places we used to go? Maybe that would help?” When she didn’t answer, he chuckled. “Sorry. This is all just so much. I’d like to help.”
She could see what she’d liked in him.
A door to the right of the kitchen opened, and a woman walked out with a toddler in her arms. “I fell asleep with her again, and apparently nap time is now over.” She looked around and started, her green eyes widening. “Grace. Oh my God. Grace!” Wonder danced over her pretty features.
Brian stood and took the little girl, hugging her.
Grace partially stood, staring at the blonde. She was on the tallish side with pretty features, dressed in yoga pants and a T-shirt with the word “NOPE” across her chest.
The woman looked at Grace and then Brian and then back at Grace. She grimaced. “So. We ended up together.” She held up a hand. “We didn’t plan it. You were gone, and we tried to find you, and somehow…”
“We found each other,” Brian said over the toddler.
The little girl had green eyes and blond hair, like her mother. She looked at Grace and sucked her thumb, her eyes sleepy.
“I’m glad,” Grace said, turning back to study the woman. They must’ve been friends. Who was she? Trying to remember was increasing her headache, so Grace sat back down, deflated.
Brian sat. “Grace doesn’t remember us. This is Bobbi. You two were good friends.”
Bobbi stepped over a couple of stuffed animals to sit on the sofa with Grace, facing her. “You don’t remember? But you’re out of the coma. That’s amazing.” She reached out to touch Grace and then pulled her hand back. “We tried to visit, but your sister—”
“Can be a little overprotective,” Grace said, her mind reeling. How many friends had she left not knowing what had happened to her? Darn Faith. She had always been so focused on school and career and probably hadn’t even thought of friends. “I’m sorry I just disappeared. I’m okay now.” Not even remotely true. “I’m glad you found each other, and your baby is adorable.” She really was cute.
“Her name is Rose. After my mom,” Brian said, settling the little girl on his lap. “So. We were thinking of showing Grace around town to maybe jog her memory. What do you think, honey?”
Bobbi shrugged. “Let’s give it a shot. What could go wrong?”
* * * *
Adare finished loading the new explosives in the back of his vehicle as darkness began to fall and the dropping temperature turned the snow to ice. The metal doors of the storage units around them creaked from the cold.
Jacki handed him the last box and stretched her back, rolling her neck and tossing her tawny hair. Her car was parked beside the opposite units, gathering snow across the windshield. “You know, one of the things I always liked about you was your sense of loyalty,” she said.
“Thanks.” He tucked the box into a gap, wedging them all in so they wouldn’t detonate, even if Benny drove.
“But don’t you deserve to be happy? How can you be when you’re mated to a woman, an actual human, whom you don’t love? How does that make sense, considering you might live forever?” Jacki’s tenacity could be an asset sometimes, but right now, it was grating on his nerves.
He shut the back hatch. “I don’t love you, either.” It was time for harsh truth. “It’s not in me to love anyone.”
Jacki snorted, apparently not insulted in the least. “You’ve cut yourself off, and that makes sense, but you can love again. Stop being a moron and let yourself.”
He’d forgotten how direct she could be, a fact he’d once appreciated. “I have more important concerns right now than love.” Like not dying on the raid he and Benny were planning.
“Good point.” Jacki leaned against the vehicle with the snow falling softly onto her hair. “If you survive, which I could help you do, you should think about it. Grace seems like a nice woman, but she doesn’t challenge you. She’s like milk toast in a spicy enchilada world.”
Milk toast? Grace was sweet and honest, and she needed to be protected. Although she had an impressive sense of calm and strength that he hadn’t realized until the fight with the Kurjans. “I have enough challenges in my life,” he muttered. “I made a vow to her, Jacki, and that’s final.” It made zero sense to think about what might’ve been, because reality always won in the end.
“You kept your vow, and she’s alive. Now it’s time to move on,” Jacki pushed.
It was time for him to shut this down. “I haven’t seen you for a century, feline, and that’s okay. We were close once, and I’ll keep those memories, but all we can be now is friends. So stop pushing me and accept those parameters.” There was no need to stop and consider her suggestion, because he was mated, and that was absolute. He nodded as Benny loped around the corner of the farthest storage unit.
Jacki sighed. “You used to like my tenacity.”
“Still do,” Adare said, dusting snow from his coat. “Doesn’t change the situation.”
Jacki huffed out a breath. “You don’t even see that woman for who she is. You have her on this stupid pedestal, thinking she’s so perfect, impressed that she managed to shoot toward an enemy without hitting you.”
“Actually, she hit me,” Benny said cheerfully, his overlarge boots leaving heavy tracks in the snow. “Not the first time a female has shot me, by the way.” He frowned. “That happens a lot, actually. Maybe I should take stock.” He was silent for a moment, studying his boots. Then he shrugged. “Nope. I’m good.”
Adare was done with the two of them. “Jacki, it has been a pleasure. Thank you for the explosives.” He held out a hand to shake hers, and she followed suit, rubbing her thumb on his palm. He released her. “Benny? I’m definitely driving.” Without waiting for an answer or an argument, he strode around to the driver’s side and slid inside, igniting the engine in an unsubtle way to get Benny on the move. They had to go back to the cabin and prepare.