When her music went silent, he watched the hallway eagerly.
She walked into view wearing a gray top and beige cargo pants. Hair in a messy side braid. Glasses on. Pleasure leapt into her expression at the sight of him.
“Several memories came to me today,” he told her.
“They did?”
“Yeah. I remembered things about Jude, my mother, father, and Anton.”
“That’s fabulous news.” She hugged him.
He thought that might mean he had permission to hug her back. He did so, taking care not to crush her against him the way he wanted to.
The second she leaned back, he released her. She gripped his shoulders. “Tell me everything.”
He did.
She asked questions and he explained.
“So nothing about Alexis yet?”
“I tried but still nothing.”
“It’ll come. This is so encouraging.”
Beneath her obvious excitement for him, he read sorrow in the tiny brackets on each side of her mouth. “Is something about this making you sad?” he asked. “If so, please tell me.”
“What? No.”
He gave her an expression that said,I know you’re lying.
“I’m embarrassed to say anything. It’s selfish.”
“Tell me.”
She fiddled with the collar of his brown sweater, seeming to test its weave. “If your memories are coming back, that means your days here are numbered—”
“And you’ll be sorry to see me go?” He gave her a masculine grin of approval.
“I might be just a tiny bit sorry. What’s a very small unit of measurement? One one-hundredth of an ounce? I’ll be that sorry to see you go. The rest of me will be happy for you and wish you well.”
“I’ve been trying to tell you all along that my memories are not a threat to us.”
“But you can’t be certain of that until you get them all back.”
“Which is one of the reasons I want them back. So I can put your mind at ease—”
“My mind is already at ease.” She spoke with so much conviction that he knew she was lying.
He stared down at her thoughtfully. “At this point, I’m not planning on leaving. It’s only because I’m here with you, where I’m at peace, that I’m remembering.”
“Okay, but youwillgo when it’s time to go,” she said firmly.
“Remy—”
She cut him off by placing a finger against his lips. “The return of your memories is a joyful turn of events. Let’s leave it that way. . . .” The sentence drifted off as her vision dropped to where she was touching him.
Just like that, desire rolled in his abdomen, firing his nerve endings.
