A Million Kisses or More (41 page)

Taking his hand in hers, his mother’s voice oozed sympathy as she continued, “Things… didn’t end well between the two of you.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, utterly confused. Maybe he was in Hell and no one had told him that he had died. That was the only explanation for why things didn’t end well and why Ana wasn’t with him even though he swore he could still smell her. “She was just here.”

“No, she wasn’t,” his dad said, his body practically vibrating with barely suppressed fury. “I doubt she knows or cares that you’re in the hospital.”

Now he knew he was in Hell because Ana would have fought dragons to be by his side.

But it was July and he knew that a lot could happen in six months, he just wished he knew
what
had happened these past six months.

“How are you feeling this morning, Mr. Miller?” Dr. Thompson asked as she walked into the room, a warm smile on her familiar face. He was used to seeing her around town and it was strange seeing her at the hospital even though that was where she worked. Dr. Thompson also used to babysit him when he was barely old enough to walk. He remembered that she had always been a healer, bandaging and kissing his cuts and scrapes.

“I’m okay,” he grumbled, still trying to wrap his head around the missing six months. As he tried to figure it out, Asher and Maris crashed into the room, worried expressions on both of their faces.

“He seems to be missing a few months,” his father said gruffly, giving Harrison a strange look as if that was something he should have told the doctor right away.

“That’s perfectly normal when someone receives a head injury,” the doctor said matter-of-factly. “The memories should come back, whether it’s in a few hours or a few days is really the only question.”

“Is it possible they might never return?” Asher asked, earning a pained gasp from Harrison’s mother and a glare from Harrison.

Dr. Thompson’s brow wrinkled as she considered the question. “While it is possible it isn’t likely. Harrison’s CT scans were perfect. There was no swelling so there’s really no reason why they won’t return on their own.”

“But there might be some memories he’d prefer not to remember,” Asher murmured, his eyes darting to Harrison before returning to the doctor. Those words sent a ripple of fear through Harrison and he was reluctant to pick at the wall holding the memories back. Judging by his cousin’s arrogant expression, Harrison wondered if Asher finally managed to lure Ana to the dark side with a gift too perfect, too generous, to ignore. Asher must have sensed Harrison’s silent accusations because he turned and held up his hands, “Whoa, it wasn’t me, man. Some other man stole her away.”

Those words confirmed Harrison’s worst fear, making his heart shatter in his chest. Maybe there was a reason he didn’t remember the last six months and it had nothing to do with what happened to him…. What
did
happen to him? “Why am I here?”

The doctor started to explain but he was barely paying attention since his head was starting to hurt as badly as his heart. There were some whispered words and then his family was being shuffled out of the room. As soon as the door closed, the doctor turned back with a sympathetic smile. “Usually we don’t allow so many people in when a patient first wakes up but I know how close your family is and I thought it would be… beneficial to have them all here.”

“It’s all right,” he muttered, sinking deeper into the pillow and closing his eyes. Maybe the scent of someone who was no longer in his life was a side effect of his accident… or whatever it was that brought him to the hospital. Maybe deep down he knew the truth and his brain was using this… setback as a way to forget.

Rubbing his chest with his hand that wasn’t constrained by a cast, he opened an eye and looked at the doctor. If she wasn’t married and fifteen years older than him, he’d ask her to marry him so he never had to suffer the pain of heartbreak ever again. “So, how did I end up here?”

Her lips pressed together in a hard line as she said, “Jack Danvers.”

Harrison let out a weary sigh as he only partially listened when the doctor explained what had happened. The rest of his brain was trying to work out why he could have sworn it was December when he woke up. Maybe because that was the last time he had been perfectly happy, knowing Ana was going to be his wife and the three of them, Ana, Jolie, and himself, were going to live happily ever after. He was going to propose to Ana on New Year’s Eve… maybe she had said
no
and that was why he chose the week before to be the end of his memories.

It didn’t seem possible, not the Ana he knew, but…. As he tried to remember, he saw her face, the brilliant smile she gave him even as tears fell from her eyes.
“Yes, Harrison. Yes, I’ll be your wife.”

The memory startled him and his eyes flew open to find Asher standing where Doctor Thompson had been standing just a moment before. Frowning at his cousin, he asked, “Where the hell did you come from?”

“I’ve been sitting here for two hours while you’ve been sleeping,” Asher said. “I’m supposed to call your mom as soon as you wake up so she can bring Jolie in.”

“I’m awake,” Harrison growled, trying to push his aching body into a more upright position before he remembered his leg was in a cast as well. Glaring at his cousin, he said, “What happened with Ana?”

For a moment, a flash of guilt or remorse sparked in Asher’s eyes but it was quickly hidden beneath the usual cocky arrogance Harrison had grown used to over the years. Leaning forward in the chair, Asher lowered his voice as he glanced towards the door and then back. “I probably shouldn’t say anything but I think it’s better if you heard it from me instead of reading about it online.”

“What?” Harrison bit out, not appreciating his cousin’s theatrics when his guts felt like they were being scrambled with a hot skewer.

“Dude, she’s having another man’s baby.”

Harrison squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the pain before it reached his heart and struck him dead on the spot. What the fuck happened in California? God, what if he was the one who fucked up and he couldn’t deal with the guilt? What if his betrayal had sent her into someone else’s arms? He could come up with a million scenarios in his head and he had no idea which one it was. Maybe Asher had lied earlier when he said it wasn’t him. After all, his cousin had made no secret about his interest in Ana, even pursuing her when she had been taken. Narrowing his eyes, he glared at Asher, “Is it your child?”

Asher jerked back against the chair, his eyes widening in disbelief and… hurt. “How could you think that of me?”

Harrison arched an eyebrow and was only slightly mollified when Asher had the sense to look ashamed. But then another thought occurred to him, one that he would have thought of sooner if his head wasn’t so fucked up. “How do you even know she’s pregnant?”

This time, the look of regret was even stronger, though his eyes were burning with excited anticipation. “The story is everywhere, man. Apparently she accosted Nolan Mars at a party last night and told him she was pregnant with his baby. He looked damn excited for a man who had just been sentenced to impending fatherhood.”

Harrison understood the words but he couldn’t wrap his head around them. Jesus, did he do something in a previous life that made all of the women he fell in love with cheat on him? Of course, if Carrie hadn’t cheated on him, he never would have met Ana, never would have fallen in love with Ana. Never would have had his heart cut out by Ana.

No, there was something wrong about the story, he just couldn’t put his finger on what. Maybe he should have gotten a bigger ring when he proposed, maybe he should have flown out to California and begged her to come home with him, maybe he should have never fallen in love with her. There were a thousand maybes and nothing that made sense. The story Asher was telling didn’t make any sense with what he knew about Ana. Of course, he had only known her for a few short months and the rest was lost. For now, at least. He just wasn’t sure he wanted to remember.

Before he could sink any further into depression, the door swung open and his little girl burst into the room, a brilliant smile lighting her entire face. She flung herself onto the bed and he didn’t even care how much it hurt his ribs when she threw her arms around his neck. “Daddy!”

“Sweetheart,” he breathed, closing his eyes as he hugged her with his one good arm. Holding her tight, he knew that as long as he had Jolie, the world would keep on spinning. 

*****

With a smile of relief on her lips, Ana spied on the reunion between father and daughter a moment longer. As badly as she wanted to burst into the room, she couldn’t intrude upon this moment. Jolie had to have been insane with worry and seeing her father for the first time since the accident was time she needed to have alone. Taking a step back, she startled when the door opened and Asher stepped out.

Without saying a word, he wrapped his fingers around her arm and dragged her down the hall, away from Harrison’s room. When they reached the chapel, he pushed open the door and tugged her inside. After making sure they were alone, he turned on her with a grim expression on his face and said, “It’s a good thing I caught you before you made a fool of yourself by going in there.”

“Asher,” she gasped, tugging out of his iron grip. Taking a step away from him, only stopping when she bumped against the pew, she said, “I wasn’t going to interrupt them.”

“You don’t understand,” he grimaced, dragging his fingers through his hair. Pacing back and forth in the small chapel, shaking his head, he finally stammered out, “He doesn’t remember you, Annie. He’s forgotten the entire past year. He’s forgotten
you
.”

Reaching behind her, Ana grabbed the pew to keep herself steady as her heart skipped a beat or six in her chest and her brain whirled through a million scenarios. “It’s only temporary, though, right?”

Asher came to a stop as he gave her a look filled with pity. “I’m afraid not. The doctor said that in cases where there was too much damage in the prefrontal lobe memory loss was permanent. Harry was lucky to retain any memories whatsoever.”

Oh, god, this was even worse than she expected. Pressing a hand against her stomach, she stared past Asher and tried to figure out her next move. If he didn’t remember her, could she make him fall in love with her again? She had the latest
Justice Kane
novel, the one he had written over their time together, and she could give it back to him. The proof copy had been sitting on his desk when she went to his house that morning and even though she knew she shouldn’t take it, she couldn’t resist. Instead of sleeping, she had taken a shower and then she had read the entire book, falling in love with Justice and Harrison all over. In her opinion, it was the best Justice Kane novel yet, and not just because it was dedicated to her and the entire novel was basically a love letter to her.

The story was rich and complex, and the growth of Justice from an undead necromancer to a powerful dragon in his own right was a thing of beauty.

She hadn’t even realized Harrison had been so close to publishing it even though he had told her weeks ago that he had wrapped up the first draft. The beautiful man had kept her in the dark, just as she had kept him in the dark about the possible movie deal. Her lips almost started to curve into a smile until she wondered why she was even thinking about the book now when she should be thinking about Harrison. The smile vanished as she considered the possibility of handing him the book and telling him that she was his Mercy. Or was that too… weird?

“Ana,” Asher murmured in a husky voice, bringing her back to the present and reminding her that she wasn’t alone. A wall of heat pressed against her back as strong, male hands clasped her shoulders. In a velvety rasp against her ear, Asher continued, “Do you remember how it was between us?”

Ana closed her eyes, the memories becoming jumbled in her head at Asher’s confusing and, frankly, inappropriate behavior. Harrison was just down the hall with no memory of her and Asher wanted to rekindle a romance that was long dead? “Honestly? No.”

“Liar,” he chuckled. Was he seriously flirting with her right now?

Just because she didn’t want to remember didn’t mean she couldn’t remember. After all, he had made her laugh and she had had fun with him despite the way it had ended. But that was neither here nor there because she was with Harrison, even if he didn’t remember her. Swallowing, she repeated her earlier answer, “No.”

His dark laughter mocked her, “Even if he ever got his memories back, you need more than what Harry can offer you, Ana. You need passion and Harry is strictly vanilla.”

She nearly choked on her incredulous laughter. Didn’t he know that vanilla was, strictly speaking, an incredibly rich, complex flavor? But that was neither here nor there because Harrison was far from bland, with more passion in his little toe than just about anyone she knew. And once he fell in love with her again, she was going to relish every single moment with him. Running her tongue over her lower lip, she said, “That’s none of your business.”

“Ana, you have to know that I’ll always be there for you,” he crooned, drawing his fingers down her arm in an almost loving caress. His words raised an alarm in her head but she wasn’t certain why. “We could be so good together.”

“Asher,” she sighed. “The only reason you want me is because you can’t stand failure.”

“That’s not true,” he protested, his fingers still moving over her skin.

“It doesn’t matter, Asher,” she told him, turning around to look him in the eye so he could see how serious and determined she was. “I will fight for Harrison no matter how long it takes.”

Asher snorted, his eyes drifting over her face, along her neck, down the front of her body, and coming to a rest on her stomach. Looking back at her face, he made a mocking sound as he reached up and grabbed a strand of her hair. Twirling it between his fingers, he said, “Are you trying to worm your way back into his heart after what you’ve done? Now that he’s forgotten you, do you really think it will be that easy to pass off another man’s child as his?”