Kisses to Remember (27 page)

The breath squeezed out of her as Holden hugged her. “Thank you. That would be great.”

“Hey, like the T-shirt says, World’s Best Everything right here.” She angled a thumb at herself.

“Well, get ready for the World’s Best Sex right now.” He pretended to bite her neck, and his scruffy chin tickled her skin.

“I’m ready.” She wrapped her arms around him and didn’t plan on letting go until the next day dawned.

He slid on his helmet and tugged on the safety harness. His gloved hands gripped the steering wheel as he watched for the go signal. When it came, he pressed the accelerator with his foot, and the car rocketed along the track. Sandwiched between two other racecars, Holden applied a little more pressure to the pedal, and soon he had a respectable lead on the others. The path before him was clear, and his car was in top shape, ready to dominate that track all the way to the finish line. An easy win. This car would fetch a high price for sure.

Vaughn may joke that he was like a mad scientist with these cars, but with so many details involved, one had to be obsessive-compulsive or something might get overlooked. Something important that could mean the difference between a winning car or a losing one. He was determined not to have any losing cars on his resume and so far he didn’t.

He’d made some good money off his cars. Selling them after he was done playing with them and flying for DE had funded most of the work he’d done on his house. Painting, tiling, wood flooring, plumbing…the list was endless, but his home was his castle. He loved the brickwork he’d done on the outside as well as all the landscaping improvements. The Texas sun could be brutal sometimes, but all his plants had been chosen carefully and thrived in the spots he had planted them.

“You got a green
hand
,” Vaughn had said to him once. “Not just a thumb, brother.” Vaughn spent a lot of time cutting Holden up for his racecar obsession, but when it came right down to it, Holden knew Vaughn was impressed. Many times they’d eaten grilled cheeses and banana-nut muffins minus the nuts at The Sweet Hut while Holden had revealed his latest car remodel. Vaughn would bust his balls about color choices, tire size, engine upgrades, but he always came by the garage to give the final product a thumbs up.

Holden could picture him now, sitting on his shop stool as he had on many occasions. Only this time, Vaughn’s forehead was creased, his eyes wide with shock. His friend reached out to him, opened his mouth, tried to form words. 

A noise Holden couldn’t identify sounded close by, and he opened his eyes expecting to see the plastered walls of his garage. Instead the stout rafters of a huge barn filled his vision.

“Hi,” a voice said beside him.

He slowly turned to see Johanna then a cow mooed outside the barn.

“You were dreaming, I think,” Johanna said. “I thought maybe you were remembering something, so I tried to keep still and quiet, but one of the cows woke you. Sorry.”

He pushed up on his elbows. “I remembered being in one of my racecars and then my house. It’s got a bricked front and a killer landscape that I did myself.” He left out the part about Vaughn.
What was his buddy trying to tell him?

“Holden, that’s great.” Only her eyes didn’t seem happy.

“It is great.” He cupped her cheek and recalled being with her last night. “And don’t for one second think that me remembering my past makes you any less important to me.” He kissed her beautiful lips and silently rejoiced when she kissed him back.

“I hope it stays this way,” she whispered, “even after you remember it all.”

“There’s only one thing that could keep us apart, Johanna. Just one.” He traced a line along her thigh.

“If you have someone already.” Her voice broke a little on the word
someone
.

“And I haven’t remembered a someone yet.” Was Vaughn trying to tell him about his family? Why wouldn’t an actual family member come into his mind instead? Why Vaughn?

He took a moment to picture walking through his house. It didn’t appear to have any feminine touches. It was tidy, but Spartan in its décor. Just the bare necessities, and the garage was clearly Manland. “What I recall of my house suggests it’s just me.”

Johanna slid her arms around his neck and hugged him to her. “I hope so.” She released him. “That’s selfish, huh? To wish you were all by yourself before you ended up here.”

“Nothing about you is selfish.” He kissed her again and scooped up a handful of petals. Letting them drop one by one on her naked body, he took a moment to appreciate the view. If he was already married, could that woman be as wonderfully perfect as Johanna? He doubted it. No one could match up to her. No one.

“You probably want to check out your house now that you remember it, huh?” Her sad eyes were killing him.

“Eventually, yeah. Are you kicking me out of your house?”

“I’m considering chaining you up in my basement so you can’t escape.” Why didn’t that sound creepy when she said it?

“Maybe you and Kam can come with me?” He was inexplicably wary of going back to Texas by himself.

“Maybe.” Johanna reached for her dress. “How about some breakfast?” Clearly, she didn’t want to talk about Texas right now. In truth, neither did he. 

They both dressed and Johanna helped Holden gather the candles and sweep up the rose petals. They set the petals free on the slight summer breeze outside, and soon the field was dotted with purple snow, the petals settling atop the grass.

“I will think of last night—of you—every time I go in that barn,” Johanna said as she and Holden climbed the porch stairs.

“Ah, all according to my brilliant plan.” Holden rubbed his palms together, then took Johanna’s hands in his. “From what I’ve remembered of my life so far, it was missing something.” He pulled her into an embrace and whispered in her ear. “It was missing you.”

She squeezed him around the waist then stepped back. “You better remember you said that.” She lightly punched him in the stomach before opening the porch door and stepping into the house. “What do you want for breakfast?”

He came up behind her in the kitchen and trapped her against the counter. “Some of this,” he kissed her shoulder, “and some of this,” he nibbled on her neck, “and a scoop of this.” He cupped her breast in his hand and instantly wanted her out of that dress again.

Johanna turned around in the small space he allowed her. “If we do this,” she slid her hand under his T-shirt, “or this,” she rubbed her hips against his, “then this,” she patted his stomach, “is going to stay empty.”

“What’s a little starvation? Big deal.” He shrugged and caught her lips once more. God, he could spend every morning like this.

When they finally released each other, Johanna went to the refrigerator and pulled a paper from one of the magnets. “I thought it was a little too quiet in here.” She handed the paper to Holden.

Nurse Nancy came by early. We went to breakfast. Took the kid with me. You can pay me back in cookies. Homemade. Chocolate chip. Enjoy your day together. Ted.

Holden put the paper on the counter and grabbed Johanna. He spun her around in a quick dance move, then flicked his arm so she twirled in toward him. Her laughter filled the kitchen, his mind, his heart. “What shall we do with our day, my lady?”

“Hmmm.” Her body pressed against his, and Holden had only one thought on how to spend the day. “After breakfast, let’s swing by the airport. I know where to find Ted’s friend.”

Holden nodded. “Okay, that would be great, but I’m pretty sure Ted wants us to have some fun too.”

“Last night wasn’t enough fun for you?” Her lips curled up in a vixen-like grin.

“Never enough, but I don’t just mean
that
kind of fun. There are other kinds.”

“Right. Of course.” Johanna tried for a serious face, but the little crinkles at the corners of her eyes gave her away. “We could do a little biking, off-road. I know a place we could go. It’s not as fast as racecars, but I think you’ll like it.”

“Perfect.” Holden looked out the window. “Then maybe you want to help me with that?” He pointed the beginnings of Ted’s cabin.

“Sure, if while we work we can talk about design ideas for my newest client, an aquarium they want to build in Rhode Island.”

“Then we’ll probably be sweaty from all that hard work and will need a shower.”

“I knew we’d end up naked again at some point.” Johanna flashed him a smile as she pulled eggs and milk from the refrigerator.

Clothed. Naked. It almost didn’t matter to Holden as long as he got to be with her. Almost.

****

“You remember driving now, right?” Johanna wiggled the keys to the Bronco in front of Holden’s face. After a hearty breakfast—one that replaced all the calories they had burned last night—they were ready to head to the airport. “And you have your license.” She couldn’t pretend he wasn’t remembering things as much as she didn’t want Texas to reclaim him.

Holden took the keys and held them in his palm. “You mean you’d trust me with your sacred Bronco?”

She shoved him lightly and he stumbled back a few steps. “If I were you, I’d hop into the driver’s seat before I change my mind, punk.” Only he didn’t look like a punk. In his dark jeans, charcoal gray T-shirt, and black work boots, he looked superdelicious as usual. The way he looked at her with those bright blue eyes told her the decision to wear a purple sundress that tied around the neck halter-top style had been the right one. With a single pull of the tie, the dress would come off in a second. A good feature that would come in handy later.

They both got into the truck, and Johanna loved the look of Holden in
her
Bronco. “Suddenly, this vehicle looks much improved.” She pretended to take a picture of Holden behind the wheel.

“It doesn’t take much. One of those cardboard air freshener trees hanging from the rearview would much improve this vehicle.”

Johanna elbowed his arm. “Don’t hate the Bronco”

Holden shook his head. “I don’t hate it.” He turned the key and the engine coughed to a start. “I
loathe
it.”

Waving a fist at him, Johanna said, “Just drive.”

She gave him directions to an airfield just out of Valentine. On the drive, Holden asked her a ton of questions about Nebraska, and she got the feeling he was comparing the state to what he must have remembered about Texas. She did her best to make Nebraska sound the like the best place on the planet, which truthfully she believed it to be. She’d grown up in Valentine, and while her home life as a kid was shaky at best, she’d always found comfort in the natural surroundings Nebraska had to offer. Her colored pencils and sketch pad in hand, she’d spent much of her time by herself in some outside hideaway she’d discovered.

“Do you think you always lived in Texas?” she asked after pointing to where he should park at the airfield.

He eased into the spot and shut off the Bronco. “I guess so. I don’t remember any other place, but I also don’t remember parents or siblings so maybe other homes are still locked away with that info.” He shrugged then turned to face Johanna. “Nebraska seems like a good place to call home.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Johanna leaned across the armrest and caught Holden’s lips. When his hand slid up to the back of her neck so she couldn’t pull away, she deepened the kiss. She immediately wished they were back in the barn, or on the couch in the basement, or…in her bedroom. Somewhere she could unwrap Holden like a chocolate bar and devour every last piece of him.

“I have a feeling,” Holden licked his lips after breaking away from Johanna, “that wherever you are would be a good place to call home.” He brought her hand up to his lips and dropped a chivalrous kiss on the back.

Careful
, Johanna’s mind warned.
This could all change at the snap of a finger.
She knew that, but it was far too late to be worried about it. Her heart was his.

Sighing, she got out of the Bronco and met Holden on the driver’s side. He automatically took her hand and that cautionary voice in her head was completely snuffed.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

She blinked a few times then led him to the main entrance. “Ted’s friend said to go to hangar C. This airport doesn’t accommodate jets, just small planes like the one you were flying.”

“A Beechcraft King Air 350i.”

“If you say so. I didn’t get a good look at yours. The raging flames made it hard to see.”

Holden shuddered beside her.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t talk lightly about that.”

“No, it’s okay. I…well, now that I remember the crash, it freaks me that I actually survived.” He squeezed her hand. “I survived because of you.”

“I’m not even sure what possessed me to chase after your plane. Ted was hollering at me to stay away, that it could totally blow up, but I couldn’t stop running toward the wreck. I wish your friend had made it as well.”

“Yeah, Vaughn was a good guy. Although, he probably would have made a play for you. He loved women. All of them.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be interested in a guy like that.”

“That’s what most women say, but Vaughn was good. I’ve seen him win over the impossible.” Holden cleared his throat, and Johanna realized his beautiful eyes were moist. He scratched his nose and sniffed in a long breath seeming to compose himself.