He watched her as she wound her way through the pillars, tracing her fingers over the smooth stone and gazing up at the colourful cornices on the ceiling, and it hit him that for the first time since he’d seen her in that hospital room she looked truly relaxed.
The idea that he could be responsible for that made him feel heady with pleasure, as if he could deal with anything life threw at him right now, as long as Elena was here with him. She made him feel light and positive, buzzed and excited...and what was that other sensation...?
Happy.
His breath caught in his throat as the word pierced through him.
It was a feeling that had been missing from his life for far too long now. And Elena was the catalyst—because he knew without a doubt that she was his ideal woman—smart, sexy and so beautiful it made his chest ache to look at her.
And then, out of nowhere, something strange happened.
A memory flashed through his mind: of Elena’s face, cold and hard with indifference, just before she slammed a door in his face.
It left him winded, gasping to drag air into his lungs again, his head swimming and thick, as though too heavy for his body to hold up. A slow trickle of horror-tinged despair slid sickeningly through him and he had to lean against the nearest pillar to stop himself from sliding to the floor.
A moment later the real Elena was there next to him, her hands on his shoulders and a look of deep concern on her beautiful face.
‘Caleb! Are you okay?’
The face that looked into his now was so different from the one his mind had conjured up a moment ago he felt relief flood through him. Had it just been his subconscious warning him not to get too carried away with what was developing between them? Not to get too close in case it went wrong like all his other relationships had over the last few years?
Well, to hell with that. He wasn’t going to let her get away because he was afraid of this thing between them failing. He wouldn’t let it.
‘I’m fine,’ he said, forcing his mouth into a reassuring smile. ‘My rib’s just giving me a bit of pain, that’s all.’
She nodded, still frowning. ‘Okay, then let’s get out of here. You’re probably pushing yourself too hard.’
‘I’m fine, Elena,’ he growled, annoyed at her fussing around him, not wanting this one small blip to ruin the wonderful day they’d been having.
She seemed to sense the agitation with himself behind his snappiness because she gave him a knowing smile and said, ‘Okay, then let’s go and get something to eat. I don’t know about you but I could eat a horse right now.’
He nodded his agreement, grateful to her for not making a big scene. He didn’t want the remainder of their time together marred by his minor ailments.
Pulling her towards him, he placed a firm kiss on her mouth, wanting to prove to her how happy he was to have her here with him and that he hoped there would be much more of it to come.
She kissed him back with a fervour that rocked him to his soul, proving to him the connection he felt to her wasn’t one-sided.
They were going to need to have a serious conversation soon about how to make a relationship work when they were living so far away from each other. Because he knew now that was what he wanted.
He so wished he could remember the relationship they’d had when they were younger. Perhaps it would give him more insight into how to solidify their connection now.
That damn accident had been such bad timing—though it had at least prompted her to stay in Spain a bit longer, and in his apartment too, for which he knew he should be very grateful. It had brought them together after all.
It was disconcerting though, not having all that information about her available to him. Still, more things seemed to be coming back to him in dribs and drabs now so perhaps his brain was beginning to heal.
Pushing away his lingering unease, he kissed her once more before taking her hand to lead her out of the park.
It would all be fine once the rest of his memory came back.
THE NEXT MORNING Caleb rolled reluctantly out of bed, leaving a sexily rumpled and tantalisingly warm Elena in it.
‘Do you want me to come to the hospital with you?’ she murmured sleepily as he strode towards the en suite bathroom for a shower.
He stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. She was smiling at him in that earnest, intent way that always made his heart turn over.
In truth, he loved the idea of spending the whole of the day with her by his side, but he definitely didn’t want her coming to the hospital with him just in case something happened there that made it obvious his memory hadn’t fully returned yet.
‘No, it’ll be boring for you. You stay here, or go shopping or sightseeing or something. I need to go into the office to make sure everything is running smoothly without me but I’ll be back here to spend the afternoon with you.’
She gave him a pained look. ‘Okay, but don’t get caught up in the office and forget the time. You should really be resting at home still.’
He walked back to the bed and sat down on the side of it, brushing a rogue strand of hair away from her forehead. ‘I tell you what, why don’t you just spend all day naked in my bed—that’ll give me all the incentive I need to come home as soon as possible.’
Laughing, she pulled him down for a kiss and he gave in to her demand and kissed her back, pulling the sheet that separated them away and rolling on top of her, telling himself he still had plenty of time to make his appointment.
* * *
He was late for his appointment.
Luckily, the doctor was also running late with his last patient so Caleb didn’t need to apologise for his tardiness as he strode into the consulting room. The extra time he’d got to spend with Elena would have been totally worth missing the appointment for anyway. He was fine, still a bit blurry about the events in his past, but, as he told the doctor, who looked at him with a mixture of concern and perplexity at his attitude, he didn’t care—he was alive and he had a beautiful, compassionate woman waiting for him back at home and that was what mattered.
Life was good.
After being put through some rather over-the-top extensive tests by the consultant and agreeing reluctantly to come back later in the week for additional testing, he finally managed to escape the hospital, intent on dropping in at Araya Industries for the barest of moments to satisfy himself that everything was running well there before heading straight back to Elena’s warm smile and comforting embrace.
Striding through Reception, he greeted a couple of the PAs who worked for his colleagues with a smile, both of them blinking at him in surprise before hurriedly returning his cheery salutation.
Up on his floor he found a rather bemused Benita sitting at her desk outside his office, and he flashed her a smile in greeting then asked her if she could please come in once she’d finished the email she was typing. She stared at him in surprise, also seemingly unnerved by his new jovial attitude, before nodding jerkily, the expression on her face remaining wary as if worried he was just lulling her into a false sense of security before putting the boot in.
Clearly he had a lot of work to do on his people skills.
He’d always been aware that he came across as intense and forthright, but he’d never considered it to be a failing before, too caught up in the running of his business to pay it much mind. Elena’s appearance in his life and her bravery in challenging him about it had