The Stranger In Room 205 (Hot off the Press! 1)

“No, I was awake. My grandmother used to call these hoot owl spells—nights when your eyes just won’t stay closed.”

“Yeah. Guess I’m having a hoot owl spell.”

“So am I. I can’t seem to turn off my thoughts.”

“What are you thinking about so seriously?”

“You,” she said after only a momentary hesitation.

He stood, leaving the swing swaying behind him. He’d donned the gym shorts and a T-shirt to come outside, so he had no pockets in which to shove his hands. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and tucked his hands into his elbows in an attempt to keep them out of trouble. “Have you come up with any new theories?”

“That isn’t what I’ve been thinking about.”

“Oh?” He studied her face, trying to understand her mood.

“I’ve been thinking about how much we’ve enjoyed having you here,” she said quietly. “How much a part of our lives—of our town—you’ve become in such a short time. Less than a month, yet in some ways it seems like you’ve been here much longer than that.”

He thought of the people he’d met in this town, the ones he already knew by name and reputation. He could hardly go out now without running into someone he knew from the diner or through Serena and Marjorie. Less than a month—yes, it was a bit hard to believe.

“When you find out who you are—when your memory returns—you’ll probably go back to your old life.” She sighed lightly. “That’s the way it should be, of course, but—”

“But?”

“I—we’ll miss you,” she whispered.

He swallowed. “As you said, I’ve only been here three weeks.”

She gave a little shrug. “A lot can happen in three weeks.”

He had to agree with that. A lot could happen in three weeks. Lives could change. Friends could come and go. People could fall in love.

Now where had that thought come from? He wasn’t the type to wax romantic—at least, he was pretty sure he wasn’t. He didn’t believe in love at first sight or whirlwind courtships or other such foolishness—at least, he didn’t think he did. And he sure as hell didn’t want to be responsible for putting a look on Serena’s face like the one he’d seen in the eyes of the woman in his dreams.

“You’d better get some sleep,” he said, looking at the house, knowing if he looked at her face he would be a goner. “Tomorrow could be a long day.”

“Tomorrow could be our last day.”

He supposed that could be true. There was a distinct possibility that someone would want to lock him up tomorrow—Dan in a jail or Dr. Frank in a psych ward, he thought with a grim attempt at humor. “Yes, well…”

Their eyes met. Hers were filled with emotions he couldn’t quite interpret.

He shouldn’t have looked at her. He’d been holding his own against his libido, reminding himself of all the reasons he should keep his distance. But looking at Serena with her eyes gleaming in the moonlight, her lips slightly parted—hell, he wasn’t a statue.

He wasn’t sure which of them moved first. Maybe it was simultaneous—he opened his arms, she stepped into them. Maybe it was a force neither of them could resist that brought their mouths together. By the time the kiss ended, Sam had forgotten every reason they shouldn’t be doing this—and he had the impression he wasn’t the only one suffering from amnesia this time.

They were halfway to the guest house when he surfaced enough to regain a shred of common sense. “Serena, this really isn’t a good idea.”

“No,” she agreed, but she didn’t stop walking.

“I wouldn’t want either of us to have regrets.”

She put her hand on the doorknob to the guest house and looked over her shoulder at him. “Everyone has regrets. You learn to live with them.”

It wasn’t the most reassuring thing she could have said. Certainly not the most poetic. But he supposed it was as good an argument as any.

He followed her inside when she opened the door.

Serena wasn’t acting on impulse, exactly. Sometime during the hours when she’d tried to sleep, she’d realized that she didn’t want to let it end with Sam simply leaving—or being led away—to find his past. She wanted him to carry a few memories of her with him—and she wanted a few of her own to reminisce about in the future.