Forgotten First Kiss

A line formed between her brows. “That was the worst, seeing their disappointment.”

Clearly, they loved her, and yeah, they’d be disappointed to be forgotten. “I’m sure that was awful for you.”

“Worse for them.” She flopped back against her propped-up pillows. “I wish there were something I could do to speed my memory’s return.”

“Did the doctor have any suggestions?” The last thing I wanted was a speedy recovery of her hateful memories of me.

“Just rest, for now.” She sighed as if she were the most bored person alive. “If only I’d cultivated a love of television. Then this place wouldn’t seem like a prison.”

Ouch. “Well, you do love to read.”

“I do?” She brightened. “What kind of books?”

The air around me tingled. I knew this one. “Your favorite book of all time is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.”

“Really? How do you know that?”

Because she’d thrown it at my head. “Would you like me to bring you a copy?”

For a second, she hesitated. “Yes, but …” Obviously something bothered her. “But—and this is going to make me sound like even more of an invalid. Don’t think of me that way, all right?”

I leaned forward and placed a hand on her shin, though it was covered by the hospital blanket. “Go on.”

Danica glanced at my hand, where it lay on her leg. She didn’t move her leg, but she did sit forward. “My vision has been incredibly blurry. I can’t even read the paperwork they keep asking me to sign.”

The hospital was insisting a woman with memory loss sign legal documents? My blood went from normal to boiling in an instant. “You can’t read right now, and you’re signing?” A hard edge crept into my voice. “Don’t do that anymore, okay?”

“But they’re in a hurry, and I’m sure it’s nothing but boilerplate stuff, and—”

I held up a hand. “I’ve got a business partner who is an attorney. We’re going to have him look at every single thing you’ve signed since you were admitted, and you’re going to promise me right now that you’ll take a photo of every paper they put in front of you and send it to him for verification before you put your name on anything.”

The clock ticked in time with her blinks. “You’re freakily serious.”

“Contracts are important. Signatures matter. Don’t get stuck, okay?”

Finally, she nodded. “You’re really protective of me.” Again, her cheeks pinked. “Just what were we to each other before all this?”

Ignoring the question, I pulled out my phone. “This is Mark’s number. I’ll tell him to watch for texts from you and to prioritize them. And when the nurse comes in next time, you ask her for copies of all paperwork in your file.” I wrote down Mark’s name and number. “She’s going to balk and act like it’s a lot of work, but hold her to it. She’ll have to do it. I’ll make sure Mark gets it, and we’ll make sure everything is above board.”

“This is Wilder River’s hospital. Not some scary big-city asylum, you know,” she said.

“And you’re compromised.” And I’d learned the hard way not to assume altruism in anyone. “Trust but verify. We’re just verifying.”

Danica let out a long, slow breath. “As much as this watch out for your legal life stuff should probably freak me out, I’m weirdly relieved to feel like someone is looking out for my best interest. It feels kind of foreign. Well, everything feels foreign, so it probably doesn’t count.” She smiled and laid a hand on my upper arm, since I was standing beside her now to place Mark’s info on her rolling dinner tray. “You’re a good friend, Jeremy. It’s good to have a friend.”

Friend! Yes!

Now, I realize that a lot of guys would define this as being friend-zoned. That being called a good friend by the one woman I’d crushed on since I was a kid might be termed a major defeat.

Not me.

Anything where she wasn’t scowling at me and threatening to have me tossed out on my ear or any communication from her that didn’t involve the phrase pressing charges was huge.

“Hold on.” I pressed a few buttons on my phone, opening a retail app, finding what I needed, and hitting buy, and then download. “I have Jane Eyre on my e-reader app.”

“Jeremy!” Danica’s face broke into the smile that I loved, even if she always hated it because it showed too many teeth down the side. Like a hungry wolf, she’d lamented. “You did that? For me?”

“I only have time to read you one chapter.”