Jake’s desire flashed hotter and moved dangerously lower. Hell, he knew where he wanted to sleep, but he fought the crazy urge to climb in with her. “You’re not taking anything, I’m offering.” He moved back before he did something very foolish. “Besides, I want some time to myself. This way we won’t disturb each other. I’ll be fine on the couch.” He sounded a little too gruff, but hell, she wouldn’t leave it alone. “If you need anything holler.”
“I’ll have you know, Mr. Sanderstone, I’ve never ‘hollered’ in my life,” she said indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest.
Jake wanted to laugh at his haughty houseguest. She looked distant and untouchable, but he knew that was far from the truth. He turned and left the room, hoping for a peaceful night. But he knew that peace wasn’t possible as long as Ana was in the cabin.
Ana woke up the next morning and realized two things; she still couldn’t remember who she was, and it was still raining. Climbing to her knees on the bed, she leaned against the adjacent windowpane and looked out at the heavily wooded forest. She’d had high hopes that today she would be able go outside. And if the skies cleared, that would allow a rescue team to start searching for her.
But who would be searching? She had no idea. She closed her eyes and tried to force herself to remember, but there was nothing. Dear Lord, she had no idea how old she was. She tugged on the gold charm around her neck. Who had given it to her? A husband? She studied her bare ring finger. Who was Rory? Was he important to her?
Ana sat down on the bed and pulled her knees to her chest. What if she never regained her memory? Worse, what if no one was looking for her? In her head, she conjured up all kinds of scenarios, none of which helped calm her anxiety.
A loud knock broke through her reverie. Then the door swung open and Jake appeared. He had changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a blue and green flannel shirt. He’d washed up, too. His long hair was damp and his face free of any beard stubble.
He frowned. “You all right?”
She nodded and quickly blinked away her threatening tears.
“Don’t give me that.” Looking concerned, he walked to the bed and sat down next to her. “Are you in pain? Is it your head?”
“No, I’m feeling fine.” She tried to turn away, but he wouldn’t let her.
“You’re not fine if you’re crying.”
“I’m not crying.” She just felt like it. “I have a reason to be upset…I still can’t remember anything.” Now the tears rushed out along with the words.
“You need time. It’ll happen,” he promised. “It’s only been a few days.”
“It’s been four.” Ana suddenly felt weepy. She hated weepy women. She’d never resorted to tears before, but now she couldn’t seem to stop them.
Jake scooted closer on the bed and she breathed in the familiar scent of soap and the man. When his hands gripped her by the shoulders, she looked up at him. His coal-black eyes locked with hers, and she could see compassion and concern. A strange stirring erupted in her stomach, and she was oddly disappointed when he released her.
“Come on, chère, don’t go all mushy on me.”
She stiffened. “Mushy? I’ve got news for you, Yank. You’d be a little upset if you didn’t even know your name.”
His eyes turned dark and dangerous. “And I got news for ya’ll. I’m not a Yank and never have been. I was born and raised in the south,” he said with a heavy southern drawl. “Ya’ll got that?”
She nodded, knowing better than to push him any farther.
“Good.”
“And you may stop calling me silly pet names.”
“Fine. Then you tell me what to call you.”
She took hold of her charm. There wasn’t much of a choice. “Call me Ana.”
He stared at her. “Okay, Ana it is. Now, let’s get some breakfast.”
“Is that all you think about, food?”
He cocked his eyebrow and she caught a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. She felt that strange feeling again.
“Believe me, I think about other things,” he said in a husky voice. “But my stomach has been talking to me since before sunrise.”
He tugged at her arm. “Come on, it’s your turn to cook.”
She resisted. “And I explained to you before that I don’t know how. Besides, you seem very capable of doing the job.”
“Well, capable or not, I’m tired of doing it. Your turn.” He got her off the bed and into the other room. “If you need to make a trip to the facilities, you better be quick. I’m hungry.”
Ana grumbled the whole time she put on her rainwear. She purposely took her time, but that didn’t seem to change Jake’s mood. When she returned to the cabin, he was leaning against the counter, waiting for her.
“You could have started without me. I’m not very hungry.”
“Too bad, you need to eat and so do I. So don’t think you’re getting out of cooking. Since you seem to be recovered, we’re going to share the chores.”
“Maybe I should rest one more day, because of my head.” She touched the bandage.
He paused, looking concerned. “You said it didn’t hurt. Look, if you aren’t feeling well, then go back to bed.”
Here was her chance to get out of cooking, but something inside wouldn’t let her lie. Besides, she’d be bored if she had to spend the day in bed.
“No, my health is fine,” she said.
“Good.” He led her over to the woodstove. Using a metal poker, he removed the round plate and exposed the fire below. After adding some more kindling, he replaced the cover.
“This baby is a little tricky, but when she gets going the place heats up fast.”
Ana followed Jake’s instructions. The food was simple. He had cooked her eggs in the past along with some ham.
“I have something special I brought along with me from the States.” He held up a large box of pancake mix.
“Isn’t that dessert?”
“Not where I come from,” he said.
He showed her how to stir it all together. That was simple, the hard part came later. The first four pancake attempts she put on the griddle burned. Even Max turned his nose up at her efforts.
“I told you I can’t do this,” she complained.
She wanted to give up, but a persistent Jake wouldn’t let her. “Come on, give it another try,” he encouraged.
Again she poured more batter onto the griddle. Then, with Jake’s hand over hers, guiding the spatula, they scooped up the cake and managed to flip it over and have it land back on the griddle.
“That’s it,” he cheered.
“They aren’t burnt,” she cried happily.
“A perfect golden brown,” he said, then handed her a plate and she slid one cake after another off the griddle.
They sat down at the table with butter and syrup. After Ana watched Jake doctor his cakes, she did the same. She took a big bite.
“Oh, my, these are delicious.” She swallowed and forked up another bite.
“You sure seem to be enjoying your breakfast. For someone who wasn’t hungry, that is.” He took a big bite of his own.
“I didn’t know I was so hungry, or that these would taste so good.”
“You’ve never had flapjacks before?”
She thought a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t think so. Not like these.” She took another bite and sighed in pleasure. “I remember something like this for dessert, a crepe.”
“In the States we call these pancakes or flapjacks. In fact, we have restaurants that specialize in them. You can add several different ingredients—blueberries, bananas, strawberries, even chocolate chips.”
She swallowed. “Chocolate. I love chocolate.”
Jake paused to watch Ana. She was so animated. The stubborn, demanding woman was gone, for the time being anyway. He didn’t want to think about all the other questions he wanted answers to. He wished he had never found out about the pilot’s connection to the Black Knights,
but he had, and that had only caused more complications. The most important; what was this woman’s involvement?
Why should he even care? He was no longer a government agent, just a private citizen. When the rain stopped, he could take Ana to the authorities and let them handle things. Now he just had to deal with his attractive guest.
His staring caused her to pause. “What?”
“You…remembered you liked chocolate.”
She looked thoughtful, then smiled. “I did, didn’t I?”
“And more will come.” He wondered if he should push. “Can you remember anything about being on the plane. Even the crash.”
She shook her head. “No, I only remember hearing your voice, then waking up here.”
He took the IDs from his pocket and handed them to her. “Look at these pictures, maybe something will come back.”
She studied them for a long time. He couldn’t see anything in her face that would help. Only a veil of sadness.
“I’m sorry.” She gave them back to him. “I can’t help you.”
“It’s hard to believe three strangers were passengers in that plane,” he murmured more to himself.
She looked at him. “Why won’t you believe me?”
He wanted to, but in his world, he’d learned the hard way not to trust. “It’s not that I don’t believe you don’t have any memory of the crash. I’m a little confused about why you can’t remember anything at all.”
“So am I,” she said. “And when I find the answer I’ll let you know.”
So the lady had sass. “I’d appreciate that.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For numerous things. For saving me. For feeding me.” She took another bite, leaving a glaze of the syrup along her lips. Then just as quickly, she raised her napkin and gently dabbed at her mouth.
He glanced away, trying not to think about how much he wanted to lick away the sweet syrup. He blew out a breath to clear his head. “Next step is washing the dishes.”
“No, I’m not finished. I want some more…flapjacks.”
Jake couldn’t help but smile. “You want to go solo this time?”
She returned his smile. “I think I can manage it.”
He was getting to like this side of Ana. A warning signal went up. Letting down his guard was not a good idea. He watched as she went to the stove, unable to remove his attention from her bare legs. The shirt he’d given her yesterday was big enough, but the tails only reached to midthigh and her socks to midcalf. There was far too much shapely leg exposed. He needed to find something to cover her. She made him remember things he wanted to forget. Yet he couldn’t help but remember he’d been celibate a long time. His gaze moved over her silky skin. Too damn long.
When Ana finished the next batch, she placed them on the table. Jake speared two of the cakes and Ana took the others. Covering the stack with butter and syrup, she cut out a section, then forked a bite into her mouth.
Jake watched her eat in amazement. “The rain better stop or we’ll run out of food.”
“Oh, my,” she gasped. “I never realized…I’m eating all your food.”
He chuckled. “We have plenty. I went for supplies before the rain hit. We have enough staples for a few weeks. There’s canned soups and stews, but the fresh bread and milk isn’t going to last long.”
Her chin came up. “I’ll see that you’re paid for everything I’ve used.”
For some reason her wanting to pay made him angry. He hadn’t done this for money. “You don’t have to give me anything.” His appetite suddenly gone, he got up from the table and dropped the last of his pancake into Max’s bowl. This time, the dog eagerly ate what his master didn’t want.
“You should be rewarded for what you did.” Ana stood, too. “You went out in this horrible weather and rescued me. I’ve invaded your home, even taken your bed.”
Yeah, she was in his bed…but he wasn’t. Stop thinking that way about her, he warned himself. “Don’t worry about it,” he called over his shoulder.
“I can’t help it. I mean, we don’t know how long this rain will continue.”
“No one knows.” He tried to shut out her soft voice with its proper British accent. Impossible. Since her arrival, the cabin had grown smaller by the minute, especially with her parading around in that damn shirt. He glanced at the fireplace, seeing her discarded skirt and jacket and skimpy silk underwear she’d washed out last night, and groaned at the memory of removing them from her body.
He sighed. He wasn’t going to survive this.
“No one can look for me in this weather. This area is remote, you said so yourself. Who knows…I could be here indefinitely.”
“Your plane more than likely had an ELT.”
“What is that?”
“An Emergency Locater Transmitter. It sends out a signal so the authorities can find the plane. But this weather is bound to hold them up. To be honest, I didn’t have time to look for it.”
“What if it didn’t have one?”
“Then we wait until the weather clears, I’ll take you down the damn mountain myself.”
She tilted her head, giving him an indignant look. “You don’t have to get angry about it. I just don’t want to be a burden.”
Damn right she was a burden—to his peace of mind. He grabbed hold of her arm and swung her toward him. “You’re not a burden, but you are frustrating as hell.”
“You have no right to talk to me—”
Jake couldn’t stop himself as he jerked her against him and covered her surprised mouth with his. He heard her startled gasp, but he didn’t let up. When her lips parted, he took advantage and pushed his way inside.
Finally his common sense got the upper hand and he tore his mouth away. He saw her stunned face and felt like the world’s biggest heel. “At least I know how to keep you quiet.”
She slapped him across his face.
With the sting of Ana’s hand still burning, he turned and walked out the door. The rain pelted him, drenching his clothes, but nothing could cool the fire inside him.
Chapter Four
“What do you mean you can’t find any trace of the jet?”
At the Army command post on Penwyck, Colonel Pierceson Prescott faced Captain Millner who’d just relayed the report on the rescue efforts.
He didn’t want to hear this. For the past four days, weather permitting, he’d sent out every search plane he could get his hands on to look for Royal Bird Two. As far as they could tell, the plane went down in a remote section of northern Wales.
“I’m sorry, colonel, but the weather has grounded all planes. Visibility is nonexistent.”
Pierce knew all this, but he was head of Royal and Army Intelligence, for Christ’s sake. An honored and decorated soldier. Even though he didn’t use his title of duke, he’d earned it. He had accomplished many feats, gone beyond the call of duty time after time. But the worst task so far would be to go to Queen Marissa and tell her they had to stop looking for her daughter.
He could tell by the look on the captain’s face that there wasn’t much hope that Anastasia had survived the crash. The last signal they’d gotten from the Lear jet had been over a rural area in the mountains in Wales. And dammit, the black box on the jet must have malfunctioned because they hadn’t been able to pick up a signal.
“We will not give up the search. I gave my word to the queen—that means we’ll keep looking until we find her, and by God, we will.” He glared at the young officer, Jerrod Millner, as if daring him to say that the princess was dead.
How could he go to Meredith, the woman he loved more than life, and tell her there was no hope for her sister? He couldn’t, not without exhausting every effort.
The colonel went to the large wall map and traced the northern section of Wales. “I want you to contact the authorities in this area, along with any farmers, hunters, anyone who knows that terrain and is willing to assist the SEALs. Go in on foot if you have to.�
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“But colonel, with the heavy rain, there’s flooding.”
“Bloody hell, captain, I’ve done recon exercise in worse conditions. We have to find her. What about the Royal Rangers? Could they jump in?”
He nodded. “A team has already volunteered and is standing by when the weather clears. We’re doing everything possible to find Princess Anastasia.”
“Make sure that you do, or you’ll face the consequences.” Pierce knew in his gut that he’d find the plane. But was he too late for the princess?
Thirty minutes later, Jake was calling himself a fool as he stood under the overhang of the small shed, listening to the rain sheet off the tin roof. The roughly built structure had two stalls and just enough extra room to store the feed for the two occupants, Toby and Maisie, a roan mare and a buckskin gelding he’d bought from the previous owner of the cabin.
Hell, the reason he’d bought this place was because he wanted to be alone. He needed time to think, to plan what to do about his future. Maybe he should just stay here for the remainder of his miserable life.
He’d known the second he found Ana that she’d come from wealth. Even with amnesia, her true personality showed through. She’d led a pampered life. Something he knew nothing about. Most of his life, he’d had to scratch and claw just to survive. Still, he didn’t need to take it out on Ana.
Jake worked the grooming brush along Toby’s flank, making the gelding’s coat shine. The animal shifted against the aggressive treatment. Jake eased up.
“Sorry, boy. Didn’t mean to take out my frustration on you.”
Dammit, the woman had managed to get under his skin in little more than twenty-four hours. He should be in great shape after a few more days. Still, nothing had given him the right to pull a crazy stunt like kissing her. He was supposed to protect her, not attack her. He probably scared her to death. Good. Maybe that would keep her at a safe distance.
Toby whinnied and Jake looked over his shoulder to find Ana standing in the opening of the shed. She was wearing the oversized raincoat and a pair of his boots. The plastic bonnet should have looked silly, but on her it was appealing.
The Princess Has Amnesia! (Crown & Glory Book 5) Page 4
