“Luc.” She placed her hand on his shoulder and shook him gently. “Luc.”
Jerking awake, he stared up at her, blinking a few times as if to get his bearings. Kate pulled her hand back, needing to keep her touching at a minimum.
Raking a hand down his face, his day-old stubble rustling beneath his palm, he let out a sigh. “That was insane. I was dreaming about a baby,” he murmured, his gaze dipping to her midsection. “Are we having a baby, Kate?”
On this she could be absolutely honest. For once.
“No, we’re not.”
“Damn it.” He fell back against the pillows and stared up at the sheers gathered together at the ceiling. “I thought for sure I was having a breakthrough.”
Kate swallowed. He was remembering, but the memory was just a bit skewed. With the pregnancy lie from his ex still fresh, Kate figured it was only a matter of time before he had full recollection of the situation.
She didn’t know whether to be terrified or relieved. They still hadn’t slept together, so she prayed their relationship could be redeemed once the old Luc returned.
“It just seemed so real,” he went on. “My hand was on your stomach, and I was so excited to be a father. I had no clue what to do, but the idea thrilled me.”
Her heart swelled to near bursting at his reaction. The thought of having a baby with him made her giddy all over. But they were treading in dangerous territory. This was going to go downhill fast if she didn’t do something. She might not be able to feed him his memories, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t find other ways to trigger him.
“How about we take the Jet Skis out for a bit?” she suggested.
His eyes drifted from the ceiling to her. “I don’t want to go out right now.”
Wow. She’d never known him to turn down anything on the water. Especially his Jet Ski or his boat. She needed to get him out of the house, away from the temptation of the bed, the shower...anyplace that might set the scene for seduction.
“Do you want to just go relax on the beach and do absolutely nothing?”
Though the thought of them lying next to each other wearing only swimsuits didn’t seem like a great idea, now that she’d said it aloud. Granted, they’d seen each other that way before, but not with him thinking they were in love and planning holy matrimony...not to mention his promise to make love to her today.
A wide smile spread across his face. “I have an even better idea.”
That naughty look was something she definitely recognized. He had a plan, and she didn’t know if she should worry or just go along for the ride.
Six
Sweat poured off his head, his muscles burned and he was finally getting that rush he needed.
Kate grunted, sweat rolling off her, and he didn’t recall ever seeing her look more beautiful. Of course, he didn’t recall much, but right at this moment, she was positively stunning.
“I can’t do this anymore,” she panted, falling back against the wall.
Luc eased the sledgehammer down to rest, the wood handle falling against his leg. “We can take a break.”
“I kind of meant I can’t do this anymore...ever.”
Luc laughed. They’d just torn out the old vanity in the main bathroom off the hallway, and the scene was a disaster. The construction workers had left the majority of their smaller tools here, so he figured he’d do something useful while he waited for his memory to return. No, he’d never done any home projects before. He was a prince, for crying out loud. But he knew this bathroom would be gutted and replaced, so he was just blowing off some steam while helping the workers along at the same time.
“What are we going to do with all of this mess?” Kate asked as she glanced around the room.
They stood amid a pile of broken ceramic material, some huge hunks and some shards.
“Leave it,” he told her. “When the guys come back to finish this, they can haul it out.”
She dropped her hammer on top of the disaster and turned to stare at him. “So we’re just causing destruction and closing the door on our way out?”
Luc shrugged. “I’m not really known for my renovating skills. Am I?”
Kate laughed, swiping a hand across her forehead. “No. You’re royalty. I don’t know of too many blue bloods who go around remodeling.”
Stepping over the debris, he made his way to the door. Kate was right behind him. Extending his hand, he helped her over the rubble and out into the hallway.
“How about we take our tools to the kitchen?” he said, smiling when she rolled her eyes. “That room is hideous.”
“I’d rather go to the kitchen and make some lunch, because you only had coffee for breakfast and my toast wore off about my fifth swing into that vanity countertop.”
Her glistening forehead, the smudge of dirt streaked across one cheek, instantly had Luc recalling a little girl with a lopsided ponytail chasing a dog through a yard.
“You used to play with Booker,” he muttered, speaking before he fully finished assessing the image. “At my family’s vacation house in the US.”
Kate’s eyes widened. “That’s right. I did. Did you have a memory?”
Rubbing his forehead, Luc cursed beneath his breath when the flash was gone. “Yeah. I’ve known you a long time, then.”
Kate nodded, studying him. “I’ve known you since I was six.”
“I’m a lot older than you.”
A smile spread across her face. “Ten years.”
“How long have we been together?”
Kate glanced away, biting her lip and focusing on anything but him.
“I know the doctor said to let me remember on my own. But I want to know.”
Those doe eyes came back up to meet his gaze. “I started working for you a year ago.”
Shock registered first. “You work for me?”
He tried to remember, tried to think of her in a professional atmosphere. Nothing. He’d actually rather remember her in an intimate setting, because that was what crushed him the most. They were engaged, they were obviously in love and he couldn’t recall anything about the deep bond of their relationship.
“What do you do for me?” he asked. “Besides get me hot and make me want you. And how did we manage to get around the family rule about not mixing business with pleasure?”
Pink tinged her tanned face as she reached out, cupping her hand over his cheek. “I’m your assistant. I’m not telling you anything else. All right?”
Sliding his hand over hers, he squeezed it, then brought her palm to his mouth. “All right,” he said, kissing her. “But I can’t believe I let my fiancée work.”
Her lips quirked. “Let me? Oh, honey. You’ve never let me do anything.”
Laughing, he tugged her against him. “I have a feeling we do a lot of verbal sparring.”
A lopsided grin greeted him. “You have no idea.”
When he started to nuzzle the side of her neck, she eased back. “I’m sweaty and smelly, Luc. I don’t think you want to bury your nose anywhere near my skin right now.”
He slid his tongue along that delicate spot just below her ear. “I plan on having you sweaty later anyway, Kate.”
Her body trembled. He didn’t need to spell out how their day would end. Sleeping next to her last night had been sweet torture, but seeing her come apart at his touch had been so erotic, so sexy.
He couldn’t wait to have her. Couldn’t wait to explore her, get to know her body all over again.
“Has it always been this intense between us?” he asked, still gripping her hand and staring into those eyes any man could get lost in.
“Everything about our relationship is intense,” she murmured, staring at his mouth. “I never know if I want to kiss you or strangle you.”
“Kissing,” he whispered against her mouth. “Always choose kissing, my doce anjo.”
Sweet angel. Had he always called her that? When her lips parted beneath his, he knew the term was accurate. She tasted so sw
eet each time he kissed her. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he slid his palm over her backside. She still wore that short little sundress she’d had on all morning. She hadn’t changed when they’d done the bathroom demolition, and seeing her bent over, catching a glimpse of her creamy thighs, had nearly driven him crazy.
Gathering the material beneath his hand, he cupped her bottom. “I’ve wanted you since last night,” he muttered against her mouth. “The need for you hasn’t lessened, and I may not remember our intimacy before, but something tells me I’ve been infatuated with you for a long time. This ache inside me isn’t new.”
A shaky sigh escaped her. “That’s something I can’t attest to. I don’t know how long you’ve wanted me.”
Luc eased back, still holding on to her backside. “Forever, Kate. I refuse to believe anything else.”
Moisture gathered in her eyes. “You might end up remembering differently.”
Then she stepped away, leaving him cold and confused. What did that mean? Did they not have a solid relationship, a deep love, as he’d thought?
Luc let her go. Apparently, they both had emotional demons to work through. Regardless of his temporary amnesia, he wouldn’t let her go through this alone. They both needed each other, that was obvious, and even if she tried to push him away, she’d soon find out he wasn’t going anywhere.
They were in this together no matter how he’d been before. She was his and he would be strong for her. He would not let this memory loss rob him of his life or his woman.
* * *
Kate threw on her suit and headed down to the beach. Luc might have been content with busting things up as a stress reliever, but she needed a good workout. There was nothing like a swim to really get the muscles burning and endorphins kicking in.
She hadn’t lied when she’d told him their relationship had always been intense. And she hadn’t lied when she’d said she had no clue how long he’d been infatuated with her.
But he was right about one thing. The emotions he was feeling, his actions toward her, weren’t new. All that desire, that passion, had been lying dormant for some time now, and she’d wondered if it would ever break the surface. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined it would take a major injury to further exacerbate this chemistry.
The question now was were these feelings truly directed toward her, or were they left over from his ex? A year ago he’d admitted to an attraction, but had put the brakes on it because of their professional relationship and her parents working so closely with his family. And it was then that he’d explained in great detail why members of his family never dated or got involved with an employee. The list of reasons was lengthy: reputations on the line, the employee could turn and go to the media with a fabricated story... There was too much at stake—even Luc’s crown in this case—to let staff in on their personal lives. Kate didn’t have a clue how Luc and his ex had been in private. She actually tried to never think of that. But now she couldn’t stop herself.
Did Luc really have such strong emotions for her? If so, how had he kept it bottled up all this time?
Kate loosened the knot on her wrap, letting the sheer material fall onto the sand. Running straight into the ocean, the world at her back, she wished she could run from this whole ordeal and stop lying to Luc. She wished she could kiss him and sleep in his bed and have him know it was her and not the fake fiancée he’d conjured up.
He’d said they would be sleeping together later. Dodging that was going to be nearly impossible.
She was in desperate need of advice. She’d wanted to phone her mother earlier, but the call hadn’t been able to go through. She would try again later. More than anything Kate needed her mother’s guidance. Holding back from Luc was pure torture. How could she say no to the one thing she’d fantasized about for so long?
The warm water slid over her body as she sliced her arms through the gentle waves. The hot sun beat down on her back and her muscles were already screaming from the quick workout.
Kate pushed herself further, breaking the surface to take another deep breath and catch her bearings. Panting heavily, she dived back in for more. She’d not fully worked through her angst just yet.
Before she knew it, she’d gone so far up the coastline she couldn’t see Luc’s home anymore. She swam to the shore, trudged through the sand and sank down onto dry land. Pulling her legs up against her chest, Kate wrapped her arms around her knees and caught her breath, willing the answers to come.
One thing was clear. She and Luc needed to stay away from the house as much as possible. With just the two of them alone, there was no chaperone, nobody else to offer a buffer. At least back at the palace there was a full staff of butlers, maids, drivers, assistants to the assistants, guards, his parents, her parents, the cooks...the list was almost endless.
Perhaps an outing to the small village was in order. Anything to hold off the inevitable. The hungry look in Luc’s eyes, the way he constantly kept touching her, were all indications that the moment was fast approaching. And yes, she wanted that moment to happen more than she wanted her next breath, but she didn’t want it to be built on desperation and lies.
Pushing herself up off the sand, Kate stretched out her muscles. She’d never been a fan of running, but she wasn’t done exorcising those demons. She headed back toward Luc’s home, passing other pristine beach houses. Some were larger, some smaller, but they all had the same Mediterranean charm, and their own docks, with boats bobbing against the wood planks.
The island was a perfect getaway for a prince. Under normal circumstances, he could hide away here without the media hounding him, without the distractions of the internet and the outside world.
This place would be heaven on earth for any couple wanting a romantic escape.
Too bad she was only a figment of Luc’s imagination.
As Kate ran, she kept to the packed sand that the waves had flattened. Her thigh muscles burned and sweat poured off her as the sun beat against her back. This felt good, liberating. She would go back to the house and go over Luc’s schedule for when they returned to Ilha Beleza. Looking at all his duties and responsibilities would surely help jog something in his mind.
And the memories were returning. Apparently, her dirty state earlier had shot him back to the moments when she’d been a little girl and had gone to work with her parents. She’d loved the Silvas’ old sheepdog, Booker. She used to play with him, roll around in the yard with him and be completely filthy by the time she left.
Luc’s parents would just laugh, saying how they missed having a little one around. They’d gotten Booker when Luc was eight, so by the time he was a teen, he wasn’t so much into running through yards and spending hours playing with a dog.
Kate was all about it. When Booker had passed away, she had taken the news harder than Luc had. Of course, he’d had his women “friends” to occupy his time and keep his thoughts focused elsewhere.
Finding her discarded wrap in the sand where she’d dropped it, Kate scooped it up and quickly adjusted it around her torso. At the base of the steps leading up to Luc’s home, she rested her hands on her knees and pulled in a deep gulp of air. She was going in as professional Kate. Keeping her hands and mind off Luc was the only way to proceed. Flirty, dreamy Kate had no place here. They hadn’t made love yet, so she could still turn this around, and pray Luc wasn’t totally furious once he remembered what her role in his life actually was.
Seven
Luc’s phone bounced on the couch cushion when he tossed it aside. Useless. He recognized his parents’ names, his best friend, Mikos, and Kate. Other than that, nothing.
Raking a hand down his face, Luc got to his feet and crossed to the patio doors. Kate had been gone awhile and he knew her frustrations had driven her out the door. He’d like to run from his problems, too; unfortunately, they lived inside his head. Still, he couldn’t fault her for needing some time alone.
He stepped out onto the patio, his gaze immediately darting
down to the dock. As he stared at the Jet Ski on one side and his boat on the other, he wondered what he’d been doing before he fell. Was he about to go out on the water so late in the evening? Was Kate coming with him? Everything before the fall was a complete blank to him. He had no idea what they’d been doing prior to his accident.
Hell, he couldn’t even recall how he and Kate had started working together. And some family rule about not getting personal with staff members kept ringing in his head. He reached into his mind, knowing this was a real memory. The Silva family didn’t get intimate with employees. So had Kate come to work for him after they’d become a couple? Had she been so invaluable in his life that he’d wanted her to be his right-hand woman in his professional world, as well?
The questions weren’t slowing down; they were slamming into his head faster than he could comprehend them. He’d go mad if he didn’t get his memory back soon, or if he kept dwelling on something that was out of his control.
Damn it. Of one thing he was certain. Losing control of anything was pure hell, and right now he’d spiraled so far he hoped and prayed he could pull back the reins on his life before this amnesia drove a wedge between him and Kate.
Luc straightened as the idea slammed into him, pushing through the uncertainty he’d been battling. All that mattered was him and Kate. This was their time away, so all he had to do was enjoy being with her. How hard could that be? A private getaway with one sexy fiancée would surely be just what he needed.
A shrill ring came from the living room. Luc ran in and found Kate’s cell phone on one of the end tables. His mother’s name was on the screen. Odd that she would be calling Kate.
Without giving it another thought, he answered. “Hello.”
“Lucas? Darling, how are you feeling?”
His mother’s worried tone came over the line. Her familiar voice had him relieved that his mind hadn’t robbed him of that connection.
“Frustrated,” he admitted, sinking onto the worn accent chair. “I have a hell of a headache, but other than that I feel fine. Why did you call Kate’s phone?”
A Royal Amnesia Scandal Page 6
