The Chase, Volume 4

by Jessica Wood

  I nodded and smiled. He’s such a gentleman.

  He leaned in and kissed me gently on the forehead. “I love you, gorgeous.”

  “Thanks.” I cringed inside as soon as the word came out. I wasn’t sure what to say. I had a feeling he wanted more, but telling a stranger I loved him wasn’t something I was ready to give.

  He gave a light chuckle and smiled. “I’ll be back.”

  As I watched him walk away and turn the corner toward the entrance of the parking garage, I was preoccupied with thoughts of how the following days, weeks, months will be for us. Suddenly I heard people approach me from the left.

  “Excuse me! Please make way!” I turned and saw a couple barreling toward me. It was a man holding up a pregnant woman who appeared to be in a lot of pain. “My wife’s water broke! Please move!”

  I finally realized that I was standing in the middle of the hospital entrance and blocking their path. I hastily took a step back to give them room to pass me, but it was too late. The man pushed passed me and as I took a step back, my heel caught onto a crack and I lost my balance and fell backwards.

  Just as I thought I was about to fall onto the ground, a strong arm caught me from behind and pulled up. I gasped in surprise at my near-fall and found myself tightly clutched within someone’s protective arms.

  “Careful there or you’re going to hurt yourself in those killer heels.”

  I looked up and let out an audible gasp as my gaze locked with a pair of intensely-dark, smoldering brown eyes staring down at me.

  CHAPTER TWO

  I couldn’t remember how long I seemed to drown into those dark eyes, but it was like we were suspended in time and space as my neck rested against his arm while he looked down at me in silence. Finally at some point in time I felt the blood flowing to my head, causing me to become dizzy, which snapped me out of my trance.

  I blinked, breaking our locked gaze. “Sorry about that,” I apologized as I reminded myself to breathe.

  “Not a problem.” He beamed down at me, and I drew in a deep breath as a comforting warmth washed through me as I took in the contrast of his devious boyish grin set against his dangerously masculine, chiseled face. “Hi, I’m Ethan.” He pulled me straight up to a standing position and allowed me to regain my footing. But instead of letting me go, he held my arms and looked at me. There was something exciting and beautiful about him that captivated me, making me forget about anything and anyone else. It was his sudden chuckle that finally broke my silence.

  “Why are you laughing?”

  “Well I just introduced myself to you. This is usually where you would introduce yourself to me.”

  My face grew hot and I cringed inside at how silly and childish I was behaving. Is this how I am normally? Do I easily let random strangers have this effect on me? I cleared my throat. “Hi.” I pulled away from him and took a step back to establish a more friendly—and a more safe—distance from him. I smoothed down my shirt, pretending to be preoccupied with some dust that was stuck on my clothes. “I’m Olivia.”

  “Hey, Liv. I’m glad we bumped into each other.” He flashed me a heart-stopping smile.

  His words caught me by surprise and it wasn’t until then that I realized that maybe I knew this stranger—maybe if I didn’t have amnesia, he wouldn’t actually be a stranger to me.

  “Do I know you?”

  He cocked his head and gave me a quizzical look. “Wouldn’t you know if you knew me?”

  His question stung. “I…” I looked away. I was about to tell him that I had lost my memory, but I stopped myself. You don’t know anything about this man! “Okay. I don’t know you,” I responded firmly. “But why did you call me Liv?”

  At first, he didn’t answer me. He just smirked and studied me, causing me to feel nervous and self-conscious. Finally he responded. “That’s your name, isn’t it?”

  I could hear the smirk coated in his every word. “I told you my name was Olivia—”

  “—And isn’t Liv short for Olivia?” he cut me off, and I could hear the smugness in his tone.

  I frowned and felt slightly annoyed. “Maybe for some people, but I don’t think you should just assume that everyone named Olivia goes by Liv. So—”

  “But,” cutting me off again, “I’m not talking to everyone.” His lips curled into a wide grin. “I’m talking to only you. Do you go by Liv?”

  “Only friends call me Liv,” I retorted.

  “Well there you go. So I wasn’t wrong to call you Liv.”

  My annoyance grew as he so brazenly brushed off my comment.

  “Seeing as I just saved your life, I’d say we’re at least friends.” He flashed me a glum smile.

  “That’s pretty presumptuous of you.” I felt an odd mixture of irritation and curiosity over this man’s cocky forwardness. It wasn’t until then that I looked beyond his mesmerizing eyes and face. He had on a worn-down black motorcycle jacket, a grey t-shirt that looked like it’d seen better days, and a pair of dark-washed Levis that seemed to hug him in just the right ways. There was a purposely-casual style about this man that made him look like he could be Adam Levine’s younger brother.

  “Is it?” he challenged, his eyes twinkled with amusement.

  Yes, I’m definitely picking up that Adam Levine-esque cockiness about him. “I guess I should thank you for catching me before I fell, but I hardly think you saved my life.” As intrigued as I was about him, I wasn’t about to let him think I’d ever give in to his forwardness. His ego didn’t need to get any bigger than it already appeared to be.

  His lips twisted into a dangerous smirk as he looked down at my heels. “Like I said, those are some killer shoes.”

  Then a thought crossed my mind and I looked at him. “What if I didn’t go by Liv?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What if I only went by Olivia, and you just called me Liv?” I shot him a smirk of my own.

  He laughed. “Well then,” he licked his lips. He took a step toward me and leaned down to my ear and whispered, “I’d have my own special nickname for you then, wouldn’t you say?” The heat of his breath teased my neck, sending a shiver down my back.

  I immediately took two steps back, annoyed at myself that I had actually felt intrigued by this man and his behavior. “Thanks.” I kept my voice flat as I looked toward the parking garage, hoping to see Connor’s car so that I could escape from this man. I wasn’t sure why, but he made me feel something that left me feeling both excited and vulnerable. With everything that had happened since I woke up yesterday, I knew I wasn’t ready for this.

  “So can I ask you something?” He didn’t seem at all put off by my coldness.

  “No.”

  He snickered. “Come on. It’s something that’s been bothering me since I saved your life.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Fine,” I said begrudgingly. “What is it?”

  He smiled triumphantly. “For someone who was a very recent patient at the hospital, why are you torturing yourself with heels like that?” His dark piercing eyes looked me up and down.

  I felt my face turn hot again with embarrassment and annoyance. “Do I know you?” I asked again. “How do you know I was a patient?”

  He laughed and casually swung his arm around my shoulders. “Relax. You’re still wearing your ID wristband. Don’t flatter yourself. I’m not some crazy stalker. I’m just a nice guy who happened to be at the right place and saved your life.”

  “Oh.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to this stranger. To my surprise, I felt disappointed that I didn’t know him. I was even a little disappointed that he wasn’t stalking me. Is this what losing your memory does to you? I couldn’t explain it, but for some irrational reason I felt drawn to him and intrigued by how at ease he was around me.

  “Liv…” He reached for my arm, causing me to freeze in place. I look at his hand and then up toward his eyes. “So this might sound forward, but as you’ve probably noticed,” he chuckled, “I’m a pretty forward
person.”

  “Yeah.” That was all I could muster in response as I braced myself for what he was about to say.

  “Liv, I’d love to see you again. Maybe drinks? Dinner? Or if you’re more into the adventurous stuff, a skydiving date?” He flashed me a breathtaking smile that held promises of things I wasn’t sure I could handle.

  “I…” I felt a heavy lump develop in my throat as a mixture of excitement and fear consumed me.

  But before I could respond, I heard a familiar voice call out to me from behind.

  “Liv?”

  I turned around to see Connor sitting behind a silver Aston Martin convertible that had just pulled up to a stop in front of us.

  “Sweet car, man.” Ethan whistled as he walked toward the shiny sports car to get a better look.

  “Thanks.” Connor flashed Ethan a quick glance before looking at me. “Ready?”

  I gave him a small smile and nodded. I was riddled with guilt as I walked toward the car. I realized that for the last few minutes, I had forgotten that I was engaged to Connor. And if Connor hadn’t pulled up just now, Ethan may have been able to convince me see him again.

  When I got to the car, to my surprise, Ethan rushed over to open the passenger door for me. I saw Connor study Ethan in silence as I slid into the seat next to him.

  “Well it was very nice to meet you, Liv.” Ethan gently closed the door behind me. His smooth words raised every hair on my body.

  I turned toward him. “Yeah,” I replied softly. I could sense both Connor’s and Ethan’s eyes glued on me. I met Ethan gaze and flashed him a friendly smile, trying to think about anything but those deep, captivating eyes. “Thanks for catching my fall. I appreciate it.”

  “No problem. Be careful with those killer shoes. I can’t always be around to save you.” He gave me a wink and my face grew hot as I felt Connor’s laser-like stare intensify on us.

  Connor cleared his throat and gave Ethan a polite smile. “Thanks for your help.” Then I heard the engine rev, signaling to Ethan that we were leaving.

  Ethan smiled, never taking his eyes off me. “See you around.” There was nothing casual about the way he said those words. It wasn’t a goodbye. It was a statement—a promise he intended to keep.

  I felt my body tense at his words and finally pulled my eyes away from him as Connor stepped on the gas pedal, quickly taking us away from Ethan.

  We drove in silence for a few minutes, and with each passing second, I felt the awkwardness and tension grow between us.

  “Who was that?” Connor finally asked. To my surprise, he didn’t sound angry or upset. His voice was calm, business-like, and distant, perfected from years of training.

  “No one,” I reassured him. But on the inside, I wondered if he was the only one I was trying to reassure.

  “Has he been harassing you?”

  I heard an edge of concern in his voice and smiled at how protective he was over me. “No,” I answered, though I knew that wasn’t exactly the truth. “I had almost tripped right before you pulled up and he caught my fall. And then you pulled up.” This is the truth, I told myself. But as much as I tried to convince myself of this, it felt like I had just lied to him. Am I a bad person? Why am I lying to my fiancé when I haven’t done anything wrong? I tried to push away the thought and turned to look at Connor. “Thanks for driving me home. I really appreciate it.”

  He looked over at me and smiled. His warm, hazel eyes gleamed as I met his gaze. He reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Don’t be silly, Liv. Of course I’d pick you up and take you back home. I hope that with you being back at our house, it’ll help you with your memory.”

  “Our house?” I repeated, surprised by this revelation.

  “Yes, we live together.” He tried to hide the frown on his face as he turned his gaze forward and looked straight at the road.

  “How long have we lived together?”

  “About three months before the accident.”

  “I’m sorry, Connor,” I said softly as I realized how hard this must be for him.

  He looked over at me and pulled my hand up toward his lips and gently kissed it. “Don’t be. I know this is hard on you to not remember anything.”

  “Can you tell me about…us?”

  He smiled. “What do you want to know?”

  “So much.” I felt like laughing and crying at how strange this felt, to have to ask my fiancé to tell me about everything he could about our relationship. “Let’s start at the beginning. How did we meet?”

  “We met at work.”

  “Where do we work?”

  “Brady Global, Inc.”

  I looked at him with wide-eyes. “Brady Global? You own the company?”

  He grinned and nodded. “I’m the CEO of Brady Global. We hired you on as the V.P. of Marketing about a year and a half ago.”

  I stared at him in surprise. “When did we start dating?”

  He thought about it. “So you were in the coma for about four months, we were engaged for about a month before that, and we’d been dating for about eight months before that…so we started dating a little over a year ago.”

  “So I was sleeping with my boss?” I looked at him, searching for answers.

  “Well I prefer to be called your fiancé,” he teased. “But yes, I guess you can say you were sleeping with your boss.” He flashed me a warm, inviting smile.

  I frowned.

  “What’s wrong?” His expression immediately changed when he noticed my disappointment.

  I faked a smile. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”

  He smiled back and I saw his body relax.

  For the rest of the ride to the house, we drove in silence. I closed my eyes, pretending to have fallen asleep so that Connor wouldn’t try to talk to me. I felt tired and unsure of this life that I couldn’t remember. I had lied to Connor just now. I wasn’t fine. Something was wrong. Finding out that I was sleeping with my boss made me wonder what kind of person I was before I lost my memories. What kind of person slept with their boss after a few months at a new job? But I had decided not to voice out my concern to Connor. I wasn’t sure how he would respond to it. He fell in love with the woman that I was now questioning.

  “Liv?” Connor’s soft voice interrupted my thoughts. “We’re home.”

  I opened my eyes and saw Connor standing over my opened passenger door, I looked around and noticed that we had pulled up in front of a building along a small pristine street lined with beautifully-aged brownstone houses.

  “Where are we?”

  “We’re in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood in Philly.”

  “This is where we live?”

  “Yup.” Connor held out his hand and I reached for it. When he pulled me out of the car, I gasped at what my eyes saw. We were parked in front of a gorgeous three-story beaux arts mansion with an antique limestone façade.

  “We have a unit in this building?” I stared at the massive structure in front of me and noticed a doorman at the front door waiting for our arrival.

  “No,” he laughed.

  “Oh.” I frowned and felt a wave of disappointment and embarrassment for thinking that we could actually live here.

  “The entire place is ours,” he corrected.

  I turned and looked at him in disbelief. I may not have my personal memories, but I did know a few things. I knew the Rittenhouse Square area of Philly was one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Philly, and this mansion was easily worth over $10 million. “The entire place?”

  He nodded and beamed at me. “Now come on. Let’s get you inside.”

  As we walked toward the front door, the doorman’s eyes lit up as he greeted me. “Good afternoon, Ms. Stuart. It’s so good to see you home.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled at him and couldn’t believe he knew my name.

  “I’m Jim, the butler of the house. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Oh. Thanks.” I fidgeted uncomfortably.

>   “Thanks, Jim. And if you could have Bill drive the Aston to the garage, that’d be great.”

  I stared at Connor in disbelief. “Bill?”

  “Oh yes, Bill’s my personal assistant.”

  “Right. Of course.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. How rich is this guy? The thought made me a little uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure why but when I imagined a place I’d call home, I imagined a warm, inviting apartment, not a large, cold mansion I could get lost in.

  But when we walked through the foyer and into the living room, I was pleasantly surprised and a smile crept onto my face. The interior was nothing like what I had expected from the outside. The decor was modern, chic, and casual with pops of colors. There was something comforting and familiar about the space and I immediately knew that I had decorated it.

  “Does anything look familiar?”

  I grinned. “I don’t remember anything, but it feels familiar.” I looked at him. “Does that sound crazy?”

  “Not at all.” He flashed me a warm smile. “I just want you to be comfortable here in your own house.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Oh yeah, I think Anna’s stopping by sometime this afternoon to see you. She might be able to answer any questions you might have.”

  “Anna?”

  “Sorry, Liv. I forgot I hadn’t mentioned her to you yet. She’s your best friend.”

  “Oh. My best friend.” I felt a pang of sadness knowing there was yet another important person in my life that I couldn’t remember.

  “Are you hungry? Thirsty?” he asked as he lead me to the kitchen.

  “Maybe just some water.” I looked around the brightly-lit kitchen. The afternoon sun was coming through the French doors that lead out to the terrace. I walked over to the terrace and beamed as my eyes landed on the beautiful flower garden in the backyard.

  “Who maintains the garden?”

  “You do.” Connor handed me my glass of water.

  “That sounds right.” I smiled at him and then looked back toward the garden. I didn’t know how I knew, but I knew that I enjoyed gardening.

  “Oh yeah. I also had Debra set up one of the guest rooms for me to sleep in for now. You can take our bedroom. I know you are still adjusting and I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable in any way. I…”