The Husband She Can't Remember (Southwest Secrets Series Book 1)

by Tina Cambria

  Somehow—and exactly how was the million-dollar question—her hormones had told the chemicals in the test stick that a new life was forming inside of her.

  “Danielle?” The rapping on the door began again.

  She sucked in a gallon of air and opened the door. Her mystery man’s eyes showed he was waiting for the answer to an important question. Shrugging, she held the plastic stick in front of her, so he could see the word that had appeared.

  “This is epic,” he said.

  “I guess you could call it that.” She couldn’t stop the trembling that overtook her. “But in a good way…or what they call an epic fail?”

  His eyes glinted, and he flashed a grin. “No failure here, darlin’.” Nodding at the plastic stick in her hand, he said, “Looks like we scored a touchdown.”

  “Were we trying to?”

  “What—start a family before the ink on our marriage certificate was barely dry? I don’t think we were necessarily intending for that to happen.” He paused and shot her a questioning look. “But maybe it’s okay.”

  “Okay?” Danielle’s voice rose. “How can it be okay when I don’t even know you?”

  She suddenly became aware of Leslie peeking around the stranger’s shoulder. Avoiding eye contact, Danielle held out the stick so that Leslie could see the life-changing word now being displayed.

  “I knew it,” Leslie said.

  Danielle made a mental note not to question Leslie’s knowledge of human biology again. “Well, now what do we do?” she mumbled, talking more to herself than to anyone in particular.

  “First thing we do is sit you down in the living room,” Leslie said, pushing past the man, grabbing Danielle by the hand, and leading her to the sofa. “Then we schedule a doctor’s appointment, so you can be examined, start taking prenatal vitamins, and all that good stuff.”

  “Are you always this bossy?” he asked Leslie, trailing behind the women into the living room.

  “Excuse me, who are you anyway?” Leslie frowned at the man hovering over her best friend. “And I think the proper term is leadership skills.”

  “Kyle Williams.” He smiled. “Sorry about not giving proper credit to your leadership abilities. And you are…?”

  “Leslie Martinson. I’m Danielle’s best friend,” she said, protectively placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “And the owner of this house.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Kyle extended his hand. “Sorry I didn’t recognize you from the photo Danielle showed me. As I mentioned before, I’m her husband.”

  Ignoring the offer of a handshake, Leslie shook her head and turned to Danielle. “Is that true?”

  “I-I don’t know,” Danielle spluttered. She would have sworn under oath that she’d never seen the guy before. But she also would have sworn under oath that there was absolutely no chance at all that she could be pregnant. And yet, it looked fairly certain that she was. She’d have a doctor confirm it, of course. Still, between the symptoms and the test results—it was apparent that something momentous had happened during that week she couldn’t remember.

  “Look, what’s going on here?” Kyle eased himself onto the sofa and took Danielle’s chin into his hand. Looking deep into her eyes, he dropped his voice to a whisper. “I know you’re damn good at pretending, but I don’t get what this act is about.”

  A chill ran up Danielle’s spine. She hadn’t known his name until he’d introduced himself a few minutes earlier. And she had no recollection of ever meeting Kyle Williams until today. But there was something…something she couldn’t exactly describe, and it drew her to him.

  He knew her name and had sought her out. He claimed to be her husband. And there was a pretty good chance that she was going to have a baby—maybe his. She didn’t want to believe it, but there had to be some kind of connection between them. And she had to find out what it was.

  “Leslie, could you please give us some time alone?” Ignoring the shocked expression on her friend’s face, Danielle continued, “We have some things to discuss.”

  * * *

  By the time Leslie reluctantly left, Kyle was more than ready to get to the bottom of why Danielle acted like she didn’t know him. He’d had girls dump him before. But not like this.

  No woman he’d been involved with had ever broken things off without giving him some kind of verbal send-off. Telling him off would be a better description. And he’d probably deserved it most of the time.

  But claiming to not even know him? This was a whole new ballgame. And this woman had actually married him. There was definitely something totally different about the attractive young woman sitting next to him now.

  “So, tell me what’s up with acting like you never met me before, Danielle.”

  “I honestly don’t remember ever meeting you,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean we haven’t met.”

  “Haven’t met? Believe me, we did a lot more than just meet.” He sure couldn’t forget the week they’d spent together. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch for him to call it one of the best weeks of his life. Maybe even the best week of his life. And not just their lovemaking. He actually liked Danielle. Liked her a lot.

  “I’m starting to believe that.” She blushed. “I mean, if that pregnancy test is accurate, I must’ve done a lot more with…someone.”

  “Oh, it was me all right.” Noting the flush of embarrassment spread through her face and neck, he patted her hand. “You didn’t do anything wrong. We made it legal before anything happened.”

  “But why would I marry someone I barely knew?”

  “You really don’t remember?” Taking in her attire, he cleared his throat. “Look, I’ve been trying not to be rude, but you haven’t told me why you’re still in pajamas at this time of day. Something’s not right with you, and it’s got to be more than a bout of morning sickness.”

  “I was in a car accident about five weeks ago. On the last leg of my way home from California.”

  Kyle caught his breath. “Are you okay?’

  “Mostly okay. My car was totaled.” She moved her hands up and down her thighs. “I don’t remember anything about it. And they said I lost consciousness for a few minutes afterwards.”

  “Sounds pretty serious.” Anything that knocked somebody out was scary. “What happened?”

  “An eyewitness saw a big SUV swerve from the right lane toward the median on I-70, near the Utah/Colorado line. The SUV clipped a car in the left lane, and that car bounced off the guardrail and fishtailed right in front of me.”

  “That’s the car that hit you?”

  She nodded. “Head-on.”

  “I don’t know what to say.” His gut clenched. “You were lucky you didn’t get killed.”

  Why hadn’t she contacted him? Maybe he wouldn’t have been the first person she’d call in an emergency, but she should’ve let him know about an accident that serious.

  “I guess the seat belt, shoulder harness, and air bag did their job. I ended up with a really nasty bruise from the shoulder harness and a pair of black eyes from the air bag.” She tilted her head back and closed her eyes for a second. “Nothing broken, so I got off pretty lucky.”

  “But you don’t remember any of this?”

  She shook her head. “The doctors think I either bumped my head on the driver side window or suffered a mild concussion just from the force of the impact with the other car. Either way, the last thing I remember before the accident was leaving my apartment in L.A. and heading home. Back here, to Colorado.”

  What was she telling him? She didn’t remember how they’d met in Barstow, California, cooked up a business deal on the way to Vegas, and turned it into the week of their lives? Or at least the week of his life?

  No, he was willing to bet they’d both had the week of their lives.

  Kyle couldn’t help arching an eyebrow. “So, this is some kind of temporary amnesia thing?”

  “The doctors say it’s amnesia—you’ve got that right. But they’re hedging on the
temporary part.”

  “And yet you know your name, people in your family…things like that?”

  “Yes, thank goodness. It’s not a global loss of memory.” She managed a tentative smile. “I just can’t remember anything from the time I set out from L.A. until I woke up in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The doctors said it’s a kind of partial amnesia associated with traumatic events.”

  “But there’s a chance your memories might come back?” He touched her forearm. The soft feel of her skin brought back his memories of the week they’d spent together. Could she really not remember any of it?

  “Maybe, maybe not.” She sighed. “The neurologist said it’s possible that something may trigger my memory, and it could all come back. Then again, he said I may never remember a single thing about that week.”

  He should probably tell her all the details of their time together. Their chance meeting, the deal they’d made, how a business arrangement had turned into a whole lot more. He’d be doing her a favor, wouldn’t he?

  If only he knew the effect that would have on her. Maybe he’d shock her so much that she’d also forget her name and everything else about herself. He sure wasn’t a doctor and definitely was no expert on the intricacies of the brain.

  But still… Now there was a baby involved. And he was certain that the baby was his. Could he convince Danielle that they’d shared something special during their time together?

  CHAPTER THREE

  Danielle tried not to stare at Kyle as they ate lunch an hour later at the Java Junkie Coffee Corner. She definitely liked what she saw.

  Full-on gorgeous.

  And they were married? Unless he’d gone to an awful lot of trouble to create a phony marriage certificate—complete with a raised government seal—it had become clear that they’d indeed gotten married in Las Vegas about six weeks earlier.

  “So, run this by me again. My car broke down in Barstow, and you gave me a lift to Vegas?” She’d been there in mid-August. You’d think she’d remember her car conking out in a town where the summertime high temperature averaged around a hundred degrees. But nothing about it sounded familiar.

  Kyle took a swig of iced coffee and nodded. “That’s right. I came out of the convenience store next to the gas station. As I headed to my car, I heard you talking to the mechanic. You were bent out of shape because he said you needed a new fuel pump, and your car wouldn’t be ready until sometime the next day.”

  “So, I just hopped into your car and let you drive off to Las Vegas with me?” This sounded so out of character for her. Her mother and grandmother had always told her not to accept rides from strangers. She must have been out of her mind.

  “No, give yourself credit for having some common sense, Danielle.” He smiled and gave her a conspiratorial wink.

  The guy acted like they had a history together. Well, they obviously did, judging from the results of the home pregnancy test.

  And when Kyle went on to tell her how he’d overheard her say to the mechanic that she had a non-refundable deposit for a hotel room in Las Vegas that night, Danielle couldn’t help but believe him. Because she did remember pre-paying that deposit to stay one night in Vegas on her journey back home to Colorado. She’d made the arrangements the day before she’d left L.A.

  Even though she had no recollection of him before he’d shown up at Leslie’s door earlier, it didn’t seem that hard to picture Kyle introducing himself and asking if he could provide any assistance, such as driving her to Vegas. Especially if he told her that he just happened to be heading there himself.

  Kyle told her that when the mechanic mentioned that he also had plans to be in Vegas the next evening and offered to deliver her repaired car to a hotel on the Strip, the deal had been sealed.

  It kind of made sense, didn’t it? She supposed it could have happened.

  “You’re telling me I was some sort of an accidental hitchhiker, and over the course of a two-hour drive through the desert, we decided to get married?” That had to be one wild car ride. If he wasn’t a smooth-talking salesman, he was in the wrong line of business.

  “Actually, the decision to get married came a little later.”

  “Uh…how much later?”

  Kyle set down his fork, leaned toward her, and dropped his voice. “Before our little one was conceived, if that’s what you’re worrying about. I already told you we made it legal first.”

  She shot him a look of exasperation. “The timing of the event actually isn’t my biggest concern right now. The why of it is what I’m trying to figure out.”

  Looking at Kyle’s strapping physique and chiseled features, it was a no-brainer that making love with him wouldn’t be the worst thing she could imagine. But she wasn’t the type to go in for one-night stands. Even if the one-night part of it turned into a full week.

  And what about getting married? She was leaning towards believing that she’d accepted a ride to Vegas with Kyle. But married a man she’d just met? That part wasn’t adding up.

  Kyle glanced around the coffee shop and then looked squarely at her. “It was no more than a business deal at the outset. Plain and simple.”

  Could this get any worse? He couldn’t be calling what she’d done a euphemism for…for something she was sure she’d never consider.

  “Please tell me you’re not talking about—” She stopped short when a familiar figure appeared in the doorway of the coffee shop.

  Following her gaze, Kyle swiveled in his seat and glanced toward the entrance. He sized up the red-haired man approaching their table and said, “That must be your former so-called fiancé, Walter.”

  * * *

  Kyle did a quick visual assessment of Walter Ferguson. Pretty much the way he’d pictured the dude. An average-looking guy with a slouching posture, Walter determinedly threw back his shoulders and jutted out his chin as he moved toward them. This was the guy who hadn’t been able to pull the trigger on his relationship with Danielle. The guy who let a beautiful woman call him her fiancé for something like two years without doing anything to make it official.

  No wonder Danielle had given up on that sham of a relationship and headed to California in search of something better.

  Now, Walter strode across the coffee shop like he was ready to lay claim to his long-lost treasure.

  Too late, man. Someone else already staked that claim. And made it his own.

  Standing up, Kyle made a pre-emptive strike and offered his hand. “Hey, dude,” he said, pumping Walter’s fist with a little more strength than necessary. With at least a five-inch height advantage over the newcomer, he figured that would combine with his authoritative handshake to let Walter know who had the upper hand. He didn’t usually pull that kind of stunt on smaller guys, but he was pissed at the dude for the way he’d treated Danielle in the past.

  “I don’t believe we’ve met,” Walter replied, extricating his hand from Kyle’s grasp and flexing it a few times.

  Kyle half-smiled. The guy was probably trying to get the blood circulating through his hand again. “I’m Kyle Williams,” he said. How he wanted to add that he was Danielle’s husband. And that she was pregnant with his baby. But he wouldn’t do that to Danielle. This wasn’t the appropriate time to make that announcement.

  Nodding dismissively at Kyle, Walter turned to Danielle. “I’m surprised to see you out and about. You’ve been pretty much housebound since your accident.”

  She fidgeted with the food on her plate. “Kyle thought it would be good for me to get out of the house.”

  Kyle smiled with satisfaction as Walter’s eyes reflected his surprise. He could imagine the thoughts going through old Walter’s head. Like wondering who the hell Kyle was and why he influenced Danielle’s decisions about what she should be doing.

  Keep wondering, Walt. You’ll find out soon enough.

  Quickly looking back and forth at the couple, Walter focused on Danielle again. “Perhaps I could stop over to see you tonight?”

&n
bsp; She tapped her fingers on the table. “Not sure. Give me a call first, okay?”

  Walter turned back to Kyle. Kyle sat back down and took a long drink of his coffee. He could almost see in the other man’s eyes the exact instant when the proverbial light bulb clicked on.

  “Yeah, maybe I’ll do that,” Walter said. “Or not.” His eyes blazed as he turned abruptly and headed out the shop door without ordering anything.

  Kyle couldn’t help grinning at Danielle. “Hope I didn’t mess things up between you and Walter.”

  “How did you know that was Walter?” she demanded in a low voice.

  He shrugged and extended his hands, palms up. “You told me all about him. When we were in Vegas.”

  “What did I tell you?”

  Kyle scanned the shop to be sure no one nearby seemed to be listening to their conversation. “You said he’d been your make-believe fiancé for about two years.”

  “Make-believe?” A faint blush crept up her neck. “I told you about that?”

  “That’s right. Maybe you said unofficial instead of make-believe, but let’s call it what it was.” Kyle picked up his coffee and took another swig. “No proposal, no engagement ring, no…getting it on.”

  “How dare you—”

  “What?” Kyle cut in. “Am I saying anything that isn’t true?” At her wounded look, he felt a pang of guilt. He didn’t intend to hurt her. Or shame her. But Walter for sure had issues of his own, and Kyle doubted the guy would’ve ever made the next move. From what Danielle had told him back in Vegas, Walter was more concerned with pleasing his mother than making a real life with Danielle. He still couldn’t fathom why she’d been interested in the guy as more than a friend.

  Kyle reached across the table and covered her hand with his own. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so cold.” It had become clear that he needed to share the details of their week together more sparingly.

  According to Danielle, she didn’t remember anything about their whirlwind marriage and honeymoon. And she’d just found out a few hours before that she was pregnant. The way he saw it, two giant surprises had just landed in her lap in a flash.