Mistress to the Magnate: Money Man's Fiancée Negotiation

“There’s no definitive answer that I can give you, Mr. Williams. If she does regain any memories, it can be a slow and sometimes traumatic process. Just be thankful that she’s doing as well as she is. It will just take time and patience.”

Unfortunately he had little of either.

“Even if she doesn’t regain her memories,” he added, “there’s no reason to expect that you two won’t live a long and happy life together regardless.”

Actually, there was one damned good reason. Whether she remembered it or not, Melody had crossed him. It was time she got a taste of her own medicine.

But to make this work, Ash had a bit of cleaning up to do first.

Three (#ulink_385c3866-941c-57af-8b77-218766683634)

When Melody opened her eyes again, Ash wasn’t in the room. She had the sudden, terrifying sensation that everything that had happened earlier was a dream or a hallucination. Then she lifted her hand, saw the diamond on her ring finger and relief washed over her.

It was real.

But where did Ash go? She pushed herself up on her elbows to look around and saw the note he’d left on the tray beside her:

Went to get your things. Back later to see you.

XOXO

Ash

She wondered where he was going to get them, then realized she must have been staying in a hotel when she’d had her accident. But that was more than two weeks ago. Wouldn’t they have discarded her things by now? Did hotels hang on to the items abandoned by their customers?

She hoped so. Maybe there was something among her things that would spark a memory, and she was interested to see this so-called research Ash had been talking about. Not that she didn’t believe him. It was just that something about this whole scenario was … off.

If what he said was true, and she was only here for school, what was she doing with four thousand dollars hidden in the lining of her purse? Was she trying to bribe someone, or buy information? Had she gotten herself into something illegal that she had been afraid to tell him? What if her accident hadn’t been an accident after all?

And even worse, what if the person she was trying to get away from was Ash?

She realized just how ridiculous that sounded and that she was letting her imagination run away from her. She’d seen the photos; they were obviously very happy together. She was sure that the expression she’d mistaken for anger when he’d first entered her room was just his reaction to learning that she didn’t remember him. After all, how would she feel if the man she had planned to spend the rest of her life with forgot who she was? Then insisted that she supply proof of their relationship? That would be devastating.

There were other things that disturbed her, as well. It seemed as though the news that she was in law school would evoke some sort of emotion. If not excitement, then maybe mild curiosity. Instead she’d just felt … disconnected. As though he were talking about another woman’s life. One she had little interest in. And in a way maybe she was.

She was sure that once she got home and back into a regular routine, things would come back to her. She would be more interested in things like her career and her hobbies. If she had any hobbies. She hadn’t even thought to ask him. There were all sorts of things he could tell her about her life.

She heard footsteps in the hall, her spirits lifting when she thought it might be Ash, but it was only the nurse.

“I see you’re awake,” she said with her usual cheery disposition. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” she said, and it was true. She still had a million questions, but at least now she knew that when she was discharged from the hospital, she would have somewhere to go. There was someone out there who loved and cared about her.

“I saw your fiancé,” the nurse said as she checked Melody’s IV. “He’s very handsome. But that just stands to reason, I guess.”

“Why?”

“Well, because you’re so pretty.”

“I am?”

The nurse laughed. “Well, of course you are.”

She made it sound so obvious, but when Melody had seen her reflection the other day, the only thing she noticed was that a stranger’s eyes stared back at her. She didn’t stop to consider whether she was attractive. It just didn’t seem important at the time.

“I hear that you’re in law school,” the nurse said, jotting something down on Melody’s chart. “I never would have guessed.”

“Why is that?”

She shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. I guess you just don’t seem the type. I think of lawyers as pushy and overbearing. You’re not like that at all.”

She wondered what she was like, but she was a little afraid to ask.

The nurse closed her chart and asked, “Is there anything you need?”

She shook her head.

“Okay, well, you ring if you need me.”

When she was gone Melody considered what she said. What if she really wasn’t cut out to be a lawyer? Would she be throwing all those years of school down the toilet?

But honestly, what did the nurse know of her? She was not going to plan the rest of her life around a comment made by someone who had known her for less than three days. And not at her best, obviously. Maybe when she was back on her feet and feeling like her old self she would be lawyer material again. A real shark.

Or, as she had considered earlier, maybe the accident had changed her.

There was really no point in worrying about it now. Like the doctor said, she needed to concentrate on healing. It was sage advice, because the sooner she got back to her life, the sooner she would get her memory back. And in the meantime she was sure, with a fiancé like Ash to take care of her, everything was going to be okay.

Ash stood in the impound lot at the Abilene police station, heart in the pit of his stomach, knees weak, looking at what was left of Melody’s Audi Roadster. Suddenly he understood why everyone kept saying that she was lucky to be alive.

Not only was it totaled, it was barely recognizable. He knew it was a rollover accident, he just hadn’t realized how far it had rolled, and the momentum it had gained by the time it hit the tree that had ultimately stopped it. The passenger’s side was pretty much gone, completely crushed inward.

Had she hit the tree on the driver’s side, there was no doubt she wouldn’t have survived. Also, Mel always drove with the top down, but apparently it had been raining, so when she flipped over there was at least something there to keep her from snapping her neck. Although just barely, because the top, too, was crushed, and at some point had come loose and was hanging by a single bolt.

He hated Melody for what she had done to him, but he wouldn’t wish an accident like this on his worst enemy.

According to the police, she’d tried to swerve out of the way when she saw the bike. Unfortunately it had been too late.

He walked over and peered in the driver’s side, immediately seeing what he was looking for. He tried the door but it was hopelessly jammed. With one hand he pushed the top out of the way then reached around the steering wheel and grabbed the keys from the ignition. He hit the release for the trunk, but it didn’t budge, and he had no better luck with the key. If there was anything in there, she was going to have to live without it.

He turned to walk back to the entrance, then as an afterthought, walked back and snapped some pictures with his phone. The matter had already been reported to his insurance company, but it never hurt to be thorough and keep a record for his own reference.

When he was back in his rental car, he punched the address the P.I. had given him into the GPS and followed the commands until he was parked in front of a house about fifteen minutes from the hospital.

The house itself was tiny but well-kept, although the neighborhood left a lot to be desired. How could she go from a penthouse condo to living in what was barely a step above a slum? To be with her lover? If so, the guy had to be a loser. Although if she had come here to be with her lover, why hadn’t he been at the hospital with her?

Well, if there was someone else there, he was about to find out.

There were no cars in the driveway, and the curtains were drawn. He walked to the front door with purpose, slid the key in, and opened it. The first thing that hit him was a rush of cool air punctuated by the rancid stench of rotting food. At that point he knew it was safe to assume that she lived alone. No one would be able to stand the odor.