VANDERBILT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL MEDICAL NOTES

PATIENT: TOM FLYNT ATTENDING NURSE: TINA WHITE

 Patient Flynt set to be released; still has no memories of who he is.

 Wounds to head have healed rapidly.

 Fast progress due to patient’s incredible physique and remarkable fitness.

 Could invite patient over for Thanksgiving meal—no use in us both being alone for the holiday.

 Am supposed to be taking care of patient—why do I feel like he’s trying to take care of me…?

Dear Reader,

The 20th anniversary excitement continues as we bring you a 2-in-1 collection containing brand-new novellas by two of your favorite authors: Maggie Shayne and Marilyn Pappano. Who Do You Love? It’s an interesting question—made more complicated for these heroes and heroines because they’re not quite what they seem, making the path to happily-ever-after an especially twisty one. Enjoy!

A YEAR OF LOVING DANGEROUSLY continues with Her Secret Weapon by bestselling writer Beverly Barton. This is a great secret-baby story—with a forgotten night of passion thrown in to make things even more exciting. Our in-line 36 HOURS spin-off continues with A Thanksgiving To Remember, by Margaret Watson. Suspenseful and sensual, this story shows off her talents to their fullest. Applaud the return of Justine Davis with The Return of Luke McGuire. There’s something irresistible about a bad boy turned hero, and Justine’s compelling and emotional handling of the theme will win your heart. In The Lawman Meets His Bride, Meagan McKinney brings her MATCHED IN MONTANA miniseries over from Desire with an exciting romance featuring a to-die-for hero. Finally, pick up The Virgin Beauty by Claire King and discover why this relative newcomer already has people talking about her talent.

Share the excitement—and come back next month for more!

Leslie J. Wainger

Executive Senior Editor

A Thanksgiving to Remember
Margaret Watson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For Mom.

Thanks for believing in me and being my biggest fan.

MARGARET WATSON

From the time she learned to read, Margaret could usually be found with her nose in a book. Her lifelong passion for reading led to her interest in writing, and now she’s happily writing exactly the kind of stories she likes to read. Margaret is a veterinarian who lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and their three daughters. In her spare time she enjoys rollerblading, bird-watching and spending time with her family. Readers can write to Margaret at P.O. Box 2333, Naperville, IL 60567-2333.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 1

“I need help here, White!”

The bark of the doctor’s voice cut through the din of the emergency room and nurse Tina White looked up from the patient she was bandaging. “I’ll be right there,” she called.

She looked down at the woman lying on the table with an encouraging smile. “You’re going to be fine,” she said, her voice low and reassuring. “You heard what the doctor said. Your wrist is only sprained, and although it will hurt for a few days, you’ll be back to normal before you know it.”

She applied the last piece of tape and eased the woman’s injured arm back onto the table. “The doctor will be back in a moment, and she’ll probably let you go home.”

Giving the woman another reassuring smile, Tina moved to the next cubicle. The emergency room doctor was working on an unconscious man, and Tina moved to the other side of the exam table. Her stomach clenched as she looked at the blood that covered his face and the left side of his head. “Surely he didn’t get these injuries in the chaos at the masquerade ball earlier this evening?” she asked, moving instinctively to staunch the flow of blood from the man’s head.

“Car accident,” the doctor answered tersely as he examined the patient. “The police said he was one of two men who ran out of the hotel when the lights went out.”

Tina raised her head and looked over at the doctor. “What was he doing?”

The doctor shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe he was the guy who fired the shots. We won’t know anything until he wakes up.”

Tina looked down at the man who lay so silent and still on the table. His short, dark brown hair was disheveled and his face was pale and streaked with blood, but something about his features tugged at Tina. “He doesn’t look like a criminal.”

The doctor snorted. “Most criminals don’t.” His hands moved over the patient, gentle yet probing. “No matter who he is, he’s one lucky guy. That cut on his head is going to need suturing and it feels like he might have a couple of broken ribs and a concussion, but other than that he looks like he’s going to be all right.”

Tina pressed on the gauze pad she was holding over the wound on the man’s head, holding it more firmly to slow the bleeding. “What do you want me to do?”

The doctor raked his eyes over the patient, giving him an assessing look that Tina recognized. Then he said, “Get him cleaned up so I can suture that cut. Our first priority is to stop that bleeding. Then start another bag of fluids. The first one is almost finished.”

They worked in silence for the next half hour. The doctor occasionally muttered a request to Tina, but she usually anticipated his needs and handed him an instrument before he asked. When the doctor finally stepped back, there was a neat line of sutures along the left side of the stranger’s head.

“Get that bandaged, then we’ll get him into X-ray and get a scan of his head and chest. I want to make sure there isn’t any other damage.”

Tina gently covered the wound with bandage and tape, then hovered over their unconscious patient, reluctant to leave him alone. “Is there anyone with him?”

“The paramedics told me he was alone in the car. I have no idea if the police have managed to locate his family.” He looked around the emergency room, where the chaos that had reigned earlier was beginning to subside. “It looks like things have quieted down a little.” He shook his head. “I don’t think this is the way most of these people planned to spend their Halloween.” He glanced around again. “Can you take this one over to X-ray, or should I call an orderly?”

Tina didn’t tell the doctor that her shift on another floor of the hospital had ended several hours ago, or that she had volunteered to help in the busy emergency room. “Don’t bother with an orderly,” she said at once. “I’ll take him.”

The doctor helped her load the man onto a gurney, then she wheeled him out of the emergency room and over to the X-ray department. The technician glanced briefly down at the patient, then looked back at Tina. “Another one from the Steele ball?”

“Car accident,” she said, handing him the papers the emergency-room doctor had filled out. “He needs a scan of his head and chest.”

The technician looked at the papers and frowned. “These don’t have any insurance information. We need that before we can get started.”

Tina’s temper flared. “You know that’s not true in an emergency,” she said, her voice cold. “He was alone in the car and the police haven’t brought his ID in yet. I’m sure you’ll get the information as soon as it’s available. But we need that scan now.”

The technician gave her patient a dubious glance, then shrugged. “If you say so. All I do is fill out the paperwork.”

Tina smoothed a protective hand over the bandage on the unconscious man’s head as she struggled to control her temper.

He came around the desk to help her push the gurney into a cubicle. “They’re not exactly standing in line here at two in the morning.”

Tina stood in the waiting room while the technician performed the tests on her patient, pacing from one side to the other. “What’s the matter with you?” she muttered to herself. “This guy is just another patient.”

But he wasn’t just another patient. For some reason, Tina felt unusually protective toward the unnamed man. Maybe it was because he was completely helpless and alone, no one waiting anxiously for him in the waiting room, no one to hold his hand as he lay unconscious. Or maybe it was because of the doctor’s quick, careless assumption that he was a criminal.

Or maybe it was because she found him attractive. She forced herself to face the truth. Even though his face was pasty-white and a bandage covered half his head, he was still a very handsome man. Thick eyelashes fanned out against his pale cheeks. His face was lean, but there were lines around his eyes that told her he smiled frequently. She wondered what color those eyes were, wondered if she would see kindness or indifference in them when he woke up.

It didn’t matter, she told herself, appalled at the direction her thoughts were taking. She didn’t moon over men she was nursing. She was a professional, dedicated to giving her patients the best care she possibly could. And as a professional, she didn’t get involved with her patients, either.

Thank goodness she had remembered that, she told herself firmly.

The door to the X-ray cubicle opened and the technician wheeled out the gurney. “Here’s your boy,” he said, maneuvering the gurney into place next to the desk.

“What did you find?” Tina found herself leaning toward the technician, her heart pounding.

The technician shrugged. “I have no idea. The radiologist has been busy tonight and it’ll be a while before he gets to your scans. A lot of people got hurt in that mess at the Steeles’ ball. After David and Lisa Steele got themselves shot, everyone panicked and tried to get out at the same time. They’re still getting people into the emergency room.”

“You’re right. I just thought you might have taken a look.”

The technician shook his head. “I put them in the box for the doc to look at. He’ll get to them as soon as he can.”

“All right.” Tina swallowed her disappointment. The technician wasn’t the one who would diagnose any problems, anyway. “I’ll go ahead and take him up to his room.”

The unnamed man lay still and unmoving as Tina pushed the heavy gurney to the elevator, then rolled him into the room he’d been assigned. She was absurdly happy that he was on the floor where she usually worked. His breathing was steady and regular as she hooked him up to the monitors that would keep track of his vital signs. Finally, when she was finished, she stood back and looked at him for a moment.

Lights flashed and blinked, and a low, steady hum seemed to fill the room. The numbers on the monitor attached to his intravenous line glowed at her, and she looked around at the stark, cheerless room. Anyone who woke up alone in a hospital room would be frightened and confused.

She didn’t want this man to wake up with only machines for company. Although her legs ached after working for more than twelve hours and her tired eyes were gritty and hot, she sat down in the chair next to the bed.

She’d only been there for a few minutes when someone walked into the room. Tina turned around and faced a beefy man in a slightly-too-small suit who walked over to the bed and stared down at her patient.

“Is he awake yet?”

She jumped up from her chair and stepped between the man and her patient, and the man took a step backward. “Who are you?” she demanded.

He pulled a wallet out of the inner pocket of his suit jacket and flashed a badge at her. “Detective Bob Jones, Grand Springs Police Department.” He held the badge in front of her nose long enough for her to read it, then snapped the wallet shut and replaced it in his pocket. He nodded toward the bed. “Is he awake?”

“No, he’s still unconscious,” Tina answered.

Bob Jones peered around her at the man on the bed, as if he suspected she wasn’t telling him the truth. “How long before he wakes up?”

“No one knows,” she said coolly. “And when he does wake up, it may be a while before you can question him.”

The detective glanced over at her, and Tina felt him assessing her. Finally he nodded. “I’ll talk to his doctor,” he said, his voice dismissive.

“He’ll tell you the same thing.” Tina lifted her chin into the air.

The detective shrugged. “We’ll see.”

Tina glanced behind her, but her patient was still unconscious. “Have you found out who he was and located his family?” she asked.

“We found his driver’s license. His name is Tom Flynt. We’re trying to locate his family, but so far no luck.” He looked at her more intently. It felt like a laser had suddenly swung around on her. “Has he said anything to you?”

“He’s been unconscious since the paramedics brought him into the ER,” she said.

The detective’s gaze was penetrating as he watched her. “There’s something else you ought to know about this guy,” he said after a moment.

Tina bristled at the way the detective referred to her patient as “this guy.”

“What’s that?”

Jones nodded at the man lying on the hospital bed. “The paramedics found a gun in a holster, strapped to his back.”

Tina felt her stomach swoop away from her. “What does that mean?”

“I’ve got no idea. But since David and Lisa Steele were shot and killed tonight and he ran out of the ball, it makes me very interested in talking to Mr. Flynt.” He paused, and his shrewd gaze raked over her again, pausing at her name tag. “Keep that in mind, Ms. White. And let me know when he wakes up.”

He turned and walked out the door without looking back.

Tina listened to his footsteps fade away, then sank back down in the chair next to the bed. “Who are you?” she whispered, watching his face.

But he didn’t move, didn’t respond. She would have to wait until he woke up for answers, just like everyone else. “At least we know your name now,” she said. “Your name is Tom. Tom Flynt.”

She watched for some sign that he had heard her, some glimmer of recognition, but there was nothing. Sighing, she leaned forward and rested her arms on the bed rail. “You can wake up anytime now,” she said. “Everyone wants to know what you were doing at the ball, and why you ran out of the hotel. Why were you there, Tom Flynt? Were you chasing a killer?”

Her voice was low in the darkened room, but her attention was focused completely on her patient. “I don’t think you shot the Steeles,” she murmured. “You don’t look like a criminal.”

She blushed when she heard her words, wondering where they had come from. It was too late and she was too tired, she told herself. It made her speak before she thought. But it didn’t matter. No one else could hear her, least of all the unconscious Tom Flynt.

Better, though, to concentrate on her job. His right hand was curled slightly, and she took his fingers gently in hers. “You don’t want to crimp your IV line,” she said softly. Even though he couldn’t hear her, it felt right to talk to him, to let him know he wasn’t alone. “The night nurse wouldn’t like it if she had to get someone up here to start another IV.”

She tried to straighten his fingers, but his hand curled around hers and held her lightly. His large hand engulfed her much smaller one, cradling it gently. Warmth stole up her arm. Absurdly, she felt like he was reassuring her. And protecting her. Heat flared in her face as she stared at the unknown man.

“I’m supposed to be taking care of you,” she murmured, leaning forward and looking into his face. “Why do I feel like you’re trying to take care of me?” She wondered if it had anything to do with the murders at the masquerade ball. “Everyone is safe now, including you. You’re going to be fine.”

He didn’t answer, of course. He lay motionless and silent, but he didn’t let go of her hand.

It was the darkest part of the night and he was alone, so instead of pulling away, Tina curled her fingers around his hand and squeezed gently. No one would ever know, she told herself, including her mystery patient. There was no need to hurry back to the emergency room. Most of the patients were already taken care of, and she was supposed to be off duty, anyway.

“Let me tell you what we did for you tonight, Mr. Flynt,” she said, her low voice surrounding them in the semidarkness of the hospital room. “You had a car accident,” she began. She spoke slowly and calmly, knowing he couldn’t hear her words, but hoping that the sound of her voice would somehow comfort him. He didn’t let go of her hand, and Tina felt an invisible connection growing between them in the quiet of the impersonal hospital room.

That was absurd, of course. He was simply a patient, and she was only his nurse.

But she continued to talk to him, pausing frequently to look over the machines and make sure his pulse and heartbeat and respiration were normal. The floor nurse looked into the room a few times, but Tina waved her away.

Finally, as the first few streaks of dawn were appearing on the horizon outside the window, the floor nurse came into the room one last time.

“What are you still doing here, Tina?” she asked.

Tina eased her hand away from her patient’s and turned around to face the other nurse. “Keeping him company. It always bothers me when we have patients who don’t have any family.”

The other nurse’s face softened. “Yeah, I know what you mean. But didn’t your shift end at eleven last night?”

“I went down to the emergency room to help out. They were really swamped with patients who had been at the Steele masquerade ball.”

“I heard about that.” The other nurse frowned. “Is it true that David and Lisa Steele were killed?”

“It’s true. And apparently the killer got away.”

“Was this guy hurt at the ball?” The nurse gestured at the patient in the bed.”

“No, he was in a car accident. He might have been chasing the man who shot the Steeles.”

The other nurse’s eyes opened wide. “Was he with the killer?”

“Why would you think that?” Fatigue sharpened Tina’s voice, and she struggled to steady it. “I have no idea. I’m sure he’ll be able to tell us when he wakes up.”

The other nurse gave the man an assessing look. “He looks pretty stable right now. You’d better go home and get some sleep, Tina. With all these patients, we’re going to need you back at work later today.”

“You’re right.” Tina glanced at Tom Flynt one more time, then turned away. “I’ll be back for my shift this afternoon.” She hesitated, then asked, “Is Detective Jones still out there?”

“He sure is. He strikes me as the kind who doesn’t give up easily.”

“Don’t let him bully you.”

The other nurse grinned at her. “I’d like to see him try.”

Tina smiled back. “That’s what I figured you would say, Jenny.” And that’s why she’d mentioned it. Now it would be a point of honor for Jenny to protect Tom Flynt.

She wanted to ask Jenny to have someone call her if the man’s condition changed, but she stopped herself just in time. She must really be tired, she thought as she stood up, to think about lowering her guard too far and showing her feelings. It was a good thing she was going home. Maybe by the time she returned in the afternoon, she would have reassembled the careful barrier she kept around her emotions.

She allowed herself one last look at Tom Flynt’s still form lying on the bed before she turned and left the room.

Tina slept lightly, waking up more than once from a disturbing dream. She told herself that it was merely because of the many injured people she had helped treat the night before, but too many of the dreams featured the still, unconscious face of Tom Flynt, their mystery patient. Finally, at mid-morning, she flung the blankets off the bed and gave up trying to sleep.

She puttered around the house in the bright sunshine. It was hard to believe it was the first of November, but she knew the air would hold a bite of winter when she stepped outside. Already there was snow in the mountains surrounding the town, and it wouldn’t be long before they had snow in Grand Springs.

Tina did her morning chores automatically, then sat down to read her newspaper and drink a cup of coffee. The newspaper was full of stories about Jonathan Steele’s masquerade ball and the murders of his brother David and sister-in-law Lisa. Finally, Tina closed the paper and went upstairs to get dressed. She was too restless to stay at home until her shift started. Besides, with all the patients who had been admitted the night before, they probably needed extra hands to help out.

“Face it,” she told herself, “you just want to get back to the hospital to see Tom Flynt.”

Of course she wanted to see how her patient was doing, she thought defensively. She had spent a great deal of time with him the night before. It was only natural to be curious.

But her interest was far more than curiosity. Here in the safety of her own house, she could admit it. Tom Flynt had fascinated her. And the fact that he had been carrying a gun only compounded her interest.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with you,” she scolded herself, as she pulled on a clean white uniform. “You, of all people, should know enough to stay away from a man with a gun.”

But it didn’t matter. She was suddenly in a fever of anticipation to get back to the hospital and see if Tom Flynt had woken up, and how he was doing. Once he was awake, her interest would end, she told herself. Once she’d talked to him, she’d see he was an ordinary man, just like all the others. And on top of that, a man who carried a gun.

She drove through Grand Springs, marveling at the fact that everything looked so normal. There was no trace of the chaos and tragedy that had struck the town the night before. It looked like the peaceful, quiet place it had been since the last disaster, a blackout, had hit the town several years earlier.

When she arrived at the hospital, a couple of hours early for her shift, she hurried to her floor. She almost swept past the nursing desk, but stopped herself just in time. She paused and smiled at the harried-looking nurse reading a file.

“Hi, Sue,” she said, and the nurse looked up at her.

“Oh, hi, Tina,” she answered, surprise in her voice. “What are you doing here? You’re on afternoons, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but I figured we’d be busy so I thought I’d come in early.”

Sue’s face relaxed in a grateful smile. “That’s great. Thanks. We’ve been running all day. We can always count on you, Tina.”

Tina nodded in the direction of Tom’s room, hoping her interest looked casual. “I took care of Tom Flynt, the man with the concussion. How’s he doing?”

Sue grabbed Tom’s chart and glanced at it. “About the same, it looks like.”

“Is he still unconscious?”

“As far as I know.”

Tina nodded. “I think I’ll look in on him, as long as I’m here.”

Tina hurried away from the desk and stepped into Tom’s room. It was much brighter in the light of day, and the sunlight slanted off his face, making his beard look dark and heavy. It didn’t look like he’d moved since she had left a few hours before.

She stood watching him for a moment, then sat down in the chair that still stood next to his bed. “Hi, Tom,” she said in a low voice, as she watched him. “I just stopped by to see how you were doing before I reported in to work.”

As she spoke to him, she thought she saw him stir. She paused for a moment, then spoke again, in the same low voice. “Are you getting ready to wake up? It’s all right. You’re safe now, and there are a lot of people here to help take care of you.”

This time he definitely moved, and Tina’s hands tightened on the bed rail. She saw his throat muscles ripple as he swallowed once, then his eyes fluttered open.

Her first thought was that he had beautiful eyes. They were light brown, the color of well-aged whiskey. When she realized what she was thinking, she shook her head. What was the matter with her?

She leaned toward the bed. “Hello, Tom,” she said in a low voice. “How do you feel?”

He looked up at her, a puzzled look on his face. “Who are you? Where am I? What’s going on?”

It wasn’t unusual for accident victims not to recall their accident once they recovered consciousness. “You had a car accident last night, just outside Grand Springs city limits. You’re at Vanderbilt Memorial Hospital, and you’re going to be fine.” She smiled down at him and lightly touched his hand. “The doctor can tell you exactly what’s wrong with you, but you have a cut on your head that we sutured, and you had a concussion. Hold on a minute, I want to get the doctor.”

She hurried out of the room and down to the desk. “Sue, Tom Flynt just woke up. Will you call the doctor? I’ll go back and stay with him.”

Without waiting for an answer, Tina hurried back to the hospital room. Tom Flynt was trying to sit up, and Tina eased him back onto the bed. “Why don’t you wait until the doctor gets here before you try to get up? He’s going to want to take a good look at you, Mr. Flynt.”

He stared at her, and she saw the confusion in his eyes, and the growing fear. “I don’t understand,” he whispered, his voice harsh and scratchy. “What car accident? What’s Grand Springs? And who is Tom Flynt?”

Chapter 2

Without pausing to think, Tina took his hand again. This time, his fingers curled around hers, holding on with an intensity that almost hurt.

“You’re Tom Flynt,” she said gently. “That’s your name.”

He frowned up at her. “That doesn’t sound familiar.”

“You had a car accident. Do you remember anything about that?”

She watched him thinking, then he began to shake his head. He stopped immediately, pain creasing his face. “No. I don’t remember anything about a car accident.”

“That’s not unusual. The mind often blocks out traumatic memories. Many people who have been in an accident can’t remember what happened.”

“What did you say my name was?”

“Tom Flynt.” She waited to see if there was any recognition in his eyes. There wasn’t.

“What was the name of the town?” he asked.

“Grand Springs. In Colorado,” she added.

She saw the fear creeping into his eyes. “Do I live here?”

“I have no idea, Mr. Flynt. The police haven’t told me.”

“Police?” The tone of his voice changed, became more urgent. “Why are the police involved?”

“Because of the car accident,” she said patiently. “They’re investigating it.”

She saw him frown again, as if he were trying to concentrate. “There’s something I need to remember.”

“Don’t worry about it, Mr. Flynt,” she said. “Your memories will probably come back very soon.” She heard a noise at the door, and turned to see Dr. Steve Wilson standing there.

“Good morning, Dr. Wilson.”

“Hi, Tina.” The doctor gave her a quick smile, then looked past her to the patient on the bed. “I understand that Mr. Flynt has woken up.”

Tina reluctantly let go of Tom’s hand, then stepped aside. “Just now.” She didn’t want to examine why she was reluctant to break contact with her patient.

Steve Wilson sat down in the chair next to the bed and talked to Tom Flynt for a while. Then he stood up and examined him. He made some notes on Tom’s chart, then sat down again.

“You’ve had a concussion, Mr. Flynt, and two cracked ribs. One of the fractured ribs abraded a lung, and although the bleeding into your chest was minimal and appears to have stopped, we’ll need to keep you in the hospital for a few days to let it heal. All in all, though, I’d say you were darned lucky.”

Tom Flynt watched the doctor steadily. “I didn’t recognize my name, or the name of this town.”

Steve nodded. “You’ve got amnesia. It’s not uncommon after head injuries and traumatic events like car accidents, but your memory seems to be totally gone, which is more unusual. I’m confident it will return, but it might take a few days. And just in case, I’m going to have a specialist take a look at you.”

He turned to Tina. “Let me know if anything changes,” he said. “I’ll be in later.”

Tina noticed that Tom watched Steve Wilson carefully as he left the room. When he had disappeared down the hall, Tom looked back at her. “He seems distracted. Do you know why?”

Tina was stunned. “For someone who can’t remember his name, you’re certainly perceptive. And if he’s distracted, it has nothing to do with you. Steve is having some problems at home right now.”

Tom nodded. “I thought something was wrong.”

“It hasn’t affected his work. He’s a great doctor,” she said quickly. “And everything he said was correct.”

“Don’t worry, I believe him. It’s hard to argue that I don’t have amnesia when I can’t remember my name.” He gave her a wry smile.

His brown eyes were warm and glowing, and, just as she had thought, the lines around his eyes crinkled when he smiled. Her stomach swooped and dipped, and she tightened her grip on the bed rail.

“Do you have any questions I could answer?” she asked hurriedly.

“Can I look in a mirror?” he asked.

“Of course.” She found a hand mirror in the bathroom and handed it to him.

Tom took the mirror with the same sensation of unreality that had enveloped him since he’d woken up to see the nurse smiling down at him. He stared at the face in the mirror for a long time, but it looked utterly foreign to him, as unfamiliar as the name “Tom Flynt.” He struggled to beat back the panic that threatened to overwhelm him. Finally, he handed the mirror back to the nurse who stood next to the bed. He noticed that his hand was shaking.

“I don’t look familiar at all.”

“It’s all right,” she said quietly. “Don’t try to force yourself to remember. That will only make it worse.”

Tom stared at her bright blue eyes and the rich, dark red of her hair. “You haven’t told me your name.”

“I’m Tina. Tina White,” she said.

He turned the name over in his mind, but it didn’t sound familiar, either. Fear clawed at him again, its dark fangs waiting to devour him. He closed his eyes, forcing the monster to recede, until there was nothing inside him at all. His mind felt like a huge black void, totally empty. Except for this woman’s voice.

He grasped at the one familiar thing he’d found. “Did I know you before…before the accident?” he asked.

“No.” She shook her head. “We never met before last night.”

“But your voice sounds familiar to me. It’s the only thing that feels familiar.”

To his surprise, he saw her face turn a delicate shade of pink. “I think that’s because I was talking to you last night. You were unconscious, but I didn’t know how much you might be able to hear. And you were alone. So I…talked to you.”

“You did?” As he watched her, fascinated, her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.

“We always encourage family members to talk to unconscious patients,” she said, her voice prim. He watched her try to regain her composure. “It can’t hurt, and we think it might help. So I talked to you.”

“And I remembered,” he said slowly.

“On some level, I guess you do.” Tina moved around the room, keeping her back to him, straightening the already-straight machines that surrounded his bed.

“I definitely remember your voice.”

“Then I guess you weren’t as deeply unconscious as we’d feared.” She turned to face him again and pasted what looked like a professionally detached smile on her face. “Maybe that means your memory will come back quickly, also.”

The reminder about his memory jogged something deep in his brain. A sense of urgency surfaced, made more frantic by the fact that he couldn’t remember why.

“I need to remember something,” he said suddenly.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Flynt. It will come back.” Tina’s voice was once again warm and soothing.

“No, there’s something specific. Something I need to do.” He moved restlessly, ignoring the stabbing pain in his left side and the pounding in his head. “Maybe if I got up and walked around, I would remember.”

“You can’t do that,” Tina said, moving closer to the bed. Her blue eyes stared down at him, full of concern and understanding. “I know it’s hard, but you’re going to have to stay in bed for a while and let your lung heal. And your head.” She hesitated, then leaned forward. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to forget everything, including who you are. It must be horrible. You must feel so helpless and alone. But we’ll do everything we can to help you heal. And I know the police are trying to find out more about you. Chances are we’ll have your family standing next to your bed in a few hours.”

She hesitated, then said, “Do you think you have a wife, or children?”

“No,” he said immediately, then frowned. “I don’t know if that’s true or not. But I don’t feel married.”

Her mouth curled into a slow smile, and he couldn’t stop staring at her. His heart began racing, and it had nothing to do with his injuries. Tina’s whole face seemed to light up when she smiled. “I’ve heard that line before,” she said.

For the first time since he’d woken up, Tom relaxed. “Yeah, I guess you probably have. But it’s true—I don’t feel married.” He smiled at her. “But then, I don’t feel like my name is Tom Flynt, and I’ve never heard of Grand Springs, Colorado, either.”

Tina nodded. “I’m sure the detective will be back to talk to you today. He came by last night, when you were still unconscious.”

Hearing that the police would come by took away his smile and brought the urgency back. Tina must have seen the change, because she sat down and leaned toward him. “What is it?”

“I don’t know. But whenever you mention the police, I get this sense of urgency. Like there’s something I should know.”

He saw her hesitate, saw her knuckles whiten on the metal rail of his bed. “I’ll tell you what happened last night, what led up to your accident, at least as far as we know. Maybe that will help you to remember.”

“You don’t have to do that, Ms. White. I’ll talk to Mr. Flynt.”

Detective Bob Jones stood in the doorway, looking at her. Assessing her.

She raised her chin. “Mr. Flynt has amnesia, Detective. He can’t remember anything, including his name.”

The detective looked over at him, and Tom could see the hard cynicism in his eyes. “That’s convenient.”

“It’s the truth,” Tina said hotly. “You can ask Dr. Wilson. He was in here just a few minutes ago.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to the doc,” said Detective Jones. “But first I want to talk to Mr. Flynt, here.”

Tina moved over to stand next to him. It almost looked as if she were trying to protect him. “You can talk to him for a while, Detective. But he’s got serious injuries and I won’t let you badger him.”

“I don’t badger anyone,” the detective said, but he was watching Tom instead of Tina. “I just ask questions.”

“Ask away,” said Tom.

The detective studied him for a while, and Tom stared back. There was nothing familiar about the older man’s face. “Do I know you?” Tom finally asked.

The detective shook his head. “Never met. I’m Bob Jones, with the Grand Springs Police Department. My partner will be in soon.” He jerked his head toward the door. “He’s talking to the nurses right now.”

Trying to verify everything I’m telling him, Tom thought, surprising himself with his certainty. He filed the information away and focused on the detective.

Bob Jones stared at him for a moment, trying to intimidate him. Again, Tom wasn’t sure how he knew it, but he did. Finally the detective said, “So you don’t remember anything that happened to you last night.”

“Detective, I don’t remember anything at all, including my name. I’m taking it on faith that it’s Tom Flynt.”

“That was the name on the driver’s license we found with you,” the detective said deliberately.

Tom frowned at him. “Are you saying that it’s a false driver’s license?” he asked after a moment.

“I’m not saying anything. I’m just stating a fact. And I’m the one asking the questions.” He leaned closer. “Do you remember Grand Springs?”

“Not at all. Do I live here?”

“Apparently not. The address on your driver’s license is from Missouri. The St. Louis area. Does that ring a bell?”

Tom thought for a moment and almost shook his head until the stabbing pain reminded him not to. “No. St. Louis sounds as unfamiliar as everything else.”

The detective nodded, as if that were what he’d expected Tom to say. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rectangle. “This look familiar?”

He was holding a driver’s license, and Tom could tell it was his. He remembered the face from the glimpse he’d gotten in the mirror earlier. Otherwise, it looked like a complete stranger. “No, it doesn’t,” he said quietly.

The detective reached into a bag and pulled out a huge, ugly handgun. “How about this?”

Tom heard Tina gasp beside him, but he didn’t look up at her. “I don’t remember that, either.”

“The paramedics found it strapped to your back.” He narrowed his eyes and gave Tom a hard look. “You didn’t have a permit with you to carry concealed.”

“I don’t know what to say, Detective.” Tom continued staring at the gun. “I honestly don’t remember.”

The detective stared at him for a few moments, then dropped the gun back into the bag. “We’ll be holding on to this for the time being. Let me tell you what happened last night.”

Tom managed to nod. He was beginning to get a really bad feeling from Detective Jones.

“There was a big masquerade ball here at the Grand Springs Empress Hotel last night. It was thrown by Jonathan Steele, CEO of Steele Enterprises. At this ball, Steele’s half brother David and his wife Lisa were shot and killed. Two people ran out of the hotel and drove away. You were one of them. We found you by the side of the road, half an hour later. Your car had gone off the road and rolled over.”

The detective gave him a hard look. “So you can see why we want to talk to you. We want to know who you are. And why you ran out of that ball.”

“I’d like to know that myself.” Tom held the detective’s gaze, although his head throbbed with pain. “When I remember, you’ll be the first to know.”

Jones’s hard, assessing gaze stayed on him for what felt like a long time, then he nodded. “I’ll be back to talk to you later, when we get more information. In the meantime, don’t think about leaving town.”

Before Tom could answer, Tina stepped in front of him and faced Detective Jones. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave now, Detective,” she said, and Tom heard the steel in her voice. “Mr. Flynt has a serious injury and I won’t allow you to badger him.”

A wave of gratitude welled up inside Tom, but he couldn’t allow himself to look at Tina. He continued to watch the detective. “It’s all right, Ms. White. Detective Jones can ask all the questions he wants.”

“I’m through for now,” Jones answered, but his stony gaze swept from Tom to Tina and back. “But I’ll be back.”

He turned and walked out of the room. When he was finally gone, Tina turned back to him. “How dare he imply that you’re somehow connected to that murder?”

Tom shrugged. “He’s looking at the evidence, and so far it would seem to support that. Apparently since I ran out of the ball after the shooting, that makes me a suspect in his eyes.”

“No one, including you, knows why you ran out of that room,” Tina said flatly. “I thought a person is innocent until proven guilty.”

“He’s just doing his job,” Tom answered quietly.

Before Tina could respond, another man walked into the room. Rugged and broad shouldered, his gray eyes were just as penetrating as Detective Jones’s. He glanced at Tina, then examined Tom thoroughly.

“Your partner just left.” Tom couldn’t have said why he thought this man was a police officer, but he was sure of it.

The blond man gave him a quick grin. “For a guy who’s lost his memory, you’re pretty good at identifying cops.”

Tom shrugged uneasily, unsure of why he’d been so certain of the other man’s occupation. “Just a guess.”

“And a good one.” The man came to a stop next to the bed and held out his hand. “Stone Richardson. I’m a detective with the Grand Springs Police Department. I’m working on the Steele murder case.”

Tina waited for Tom to shake the detective’s hand, then stepped closer to the bed, sliding between him and the detective. “Your colleague was just here,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “He asked Mr. Flynt a number of questions, which he couldn’t answer. There’s no point in asking him again.”

Stone Richardson held up his hands. “Whoa, I’m not here to ask Mr. Flynt the same questions. And I’m sorry if Bob upset you. I know he can come on a little too strong sometimes. That’s just his style.” He hesitated, then said, “The nurses said you seem to have a case of complete amnesia—you can’t remember a thing. I wanted to talk to you to see if there was anything I could do to help.”

“That’s kind of you, Detective,” Tom said slowly. “But I’m not sure what you could do, unless you recognize me.”

Stone shook his head. “Never saw you before in my life. But your situation reminds me of a case I worked on in Grand Springs a few years ago. One of the witnesses in that case had amnesia, too.”

“Did he get his memory back?” Tom asked eagerly.

“Eventually.”

“But it would help you with this case if I got my memory back a lot more quickly than eventually.” Tom didn’t take his eyes off the detective.

“Yes, but I know you can’t push it. I just thought there might be something I could do.”

“Thank you, Detective,” Tom answered quietly, “but I’m not sure what that would be. I’ll let you know as soon as I remember anything.”

Stone nodded. “I’ll stop by regularly and let you know if we find any new information.” He turned to look at Tina. “And just for the record, I do believe he’s innocent unless and until I prove him guilty.”

He turned around and walked out the door before either of them could say anything. Finally Tom said, “Thank you, Ms. White.”

“For what?”

“For defending me to Detectives Richardson and Jones. You have no idea if I’m guilty or not.”

Her eyes flashed blue fire. “And neither do they. But Jones was assuming you were.”

“You have to admit, if I did what they’re saying I did, it looks pretty suspicious.”

“There could have been a number of reasons you ran out of the hotel,” Tina said hotly. “Maybe you’re a police officer. Maybe you were trying to catch the killer.”

“If I were a police officer here in Grand Springs, don’t you think Jones and Richardson would know it?”

She looked away. “All right, maybe you’re not a Grand Springs police officer. But that doesn’t mean you’re guilty of something.”

“Why are you defending me like this, Ms. White?” he asked, his heart suddenly pounding. “You don’t know me, either.”

“Someone has to defend you.” She looked at him again, and he could see the conviction in her eyes. “Until they find your family, there’s no one else to speak for you.”

“Thank you,” he said, moved by her words. “That’s very generous.”

“You don’t look like a criminal. And you don’t act like one, either.”

“What does a criminal look like?” Tom felt his mouth curving into a smile.

“Not like you,” Tina answered immediately.

“I want to know the truth,” he said. “Even if the truth is that I was involved in this crime. I want to know who I am, even if it means I’m a criminal.”

“That’s why I defended you.” Tina bent closer, staring into his eyes. “A criminal wouldn’t want that. A criminal would be trying to hide the truth. A criminal would be looking to shift the blame to someone else. Only a person with integrity would say that he wanted to know the truth, regardless of the circumstances.”

Lost in the deep blue of Tina’s eyes, Tom could almost believe she was speaking the truth. Almost. But he couldn’t allow himself to believe it.

“It doesn’t matter what the truth is. I want to know it,” he said. “And if there is anything I can do to speed up the return of my memory, I’ll do it.”

“Dr. Wilson ordered a neurological exam,” Tina said. “The neurologist will probably stop by this afternoon. We should know more after she looks at you.”

Tom shut his eyes, suddenly very tired. When he opened them a few moments later, Tina was still standing above him, watching him with a worried look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I shouldn’t have let those two detectives talk to you,” she said, a frown furrowing her forehead. “They tired you out.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “They have a job to do. And I want to find out who I am as quickly as possible.”

She nodded, but there was a militant look in her eyes. “They won’t bother you again today.”

“Are you going to stand guard at the door to my room?” he teased.

She gave him an answering grin. “I won’t have to. We took a class in nursing school about this kind of situation. It was called Withering Looks and Stern Frowns. Guaranteed to get rid of any unwanted visitors.”

“Sounds great.” The pain in his head and his side was pulling him down into a spiral of darkness. He forced himself to keep his eyes open for another moment. “I’ll count on you to keep the dragons away.”

She smoothed the sheet over his chest, then lightly touched his hand. “I’m working on this floor, so I’ll check on you frequently.”

He wanted to call her back, to ask her to touch him again. But the darkness was pulling too hard, tugging him into the void. Tom watched her walk out the door, noticing her long, slender body and the gentle sway of her hips. He held onto the image as he slid into sleep.

Tina stood at the desk in the hallway, checking on some patient records, when a blond woman stepped out of Tom’s room and slid her hands into the pockets of her white jacket. When she reached the desk, she said, “Can I have Tom Flynt’s chart?”

“What do you think, Dr. Mellon?” Tina asked.

“He definitely has amnesia,” the neurologist answered. “He seems to be completely blocked.”

“What’s his prognosis?”

“Good, I’d say. But I have no idea how long it will last. At least he doesn’t have any other neurological problems. His brain scan was normal and all the tests I gave him were normal.”

“Treatment?”

The neurologist smiled. “Tincture of time. His memories will eventually come back. But someone is going to have to spend a lot of time with him, talking to him. Are you the nurse who’s taking care of him?”

Tina nodded.

“Spend as much time as you can with him,” the doctor said. She made a few notations on Tom’s chart, then walked away.

“Well, Tina, it looks like you’re going to have your hands full with that patient,” one of the nurses said.

Tina nodded. But her heart sped up in her chest at the prospect of spending time with Tom Flynt.

Chapter 3

Although Tina checked on him frequently, Tom spent most of the rest of the day sleeping. It was perfectly normal, she knew, and was the best treatment for his injuries, but she couldn’t control her disappointment every time she opened his door and saw his eyes closed.

“I’m just dopey from the lack of sleep,” she muttered to herself as she closed his door for the last time at the end of her shift. But whatever the reason, she was absurdly disappointed that she hadn’t gotten the chance to say goodbye to her patient.

She walked more slowly than usual to the nursing desk and picked up her purse and her jacket. The supervisor looked up at her.

“Are you on tomorrow, Tina?”

She nodded. “I’ll be here for the afternoon shift…” she hesitated, then added “…unless you need me earlier.”

The supervisor gave her a sharp look, then shook her head. “Don’t go volunteering like that, Tina. Someone might take you up on the offer.”

“I’m not doing anything important tomorrow. Do you need an extra pair of hands?” she asked eagerly.

“I don’t think so.” She looked at Tina questioningly. “You were here late last night, weren’t you?”

When Tina nodded, the other woman scowled. “Go home and get some sleep, White. And don’t come back until tomorrow afternoon.”

Tina headed for the elevator, resisting the impulse to look back toward Tom Flynt’s room. He was in good hands, she told herself. And she did need to get some sleep tonight.

But she was back at the hospital the next day several hours before her shift began. She said hello to the nurses clustered around the desk, then slipped into Tom Flynt’s room. She merely wanted to see if he had regained any of his memory, she told herself.

He was sitting up in bed, reading a newspaper. When he saw her walk in the door, he put it down and gave her a smile. Her stomach swooped toward her toes.

“Good morning,” he said, his eyes warming as they rested on her. “I wondered where you were, Ms. White.”

“Please, call me Tina,” she said. “We’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”

“Tina.” He seemed to savor the sound of her name, and a shiver of pleasure rippled through her. “That will be something to look forward to.” She couldn’t miss the flare of pleasure in his eyes, and warmth blossomed inside her.

“How are you feeling this morning?” She struggled to ignore her body’s reaction and get back on safer ground.

“Other than the fact that I have no idea who I am or what I’m supposed to be doing in Grand Springs, I feel pretty good.”

She picked up the chart at the end of his bed and realized that it was time for one of the nurses to listen to his chest and check his wound. “Let me take a look at you.”

Her fingers moved gently over the bandage on his head, easing the tape away from his skin. She nodded as she looked at the wound. “Your head is healing nicely,” she said. “No problems here.”

Then she took her stethoscope out of her pocket and placed it on his chest. She told herself to ignore the warmth of his skin and the vitality that seemed to shimmer in the air around him. He was a patient, she told herself. Nothing more.

Finally, she stepped back and folded the stethoscope back into her pocket. She noticed that her hands were shaking and she shoved them into her pockets, too. “Sounds good. I don’t think there’s been any more bleeding into your chest, but Dr. Wilson will probably want to get another scan in a day or two, just to be sure.”

He sat in the bed, watching her, a bemused expression on his face. “What time does your shift usually start, Tina?”

The sound of her name on his lips made her tingle with pleasure, but she held his gaze. “Three o’clock. But because of what happened at the Steele ball, there are a lot of extra patients right now, so I thought I’d come in early to help out.”

“I’m glad,” he said, watching her. “I missed you.”

Her heart leaped in her chest, and she wanted to tell him that she’d missed him, too. Instead she said, “You feel comfortable with me because you remember my voice. It’s the only thing that’s at all familiar to you.” She gave him a bright smile. “But that’s okay, because you’re going to be seeing a lot of me in the next few days.”

He leaned back against the pillows on the bed, but he didn’t take his eyes off her. She thought she saw a flash of pleasure, quickly hidden, but she couldn’t be sure. She didn’t have a lot of experience with men, other than as patients.

“It seems I spent most of yesterday sleeping,” he said, watching her.

She scowled. “I should never have let those detectives grill you like they did. They tired you out.”

To her surprise, he laughed. “No one’s ever been so protective toward me. I think I like it,” he said. His smile slowly faded, and she saw a hint of fear in his eyes. “How did I remember that when I can’t even remember my own name?”

“Don’t worry.” She couldn’t stop herself from touching his arm. “That’s how your memory comes back, in bits and pieces. You’ll remember something and have no idea what it means, but gradually you’ll get more and more pieces of the puzzle, and pretty soon you’ll remember everything.”

He stared up at her. “You’re very reassuring, Tina,” he said, his voice quiet. “Are you just saying that to make me feel better?”

“Of course not. Lying to you isn’t going to help you.” She sat down on the chair next to his bed. “I have to admit, Mr. Flynt, that I haven’t taken care of many patients with amnesia. But I looked it up in my nursing books last night.” She swallowed as she remembered her determined search for every bit of information she could find. “And that’s what all the books said. You generally regain your memory in bits and pieces.”

“Please, call me Tom,” he said. He gave her a smile that looked forced. “It may not sound familiar, but apparently it’s what I’m supposed to be called. And it sounds a lot better than Mr. Flynt.”

“All right…Tom.” Her voice sounded different, low and intimate in the quiet of the room.

She sounded like a woman talking to her lover.

Tina swallowed and clenched her hands tightly in her lap. What was she doing? What was the matter with her? She couldn’t possibly be attracted to this man. He was a complete stranger to her. And for all of the kindness in his eyes, there was an aura of danger around him. For heaven’s sake, he even carried a gun.

She thought she had learned her lesson well, all those years ago.

“Are you as conscientious with all your patients?” Tom asked, and she gave herself a mental shake.

“What do you mean?”

“You said you went home and read up on amnesia. Do you do that whenever you have an unusual patient?”

“Of course,” she said immediately, grateful for the change of subject. “If I don’t know what to do for a patient, how can I take care of him or her properly?”

“Ouch,” he said, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. “I thought I was special.”

“You are,” she said, giving him a grin. It was far easier to maintain her distance if she was bantering with him. “Right now, you’re my favorite patient. Since you don’t remember anything, I can tell you whatever I want and you’ll believe me. That’s exactly the kind of patient I like.”

“I promise to be very gullible,” he said solemnly.

She laughed and stood up. “And if I believe that, you have some oceanfront property just outside of town you’d like to sell me, right?”

“You’ve got it.” The smile lingered in his eyes as he watched her. “What’s on the agenda for today, Tina?”

“Rest,” she said firmly. “You have to take it easy so your lung can heal.”

“I was figuring to go out and get in a few miles of hard running,” he said, then stopped. Tina recognized the startled expression on his face.

“You’ve remembered that you like to run,” she said.

“Yes.” He stared at her. “I don’t know how I remembered, but I do.”

“That’s another piece to the puzzle,” she said. “And that’s what the textbooks I read last night said would happen. You’d remember when you weren’t trying to force it.”

“It’s going to be hard not to.”

“I know.” Tina felt a wave of sympathy for him. She wasn’t sure how she would feel in Tom’s circumstances, but she knew she would try as hard as possible to get her memories back. Even the bad ones. “I’ll try to keep you distracted.”

“You won’t have to work very hard at that.”

This time she couldn’t mistake the heat in his eyes, or the message there. To her surprise, she felt an answering warmth bloom inside her. She stared at him for a moment, shocked, then hurriedly turned away.

“Does that mean you’re easily entertained?” Her voice sounded strained, and she struggled to even it out.

“It means I’m going to selfishly hog as much of your time and attention as I can.”

She didn’t have to be looking at Tom to know what he meant. The tone of his voice told her he was interested. She hoped to find the words to tell him to save his breath, that she wasn’t interested in getting involved with him or anyone else, but they wouldn’t come. Finally she turned around to face him.

“You’re my patient,” she said, trying to make her voice firm. “I’ll give you as much time as you need.” She hoped that he saw only professional interest in her face.

The gleam of satisfaction that filled his eyes told her that she hadn’t succeeded. But he nodded slowly. “That’s fair,” he said. “I know you have other patients.”

“And I have to start taking care of them,” she said. “Or my supervisor will have my head.”

“I don’t want to be blamed for the loss of that beautiful hair and those gorgeous eyes,” he said. “Go ahead. I’m not going anywhere.”

Tina nodded, not trusting herself to say anything more. She murmured something incoherent and practically ran through the door. She paused when she was in the hall, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

“Are you okay, Tina?” one of her fellow nurses asked, a worried expression on her face. “You look kind of dazed.”

“I’m fine.” She forced a smile. “Lack of sleep, I guess.”

The other nurse rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. This place has been a madhouse for the last thirty-six hours.”

She hurried off, and Tina stood in the hallway for a few moments, composing herself. Then she tried to put her reaction to Tom firmly out of her head. She walked over to the desk and studied the board where their assignments were posted. “Who else am I taking care of today?”

Tom watched the door close behind Tina with a final-sounding click. He heard her speaking to someone in the hallway, then listened as her footsteps receded down the hall. She was gone, but she’d be back. For the first time, he found something positive about his dilemma.

Right woman, wrong time, he told himself bitterly. He had no right to be interested in Tina White. He knew nothing about himself, not even his name. He could be married with ten children, for all he knew.

He looked down and studied his ring finger on his left hand. There was no wedding ring, and no pale line like he’d recently removed one. He had been telling her the truth yesterday. He didn’t feel married.

But that didn’t change anything. Although he was attracted to her, found her interesting and sexy, he had no right to pursue that attraction. And for all he knew, she could be married herself. Or at least involved with someone.

But she didn’t seem involved, either. There was a remote quality about Tina, an innocence that surrounded her. He’d noticed her reaction when she realized he was attracted to her. He didn’t think the shock he’d seen in her eyes had been faked.

Could he do the right thing? Could he submerge his interest in Tina, bury it deep enough that it would wither and die? He hoped so. He didn’t want to cause her any pain.

But he would be in the hospital for a few more days, so he would enjoy the time he could spend with her. She had told him not to force his memory to return. Thinking about Tina would be a pleasant alternative to wondering who he was.

He listened carefully, but he couldn’t hear her in the hallway. She wouldn’t be back for a while, he suspected. She had practically run out of his room, and she would busy herself with other patients for a while.

He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he was certain he was right. The irony of it put a grim smile on his mouth. He didn’t know his own name, but he knew Tina well enough after two days to predict how she would act.

He looked away from the door and clicked on the television set suspended above the foot of his bed. Maybe if he listened to the news, it would shake something loose in his brain.

A couple of hours later he had almost fallen asleep when the door opened a crack. He glanced over at the door and felt his pulse accelerate when he saw Tina in the doorway.

“I thought you were sleeping,” she said.

“Only bored,” he said. He turned off the television. “Even CNN gets boring after a while.”

She stopped next to his bed. “You knew about CNN?”

“It appears so. I guess I’m fine at bringing up some details, but not the important ones.”

She smiled at him, but he could see the careful distance in her eyes. “It will come,” she said. “Give it some time. It’s been less than forty-eight hours.”

“I thought about that, and I have an idea. If I went back to the scene of the accident, maybe the scene of the ball I was at, it might jog some memories loose. What do you think?”

She nodded slowly. “Maybe it would. You’ll have to try that when you’re back on your feet.”

He scowled. “I was thinking about today.”

For a moment she stared at him, then laughed. For the first time since she’d come back into his room, she relaxed. “Right. You have a concussion and an abraded lung, and you think we’re going to let you go running around Grand Springs?”

“I wouldn’t run. I would drive.”

Her smile faded. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Of course I’m serious. I want to find out who I am and what I was doing that night.”

She sank down onto the chair next to his bed and put her hand on top of his. He wanted to turn his hand over and twine his fingers with hers, to press their palms together, but he didn’t dare. Instead, he savored the feel of her warm hand and tried to hide his sudden rush of desire.

“Tom, the detectives who were here yesterday are doing their best to find your family. There’s nothing more you can do right now.”

“I could look for myself. Maybe I’d remember.”

He leaned forward, ignoring the pain in his side. Shifting his hand, he gripped her fingers while he searched the depths of her blue eyes. “I have to know, Tina.”

Something flickered deep within her eyes. It was a spark of excitement, an answering urgency. She understood, and she wanted to let him go. Tom tightened his hand on hers, and waited for her to agree.

Then she shook her head. “No way, Flynt. You’re not getting out of this bed until tomorrow, and then the farthest you’re going is to the bathroom.” She eased her hand away from his and stood up. “You can prowl around Grand Springs all you want when you’re released. But for now, I’m afraid you’re stuck with CNN and me.”

He studied her face, saw the shadow of awareness in her eyes, and leaned back against the pillow. For a moment, she’d been tempted. And she wanted to go with him. For now, it was enough.

“If I can’t leave, then you and CNN sound like a pretty good deal,” he said, trying to keep his voice light. “But admit it, you were tempted.”

To his surprise, instead of teasing him back, something that looked close to panic flared in her eyes. Then it was gone, and the remote professional was back. “I was tempted to smack you.” She gave him a stern look. “Your injuries could have been life threatening. You are incredibly lucky to get away as lightly as you have. So instead of trying to get out of the hospital way before you’re ready, you should be thanking God for your luck.”

“You wanted to take me, didn’t you, Tina?” He didn’t know what demon taunted him to press the issue.

“I wanted no such thing,” she said primly, but her eyes told the truth. She had been tempted.

“Tell me, Tina, do you ever break the rules?”

“No.” Her answer was much too quick and much too final, and he saw a shadow of pain in her eyes. She had broken the rules at least once in her life. To his surprise, jealousy flashed through him as he wondered if the broken rules involved a man.

He settled back against the pillows, but he didn’t take his eyes off her. “We’ll have to work on that.”

He half expected her to turn around and run out of the room, but she surprised him again. Tilting her head to the side, she watched him as a small smile curled her lips. “I was right. You are a dangerous man.”

“What do you mean?”

“You like to break the rules. You want to play the game your own way.”

“Maybe I do,” he said slowly, turning the idea over in his mind. It felt right. “But that doesn’t mean I’m dangerous.”

Regret flared in Tina’s eyes. “You are to someone who follows the rules,” she said quietly. “And I always follow the rules.”

“Always, Tina?”

She held his gaze for a few moments, then looked away. “Whenever it counts.”

He couldn’t read the expression on her face, the emotions in her eyes. But he knew that there was far more to Tina White than showed on the surface. He wasn’t the only one in the room with secrets.

“A little rule-breaking is good for the soul,” he said lightly. “We’ll have to work on that.”

With an effort, she gave him a smile. “You can work on it all you want when you get out of here. While you’re my patient, you follow my rules.”

“Gladly.” He grinned up at her. “Just tell me what you want.”

This time her smile was genuine. “I want you to get better and regain your memory. And driving around Grand Springs isn’t the way it’s going to happen.”

“Since you probably hid all of my clothes, I guess I don’t have any choice,” he said, and was rewarded with a low, throaty chuckle.

“You could always leave in your hospital gown,” she teased. “Of course, it might get kind of breezy.”

“No, thanks.” He reached around to make sure his gown was tucked in. “I guess I’ll wait.”

“I knew you’d see it my way.” She turned to walk out of the room, and he searched desperately for a way to keep her with him for a few more minutes.

“Tina, wait.”

She spun around. “Is something wrong?”

“I just wanted to ask you a question.” He hesitated, not sure how to get the information he wanted. Finally he said, “It’s really good of you to come in early to take care of me. I appreciate it. But isn’t your family getting upset that you’re spending all your time at the hospital?”

She watched him for a moment, and once again he saw a shadow of pain in her eyes. “First of all, I’m not coming in early just for you. There are a lot more patients than usual.”

But he saw the truth in her eyes, and his heart leaped. She was coming in early just for him.

“And you don’t have to worry about what my family thinks. I live by myself. My free time is my own.”

“I didn’t mean to pry.”

“It’s all right. I’m not offended.” She gave him a strained smile. “I’ll be back in a while. Some of those other patients need care, too.”

He listened to her footsteps recede down the hall as he closed his eyes. Damned if she wasn’t right. He was in no shape to go jaunting off around Grand Springs. He could barely carry on a conversation without getting tired out.

But he had gotten the information he wanted, he thought, exultant. Tina wasn’t involved with anyone. He was sure of it. If she had been, she wouldn’t have been so casual about living by herself.

Unexpected hunger stirred inside him. If Tina was his woman, he thought, he wouldn’t want to let her out of his sight. If he was involved with Tina, she wouldn’t have any free time. He’d want to spend every second of it with her.

If Tina was his lover, he’d make sure everyone in the world knew it.

Chapter 4

Ten hours later, Tina leaned against the desk, weariness threatening to overwhelm her. Two days without enough sleep were catching up to her. It was time to go home and fall into bed.

And she wouldn’t check on Tom again, she told herself firmly. He was probably asleep, and if he wasn’t, he should be.

As she was gathering her jacket and purse to leave, a voice behind her said, “Ms. White?”

She turned around to see Detective Bob Jones standing at the nursing desk. Her breath caught in a quick gasp of fear. He wouldn’t be here so late if it wasn’t serious. Swallowing once, she said, “Hello, Detective. What can I do for you?”

He watched her for a moment, and she felt as if he could see all the way inside her head, see the fear she’d tried to hide. Finally, he said, “I need to see Tom Flynt.”

“At this time of night? I’m sure he’s asleep.”

“I have some questions that can’t wait.”

“He’s not going anywhere, Detective. He’ll still be here in the morning.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t need your permission to talk to him, Ms. White. He’s a suspect in a major crime, and I need him to clear some things up for me. Now do you want to wake him up for me, or should I do it myself?”

“I’ll wake him up.” Shakily she turned away and walked down the hall. My God, what had they found out? This was the first time the detective had actually called Tom a suspect.

When she peered into Tom’s room, she saw that he was sleeping. Slipping into the gloom of the darkened room, she motioned to the detective to wait outside.

She stood next to the bed for a moment, watching Tom breathe. His face was relaxed and his eyes were closed. At least he was free from the anxiety that she knew filled him whenever he was awake. She hated to wake him, hated to disturb him, but she knew she didn’t have a choice.

“Tom, wake up,” she whispered.

He didn’t move. She touched his arm, once again trying to ignore the solid feel of him, the warmth that pulsed from him. “Tom, Detective Jones is here to talk to you.”

His eyes fluttered open and he looked right at her. His mouth curved up in a smile and his hand reached for hers. “Tina,” he said in a sleepy voice, “why are you still here?”

For a moment she returned the pressure of his hand, allowed herself to enjoy the warmth of his fingers curved around hers, then she gently slipped her hand away. “I was just leaving. I told Detective Jones to come back tomorrow, but he seems to think it’s urgent.”

The sleepy, satisfied look disappeared and Tom’s eyes became more focused. He lifted himself in the bed, then pressed the button that would raise him up. He moved more easily than he had even that morning, but Tina could see that he was still uncomfortable.

“Do you want me to stay here while the detective talks to you?”

Tom looked over at her and smiled. “So you can protect me?”

“I want to make sure he doesn’t tire you out.”

“I want to talk to him, Tina, but I’d love for you to stay.”

Tina turned around and nodded to Detective Jones, who stood in the doorway. He probably wanted to make sure I wasn’t trying to help Tom escape through the window, she thought sourly. “You can come in now, Detective.”

He walked up to the bed and stood looking down at Tom. Tina offered him the chair, but he ignored her. Finally he said, “We traced your driver’s license, Flynt. It was a forgery.”

Tina heard a gasp, and realized it had come from her. There was silence in the room. Finally, Tom said, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that Missouri has no record of issuing a driver’s license to you, ever. That license of yours was a fake, and a damned skillful one.”

Tom studied the detective’s face. He said, “And what else? I know there’s more. I can see it in your face.”

“For someone who says he’s lost his memory, you seem to know quite a bit.”

Tom shrugged. “I can’t help what I remember or know.”

“That’s convenient.”

“That’s the way it is.”

The two men stared at one another for another moment. The detective looked away first. He glanced down at the small notebook in his hand. “Your credit card bills are sent to a P.O. box in Missouri, too. The address that the post office has for the box doesn’t exist. It’s a vacant lot in a rough part of St. Louis.” He rattled off an address to Tom, then looked at him. “Does that ring a bell?”

“Not at all.”

The detective snapped the notebook shut and slipped it into his back pocket. “You’ve got a problem, Flynt…” he paused “…if that’s really your name.”

“It’s the name on my credit cards and driver’s license, isn’t it?”

“That doesn’t mean squat.”

Tom shrugged, but Tina could see the tension in the line of his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Detective, but I can’t give you any answers. The only reason I know my name is Tom Flynt is because you told me so.”

“As far as I’m concerned, Flynt, you’re a suspect in the murders of David and Lisa Steele.” Detective Jones fixed his hard stare on Tom. “I’m going to do my best to get all the facts in this case. And when I do, I’m going to arrest you.”

“There were a lot of people at this ball, weren’t there?” Tom asked.

“Only a couple hundred of them,” the detective shot back.

“Did any of them see me shoot the Steeles?”

“No.” The admission was grudging. “No one saw the actual shooting. But several people saw you and another man running out of the ballroom immediately after the shooting. When I put that together with your fake identification and the gun we found with you, I add up two and two and get four. If you weren’t the shooter, then I figure you for an accessory to the murders.”

Tom stared at the detective, and Tina could see him trying to force himself to remember. She stepped forward to tell the detective to leave, but Tom grabbed her hand.

“Wait,” he said without looking at her.

“What about my gun? Was it the murder weapon?” he asked the detective.

“We’re checking that. And we’ll need a set of fingerprints from you to run through the computer.”

“Then all your evidence is circumstantial,” Tom said slowly. “It wouldn’t hold up in a court of law.”

Detective Jones snorted. “Would this be called selective amnesia? For someone who claims they can’t remember anything, you sure sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

Tom leaned back against the pillows, weariness etched on his face. “I told you, Detective, I can’t help what I can remember. And I don’t know why I know that. I just do.”

“And I know this—” Detective Jones leaned closer to Tom “—don’t plan on leaving town once you get out of the hospital, Mr. Flynt.” There was a subtle emphasis on Tom’s name. “We may not have any direct evidence yet, but I’ll find it. And then I’ll nail you.”

“You’re welcome to try,” Tom shot back. “I want to know the truth as much as you do.”

The detective straightened. “We’ll see if you’re singing the same tune in a few days.”

“In a few days, I hope I’ll have regained my memory and I’ll be able to tell you everything you want to know,” Tom said coolly.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

The detective nodded once at Tom, his eyes hard and suspicious, then turned and walked out of the room. Tina waited until his footsteps had faded away, then she dropped down onto the chair next to Tom’s bed.

“He called you a suspect,” she whispered, appalled.

“He more than suspects. He’s certain,” Tom answered bluntly.

“How can he act that way?” she cried. “What happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’?”

“He’s a cop, Tina,” Tom said, his voice weary. “He’s going with what he has. And I look damned guilty.”

“How can you say that?”

“My driver’s license is phony, and the only address they have for me is a vacant lot in St. Louis. Plus I was carrying a gun. If I were a cop, I’d be just as suspicious.”

“I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.” Her voice sounded desperate.

Tom finally smiled. “Thank you,” he said, and he reached out and took her hand. “Thank you for taking my side. But I have to face the facts. Maybe I did have something to do with those people’s deaths.”

“You didn’t,” she said automatically. “You’re not a killer. You can’t be.”

Tom looked at Tina then, and for just a moment she saw his fear. Then it was gone, replaced by a warmth that made her breathless. “Your belief in me means more than I can tell you. But I won’t know if I had anything to do with the murders until I get my memory back.”

“You’ll remember,” she said, and heard the fierceness in her voice. “Then Detective Jones will have to look somewhere else.”

Tom twined his fingers with hers and brought her hand to his mouth. “Thank you.” His voice was hushed in the still, dark room. “I hope I don’t disappoint you when we know the truth.”

“You won’t.” Tina studied Tom’s face, unable to see even a hint of guilt or evil there. He wasn’t a killer. She was sure of it. And if that made her a fool, she didn’t care.

He brushed his lips against the back of her hand, then turned her hand over and pressed a kiss into her palm. Blood thickened in her veins and her heart began to pound as his lips lingered. Her skin felt scorched where he’d touched her. She felt her hand tremble, and felt Tom’s hand shaking, too.

“You need to go home and get some sleep,” he said. But he didn’t let her hand go, and she didn’t pull away. It was late at night, and her common sense and natural caution had vanished. She didn’t care about sleeping. She didn’t care that she had to be back at work early the next afternoon. All she wanted to do was sit in this room with Tom, holding his hand.

“Tina,” he whispered, turning toward her.

“What?” She stared at him, unable to breathe, unable to move.

He was inches away from her when he stopped suddenly, then leaned back against the pillows. He gently disengaged his hand from hers, then curled his hand into a fist and closed his eyes. “Go home.”

“I’m not ready to go home.”

Tom opened his eyes and looked at her. “Yes, you are. Go home, Tina. Get some sleep. And don’t have too much faith in me. I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“You won’t,” she whispered.

“That remains to be seen.” He opened his eyes after a moment and managed to smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Slowly, she stood up. “I’ll be in early.”

His smile deepened, extended to his eyes. “I know. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

She resisted the impulse to bend down and kiss him, shocking herself with the thought. “Good night,” she said quickly, then hurried from the room. She paused in the hallway, took a deep breath, then walked quickly back to the nurses’ station and grabbed her belongings. She didn’t even notice the cool air hitting her overheated face as she rushed to her car. She needed to be back in her own home, where she belonged. She needed to be grounded, to remember what couldn’t be. And there was no place better for that than her home, the house she’d lived in for her whole life. If she needed any reminders about getting involved with a man, all she had to do was look around her house and remember.

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