Читать книгу Romantic Getaways Collection - Liz Fielding, Christy McKellen - Страница 12
ОглавлениеELENA STOOD IN SHOCK, her arms still outstretched as if she’d thought she could do something, some kind of magic perhaps, to stop Caleb from being hit by the motorbike that had sped round the corner just as he’d stepped into its path.
She felt light-headed and displaced from reality, as if this was all some horrible dream—though the heavy thump of her heart in her throat and the adrenaline that roared through her body told her otherwise.
The rider was picking himself up from the ground after coming off his bike and miraculously seemed not to be injured in any way, but Caleb’s slumped body, which had been flung at least ten feet, was still lying half on the pavement and half on the road. And he wasn’t moving.
A cacophony of noise suddenly rushed in on her as people began running towards where Caleb lay, finally shocking Elena out of her dazed state. She stumbled towards him, falling to her knees by his side, barely registering the rough ground biting into her skin, and put her shaking hand onto his torso. His eyes were closed, but she could feel his chest rising and falling with his breathing.
So he was still alive. Thank God.
She could feel tears pressing at the back of her eyes but she blinked them away, determined to keep it together for his sake.
‘Caleb? Can you hear me?’ she whispered, leaning in closer to him and breathing in the distinctive scent of him that had haunted her throughout the years, usually at the most inopportune moments.
Somebody—a woman—asked her a question in Spanish and Elena shook her head, mouthing back ineffectually, totally unable to summon even the basic Spanish phrase for I don’t understand.
The woman frowned, then asked, ‘Are you English?’
Was it that obvious?
Judging by the fact she was wearing a highly inappropriate woollen suit for the weather and had skin so light it was almost translucent, she guessed it must be.
‘Yes!’ Elena said, relief flooding through her that the woman would be able to help her. ‘I don’t speak Spanish.’ She swallowed hard. ‘I need to call an ambulance. Can you help me?’
‘Don’t worry,’ the woman said, gesturing behind her. ‘My husband has already called them.’
Caleb let out a low groan and Elena swivelled back to look at him, her heart leaping with relief. ‘Caleb? Are you okay? I’m so sorry—this is all my fault.’
At least it felt like it was her fault, even though rationally she knew it had been an accident. But it was also another thing for him to hold against her.
She should have left this area and gone to regroup somewhere else—to give Caleb a chance to calm down—then come back again once her head was clear and her plan fully formed, instead of pacing about in front of his building like a lunatic. He must have seen her prowling around out here and decided to come out to ask her what the hell she thought she was doing.
When she’d heard him call her name from across the street her first thought had been that he’d changed his mind and decided to listen to her after all and her heart had leapt with excitement and relief. But as he’d crossed the street and she’d seen the look of frustrated fury in his eyes it had become powerfully obvious that she’d been very wrong to suppose that.
He hadn’t wanted to turn back the clock. He’d wanted her gone.
The woman laid a hand gently onto her back, dragging her out of her distraught reflection. ‘He’ll be okay, don’t worry. The ambulance is on its way.’
Elena nodded gratefully, this time unable to stop tears from welling in her eyes. ‘He was crossing the road to meet me and didn’t see the bike.’
‘It’s okay. Not your fault,’ the woman said in a soothing tone, rubbing Elena’s arm in sympathy.
If only that were true. She already felt guilty enough about the anguish she’d caused Caleb in the past and now she’d hurt him again, only physically this time. He never would have been out here if it wasn’t for her.
A moment later the sound of a siren broke through the low murmurs of the crowd that had gathered around them and an ambulance sped round the corner and parked up nearby, its flashing lights bouncing off the windows of the buildings opposite.
The paramedics jumped out of the cab and ran towards where Caleb lay, pushing their way through the large group of bystanders that had gathered to ogle the drama playing out in front of them.
The helpful woman disappeared from Elena’s side as the paramedics came to kneel next to Caleb and check his vital signs. The female paramedic turned to ask Elena a question in Spanish, indicating towards Caleb, and Elena guessed she must be asking whether she knew him.
Novia meant friend, didn’t it? It sounded like a friendly kind of word.
‘Sí, sí!’ she said, her voice sounding shaky and weak from shock. The woman nodded and gave her a reassuring smile, then turned back to help her colleague tend to the now silent and deathly still Caleb.
A short while later he was lifted onto a stretcher wearing a neck brace, then into the back of the ambulance.
Elena stood there stupidly, watching as they secured the straps to keep the makeshift bed from rolling around in the back of the vehicle, her chest tight with worry.
What if he died?
No. She couldn’t think like that. He’d be fine. The paramedics weren’t rushing around shouting and wielding scary-looking equipment as if they were worried that he was in grave danger. Mercifully, there was hardly any blood on the ground where he’d lain, just a little from where he’d cut his temple.
Perhaps he’d just been knocked out and not badly hurt. Just a bit bruised and battered.
Please.
Please.
Elena didn’t realise the female paramedic had said something to her until the woman waved a hand in front of her face and spoke again, her expression registering sympathy. ‘You come. To hospital.’
Elena nodded dumbly, not entirely sure it was appropriate that she should be the one to go with Caleb, but no one from his company had rushed out to be here with him. It looked as though the paramedics wanted to get him straight to hospital now so there wasn’t time to go into his building and find someone.
She should just go with him and call his office from there to let them know what was going on. Then she’d leave him be and go back to the hotel to get her head together.
One thing was for sure, going to pieces was not going to help anyone right now.
Mind made up, she gave the paramedic a wobbly smile and climbed into the back of the ambulance.
* * *
There was something wrong with the light in his bedroom, Caleb thought fuzzily as he woke up from a deep, dreamless sleep. And his cleaning lady seemed to have used a different kind of product than usual because he didn’t recognise the smell in here either.
‘Ah, you’re awake,’ came a voice from somewhere to his left and he wondered wildly who he’d gone to bed with the night before.
He couldn’t remember.
In fact, now he thought about it, he found his mind was strangely blank, as if it had been wiped of details. How much had he drunk last night to wake up in this state? It must have been a lot because he had the unsettling feeling that he wasn’t at home at all. In fact, he realised with a lurch as his vision cleared, he had no idea where he was or how he’d got here. The walls were painted an institutional green colour and were disturbingly free of any kind of decoration. Turning his head, he saw with a shock that he was lying next to some kind of flashing, beeping, monitoring machine with wires and drips hanging from it.
Which were attached to him.
He tried to sit up and felt his whole body complain, pain shooting through his abdomen.
‘No, no, don’t try and get up. You had an accident and you’ve cracked a rib and banged your head so you may feel dizzy and disorientated for a while.’
‘An accident?’ he asked, shocked by how rough and raspy his voice sounded. His throat was so dry it felt as if he hadn’t had a drink in days.
‘Here,’ the voice said and he turned towards where it came from to see a middle-aged woman in a crisp white uniform standing next to the bed where he lay, pushing a straw towards his mouth.
He sipped gratefully from the drink, feeling the cool liquid soothe his throat and begin to refresh him.
‘Your girlfriend’s very worried about you,’ the nurse said, taking the cup away once he’d finished and putting it on the nightstand next to his bed. ‘She saw you get hit by the motorbike and is blaming herself for the accident because you were crossing the road to see her when it happened, so be nice to her when she comes in to see you.’
‘My girlfriend?’ He didn’t remember having a girlfriend.
His heart began to race as panic swept through him, nausea welling in his stomach as the room started to slowly spin. He shook his head, trying to clear the feeling, determined not to give in to it.
He didn’t do panic, dammit.
Not appearing to notice his disorientation, the nurse helped him sit up a little so she could fluff up his pillow and he gripped the rail at the side of the bed hard, racking his brain for the memory of how he came to be here in an attempt to centre himself. The nurse had said a motorbike had hit him but he had absolutely no recollection of it.
How could he not remember something so serious?
‘I think she needs a hug and some reassurance that you don’t hate her,’ she said, smiling at him. ‘Judging by the way she’s been pacing the halls and badgering us every ten minutes for updates on your condition, she obviously cares about you very much. You’re a lucky man to have someone who loves you like that.’
He just nodded, not wanting to let on that he had no idea who she was talking about, or that he was becoming more and more aware of other rather worrying gaps in his memory. He knew his name and that he owned a company called Araya Industries, which he’d built up from scratch, and that he lived in the L’Eixample district of Barcelona. He even knew what the inside of his penthouse looked like, but things like where he grew up and who his friends were seemed to have escaped him. And he definitely didn’t remember being hit by the motorbike. The last thing he did remember was getting into work this morning and turning on his computer, but after that it was all a blank.
This disjoin in his memory made him feel sick if he thought about it too much, so he decided to put it out of his head for now. It would all come back after he’d been awake for a while and had got his bearings again. And he didn’t want any fuss; he just wanted to get out of here, back to his home. Maybe once in familiar surroundings his mind would catch up with everything else.
‘I’ll let her know you’re awake so she can come in and see you,’ the nurse said, coming over to him and smoothing down the sheet that was covering him up to his armpits. It seemed they’d stripped him of the rest of his clothes, perhaps to check him over for injuries.
‘Who?’ he asked distractedly, still trying to get a handle on the anxiety that stubbornly surged through his body.
‘Your girlfriend, Elena.’ The nurse frowned, as if beginning to suspect that all was not entirely well with him.
He shot her a quick smile and said, ‘Okay, good, I’d like to see her.’
Perhaps as soon as he saw this Elena he’d recognise her right away and the rest of his memory would come flooding back with it.
The nurse nodded curtly, clearly still a little suspicious about his well-being, but then turned and left the room.
A moment later there was a tentative knock at the door. He sat up a little straighter in bed and called, ‘Come in.’
A woman with ice-blue eyes and long blonde hair hanging loosely around her slim shoulders entered the room and walked towards him, coming to a stop a couple of feet away from the bed. Her movements appeared graceful and controlled, but he could see from her strained smile that she was tense and worried.
Something about her shot a bolt of intense sensation through him, almost like déjà vu, though he could have sworn he’d never set eyes on her before in his life. He had vague memories of relationships with other women, beautiful, smart women, but there was something about Elena, something almost untouchable, that unnerved him. Or was that just his addled brain playing tricks on him? He’d obviously banged his head pretty hard if he’d forgotten he was having a relationship with a woman as attractive as this.
‘How are you feeling?’ she asked in English, which for some reason seemed absolutely right and totally expected.
‘I’m okay—a bit banged up, but I’ll live,’ he said, patting a space on the bed next to him, wanting her to come nearer so he could study her closer. He had the strangest feeling that if he touched her he’d feel more grounded.
She looked at him warily for a moment then visibly swallowed before stepping up to perch on the edge of the mattress, as if worried about getting too close and knocking him and causing him pain.
Desire shot through him as the scent of her perfume hit his senses and he closed his eyes for a moment, feeling another wave of déjà vu sweep through him.
Come on brain, catch up.
‘It’s good to see you awake. I was really worried about you,’ she said, her voice sounding a little croaky.
‘You’re trembling,’ he murmured, reaching out to touch her arm, feeling her practically vibrating under his fingertips.
‘I wasn’t sure what to expect when I came in here,’ she said, her gaze darting away from his face to look down at where his tanned hand rested on her pale skin.
‘Well, you don’t need to worry. I’m fine,’ he stated vehemently, hoping to reassure her—and perhaps himself a little too—though, judging by the tremble in her bottom lip, it didn’t appear to have worked.
He was fine though, he told himself hazily, just a bit disorientated...that was all. Just because the sight of her hadn’t brought his memory back, it didn’t mean it was gone for good.
Perhaps if he kissed her, it would spark something in his brain.
She certainly looked as though she could do with some proof that he was still the man she knew and cared about. What was it the nurse had said? That she blamed herself for the accident because he’d been crossing the road to see her at the time? Was that the problem here—was she worried he was angry with her?
‘Come closer,’ he said, moving his hand up to slide his fingers under her jaw, feeling a strong urge to wipe the concern from her beautiful face now.
She stilled under his touch and her eyes widened as if she was surprised by what he was doing.
‘Stop worrying,’ he murmured, then drew her towards him and pressed his mouth firmly to hers.
She sucked in a startled-sounding breath but he paid it no mind, pulling her closer to him, ignoring the twinge of pain this caused in his damaged rib and hoping against hope that this would make everything right again.
Her mouth felt wonderful against his but he was blurrily aware that the kiss wasn’t having the effect he’d hoped for. Determined not to give up that easily, he opened his lips and slipped his tongue into the heat of her mouth. As he’d suspected, she tasted incredible, like honey and harmony and sex...
And then his brain seemed to switch gear and suddenly he couldn’t get enough of her. It was like having that first drink of water all over again, his body reacting with a forceful relief that shook him to his very soul. Her full mouth was soft but not as pliant as he would have liked, so he kissed her harder, feeling the pulse in her neck racing against the heel of his hand where he cupped her jaw.
A deep growl rumbled in the back of his throat as he began to lose control of his restraint and she let out a breathy moan in reply and dug her nails into the flesh of his upper arms.
He sank into the possessiveness of her grip, lost in the sensual taste of her, feeling the strangest mixture of comfort and desire and relief—until he suddenly became aware that she was trying to pull away from him.
Reluctantly, he slid his hands away from her jaw and let her go.
‘What’s wrong?’ he ground out, frustrated that she’d cut the kiss short when he’d been enjoying it so much.
It had been the first time he’d felt anything like himself since he’d woken up here.
Her eyes were wide and her expression a little wild. ‘Why did you kiss me?’ Almost absent-mindedly, she brushed her fingers against her lips and his body reacted with such erotic force he very nearly dragged her back to him again for another round.
But the look in her eyes stopped him.
He could see now that she was shaken by the kiss and not because she’d enjoyed it as much as he had.
‘Why shouldn’t I kiss you?’ he demanded, feeling panic begin to work its way back under his skin again.
She blinked at him, looking utterly bewildered, her cheeks flushed with colour and her brow creased. ‘Because of what happened this morning. We had a row.’
He frowned, his mind spinning with confusion. ‘You mean before the accident? Look, I’m sure that wasn’t your fault; I can’t have been looking where I was going.’
Getting up from the bed, she took a step away from him, crossing her arms and frowning hard as if she didn’t understand what she was hearing. ‘Caleb, don’t you remember what happened?’
He wanted to say yes, that he remembered everything, but he knew, with a slow sinking feeling of dread, that there was actually something very, very wrong here.
Throwing up his hands in frustration, he said, ‘No! Okay! I don’t remember!’
She flinched in surprise, then stared at him in horror, her mouth forming a perfect O shape.
Closing his eyes, he attempted to pull his focus back and took a long, deep breath. Fighting to keep his voice steady this time, he said, ‘The truth is my memory’s been a little fuzzy since I woke up.’ He ran a hand over his face then looked up at her. ‘I don’t remember anything between getting to work this morning and waking up in the hospital and anything before my life here in Barcelona is a little difficult to pin down—’
She was still staring at him in dismay. ‘Oh, no, Caleb. That’s not good.’
He flapped a hand dismissively, hating the idea of her pitying him. ‘It’s fine; it’ll come back to me soon. It’s probably just the drugs messing with my head.’
Taking a step closer to him, she said with a shake in her voice, ‘Caleb, do you remember who I am?’
‘Yes, you’re Elena, my girlfriend,’ he said airily, hoping it sounded more convincing to her than it did to him.
Her eyes grew comically wide. ‘What makes you think I’m your girlfriend?’
Confusion swirled through his head again. ‘Because...I thought...’ He paused and frowned. ‘The nurse told me you were, and I know I know you. You’re very familiar to me.’
Elena shifted on the spot, looking uncomfortable now. ‘I don’t speak Spanish so I must have misinterpreted the paramedic’s question when she asked me about my relationship to you,’ she muttered to herself, staring down at the floor. ‘Or perhaps the nurse got the wrong end of the stick or something.’ She looked up at him again, her brow pinched into a frown. ‘Anyway, however it happened, I’m not your girlfriend.’
He looked at her for a moment and got the distinct impression there was more to this than she was telling him.
‘So we’re what?’ he asked slowly, one eyebrow raised. ‘Just friends?’
* * *
Elena knew that lying to Caleb was the last thing she should do right now but she didn’t want to add any unnecessary stress to the situation, not when he’d only just woken up from an accident with a head injury and seemed to be rather confused.
And the thing was, they had been friends once, very good friends, and if she had any say in the matter she’d make sure they got past their differences to become friends again.
But that would be all. Just friends.
Even though the kiss they’d just shared had rocked her world. Her whole body still buzzed from the after-effects of the feel of his firm mouth on hers—her pulse jumping in her throat and her nerves on fire with a wild, almost frightening demand for more that she’d not felt the like of in years.
Not since the last time he’d kissed her.
‘Uh-huh. We haven’t seen each other for a long time though. We knew each other at university.’ She waited for him to recall the fact that they weren’t exactly friends any more but his expression remained blank. It seemed he really didn’t remember her.
‘I’m just visiting from England for a few days and dropped in to see you,’ she added, wondering if that would help jog his memory, but it didn’t appear to. He was looking at her with such an intense expression in his eyes now, as if he was thinking about kissing her again, that she had to drag her gaze away and look down instead at the sheet that was tucked up against his rather impressive bare chest. She tried not to stare too hard at it, or at the dark bruises marking his skin. Apart from those, he was in really good shape, his limbs strong and muscled, his torso toned and hard.
Stop gawping, you fool!
‘I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel awkward,’ Caleb said, frowning and shaking his head, then closing one eye and squinting as if the movement had caused him great pain.
She went to put out a hand to touch him, then withdrew it. ‘Is your head hurting?’
‘Like crazy.’
‘I’ll get the doctor.’
She started to walk away, then paused and turned back to face him. ‘Is there someone else you want me to call to be here with you?’
He looked at her in surprise, before frowning. ‘No, I don’t think so. To be honest, I can’t think of who I would call.’ He looked so uncomfortable she couldn’t help but feel a rush of sympathy for him.
She was just about to offer to stay until they were able to contact a friend in Barcelona for him when his expression cleared and he said, ‘Could you ring my office and ask my PA to come here?’
‘I’ve already called her,’ she told him. ‘She’s on her way over. I asked her who your emergency contact is but she wasn’t sure. Apparently she hasn’t been working for you for long.’
‘No. My regular PA has just had a baby.’
‘It’s not yours, is it?’ she quipped, then regretted it when she saw a look of panic flash across his face.
‘I’m just joking, Caleb. Sorry, that was tasteless of me considering your state of mind at the moment.’ She squeezed her eyes shut and wrinkled her nose. ‘I’m still a little shaken up after what just happened.’
But, instead of giving her a piece of his mind, he gave her a slow, wry smile instead, like the ones he used to give her back when they were friends. It was such an incredible sight and something she’d not seen for such a long time it stopped her in her tracks.
‘I’ll...er...go and find a doctor,’ she said hurriedly, swallowing down the lump that had formed in her throat.
Turning away, she strode out of the room on rather shaky legs, relieved to be able to get away from his befuddling presence for a moment so she could figure out how the heck she was going to handle this situation from this point on.
Just as she reached the nurses’ station Caleb’s PA hurried around the corner and, spotting her, gave a little wave of recognition.
‘Benita, thank you for coming,’ Elena said as the woman came to a breathless halt in front of her. ‘Caleb’s okay, but he’s banged his head and is having trouble remembering which friend to call to come and look after him. Has he mentioned anyone to you that he’s close to?’ she asked.
Benita shook her head, biting her lip and looking a little anxious. ‘I’ve only been working for him for a few days and he never talks about anything of a personal nature. I checked his computer and his work mobile—which he’d left on his desk,’ she added a little defensively, as if Elena might accuse her of snooping, ‘but there was no one obvious I should call.’ Turning away, she began rifling through her bag, her movements becoming increasingly desperate as she failed to locate what she was looking for. ‘Caramba! I forgot to put his phone in here.’
Elena put a steadying hand onto the woman’s arm. ‘It’s okay. He’s in no state to be using his phone right now anyway. In fact, it’s probably better if he doesn’t have it right away. Less stress.’
She nodded, though the expression in her eyes reflected her worry. ‘I’ll drop it round to his apartment later.’
‘I’m sure that would be fine,’ Elena said in an attempt to soothe the poor woman.
Sighing, Benita shook her head. ‘Carla would never have forgotten it.’
That gave Elena an idea. ‘Hey, would Carla know of a friend of his to contact?’ she asked hopefully.
Benita shook her head again. ‘I called her but she said the same thing. He never gave away much personal information about himself. He had a few girlfriends over the time she worked for him but she never met any of them and he’s not seeing anyone now, as far as she knows. He doesn’t have any family left either, now his mother’s passed away.’
Elena experienced a pang of sorrow on his behalf. She knew from their time at university that he’d always been a bit of a loner and that his mother had been his only family, not that they’d been particularly close. He’d been angry with her for continuing to have a long-term relationship with a married man. He didn’t know who his father was either; his mother had refused to tell him, saying he was just a man she’d met in a bar one night. Unfortunately for Caleb, that had been a well chewed over piece of gossip in the town where he’d grown up, which had followed him round like a bad smell.
It was really no wonder he was so keen to keep his private life private these days.
‘When did his mother pass away?’ she asked.
‘About six months ago, I think. Carla mentioned something about it because he’d actually taken some time off work for once to be with her in the hospice. It was cancer, apparently, that took her.’
The two women stood quietly for a moment, reflecting on this.
‘Well, I’d better get back to the office now I know he’s okay,’ Benita said suddenly, smiling, as if Elena’s presence there had released her from her own duties to Caleb. ‘I’ll let the other managers know what’s happened and that he won’t be in work for the rest of the week. Please tell him everything’s under control. I know he’ll worry otherwise.’
‘Don’t you want to go in and see him?’ Elena asked, a little shocked by the woman’s intention to withdraw without even saying hello to Caleb.
Benita shook her head, taking a step backwards. ‘No, no. Just tell him I hope he feels better soon.’
‘Well, perhaps someone else from work could come over and sort out who can look after him—’ Elena said rather desperately, but Benita was backing away now, clearly keen to get out of there and return to the sanctuary of a Caleb-free office.
‘I doubt anyone there will know any more than me,’ she said, giving one last tight smile, then turning and rushing away.
Sighing, Elena rubbed a hand over her face, her insides sinking with a mixture of sadness for Caleb at his apparent lack of close friendships and nerves about exactly what she’d got herself into here.
The sad fact was, it looked as though the only person available to take care of him right now was her.
As she thought about this a crazy idea began to form in her head and her stomach gave a nervous little flip. Maybe if she could show him she was happy to be here for him, and prepared to help in any way she could, it might go some way towards rebuilding their friendship—without the prejudice and anger he seemed to be holding on to from the past getting in the way—and help her reconnect with the man she knew was in there, hiding behind that hard shell she’d seen earlier. Otherwise, once his memory came back she might never have the opportunity to speak to him again, especially when he remembered why he’d been crossing that road, but if she could be a good friend to him now and prove how much she cared about him, perhaps he’d think twice before pushing her away again.
It was worth a try.
Anything was worth a try at this point.
But if she did stay to look after him there would be no more kissing, she told herself firmly, setting back her shoulders and heading towards the desk to ask the staff there to contact his doctor.
Definitely not.
