Billionaire's Contract Engagement(38)

"Why is that?"

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

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

     



 

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

She shook her head.

"Okay, well, you ring if you need me."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Covering his face with a handkerchief, he walked through a small living  room with outdated, discountstore furniture, snapping on lights and  opening windows as he made to the kitchen. He saw the culprit right  away, an unopened package of ground beef on a faded, worn countertop,  next to a stove that was probably older than him. She must have taken it  out to thaw right before the accident.

He opened the kitchen window, then, for the landlord's sake he grabbed  the package and tossed it in the freezer. He was sure the contents of  the fridge were similarly frightening, but since neither he nor Mel  would be returning, he didn't feel compelled to check.

There was nothing else remarkable about the room, so he moved on to explore the rest of the house.

The bathroom counter was covered with various toiletries that he didn't  recognize-and why would he when they didn't share a bathroom-but  everything was distinctly feminine. He checked the medicine chest and  the cabinet below the sink but there was no evidence that a man had ever  lived there.         

     



 

He searched her bedroom next, finding more old and tacky furniture, and  an unmade bed. Which was odd because back home she always kept things  tidy and spotless. He found a lot of familiar-looking clothes in the  closet and drawers, but again, nothing to suggest she'd had any male  companionship. Not even a box of condoms in the bedside table. He and  Melody had at one time kept them handy, but not for quite some time.  They were monogamous, and he was sterile, so there really never seemed a  point.

She had obviously had unprotected sex with someone, or she wouldn't have  gotten pregnant. It hadn't even occurred to him earlier, but now he  wondered if he should go get himself tested for STDs. Melody had  callously put her own health and his in jeopardy. One more thing to hold  against her.

He searched the entire room, top to bottom, but didn't find the one  thing he was looking for. He was about to leave when, as an  afterthought, Ash pulled back the comforter on the bed and hit pay dirt.

Melody's computer.

In the past he would have never betrayed her trust by looking through  her computer. He respected her privacy, just as she respected his. But  she had lost that particular privilege when she betrayed him. Besides,  the information it contained might be the only clue as to who she was  sleeping with. The only explanation as to why she left him. She owed him  that much.

He wanted to look at it immediately but he honestly wasn't sure how much  longer he could stand the stench and he still had to pack Melody's  things. Most of her clothes he would ship home and have his secretary  put away, keeping only a smaller bag in Texas, to make his two-week trip  story more believable.

He looked at his watch and realized he was going to have to get moving  if he was going to get back to the hospital before visiting hours were  over. Though he was exhausted, and wanted nothing more that to go back  to the hotel and take a hot shower, he had to play the role of the  doting fiancé.

He crammed her things into the suitcases he found stored in her bedroom  closet, shoved everything into the trunk of his rental car to sort  later, then headed back to the hospital, but when he got there she was  sleeping. Realizing that he hadn't eaten since that morning-and then  only a hurried fast-food sandwich before his flight boarded-rather than  eat an overpriced, sub-par meal in the cafeteria, he found a family  diner a few blocks away. It wasn't the Ritz, but the food was decent,  and he had the sneaking suspicion he would be eating there a lot in the  next week to ten days. When he got back to Mel's room she was awake,  sitting up and clearly relieved and excited to see him. "I was afraid  you wouldn't make it back."

"I said in my note that I would be back. I just had a few things to take  care of." He pulled up a chair but she patted the bed for him to sit  beside her.

She looked a lot better than she had earlier. Her eyes were brighter and  there was more color in her cheeks, and as he sat, he noticed that her  hair was damp. As if reading his mind, she said, "They let me take a  shower. It felt so wonderful. And tomorrow they want me to start  walking, to get the strength back in my legs."

"That's good, right?"

"The nurse said the sooner I'm up and moving around on my own, the  sooner they'll discharge me." She reached for his hand, and he had no  choice but to take it. "I can hardly wait to go home. I'm sure that once  I'm there, I'll start to remember things."

He hoped not. At least, not for a while. That could definitely complicate things. "I'm sure it will," he told her.

"Did the hotel still have my things?" she asked hopefully.

"Hotel?"

Her brow furrowed. "I just assumed I was staying at a hotel, while I did my research."

He cursed himself for letting his guard down. The last thing he wanted was to rouse her suspicions. He swiftly backpedaled.