REMEMBER US: A Billionaire Romance (Part One) Read Free

I’d ever had the pleasure of viewing. I just stood there and watched, sliding my hands into the pockets of my pants to avoid a little public humiliation.
    I think it was in that moment that I knew she was the only woman I would ever desire for the rest of my life.
    ***
    “They cut her hair.”
    “It was necessary to repair the laceration.”
    “Laceration?”
    “There’s a five-inch gash that goes from just past her hairline to behind her left ear.”
    I nodded as I walked slowly to the hospital bed that held the woman I loved.
    Just as the nurse had warned, her eyes were swollen and blackened, her cheeks were puffy, and her lips were three times their usual size. She was wearing one of those gaudy hospital gowns that no one likes, but it was just draped over one shoulder to allow access to the many wires and tubes that snaked underneath. Her right arm was covered in bandages and immobilized by a sling. Her right leg was covered in plaster from her ankle to mid-thigh. Where she wasn’t bruised, she was so pale that the natural bronze of her skin was just a distant memory.
    This wasn’t my Harley. My Harley was vibrant and beautiful. This was just a shell of that.
    It killed me to look at her in this state. But I bent and kissed her forehead lightly, the familiar scent of her shampoo just barely recognizable under the hospital scents that radiated from all around her.
    “I’m here, babe,” I said.
    “If you need anything,” Nurse Franklin said, “just ask.”
    I nodded without moving my eyes from Harley. I heard the door close as I settled in the chair beside the bed. I took her hand in mine and sat back to wait for her to wake up.
    ***
    “Do you dance?”
    “It depends on what kind of dancing you’re talking about.”
    Harley smiled as she took my hand. “The kind where you keep your clothes on.”
    “Oh. The boring kind.”
    She laughed, the sound so much better than the pounding bass beat that was threatening to give me a headache. And then she was in my arms, pressing her body against mine as she moved in a decidedly cruel shimmy. I slid my arms over her back, cradling her gently so as not to scare her away with my eagerness. But that didn’t seem to be enough for her. She moved closer, a teasing light coming into her eyes as she brushed her lower belly against the evidence that I was enjoying her closeness.
    “You do like to dance.”
    “With the right partner.”
    “Do I make the cut?”
    “That remains to be seen.”
    I grabbed her hand and pushed her away from me, then turned her into a spin, catching her against my chest before she could trip and fall into the guy doing something like a jig next to us. She laughed as she caught herself, moving closer to me than she’d been before, if that was even possible.
    “You’re a tease,” she said softly.
    “I don’t know who’s teasing whom.”
    “I’m not a tease. I’m quite blunt with my intentions.”
    She slid her hand up my chest to my jaw, then rose on her tiptoes and pressed her lips softly to mine. I sighed, as I slid my hand around her neck and pulled her closer, a little surprised that she was the first to part her lips just slightly, the first to deepen what began as a chaste little kiss. I was usually the aggressor, the one who was unafraid to take things as far as they could go. But Harley needed to be in control. At least, she needed to feel as though she were in control. And I was most willing to let her have that.
    It was our first kiss. The first of many.
    ***
    “How is she?”
    I glanced at the electronic monitor that showed Harley’s steady heartbeat.
    “Stable. I think.”
    “Wow.” I could hear Jonnie shuffling papers on the other end of the line. “Is there someone I can call? What about her parents? Her brother?”
    “Not yet. I want to have something positive to tell them.”
    “You don’t think they should know now?”
    “There’s no reason to upset them until there’s something to upset them about. The