Pregnesia. Carla Cassidy
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frowned, remembering when she’d stepped into the kitchen in his sister’s nightgown. “That one can’t be comfortable. I saw how it pulled across your stomach. Just pick out one that will fit you comfortably.”
As she moved to the rack to look at the items, he tried to forget that vision of her. That nightgown of Loretta’s hadn’t just pulled taut across her belly, but across her breasts, as well. Her hair had been all tousled and she’d looked achingly soft and feminine.
For just an instant as he’d held that coffee cup frozen halfway to his mouth, he’d wondered what it would be like to wake up with a woman like Jane next to him. When half-asleep, would he rub the swell of her belly and dream of the future of the baby she carried?
Jeez, what was wrong with him? He’d never thought about babies before. The last thing he’d ever wanted to be was a husband and a father. He simply wasn’t cut out for either role. Jane felt just a little dangerous to him. She made him think of things he’d never thought of before.
She picked a pale pink nightgown and added it to the growing number of items in the shopping cart. He then pointed the cart in the direction of the toiletries section. She walked beside him and paused a moment to rub her lower back.
“Sorry,” she said, and smiled. “Junior must be stretched out right along my spine.”
Her smile torched a wave of heat through him. It was the first true smile he’d seen from her and it did amazing things to her already-lovely face. Even the scab across her forehead couldn’t detract from her attractiveness.
Suddenly, he was irritated. All he wanted to do was solve the mystery of his Ms. Jane Doe and get her on her way and out of his life.
He noticed the old woman who’d been in the underwear section now at the end of the aisle where Jane stood in front of the hair care items. Once again when she saw him looking at her she smiled. She dug a cell phone out of her purse and then disappeared around the corner.
It was easier focusing on a little white-haired woman than watching Jane. He’d been too long without a woman. That was the problem. It had been months since he’d been out with anyone.
His last date had been with a friend of his partner Troy’s girlfriend, Bree. Miranda had flown in from California for a weekend visit and Lucas had taken her out. She’d been perfect for him, very hot and very temporary. He frowned in irritation as he realized Jane got to him in a way Miranda hadn’t. There was a softness about Jane, a sweetness in her smile, a fragile light in her eyes that pulled up a protectiveness in him he’d never felt for anyone except his sister.
“I think that’s everything I should need.” Jane pulled him from his thoughts as she added a hairbrush, a toothbrush and a bottle of citrus-scented shampoo to the cart.
“Then let’s get out of here,” Lucas said. He blew a sigh of relief as they headed for the cashier lines. Maybe if he took her to Café Italian for an early lunch, somebody at the restaurant would recognize her and the mystery would be solved.
They fell into line behind a woman who looked as if she’d bought half the store. Jane covered his hand with hers on the handle of the cart. Her hand was warm on his skin as she looked up at him. “I can’t thank you enough,” she said. “I couldn’t face wearing that bloody blouse all day today.”
“We’ll run back to Loretta’s so you can change clothes, then head to the restaurant to see if anybody there knows your name.”
He breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled her hand from his. “Even if somebody just knows my first name, surely hearing that will remind me of who I am.”
He heard the thrum of desperation in her voice. It must be horrifying not to know even the most simple thing about yourself—your name. Until this moment he hadn’t really realized that if she was telling the truth about her amnesia, then she must be absolutely terrified.
All he’d been thinking about was getting her gone as soon as possible, but he didn’t want her to go unless she had her memory back.
Finally it was their turn to be checked out. As Lucas placed the items on the counter he noticed that Jane winced and rubbed her lower back.
“You want to go ahead to the car?” he asked. Maybe if she got off her feet her back would feel better.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”
He held out the keys as the cashier told him his total. “Go on, I’ll be out in two minutes.”
She smiled gratefully and took the keys from him as he pulled out his wallet to pay the cashier. As she headed toward the exit, he put the bags of his purchases back in the cart.
As he pushed out of the exit door, he saw a van pull up. The back doors opened and two men began grappling with Jane, obviously trying to get her into the back of the van.
“Hey!” he yelled. His heart smashed into his ribs as he abandoned the cart and took off running toward them.
At that moment Jane released a scream that raised the hairs on the back of his neck and drew the attention of everyone in the parking lot. Another shopper, a burly man, began to run toward the van, as well.
Jane screamed again as she struggled to get free. The two men suddenly released her and jumped into the back of the van, which took off with a squeal of tires.
The burly man and Lucas reached Jane at the same time. She launched herself at Lucas, wrapping her arms around his neck and hanging on tight.
“Are you all right?” he asked urgently. “Did they hurt you?”
She shook her head and buried her face against his chest. Despite the fact that she wore his big, down-filled coat, he could feel the trembling of her body against him.
The big man looked at Lucas and pulled a cell phone from his pocket. “Want me to call 911?”
“No!” Jane lifted her head and looked first at the man, then at Lucas. “No, please. Let’s just go home. But thank you for your help.”
The man shrugged and put his cell phone back in his pocket, then headed toward the store entrance.
Another shopper, a young woman, pushed Lucas’s cart to where he and Jane stood. “You aren’t safe anywhere these days,” she said with a worried frown on her face.
With Jane still clinging to him, Lucas pushed the basket to the side of his car. She pulled his keys from her pocket, unlocked the door and helped her into the passenger side.
He threw the bags into the backseat, then walked around to the driver door. It had all happened so damn fast. He hadn’t even gotten a license plate number on the van. All he’d seen was a small symbol of some kind on the back window.
There was no way he believed that this had just been a random act of violence. Those men had been after her. As he slid in behind the steering wheel he turned to look at her. His heart still beat a rapid tattoo of alarm.
“If you have any memories in your head, if you’re holding anything back, you’d better spill it now,” he said as he stabbed the key into the ignition. “Otherwise we’d better figure out who you are and why in the hell those men just tried to kidnap you.”
Jane stared at him as the yawning horror of what had just happened filled her with an icy chill of terror. When the van had pulled up in front of her, she’d thought nothing about it. Then the back doors had swung open and the two men had rushed her.
“I swear I don’t know anything. I don’t know who those men were or what they wanted with me.” Her heart still beat with the frantic rhythm of fear.
A knot of tension throbbed in Lucas’s lean jaw as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road.
She continued to look at him, needing the mere sight of him to ground her, to somehow chase away the panic that still clawed at her insides.
“I don’t suppose