“Just do some of the chores,” I murmur. “If you do that, I’ll consider that payment for the spare bedroom. Stay as long as you want.” Ideally, forever.
She starts to object, and I shake my head. “Do you have any idea how expensive a housekeeper is? It’s a good deal for me.”
Alanna hesitates, clearly unwilling to commit to living here, but eventually she nods. “Okay,” she whispers. “It’ll only be a few weeks. I won’t bother you for long at all, I promise.”
I’m so tempted to take a step closer to her. I want to bury my hand in her hair the way I used to and tip her face up toward mine. I want her body against mine and tell her that I’m never letting her go now that she’s finally found her way back to me. But I can’t.
“You’re not bothering me at all, Alanna. Do I seem like the kind of man that goes around doing his employees favors? The only reason you’re here is because it’s more convenient for me, and I happen to need a housekeeper. You don’t need to feel obliged, since this is a mutually beneficial deal.”
She looks at me and tilts her head, as though she’s assessing me. “You say that, but your words are never in line with your actions.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
She smiles tightly and shakes her head. “It’s nothing. Would it be okay if I looked around?”
I smirk, unable to help myself. “Didn’t you see most of it last time? Or were you too focused on getting my clothes off?”
Her eyes widen, and a blush stains her cheeks pink. “Silas,” she says, her voice soft. “You can’t… we… we work together, and we’ll be living together for a little while too. We can’t… please don’t bring up that night. I really don’t want things to be awkward between us. Please, can we forget about it?”
I take a step back as her words pierce straight through my heart. That night was the first night I truly felt whole again, yet to her it’s a shameful memory. How did Alanna and I end up this way?
“I understand,” I tell her, and I do. I get it, but there’s no way I’m forgetting about that night. She wanted me then, more so than she ever has before, and that couldn’t have been fake. She might not remember me, but her body does. “Go ahead and take a look around. Nothing is off-limits to you, so just treat this place as yours.”
I force a smile before walking away, needing a moment to myself. What would she do if she knew how much she’s hurting me? If she hadn’t lost her memories, would things be different now?
I walk into my bedroom and look around, seeing it through fresh eyes. Would I be sharing this bedroom with Alanna, instead of having her sleep a few doors down? I inhale slowly as I sit down on my bed. I won her over once, and I’ll do it again.
Her being evicted is one of the best things that could’ve happened to me, but there’s no way this is a coincidence.
I grab my phone and call Amy. “Hey, I need you to find out why Alanna was suddenly evicted from the place she was renting. Something isn’t right, and I want to know what it is. Please also send someone over to pick up some boxes from the office and have them delivered to my house.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Silas
I look up when Alanna walks into the kitchen at seven in the morning, biting back a smile when she freezes, her eyes running over my bare chest. I turn toward her, giving her a better view, and her gaze drops to my low-hanging shorts. If she keeps looking at me like that, I’m going to embarrass myself. She tells me she wants to forget about our night together, but she’s clearly lying. I’ve always been able to see through her lies, and I’m glad that hasn’t changed.
Too bad she’s already dressed for work. I want to see her in one of my old t-shirts, the ones she used to love. She has no idea how many times I imagined us having a lazy morning together. I’d make her coffee, and she’d sit on the kitchen counter wearing one of my shirts. This isn’t the exact future I imagined, but it’s close enough to make me smile like a fool.
My eyes roam over her body, taking in the pencil skirt she’s wearing and the pink blouse that’s just about low enough for me to catch a hint of her breasts, but not low enough to be indecent. She looks sexy as hell, and I almost wish I could just keep her home so her colleagues won’t get to see her looking like that.
“Morning,” I tell her.
Alanna snaps out of it, her cheeks turning rosy as she bites down on her lip, her gaze wandering all over the kitchen nervously. She clearly still wants me, and that’s enough for me. Even though she can’t remember me, it’s still me she wants. It’s still me she instinctively trusts, or she wouldn’t be here with me. After years of searching for her, here she is, exactly where I want her to be.