Jena Doe knows her amnesia is the result of more than a simple mugging. Thank goodness for the kind woman who found her unconscious in the street and took her in. Wealthy and generous, the widowed Emma Leyden offers just the kind of motherly love Jena needs to recuperate. The future might look hopefull if not for Emma's protective son, Lucas. Suspicious of Jena's motives, Lucas has hired a private investigator to find out the truth. But what he uncovers is a past more disturbing than Jena could ever have imagined. She should hate Lucas for what he has done, and yet there is a connection - and an attraction - between them that neither can deny...
Lucas knew he had to have her. It was all he knew in this world. His body was a fever, and the taste of her sent him to a pitch of ...
"Ow!" Jena's eyes squinted as she felt a sharp hit as her head hit the sheets. She reached behind her.
"I'll get it," Lucas said, trying to think through his haze of want. He reached behind her head and removed the object. He wanted to get back to business, but a glimpse of the object was all it took to jolt him back to reality.
Jena noticed the expression on Lucas' face change like hot Mississippi summer to cold Chicago winter. She wanted to pull him back as he began to lift himself up. She didn't want him to stop. She wanted this to go on forever.
"What?" she asked, turning her head.
It was the book of Samantha's drawings. Jena tried to pull herself together, but felt a little panic set in as she saw the look on his face. "Lucas. Lucas, I was just..."
"What are you doing with this?" Lucas tried to focus, his desire for Jena still coursing through his veins. "This is Samantha's personal book. No one gets to look at this! Why are you..."
"I was just ...I didn't mean to ..." Jena didn't know what to say. It was hard to think. The mood had changed so drastically. "I was just looking for something to read, and..."
"Give me a break! There's a library downstairs." Lucas was gripping the small book with both hands. "What did you think you would find?"
"I just wanted to know about Samantha." Jena reached for him, but Lucas pulled back. "It seems like such a secret, and I..."
"You want to know all of our secrets, right?" Lucas couldn't believe he was so stupid. How had he allowed himself to be tricked like this. "You thought if you went through her personal things, you could take on some of her personality traits and endear yourself even more to my mother?"
"No, Lucas." Jena couldn't believe he could kiss her one second, and accuse her the next. "We've already been through this."
"So I thought." He tossed the book on the bed. "Go ahead, Jena. Try to wear my sister's clothes, sleep in her room, and read her personal things. You'll never replace her in my mother's eyes."
"You're being ridiculous." Jena tried to control her anger in an attempt to understand his emotional state. But she was in a pretty frenzied state herself. "You've just decided in your mind that I'm the devil, and you take that slant with everything. Honestly, I..."
"Honestly my ass. Is that what this scene was all about? Your hand on my knee. Tender kisses. Saying my name in a way that could make me forget everything. I'm the only one that's on to you, so you need to get me on your side."
That was it! To hell with resolutions. As Jena's lips pressed tightly together, she slapped him across the cheek. Again. Jena wondered if her hand had a mind of its own.
Lucas grabbed her hand by the wrist, pulling her to him. "That's the second time today you took liberty with my face!"
Jena jerked away, pulling herself up from the bed. "That's the second time today you insulted my integrity. How dare you suggest that I would prostitute myself to get you on my side?"
"I don't now what the hell you're up to." He stood, standing face to face with her. Her nose squinched, her eyes firing. Why did he have to be so attracted her even when he hated her? "Maybe not that, but...this could all be a part of your master plan."
"Don't even try to take the victim route, Lucas." Jena stepped closer to him, meeting his challenge. He was at least eight inches taller than her, but that didn't matter. She would not be disrespected.
"I'm not..."
"Shut-up," she warned, fueled on by the look of shock on his face. "You were just as much, if not more, a participant in that scene as I was. At least be a man about it and don't take the poor man seduced cop out."
"Don't you question my manhood!" Lucas' brows centered, his cheek throbbing only made his anger worse. "And don't you ever tell me to shut-up."
"Get out!" Jena stepped aside, raising her arm and pointed directly to the door. "This may not be my room, but I'm here. And you better get out before I scream loud enough to bring the whole neighborhood."
Lucas gritted his teeth. There was no way she was telling him off and kicking him out. But what else could he say? Never before had a woman been able to get the last word with him. But he was tongue tied.
"Forget it!" he said, waving his hand away as if he didn't care. He did care, and he was fuming! This was not the last of it, he swore to himself.
In the doorway, he turned to her, forming the most menacing face he could. She didn't even blink. This woman wasn't afraid of anyone. Still, he had to keep face. A man had his pride.
"By the way, Jena, you've hit me twice already. That's two more than any woman has ever gotten away with. Don't do it again."
Jena approached the door, brooding looks and all. "Don't make me do it again."
She slammed the door right in his face.
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