Page 13 of His Forgotten Wife

Her breath left in a long exhale and the surrounding opulence rushed back to assault her senses.

The main salon they walked through, while Ares nodded at people here and there, was a vision of understated luxury, with creamy leather sofas, polished marble floors and floor-to-ceiling windows, which framed the brilliant seascape outside.

Dolly felt as if she was gliding through an ever-changing painting, while the guests were nothing but avid, covetous spectators.

Still, no decadent view could dim her zinging awareness of the man himself.

Finally, he led her down a spiral staircase to the lower deck. Glass doors opened to a cozy sun-drenched lounge that seemed to melt into the horizon, while the yacht sliced effortlessly through gentle waves, leaving a trail of white foam.

The guests could still see them from different nooks if they wanted, but the lounge provided a modicum of privacy. A part of Dolly wished he didn’t have to parade her in front of his brothers and family, but it was the whole point she was there.

She let out a shaky laugh, rubbing a hand over her belly. “When Arabella mentioned a picnic, I assumed a beach and a rug and some wine.”

“I’ve never seen you so nervous before,” he said with a wry twist to his mouth. The full impact of his gaze landing on her was like a shot of adrenaline straight into her veins.

“What? You’ve suddenly grown receptive antennae to others’ moods and emotions?” Dolly retorted.

“I’ve never been…unaware of your moods and emotions, Dahlia.” When she didn’t answer, his jaw tightened. “Or was I?”

Dolly sighed. The last thing she wanted was him to regret things he couldn’t change about himself, then or now. Or for him to feel responsible for the misery she’d brought on herself.

Whatever he saw in her expression prompted him to say, “Don’t sugarcoat reality for me, Dahlia. I couldn’t bear it if you lied to me.”

Her stomach twisted into such a tight knot that she could barely form words for several long moments. “Insofar as they affected your well-being, you could read me well.”

Her sarcasm kicked the corners of his mouth into a soft grin. He poured her a glass of champagne and handed it to her. Head tilted to the side, he studied her while she sipped.

A boozy brunch on a yacht with views that belonged in a travel magazine…

when was she ever going to get a chance like this again?

Plus, she always actually enjoyed Ares’s company.

No man or woman she knew had his blunt wit, the fresh way of seeing things that he did.

So she needed to stop fighting this and exhausting herself, at least for now.

She cast him a sidelong glance, unable to help herself, as he raised his face to the sky.

“You look…different,” Ares said, catching her lingering glance. “I guess that outfit means you finally got the memo that you should see this as a vacation.”

Shaking her head, she leaned against the glass door leading onto the outer deck. “I never thought I’d see the day you would try diplomacy.”

“What do you mean?”

“I look like a cheap hooker who returned after a botched job to fight over her payment,” she said, wanting to provoke him, unbalance him. Wanting to test this new dynamic between them. “Points to you for not saying it.”

Throwing his head back, he laughed uproariously, the sound swathing her from all sides like a baby’s worn-out blanket.

She gave up all pretense and just stared, longing flooding her.

His jet-black hair wind-ruffled, his gray eyes warmed up, the corded column of his throat inviting her touch…

he looked so achingly gorgeous that her heart gave a weak thump.

With the blue polo shirt hugging his lean, wiry frame, and in white shorts that made him look young and carefree, this was an Ares she’d never seen before, and therefore had no defenses against.

Even as laughter softened the harsh angles of his face into stunning beauty, the deep lines of pain etched near his mouth betrayed him.

Before she could think on it, she was tracing the grooves around his mouth in a featherlight touch. A gasp at her own audacity escaped her. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

His long fingers enveloped her wrist before she could jerk away. “It’s okay, Dahlia.”

“It’s not,” she said, tugging out of his hold. She felt his touch everywhere and yet not enough anywhere. “You look exhausted and I…forgot myself.”

“I don’t mind your touch,” he said, bending his head, as if in supplication. As if he needed her touch rather than just tolerating it for the sake of pretense.

Her fingers tingled with the urge to sink into his thick hair. “Ares…”

A naughty grin curved his lips as he looked at her. “So we have never even thought of doing this before?”

Her cheeks flamed. “Doing what?”

“Touching each other. In comfort or passion or—”

“No! And you said you have memory gaps about the time before the accident,” she said, her heart in her throat. “Are your memories coming back? Do you remember something specific?”

A frustrated grunt fell from his lips. “No. But I…”

“What?” She had never seen him hesitate ever before and she was beginning to hate all the half-truths surrounding them. “Is this some kind of test of my loyalty?”

“Of course not.” He looked thoughtful, as if he was trying to figure out the conditions for an algorithm.

“There’s a lot of confusion in my head about you.

But I can see that I have horrified you by asking if we’ve ever been involved.

” Alarm flashed in his eyes. “Or is it that you didn’t trust me to not take advantage of you in some way? ”

Dolly swallowed the ache that was beginning to feel like a permanent resident of her throat now. “Of course you would never take advantage of me.”

The vehemence with which she said it clearly wasn’t lost on him either. Her champagne flute rattled as she placed it on the side table. Suddenly, the yacht felt like a cage more than anything because she couldn’t run from herself.

She turned away from him, wishing there was a way to purge her awareness of him. “I think we should stop talking about this. There’s nothing to be achieved by focusing on the past.”

“I hate not knowing,” he bit out at her back, confirming her theory that his memory holes were contributing to his sleeplessness and agitation more than physical pain.

“Have you thought that if your mind’s blanking things out for you, then maybe they are not worth remembering?” she said without turning. It cost her so much to say that.

“So I should just focus ahead?”

“Yes.”

“Right, forget what we did or didn’t do in the past, ne ?” He stepped in front of her again, blocking her view of the sea. “Fine. But I want to test a theory I do have about the present. About you and me.”

Her heart beat so loud that even the waves of the sea seemed to dim in her ears.

Dolly pressed her palm to his chest, wanting to push him.

Which was ridiculous because she might melt if he made skin contact with her.

“This isn’t really the time for one of your experiments, Ares.

We’re surrounded by your family and friends. ”

“Who are all curious about how I act with you. I might as well be a wild animal let loose among innocent lambs for their viewing pleasure. And since my mother gave you a different room, we didn’t get any time to practice our newly engaged act.”

There was frustration and something else Dolly couldn’t pin down in his tone. Something almost like…anger. Also, now she understood another source of his mother’s doubts about her.

“You’re saying you want to share a room with me?” Although now that she knew the size of the villa, sharing a room might be like sharing a small-sized New York apartment.

“Isn’t that what engaged couples do?” he quipped, studying her intently. “Now you’ve got my entire family even more curious about us.”

“That’s your problem,” Dolly retorted, irritation making her response short. “They don’t know the little fact that you don’t like anyone in your personal space, Ares. I was trying to not step on your boundaries. And I haven’t been sleeping well anyway.”

It was the wrong thing to say to him. And in that miserable tone. It was as if she were the innocent lamb who not only had made eye contact with the wild animal but had decided to run. It was in the nature of the wild animal to give chase then.

First and foremost, Ares Demetrius was a problem solver. And she had just presented him with a very personal one, especially when he was looking for openings to persuade her that she was better off with him.

He turned fully, the heat of his body a welcome blanket against the briny breeze. “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you sleeping well?”

She didn’t miss the grimace that crossed his face at the sudden movement.

“Dahlia?”

Knowing that he was like a dog with a bone when he spoke in that tone, she gave in. “I’ve been having nightmares.”

“The same ones you had after your parents died in the car accident?”

Her head jerked up so fast that she pressed her fingers to the back of her neck. “How do you know that?”

“That one time at college, you slept at our apartment when you were dating Tony. When I came in from a midnight session at the computer lab, you were thrashing around in his bed. He had gone off to smoke.”

Shock pummeled at Dolly. “That was years ago and I dated him for like two measly weeks. It’s how I met you.” A spark of happiness lit up within her chest at the memory. “I don’t remember telling you about their accident.”

“You didn’t, at that time. I was your boyfriend’s freaky roommate, obsessed with order and silence, remember?”

Dolly shook her head. “I never thought that of you.”