Chapter Eleven

Isaac

I slid out of the bed, leaving the curvy silhouette of Maddie’s body beneath the sheets. Damn, she is sexy. I loved watching her sleep so peacefully, no more bad dreams for the last couple nights, and she’d finally let up on the million questions. It was obvious she didn’t think things connected, and she wasn’t wrong. They didn’t. I just hoped that after a little more time together, things would start to feel more natural.

The mailman waved as I stepped outside to grab the newspaper. The sun was hot, making me wish I could take the day off and play on the beach with Maddie. “Hey, Tim,” I waved back to the man in the blue shorts.

Damn, why is she pushing so hard to go to Portland? I knew I was going to have to take her eventually, but acting like things were hectic at work was the only excuse I had, so no more days off.

I wondered often what would happen if she stepped foot into her own apartment. There were probably pictures of her and Rob all over the place, little reminders of their love spread everywhere to trigger her memory and send more questions towards me. What if she only remembers the good in Rob? What if she forgets that he is the bad guy, and that I am the good guy?

I pulled my mail from the basket near my door and walked back inside. The air conditioning was refreshing from the heat of the Florida winter sun. I scanned through the mail, not finding anything too interesting, and tossed it on the long table by the stairs to sort later.

The aroma of coffee filled the room as I walked into the kitchen. I grabbed my favorite mug, poured it full of coffee, and leaned against the counter to think. Was I the good guy in this? Was it my place to hide Maddie from her real life and try to create a new one, a safer one for her here?

“Good morning.” Maddie wiped her eyes gently and then yawned after mumbling her greeting.

She was wearing one of my dress shirts, three buttons undone from the top, and nothing but panties on underneath. Her hair was messy, but still sexy. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. “Good morning,” I smiled, my dick twitching in my pants as she lifted her arms to stretch. Just a glimpse of those white cotton panties and I was half-mast.

Sleeping in the same bed had been nice, but not having sex was becoming torturous. Her scent drove me wild, and the warmth of her body made my urges hard to control. But, I was a perfect gentleman, holding her against me and not asking for anything more, even though I wanted nothing more than to bury my face between her legs and taste the sweet nectar her pussy had to offer.

“You working today?” she asked, her mouth still partially open from her yawn, and her words slurring as if she were drunk.

“I am,” I regretted.

“I might go to the gym again today,” she announced. My heart raced and panic set in. I hated her going to the gym. Rob owned a gym, the gym where she used to work as a personal trainer and not a yoga teacher like I had told her she was. I knew the more time she spent there, the more likely she was to remember him.

“I think it might rain,” I blurted.

“It looks beautiful outside,” she said, leaning towards the window to peek out at the ocean. It was beautiful. The sun was shining so bright it might as well be July, not December. There was only a small breeze, no clouds in the sky, and I knew the weather channel said the day was going to be perfect. “It may rain later. I just wouldn’t want you to get stuck out in it,” I said convincingly.

She shrugged her shoulders and tossed me a smile. “I’m a big girl; I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

I knew the stress I was feeling was displayed all over my face, so I walked away while she made herself a cup of coffee. I fumbled through the mail that I’d gotten earlier when she walked up behind me. I could feel the warmth of her body against my back, and as she stretched up on her tippy toes to look over my shoulder, I felt her breasts brush against me. Fuck, my dick is aching.

“Anything for me?” she asked.

“No,” I chuckled.

“Why not?” she pouted.

I turned around, noticing she was feeling upset and displaced once again. “You don’t get any mail here,” I explained.

“But, don’t I have any friends here, or home, or just people that are worried about me, looking for me?” she asked.

With a man like Rob, she had no friends at all. “Your parents have been gone since you were a girl. Your grandmother raised you, and she passed after you graduated college,” I explained.

The sadness in her eyes made my heart ache. “I know I don’t remember them right now, but for some reason the pain of knowing they’re gone is strong,” she gasped, holding onto her chest for a moment while she gathered her emotions.

“I’m sorry, baby,” I offered, and wrapped my arms around her for a tight squeeze.

My hands rested on her ass cheeks, loving the soft but tight flesh beneath my fingertips. Baseball, Roseanne Barr, dill pickles, aahhh, my dick obeyed my words by slowly deflating before it pressed hard into Maddie and scared her away.

“What’s this,” she asked, snatching a square envelope from my hand. Her body pulled away as she read the label that simply said, Mr. Isaac Lewis. “Is this an invitation?” she probed, staring up at me with bright blue eyes.

I took it from her hand, shrugged, and opened it to reveal an elaborately decorated invitation for an upcoming charity event.

“Why wasn’t it addressed to both of us,” she questioned, obviously in another one of her moods where she doubted everything about our relationship.

“I’m not going anyways,” I shrugged, tossing the invite back onto the table.

Maddie’s eyes widened, and her lips tightened as she stared at the invite with contempt. 

“I feel like a prisoner here. I need friends; I must’ve had some, if not back home, then here,” she hissed.

“You had clients back home, and here, you had me,” I said, knowing I was running out of excuses. This was becoming harder and harder, and I knew the more I lied that this was not the best way to handle this situation. It was too late now though; I was unable to go back in time and fix this, so now, I had to ride it out and pray for the best.

I watched her stomp off, heading to the guest room like an angry teenager. I was treating her like a child, or something so fragile it couldn’t leave its bubble, but I had to, at least for now.

At the office, Beth immediately cornered me with questions about Maddie. “Have you told her yet?” she pushed.

“No,” I replied, walking fast to get away from her and into my office.

“Isaac, you’re really fucking up,” she insisted.

I reached my office, turne,t and smiled before shutting my door on her. Once inside, I opened the safe, pulled out Maddie’s phone, and checked for more messages, more texts. There wasn’t anything new, not for days. That lil’ fucker gave up, thank God!

It felt as though an elephant just got up from sitting on my chest. I could breathe again, finally.

Beth tapped on the door as she opened it. “What are you so giddy about?” she asked.

My smile was wide, I could feel it stretching my cheeks, but I couldn’t stop it. I was on cloud nine. “He gave up,” I smirked, holding the phone in the air.

Beth smiled. “Good, then you have no reason not to tell her,” she insisted.

I didn’t, except for the fact she may hate me, leave me, and I’d never see her again.

“I’m in pretty deep,” I admitted, knowing Beth was right.

“Yes, but you can still explain,” she urged.

I wasn’t sure that was possible. “What if she never remembers? If I hurt her, she has nowhere to go, and she doesn’t know anyone; she could end up in a real dilemma,” I explained.

Beth sat in the chair across from my desk. Her face was pale and lacking expression as she stared into my eyes. “She has no one else?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“She can’t be alone, that’s true, not like this anyway. If she went back home now, her ex would surely work his way back into her life,” Beth rationalized my thinking out loud. “How do you know this guy is bad?” she asked.

“Maddie told me,” I explained.

“Did she call you, text you, e-mail you?” she queried.

“She sent a couple e-mails over a week and then a few texts before making the phone call to tell me she’d made arrangements to head this way.

“Can I see those?” Beth asked.

I leaned back in my chair and exhaled loudly. I showed her the messages.

“What’s the ex’s name?” Beth asked.

“Rob Fallon,” I replied.

“I take it you’ve looked him up, ran a background on him?” she questioned.

“Of course, and he’s squeaky clean, not even so much as a parking ticket,” I growled. Her lips tightened again. “Look, I know what she told me, and I don’t want her anywhere near that bastard,” I spat.

“You need to show her the evidence and maybe that would help her understand your motives,” she sighed.

But if I try to tell her about her past, then all I’m doing is forcing memories on her, and the doctors made it clear they wanted them to come naturally.

“I have to start helping her to remember on her own,” I sighed, slouching into my chair.

Beth smiled sweetly. “You do,” she said softly. I knew she was aware how hard this was going to be for me to do.

I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against my chair as she walked out of the office. I heard the door close, but I didn’t open my eyes to check. I needed to sort this out if I didn’t want to lose Maddie forever.