Alistair fell asleep twice during the ride to the hotel—apparently, he’d picked the most remote and off-grid place imaginable—and woke up twice to the car revving through snow drifts as it climbed a mountainside. Jess looked alternately stricken and consoling. Her pressure at his side was reassuring, though the whole thing still felt like watching a movie in which he’d missed the entire first half.

When they finally reached the hotel, Alistair’s eyes widened. A wooden lodge sprawled before them, glittering like a beacon on the mountain. Floor to ceiling glass windows beckoned with the light of fireplaces; all around them, snow coated the trees in a heavy, sparkling white blanket.

“How fucking picturesque,” he said.

“You tend to go for picturesque,” Jess said, pushing at the door handle once the car came to a stop. “I’m sure your room is just as epic.”

“I’ll be disappointed if there isn’t an entire bison hanging on the wall,” he said. Jess snickered, grabbing her suitcase from the driver at the back of the car. When she began rolling it toward the doors, he stopped her.

“Let me,” he said.

“Sweets, you’ve got some other things going on right now.” She gestured vaguely toward his head. “Just focus on walking for now. I’ve got this.”

He smiled, liking her sass. Were their conversations always like this? She had an air about her like she was the one in control or was used to playing the lead. Maybe that was what he liked about her…or maybe that irritated him.

The not knowing grated on him as she consulted the front desk and then led them to their suite on the top floor. Questions stormed him again, creating more puzzles than answers. By the time they reached the room, he could only half-focus on the stunning architecture of the room. He noticed the crisscrossed beams on the ceiling, the already-stoked fire churning out a pleasant heat for the suite, but it all just made him feel unsettled.

He went to the couch and lay down, fisting his hair on either side of his head.

“Do you want to eat anything, Alistair?”

“No. I mean, soon. Just not quite yet.” His roiling thoughts wouldn’t let him focus on the hunger quite yet.

“Okay. We’ll order something whenever you say.” She settled into the couch across from him, lumping some pillows beneath her arms.

He sighed, pinching at the bridge of his nose. This damned headache wouldn’t leave. “I think I’ll just rest for a bit.”

“That’s fine. I’m going to check my email.” She slid a laptop out of her bag. He listened to the quiet clicking of her keystrokes for a while before the thoughts returned, swarming like an insect invasion.

This woman is a stranger to you. Like an alien from a different planet. She says you have a relationship, but how can you really know? For all you know, you could have broken up with her a year ago. Stands to reason an ex might be eager to swoop in when her rich, successful past boyfriend suddenly suffers memory loss. She could be here ready to milk you like a cow. And you go along with it, none the wiser, without even knowing how to check your own bank accounts…

Fatigue clawed at him. He drifted off into a restless nap, more of the same thoughts making torturous swirls inside his head. When he jolted awake from his own cough, Jess appeared at his side a moment later.

“Here.” She handed him a peppermint. “It’s your favorite kind.” She returned to her post on the opposite couch, reabsorbing herself in her computer. He stared at the mint in his hand then looked back at her. She was efficient—that much was certain. He unwrapped the mint carefully; as it melted in his mouth, he conceded that maybe she did know him. But a mint was hardly enough to base trust on.

“I can’t be sure of anything you tell me,” he murmured after a long while.

Her gaze snapped over to him. “What do you mean?”

“I just don’t know what’s true.” He shrugged. “I have no way of finding out, either.”

“Oh, no. You do. Here.” She tapped something into her laptop. “If you’re ready to hear about your life, I can explain everything.”

“All right.” He sighed, leaning back against the couch. “Let’s hear it. And let’s hope I haven’t been an intolerable idiot my whole life.”

She smirked. “Hardly. You and your two brothers—”

“I have brothers?”

“Yes. You’re the youngest. Your next older brother is Gregor, and then there’s Connall. The three of you started a business, engineering high performance engines.”

“Wow.” He scratched at his wrist while Jess showed him a website titled B3 Engines. “That’s mine?”

“Yes, yours.” She smiled, clicking through some of the pages. “And here’s the three of you at last year’s Christmas party. They are very definitely your brothers.”

“We do look similar,” he murmured, trying to absorb as much as possible about these strangers’ faces. “But we’ve spent a life together, and I don’t even remember it.”

“You will,” Jess said, her voice growing stern. “The doctor said you’ve passed the markers that indicate you’ll recover your memory. It’s just a matter of time.”

He stared at the Christmas photo. Jess was there, off to the side, wearing a form fitting black dress. “That’s you.”

“Yes.” She bit at her bottom lip. “Alistair, we work together.”

The way she said it sound like a confession. “And…people know we’re engaged, right?”

“Not quite.” She cleared her throat. “We haven’t come out about it, for obvious reasons. It’s just been more convenient to keep it between us. However, we had planned to tell your family soon. Specifically your grandmother.”

“Hm.” He reached for her laptop, clicking through pages related to the business. He read as much as he could until his head started throbbing. “Okay. But how do I know we’re still together? You could just be an ex of mine looking to take advantage of me.”

She leveled him with a flat look. “I know you better than you know yourself.”

He settled back into the couch. “Prove it.”

“Fifteen-inch collar, thirty-two–inch waist, forty-inch chest, insatiable preference for alligator-skin shoes.”

He cocked his head. “OK, so you bought clothes for me once in my life.”

“Condom size: Magnum XL.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t prove that we’re still having sex, only that we had.”

“I was your emergency contact on this trip.”

That one got him. He watched her for a few moments, feeling the remaining bricks of his defense dissolving. Even though nothing made sense, this woman was his life raft. He’d chosen her. And he had to trust that.

“Come here,” he said softly. She scooted over to his couch, sitting down gently beside him. He pushed his fingers through her dark brown hair, enjoying the way her eyes fluttered shut at his touch.

“I know this is all strange and confusing,” she murmured. “But I’m here to help you, not take advantage of you.”

“I believe you.” He ran his thumb along her ear lobe, studying the graceful curve of her neck. He cupped the side of her face, and she reacted immediately, her forearms prickling, her breathing growing heavier.

“We have a chemistry, don’t we?” he whispered into her ear.

She nodded, tilting her head away from him, offering him more neck. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to the porcelain skin there. She inhaled sharply.

“How long have I been gone?” he asked.

“About a week,” she said.

“Too long, it looks like.” He dragged his lips up her neck, along the underside of her jaw. Sparks shot through him once his lips landed against hers, impossibly soft and plump. He kissed her once and then again…and then again, each time deeper and longer than the last. She made a small noise against him, her fingers curling around his neck.

“This seems to be helping my headache,” he whispered against her mouth, nuzzling her nose with his.

She laughed, smoothing her palm over his bicep. “I’m sure it is. But remember what the doctor said…”

His cock pulsed in his pants as he snagged another kiss from her. Desire sizzled through him, nearly blinding him. Another searing wave of pain shot through his skull. So the doctor might be right about avoiding sexual activity…

“All right, Nurse Jess,” he whispered, moving his hand along the outside of her thigh. She drew a shaky breath. If this was their chemistry after just a week apart…he was willing to bet they had a fantastic sex life. One he’d be resuming…as soon as he was able.

“Let’s eat something,” she said, squeezing his knee. “I’ll grab the menu.”

He watched as she snatched the room service menu from the table and then gathered her hair to one side of her neck, a rosy blush in her cheeks. He skimmed the options, choosing a quiche with some sort of date topping.

“Oh, but…you’re allergic to dates,” she said.

He blew out a burst of air. “Well, then. How about you pick?”

She smiled softly, looked over the menu, and then nodded. “Okay. I know exactly what you’d get here.” She picked up the room service phone, politely ordering a meal for herself—salmon with asparagus—and his own dinner—king crab with garlic potatoes. She set the phone down, looking satisfied.

“Do I ever order for myself, or do I always just let you do it?”

She snorted. “You might as well let me do it. Because I always pick best. You even say so yourself.”

They shared a long look, one that made Alistair’s chest grow warm. There was no denying it: something about her felt a lot like coming home. And if he’d thought she was beautiful at first glance, he was learning by the minute just how deep her beauty really went.

His life might be messy and confusing, but Jess was the solidest rock he could have asked for.