I gave him a weak smile. “Connor, I’m really tired. I’d like some time alone to digest all this.”

His brows furrowed with worry but he didn’t try to object. “Okay.” He got up from the chair and looked down at me. “I’ll stop by first thing tomorrow morning to see you.”

“Okay.” I forced a small smile.

He leaned down toward me and kissed me gently on my forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you, gorgeous,” he whispered.

As I watched him leave, the hospital room suddenly disappeared.

For a split second I found myself in a grand, sun-drenched bedroom lying naked on a large luxurious bed under lush layers of satin sheets. I screamed out and my back arched upward as intense pleasure radiated throughout my body. I felt a pair of strong, rough hands grip my thighs tightly, keeping them spread apart as a long and hard tongue plunged in and out of me, pushing me to the brink of my release. After I came, I felt another naked body move up my body from somewhere under the layers and a second later, Connor’s face emerged out from under the sheets. He flashed me a wicked smirk as he slowly licked his lips. “And that’s how much I love you, gorgeous.”

I gasped at the memory that had just hit me, and my body tingled as if that moment had just happened. I looked down at my body and the question that had blindsided me a few minutes earlier crossed my mind again. What do I look like?

I slowly got up from the bed, and felt my muscles weak from the days of being on the hospital bed. It took me several minutes to move to the bathroom where there was a full-length mirror along the wall facing the door.

Standing in front of the mirror was like standing face to face with a complete stranger. Nerves prickled through my body like ice, cold needles as I studied every inch of the unfamiliar person in front of me. Nothing about my reflection looked familiar. Her radiant blue eyes stared back at me. Even through the bandages around her forehead, I could see the long wavy blond hair that cascaded down the curves of her small frame. I watched as this stunning woman staring back at me touched her face with both hands. I felt her fingers move across my face.

“I’m Olivia Stuart.” My whispered words filled the silent room and seemed to hang in the air as I continued to study myself in the reflection. Will this ever stop feeling so strange?

***

After a week at the hospital and focusing on my physical therapy, I felt slightly better and hopeful about everything. The tests Dr. Miller had ran all came out normal and I was cleared to leave today.

“Hey, gorgeous.”

I looked up to find Connor at my door with a large bouquet of pink roses.

“Hi.” I smiled, happy to see a familiar face. “You’re back.”

“Of course I’m back, silly. I’ve been visiting you every day, and every day you seem surprised to see me. Are you trying to get rid of me or something?”

I could see from his smile that he was joking, and I giggled uneasily. “No, that’s not what I mean.” I wasn’t sure how to tell him that the reason I seemed surprised to see him was because to me, he felt like a stranger.

“Well, like it or not, I’m here to take you home today, like I’d promised.”

“Oh, right.” Our eyes met and I felt my stomach flip nervously. I immediately looked away and felt my face turn beet red when I remembered my flashback of the intense orgasm this man had given me. I knew that for him, we were lovers in love, but for me, I felt embarrassed and exposed that this handsome stranger knew me more intimately than I knew myself.

“What’s wrong?” He walked over to me and kissed me lightly on my cheek.

“Nothing.” I pushed my thoughts aside and flashed him a smile.

He handed me the bouquet in his hands. “Pink roses are your favorite.”

“Thank you. They’re beautiful.” I took the stunning bouquet and was instantly hit with its intoxicating smell.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better,” I responded honestly.

“Good. So are you ready to blow this popsicle stand then?”

I let out a light chuckle and nodded.

Thirty minutes later, Connor had helped me finish all my paperwork to check out of the hospital. I had changed into a white Splendid cotton silk tee, dark-washed J Brand jeans, and a pair of black Christian Louboutin patent leather stilettos that Connor brought for me from my closet. According to him, this was one of my favorite casual outfits. I had stared dubiously at the three-inch heels when he had handed them to me. They looked more painful than comfortable to me. But when I put them on, they had hugged my feet perfectly and I was surprised by how at ease I was walking around in them.

“Hey, gorgeous.” Connor looked up from the hospital paperwork when I walked out of the bathroom. “You look like you’re back to your old self.” I watched as his eyes moved up and down my body, and a nervous shiver ran down my back.

“I guess my muscle memory’s still intact,” I joked as I looked at my heels.

He chuckled and shook his head. “I never did understand how you could walk in those things. You know on one of our first dates, I called you Wonder Woman when I saw you running in a pair just like those.”

I smiled. “Why was I running?”

“We had just had an amazing date at Tria, this great wine bar in the city, and you had a few glasses too many.” He smiled as he told the story. “Well, by the end of the night, you were running and skipping down the street without a care in the world and giggling uncontrollably.” He laughed at the memory and beamed at me. “It was at that moment that I knew I’d fall in love with you.”

I laughed along with him, wishing I could remember that memory, wishing I could remember how it had felt to possibly share those same feelings toward him.

A few minutes later we were outside, standing at the entrance of the hospital.

“Liv, I’m going to go get the car. You okay with waiting right here for me? I’ll bring the car around and pick you up.”

I nodded and smiled. He’s such a gentleman.

He leaned in and kissed me gently on the forehead. “I love you, gorgeous.”

“Thanks.” I cringed inside as soon as the word came out. I wasn’t sure what to say. I had a feeling he wanted more, but telling a stranger I loved him wasn’t something I was ready to give.

He gave a light chuckle and smiled. “I’ll be back.”

As I watched him walk away and turn the corner toward the entrance of the parking garage, I was preoccupied with thoughts of how the following days, weeks, and months would be for us.

Suddenly I heard people approach me from the left.

“Excuse me! Please make way!”

I turned and saw a couple barreling toward me. It was a man holding up a pregnant woman who appeared to be in a lot of pain. “My wife’s water broke! Please move!”

I finally realized that I was standing in the middle of the hospital entrance and blocking their path. I hastily took a step back to give them room to pass me, but it was too late. The man pushed past me and as I took a step back, my heel caught on a crack in the pavement and I lost my balance and fell backward.

Just as I thought I was about to hit the ground, a strong arm caught me from behind and pulled me up. I gasped in surprise at my near-fall and found myself tightly clutched within someone’s protective arms.

“Careful there or you’re going to hurt yourself in those killer heels.”

I looked up and let out an audible gasp as my gaze locked with a pair of intensely-dark, smoldering brown eyes staring down at me.

CHAPT ER TWO

I couldn’t remember how long I seemed to drown in those dark, chocolate eyes, but it was like we were suspended in time and space as my neck rested against his arm while he looked down at me in silence. Finally at some point in time I felt the blood flowing to my head, causing me to become dizzy, which snapped me out of my trance.