Pregnesia

“The Closer,” she replied without any real thought.

He nodded. “Good. And what was the last movie you went to see?”

“I don’t go to the movie theater very often.” She tried not to think about the tiny nuggets of information the answers revealed about herself, afraid that the nuggets would stop coming.

“What’s your favorite restaurant here in the city?”

“That’s easy, Café Italian on Maple Street.” A buzz of excitement went off inside her. “Maybe they’ll know me in there. Maybe they can tell us who I am.”

“I know the place. It isn’t far from where I found you last night in the car. Maybe we’ll go there for lunch and see what we can find out.”

Jane’s excitement grew. It was possible that by lunchtime she’d know who she was; she’d at least know her name. Surely that would make it easier for her to find out what had happened to her.

“It’s a place to start,” he said, invading her thoughts. He pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot and found a space near the front door. At this time of the morning the store didn’t look too busy.

They got out of the car and had taken only a couple of steps toward the door when a voice inside her head thundered.

Don’t let them find you.

The words seemed to come from some separate entity inside her brain and they screamed with an alarm that froze her in her tracks.

Instinctively she reached out and grabbed Lucas’s hand as fear charged through her. He curled his fingers with hers as he looked at her with concern. “Are you all right?” he asked. “Is it the baby?”

Two thoughts raced through her mind. The first was that she liked the way his big, strong hand felt around hers, and the second was that the voice she’d thought she’d heard in her head had probably been nothing more than a response to the drama of her situation.

She suddenly felt foolish. She unfurled her fingers from his and gave a small laugh. “No, it’s not the baby. I guess I just had a case of nerves.”

He dropped his hand to his side and studied her intently. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. The only thing you have to worry about is being overwhelmed by all the choices.”

She forced a smile. “That never happens with women,” she said.

Once again they began to walk to the door. Surely the words that had thundered in her head meant nothing, she told herself. But what worried her was they hadn’t sounded like nothing. They had sounded like a warning … but a warning of what?

Chapter Three

Once again Lucas found himself doubting the veracity of her amnesia story. Something had happened in the parking lot. He thought she might have thought of something or remembered something that she apparently didn’t want to tell him.

She didn’t trust him. How could he help her if she didn’t trust him?

Lucas pushed the cart with one hand, took Jane by her elbow and guided her down an aisle. When he’d seen her in his T-shirt he’d realized how tiny she was despite her pregnancy. The baby weight was all up front like a ball in her belly, but everywhere else she was slender.

“If you’ll just get me a blouse and a toothbrush, that should be enough,” she said as they walked through the linen section toward the back of the store.

Lucas didn’t know a lot about women, but there was no way he believed she could make do for a day or two with just a new blouse and the jeans she had on.

When they reached the maternity clothes, she headed directly to a clearance rack. Apparently she meant to spend as little of his money as possible.

As she thumbed through the discounted items, he spied a blue cotton long-sleeved blouse exactly the color of her eyes and plucked it from the rack. He threw it into the basket, then added an oversized blue and white sweater.

Although she hadn’t mentioned it, she probably needed some underwear, too. He certainly didn’t want to completely outfit a woman who might return to a husband or a boyfriend before nightfall. She had a life somewhere, with clothes and shoes and everything else necessary. Still, he didn’t want her to do without the bare necessities while she was with him for a day or two.

She returned to where he stood with the cart, carrying an ugly gray T-shirt that had probably been the cheapest on the rack.

“I don’t think so,” he said. She looked at him in surprise. “If I’m going to be looking at you for the next day or two, I don’t want you wearing something ugly.”

“But it’s only five dollars,” she protested.

“There’s a reason it’s so cheap.” He took it from her and hung it on a nearby rack. “What about that pink shirt there?” He pointed to a pastel T-shirt that said Baby on Board. “With another pair of slacks, you should be all right with the other things I grabbed,” he said. He averted his gaze from her. “Then we’ll head to the underclothes department and you can get what you need.”

She grabbed him by the arm and when he looked at her, those beautiful blue eyes of hers were once again misty with tears. “I can only hope that the father of this baby is half the man you are, Lucas.”

“Don’t make me into some kind of a hero,” he replied with a definite edge in his voice. “I’m just doing what anyone would do under the circumstances.”

As they left the maternity section and headed to the undergarments department, he wanted to tell her that he was the last person she should look at with such soft, appealing eyes, with that hint of hero worship that made him feel too warm inside his own skin.

As she picked out a package of panties, he stood at the end of the aisle and waited for her. An old woman stood at the other end of the aisle and appeared to be looking at Jane. When she saw Lucas she offered a sweet smile, then moved on to another aisle.

Jane returned to the cart and threw in her choices. Her cheeks were slightly pink as she looked at him. “I hope I’m a wealthy woman because I’m going to owe you a bunch of money.”

“Don’t be silly,” he replied. He pointed to the nightgowns. “You need to pick out one of those,” he said.

“Oh no, that’s all right. Loretta gave me one to wear,” she replied.

Lucas frowned, remembering when she’d stepped into the kitchen in his sister’s nightgown. “That one can’t be comfortable. I saw how it pulled across your stomach. Just pick out one that will fit you comfortably.”

As she moved to the rack to look at the items, he tried to forget that vision of her. That nightgown of Loretta’s hadn’t just pulled taut across her belly, but across her breasts, as well. Her hair had been all tousled and she’d looked achingly soft and feminine.

For just an instant as he’d held that coffee cup frozen halfway to his mouth, he’d wondered what it would be like to wake up with a woman like Jane next to him. When half-asleep, would he rub the swell of her belly and dream of the future of the baby she carried?

Jeez, what was wrong with him? He’d never thought about babies before. The last thing he’d ever wanted to be was a husband and a father. He simply wasn’t cut out for either role. Jane felt just a little dangerous to him. She made him think of things he’d never thought of before.

She picked a pale pink nightgown and added it to the growing number of items in the shopping cart. He then pointed the cart in the direction of the toiletries section. She walked beside him and paused a moment to rub her lower back.

“Sorry,” she said, and smiled. “Junior must be stretched out right along my spine.”

Her smile torched a wave of heat through him. It was the first true smile he’d seen from her and it did amazing things to her already-lovely face. Even the scab across her forehead couldn’t detract from her attractiveness.

Suddenly, he was irritated. All he wanted to do was solve the mystery of his Ms. Jane Doe and get her on her way and out of his life.

He noticed the old woman who’d been in the underwear section now at the end of the aisle where Jane stood in front of the hair care items. Once again when she saw him looking at her she smiled. She dug a cell phone out of her purse and then disappeared around the corner.

It was easier focusing on a little white-haired woman than watching Jane. He’d been too long without a woman. That was the problem. It had been months since he’d been out with anyone.

His last date had been with a friend of his partner Troy’s girlfriend, Bree. Miranda had flown in from California for a weekend visit and Lucas had taken her out. She’d been perfect for him, very hot and very temporary. He frowned in irritation as he realized Jane got to him in a way Miranda hadn’t. There was a softness about Jane, a sweetness in her smile, a fragile light in her eyes that pulled up a protectiveness in him he’d never felt for anyone except his sister.

“I think that’s everything I should need.” Jane pulled him from his thoughts as she added a hairbrush, a toothbrush and a bottle of citrus-scented shampoo to the cart.

“Then let’s get out of here,” Lucas said. He blew a sigh of relief as they headed for the cashier lines. Maybe if he took her to Café Italian for an early lunch, somebody at the restaurant would recognize her and the mystery would be solved.