Wife With Amnesia

Wife With Amnesia
Metsy Hingle

SHE COULDN' T REMEMBER… He said he was her husband, but Claire had no recollection of New Orleans titan Matt Gallagher– or the luxurious life he claimed they' d shared. Though she couldn' t deny the passion his virile presence aroused, she didn' t dare give in to the rush of powerful emotions. Especially since she sensed her alleged husband wasn' t telling her all… .HE COULDN' T FORGET!When Claire turned up with no memory of their separation, Matt seized the opportunity to reclaim his wife– and protect her from her mysterious assailant. Matt could face any danger– except the danger of losing the love of his life… .

“I Guess You’re Going To Have

To Add One More Sin To My List

Of Transgressions.”

And before she realized his intent, his mouth came crashing down on hers. Then his mouth was shaping hers, claiming her lips in a hungry kiss that made her blood heat, made her heart thunder in her chest. For a moment sanity deserted Claire. Her senses whirled beneath the searing demand of his mouth.

The sound of his groan hit Claire like a slap. Shocked by her actions, she snapped open her eyes.

“Do I know you?” She blurted out the question and immediately regretted it. Of course she must know him, she reasoned. Why else would he be at the hospital with her? And why else would he have planted that toe-curling kiss on her?

“Yeah, I guess you could say you know me,” he said, his mouth hardening. “After all, I am your husband.”

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the world of Silhouette Desire, where you can indulge yourself every month with romances that can only be described as passionate, powerful and provocative!

Popular author Cait London offers you Gabriel’s Gift, this April’s MAN OF THE MONTH. We’re sure you’ll love this tale of lovers once separated who reunite eighteen years later and must overcome the past before they can begin their future together.

The riveting Desire miniseries TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: LONE STAR JEWELS continues with Her Ardent Sheikh by Kristi Gold, in which a dashing sheikh must protect a free-spirited American woman from danger.

In Wife with Amnesia by Metsy Hingle, the estranged husband of an amnesiac woman seeks to win back her love…and to save her from a mysterious assailant. Watch for Metsy Hingle’s debut MIRA title, The Wager, in August 2001. Barbara McCauley’s hero “wins” a woman in a poker game in Reese’s Wild Wager, another tantalizing addition to her SECRETS! miniseries. Enjoy a contemporary “beauty and the beast” story with Amy J. Fetzer’s Taming the Beast. And Ryanne Corey brings you a runaway heiress who takes a walk on the wild side with the bodyguard who’s fallen head over heels for her in The Heiress & the Bodyguard.

Be sure to treat yourself this month, and read all six of these exhilarating Desire novels!

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

Wife with Amnesia

Metsy Hingle

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

METSY HINGLE

Metsy is an award-winning, bestselling author of romance who resides across the lake from her native New Orleans. Married for more than twenty years to her own hero, she is the busy mother of four children. She recently traded in her business suits and a fast-paced life in the hotel and public-relations arena to pursue writing full-time. Metsy has a strong belief in the power of love and romance. She also believes in happy endings, which she continues to demonstrate with each new story she writes. She loves hearing from readers. For a free doorknob hanger or bookmark, write to Metsy at P.O. Box 3224, Covington, LA 70433.

For my children, Cathy, Jimmy, Chrissy and Stephen.

Though you may not have grown under my heart,

you grew in it.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Prologue

“Judging by the look on your face, Officer, I take it no one’s claimed the child.”

Seated in the office of Saint Ann’s Orphanage, the child in question remained quiet as a mouse, but she slid a glance to the doorway where Sister Mary Patrick stood speaking to someone in a hushed voice.

“I don’t understand it, Sister.”

It was him—the policeman who had found her hiding inside the confession box at the big church. Suddenly her tummy felt funny. Maybe he had come to tell Sister that she didn’t have to stay here anymore. That her mommy had come back for her just like she’d promised.

“It’s been over a week since the hurricane,” the policeman said. “We’ve run the kid’s picture in the local papers and on every news show in the New Orleans area, but so far nothing. No one’s come forward to claim her or even filed a missing person’s report on anyone matching her description. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“It seldom does,” Sister told him.

“She’s what…maybe three, tops? Just a baby. She has to belong to somebody. So why isn’t somebody looking for her?”

She did belong to somebody. She belonged to her mommy. And her mommy would come for her. She always came back for her.

Sister Mary Patrick glanced back in her direction, and she held her breath, tried to remain still as a statue the way Mommy had told her to do. Finally Sister turned back to the policeman. “I’m afraid we may never know the answer to that. She still isn’t talking. She won’t tell us her name or who her mother is, assuming that she even knows.”

“Do you…you know, think there might be something wrong with her?”

“The doctors say no. She obviously understands what’s being said to her because she does whatever she’s told to do. But for whatever reason, she refuses to speak. The doctors believe she’s suffered some kind of trauma. And it’s obvious from the bruising and marks on her that the child’s been physically abused.”