"Bajillionaire?" I asked, unable to stifle a smile.
"It's a word. It means you have more money than I could ever make in twenty lifetimes and I have no business believing you'd ever want me, a wannabe artist and curator."
"It's not a word, and as for me wanting you, you have every business believing it. People don't fall in love in spite of money, Nina. I can tell you I have absolute proof that money can make people very attractive, even when they aren't."
"You're intentionally twisting my words. You know what I meant."
"So because I have money, I can't fall in love? Is that what you meant?"
Nina wiped her eyes and shot me a look of reproach. "What would you want with someone like me?"
"Yeah. What would I want with a gorgeous woman who makes me crazy every time she's anywhere near me? Who'd want that?"
"Hmmph. Gorgeous. I probably look like a deranged raccoon right now, and even if I didn't, I don't look like any of those women you go to those parties with. I saw them, Tristan. They look like supermodels."
"And they're as boring as that dresser. They think I'm pretty boring too."
"They don't look bored. They look like they adore you."
"Good. At least I know that's money well spent."
She wrinkled her nose at me, letting me know I was going to have to be more convincing. "Nina, I pay those women very nicely to look happy with me. They want to be seen at influential parties and the board of directors of Stone Worldwide thinks a man should have a woman on his arm at all times. So I do. If it means anything, I had basically stopped going to those events before your accident because I didn't want to go with the actresses anymore."
"I don't understand. If you loved me so much, why didn't you take me? Is it because I don't look like those women?" she asked with hurt in her eyes.
Shaking my head, I couldn't help but smile. This was definitely the same old Nina. "I know you don't remember this, but you asked me the same thing once, so I'll tell you again what I told you that night. You're gorgeous, and I'd be happy to be seen anywhere on this Earth with you. But being in the spotlight like that has never been good for relationships. I didn't want that to damage what we had together. In my defense, I did ask you to come with me once and you didn't want to. I had to convince you."
Nina hung her head and sighed. "This is so hard, Tristan. What if I never remember all of that time you remember?"
"Then we make new memories together."
The look she gave me was filled with fear. "Do you still love me? Am I the person you fell in love with?"
I didn't have to think about my answer. I knew it in my heart. "Yes. I love you, even though you don't remember me or feel the same. And it wouldn't matter if you changed. I'd still love you as much as I did the first time I realized I'd found the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."
Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she smiled. "I think I know why I fell in love with you."
Her shy smile made me want to take her in my arms and never let her go. "Yeah? Let me guess. It's the way I wear a suit."
"No, but now that you mention it, you do look good in your clothes."
"My great house and the stoic butler that comes along with it?" I joked.
"No, but the house is great."
For the first time she touched me intentionally, sending a shot of excitement racing up my arm. Every clever comment left my head and I stared down at her wanting to press my lips to hers in a kiss that would take her breath away.
"I bet I fell in love with you because of the way you say what's in your heart."
Nothing could have been further from the truth. Shaking my head, I looked away, unable to face her. I couldn't handle feeling like a fraud at that moment.
"Tristan, did I say something wrong?"
I turned back to look at her and forced a smile. "No. How about we say you'll start work tomorrow morning? Nine sharp sound good?"
"Aren't you the boss? Shouldn't you be telling me instead of asking me?" she asked with a sexy grin that made me want to throw her down on the bed and show her exactly who was boss.
Standing, I looked down at her. "You're right. Be in my office at nine and be ready to work. If you need anything tonight, you know where I am."
I'd been right after all. Whether she knew it or not, she wanted the man I'd been all along. Starting tomorrow, I'd be that man again.
Chapter Three
Nina
Tristan left me sitting on my bed wishing that I'd had the nerve to lean in and kiss him when he told me he loved me. I may not have remembered being with him, but my body reacted every time he was nearby, every inch of me wanting to feel his touch, and just hearing him profess his love for me had made my body launch into overdrive.
Jordan had told me all about him—how much he was worth, how crazy he was about me, how sexy he was—but she'd definitely understated that last part because this guy was off the charts hot. Always dressed in a shirt and tie, he appeared stiff and stuffy, but it hadn't taken me long to fall under his spell, as I guessed many women did. Those milk chocolate brown eyes that always seemed to be watching me made my legs go weak when he stared at me, even if he was looking for something in me that I may never remember.
The thought that he and I had been so in love that we'd planned to get married and now none of that existed anymore made my heart hurt. Every time he was near me I felt his loss. It was like a heaviness that emanated from him. He tried so hard to hide it, but it was no use. It covered every inch of him like a cloak of sadness he couldn't shake.
He was a stranger to me in many ways, but even without a memory of everything we'd been, something inside me yearned to be next to him, to touch him. Maybe there was some memory of him deep in my mind that I hadn't found yet but still knew what he'd meant to me.
I looked around my room and couldn't help admit it was beautiful. Designed with the finest fabrics and furnishings, he'd spared no cost with this room, much the same as with the rest of the house. I'd noticed that my bedroom was nearly a replica of his on the other side of the house. Was this intentional? Had he had this room redone while I was in the hospital or had this room always looked like his?
I padded over to the desk to smell the enormous bouquet of pink roses that filled the room with the most delicious fragrance. Pink flowers had always been my favorite ever since I was a child, and the mere fact that I remembered that made me happy. That I seemed to not be able to remember anything of the last four years was still incredibly depressing, but remembering my love of pink roses was something.