Page 10 of Until the Sea Runs Dry

She consoled herself with the thought that though she might have lost her memory, she certainly wasn’t dead.

A purr of a car engine caught her attention.

Logan pulled up in a gleaming platinum Porsche with tinted windows that would have obscured him from view had he not opened a door. She slid her body carefully into the passenger seat, wincing at even the tiniest movement. It was a moment before she noticed the empty backseat.

“Where’s Loki?”

“Left him with the housekeeper. We haven’t graduated to riding in cars yet, not since he peed all over the last one.”

For a ridiculous moment, she felt lost without the little ball of joy to keep them company. He provided an easy distraction to all this uncertainty.

She reached for the seatbelt, but a wave of pain shot through her arm. She fumbled with the clasp, couldn’t get it to catch. Seeing her struggle, Logan leaned over her.

“I’ve got it.”

He came so close that she became overwhelmed by that exotically spiced sandalwood he must use as his aftershave. She could feel the heat coming off him, warming her own skin, causing the hairs to raise on the backs of her arms.

Her stomach lurched, churning at their proximity.

He had shown her nothing but kindness. She knew there wasn’t any reason to be afraid of him, yet now that they were in such close quarters, in this very nice, very expensive car, she felt her vulnerability very strongly.

She squirmed in her seat, noticing how claustrophobic the car suddenly felt with its low ceiling and darkened windows.

Although cold air hissed through the AC, she fumbled for the button on the door until the dark glass window slid down, letting the comforting rays of the sun pour into the car.

“I need air,” she explained, not very well.

He stared at her, his forehead knitted into a frown, clearly puzzled by her actions.

“Knock yourself out,” he said, only to flinch. “Sorry, bad choice of words.”

She didn’t reply.

They drove to the hospital in silence, which she was grateful for. The last thing she wanted was more questions that she didn’t have any answers for. Logan kept the car rolling at a smooth pace, never going near the speed limit, taking corners gently, conscious of his troubled passenger.

She would have thanked him for his consideration but didn’t want to break the spell of silence. Instead, she looked over to the dashboard where a large pair of sunglasses sat beside a baseball cap, and watched pretty streets lined with glorious mansions blur past in what must be one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in LA.

It struck her that she had known they were in California before she’d even seen the street signs, though she had no idea whether that was from familiarity, or if it was just a good guess.

If not for that nervous gnawing in the pit of her stomach, and the pain from her injuries that would ebb and flow depending on how she breathed, she might have enjoyed some of the ride. But that constant uneasy nagging in her mind wouldn’t go away, not until she found out who she was and what had happened to her.

Nothing, not the view or even the intriguing man beside her would take that ache away.

Recognizing that her thoughts were only going to yo-yo back and forth, she forced herself to relax, letting her head sink into the headrest. A sudden wave of exhaustion came over her, so great that her eyes started to close.

A few minutes rest was all she needed.

Maybe if she allowed herself to relax completely, her memories would return.

In no time at all it seemed, the car stopped, jolting her awake.

A concrete giant building loomed over them. They passed an embossed Cedars-Sinai Medical Center sign sitting between two neatly pruned young cherry blossom trees.

The low-key nature of the hospital surprised her.

Somehow, she had been expecting shrieking sirens and flashing red lights, but there was nothing of the sort here.

It was a dignified place, reeking of the quiet wealth of its surroundings.

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