this man without a memory a place to stay sooner rather than later.
John had just pulled on his ski pants and had a shirt in hand when a knock sounded at his hospital room door. “Come in.”
He didn’t bother to look when the door opened, knowing his visitor would be another nurse, wanting to check his pupils and blood pressure. But at the click of heels on the tile, he turned.
The woman striding into his room didn’t have on scrubs. Instead she wore a stylish green-and-brown dress with a short green sweater. Her dark hair hung loose to her shoulders in a sleek bob, and her amber-colored eyes were focused on the chart in her hand.
When she finally looked up, her eyes widened. “I’m sorry,” she stammered, stepping back. “I didn’t realize you were dressing. I’ll come back later.”
He dropped his gaze to his bare chest then back to the two bright spots of pink dotting her cheeks.
No, he decided, this one was definitely not a nurse.
Her hand reached behind her for the doorknob.
“Don’t leave.” With one quick movement he pulled the turtleneck over his head, ignoring the fierce ache in his neck and shoulders. That pain, the doctor told him, was to be expected. “There. I’m dressed and ready for visitors.”
The woman dropped her hand to her side. She smiled, showing a mouthful of perfect white teeth. “I’m Lexi Brennan, one of the hospital social workers and part of the discharge planning team.”
She crossed the room. When she drew close and extended her hand, he inhaled the light floral scent of her perfume.
The grip was firm, her gaze direct. He found himself glancing at her hand—as if it had been his habit—and noted she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.
“Mr…. Doe. I’ve been charged with finding you a place to live.” Her expression was serious and all business. “Somewhere you can stay until you regain your memory.”
He thought of a dozen quips that might make her smile again. The trouble was he didn’t feel like joking.
This darkness in his head annoyed him. Okay, it had him worried. His rescuers had reported that when they’d pulled him out from under the snow, he’d been talking and joking. It wasn’t until they’d taken him to the clinic at the bottom of the hill that they’d realized he didn’t know who he was … or even if he’d been skiing alone. Only the news that his transceiver had been the only one emitting signals reassured him.
Still, he wished he knew for certain. “Has anyone showed up?”
A look of confusion settled on the social worker’s pretty face. “Showed up?”
“You know … family, friends.”
Lexi could see the frustration on his face and hear it in his tone. She offered a sympathetic smile. “They probably haven’t heard the news yet. Your ordeal was on local television news last night. My understanding is they plan to run the piece again today. And the hospital is putting together a press release that will be sent out if no one comes forth by tomorrow.”
He began to pace, finally stopping at a window overlooking the Elk Refuge. “What am I supposed to do in the meantime?”
Lexi didn’t have an answer. She placed her leather portfolio on the closest table and moved to his side. The endless sky had turned cloudy as if picking up on the mood inside the hospital room.
“The forecasters are predicting a blizzard.” Lexi held to the tenet that when in doubt talk about the weather. “We don’t get many this late in April.”
Lexi felt his gaze on her and her body prickled with awareness. He smelled clean, like soap and some other indefinable male scent. Rachel had been right. He was dazzling. Standing just over six feet with a lean muscular build and dark hair brushing his collar, he was just the size she liked. Coupled with a face that could easily grace the cover of any magazine, he was one potent package.
“When is it supposed to hit?” he asked.
Lexi faced him. “It’s supposed to start snowing this afternoon and continue throughout the night.”
“The doctors say there’s nothing more they can do for me.”
His tone gave little away and if Lexi hadn’t been looking directly at him, she’d have missed the momentary flash of fear in his brown eyes.
She offered him a reassuring smile. “Look at this move as the next step on the journey back to your old life.”
“I’m certainly not remembering my past by sitting and looking at these four walls.” He glanced around the hospital room. “I’m ready to get out of here.”
Lexi wondered if he was trying to reassure her or himself. She couldn’t begin to imagine how scary it would be to think of going out into the world with no memory. Her heart softened. “I’ll make some calls to hotels in the area. See what they have available.”
“Can I help? I mean, it’s not like I have anything else to do.” He flashed a smile. “Besides, this is my problem, not yours.”
Lexi steeled herself against the mesmerizing warmth of those chocolate-brown eyes. “That’s kind of you. But finding you a place to stay is my job. And I’m hoping to get you the special pricing the hospital has for patients and their relatives.”
“The E.R. doctor said I had a couple thousand dollars on me when I was found.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Money isn’t an issue.”
“It won’t be if your family or friends come forward.” Lexi chose her words carefully, not wanting to dash his hopes. “But if they take a while, or if your memory comes back more slowly than anticipated, you could run out of money. Then—”
“I understand,” he said. “I could end up on the street and out of money. That certainly isn’t where I want to be.” He grinned and pretended to shiver. “Not with snow on the ground.”
Lexi returned his smile, admiring the way he kept his spirits up with such a heavy weight on his shoulders. John Doe was definitely one of a kind.
While she was immune to his physical perfection, the humor, the smarts, and the level-headed attitude—those attributes were much harder for her to resist. But resist she would. Because there was no room in her life for a man, even one as handsome and charming as John Doe.
Thirty minutes later, Lexi sat back, frustration coursing through her veins. “How can they all be full?”
The words had barely left her lips when Rachel breezed into the room. Her gaze slid from Lexi to John. “What’s the verdict? Where’s your new home?”
“It’s seems,” John said, bestowing that hundred-watt smile on the pretty nurse, “that there are no rooms at any of the inns.”
Rachel’s eyes widened. She turned to Lexi. “Seriously?”
Lexi raked a weary hand through her hair. “It’s the storm. Travelers who were going to move on decided to stay. Others who were passing through stopped and got their rooms early.”
Rachel’s cornflower-blue eyes began to dance. “Surely there has to be some place that wants him.”
“Hey, I’m right here in the room,” John shot back. “Thanks for making me feel like a loser.”
The two laughed and Lexi felt a twinge of something that felt an awful lot like jealousy, but couldn’t be.
Still, the nurse looked especially pretty today. Lexi wondered if John preferred blondes. Not that his taste in women mattered to her. Besides, for all anyone knew he could be married with a couple of kids.
“I’ve got an idea.” Rachel turned to Lexi. “What about Wildwoods?”
Lexi shook her head. “When I left for work this morning, all the rooms