Page 175 of Carnal

"Yeah?"

She nods then hesitates.

"What is it?" I ask.

She twists her fingers again until her knuckles turn white. "This is strange for me."

I acknowledge her statement. "I'm sure it's strange for you. It is for me, too. I've known you since I was in high school."

She swings her legs toward my chair, positioning them between my knees. "Is it true I started working for Dante when I was eighteen?"

"You sure did. And no one else has worked for him since. We've all tried to steal you."

Her eyes sparkle. "That's what I hear. So I'm kind of a badass at my job, huh?"

I rub my thumb over the back of her hand. "You're the biggest badass there is."

She glances at our hands but doesn't pull away, so neither do I.

She lowers her voice. "Do you want me to tell you something about last night?"

I get brave and kiss the back of her hand. "Please."

Her cheeks turn redder. My cock turns hard, and I curse myself. All I want to do is hold her and never let her go, but I'm afraid she'll freak out on me if I attempt it. So instead, I wait for her to speak.

She takes a deep breath and then slowly releases it, claiming, "I had this dream that we were on a beach somewhere. There were dolphins in the background. You were putting suntan oil on me. Did that happen?"

Excited, I pull my phone out of my pocket. "It sure did. Do you want to see the picture?"

"You have a picture of it?"

I try to maintain my cool, but I'm bursting with positive energy. I tell her, "I have lots of pictures of us." I show her the picture on my phone. It's a selfie of us, and the dolphins are flipping in the background. I'm kissing her neck while she's laughing.

She studies it, uttering, "It looks like we were happy."

I assure her, "We were happy. And we can be happy again."

She avoids my eyes. I squeeze her hands. "Pina, please don't give up on us."

She blinks harder, opens her mouth, shuts it, then opens it again. She reveals, "I wouldn't say I'm giving up on us. I just... I just... I can't remember anything, Tristano. You don't understand what this is like."

I glance at the sky then back at her. "You're right, I don't. But what I do know is I love you, and nothing's changed regarding how I feel."

"Everything's changed. I have no memories. I don't know who you are. I don't even know if I should trust you."

Her statement hurts. Maybe I thought her being here erased all the facts of the situation. I jerk my head back. I firmly assert, "You can trust me. I would never hurt you."

She shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. It's just... I don't know what to think."

Tension grows between us. I struggle with how to break it and finally say, "Fair enough. Tell me another dream that you had about us."

She scratches her forehead and then blows out a big breath of air.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

The red in her cheeks deepens. "Do we...well, do we..." She bites her lip again and stares at the pool.

"Do we what, baby girl?"

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