Free Flirting Under a Full Moon by Ashlyn Chase

hurt if I bumped it.”
    “Uh, yeah. You got lucky, I guess.” He patted her on the head. “You must have a hard noggin’.”
    She eyed him suspiciously. “What really happened, Nick?”
    Uh-oh. “What do you mean? Oh, I guess you want to know what happened after that.”
    “Sure. Go ahead. Give me the details, and don’t you dare lie. I’ll know if you do.”
    Sweat broke out on Nick’s brow. She was probably bluffing. She couldn’t know if he was lying or not. “We were strolling across the Common, discussing, you know, life and stuff. We never made it for drinks or dinner. The tornado struck and you must have bumped your head. You seemed disoriented. That in itself was frightening. I took you to my place to recover from your scare.”
    Yeah, that sounds reasonable. Maybe she’ll think she blocked it out of her memory due to the traumatic nature of the incident, and that would explain why her head doesn’t hurt.
    “Oh, so you live in a basement? And instead of letting me lie down, you tied me to a pole?”
    “Uh…” Shit. Who told her? The one loose end he hadn’t tied up completely was Katie. He’d hinted that she might want to spare her parents the details, but the girl must have told them what happened anyway. Of course she’d cave when her parents asked her to tell them everything . Why would she listen to some guy she didn’t know over her parents?
    Anthony didn’t erase Katie’s memory, only Brandee’s. Why, oh why didn’t I think that through? Perhaps Anthony could have mesmerized both girls at once. Nick had just assumed his vampire friend couldn’t.
    He had to change the subject. He grabbed Brandee and kissed her for all he was worth. At first she stiffened, but shortly after that she relaxed and molded her body to his.
    Suddenly she pulled away and shoved his chest. “Don’t try to distract me.”
    “I’m not. I just missed you, baby. That’s all.”
    “Look, I’m not satisfied with your answers and don’t call me ‘baby.’ I’m an adult.”
    “But I did miss you. That’s the God’s honest truth.”
    “Maybe so, but I was talking about last night. Something happened that I can’t remember. I don’t know why I can’t remember it, but if I find out you drugged me—”
    “Jesus!” He couldn’t have her thinking that. He had to make her believe something else. Anything else. “No, Brandee. No way would I do that to you. I’d never do that to any woman. How can you even think that?”
    She opened her mouth to speak but he laid a finger against her lips. “I’ll tell you exactly what happened. I just didn’t want to frighten you—again. You were so scared…It was a blessing when you blocked it out.”
    She crossed her arms. “So, you’re saying I was so afraid I blacked out?”
    “No. Not exactly. Sometimes traumatic situations are so overwhelming, the mind just does the victim a favor and temporary amnesia is the result.”
    He could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. At least she was considering the idea.
    “I’m not a delicate, fragile flower, Nick. What was so traumatic I couldn’t handle it?”
    Actually, he did think of her as delicate. Physically, anyway. Mentally, she seemed rock solid. That might not be handy in this case, but he liked a woman he didn’t have to treat with extreme caution. He’d known a few unstable babes in his long time on earth.
    The amnesia story might be difficult, but he had to make it fly. “You were held at gunpoint, sweetheart. In fact, that’s the only reason I didn’t try to escape until the guy guarding us fell asleep. They said they’d kill you if I moved a muscle. I’m sure they meant it. You probably believed you were looking at your imminent death.” That was all true, so he hoped his delivery was persuasive.
    Brandee didn’t appear convinced, but it was all he had. He knew better than to talk too much. That’s how criminals got caught in lies.
    He took her in his arms again and rubbed her back in