Enticed by His Forgotten Lover by Maya Banks

soap, everything you should need.”
    And just like that, she was dismissing him. She’d withdrawn and he was treated to the cold, angry woman she’d been the first night in New York when she’d confronted him at his event.
    He drew in a breath, feeling like a fool for what he was about to say, but it rushed out before he could think better of it, before he could question his sanity.
    “I’ll put a temporary halt to construction. Tomorrow. I’ll go to the site myself. Until we sort things out between us and I regain my memory, I’ll halt the groundbreaking.”
    She blinked in surprise, her mouth forming a silent O. From all appearances it was the last thing she’d expected him to say, and he was suddenly glad of it. Fiercely glad that he’d caught her off guard.
    “Really?”
    He nodded. “I’d go tonight but no one will be at the site and I have no idea where they’re staying, but if I’m there at dawn in the morning, I’ll make sure nothing is done until I give the okay to begin.”
    Once again she surprised him by launching herself into his arms and hugging him so tight he struggled to breathe. For such a small woman, she possessed amazing strength.
    “Every time I think you’ve let me down, you do something to completely change my mind,” she whispered fiercely. “Every time I think I’ve lost the Rafael I fell in love with, you do something to make me realize he’s still there and I just have to find him again.”
    He wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that. As if he was some sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hell, maybe he was crazy. It was the only explanation behind the past few months of his life.
    Most men bought a flashy sports car, had an affair or hooked up with a girl barely out of school in their midlife crisis. Apparently he did bizarre things like fall in love and throw away a multimillion-dollar deal.
    Ryan, Dev and Cam were going to kill him.

Twelve
    “Y ou did what? ”
    Rafael held the phone away from his ear and winced at the string of expletives that flooded the airways.
    “I’m coming down there. We all are,” Devon said. “This is precisely what I was afraid of happening. You get down there and she has you by the balls. Make me the bad guy. I don’t care, but construction has to begin immediately. We’re already months behind schedule.”
    Rafael paced back and forth over the slight bluff overlooking the beach while Bryony waited in the car. The crew hadn’t been happy that they were being asked to stand down, until Rafael informed them they’d be paid full wages during the temporary layoff. He’d stressed temporary and hoped like hell that he would have this resolved in a few days’ time.
    He didn’t offer that little tidbit to Devon. Devon would really lose his composure if he knew Rafael was footing the bill for a crew of construction workers to sit around and enjoy beach life for the next few days.
    “You stay your ass in New York,” Rafael said. “I don’t need you and Cam and Ryan to babysit me. It’s the right thing to do, Devon. Until I know what the hell I promised or didn’t promise or whatever else happened while I was down here the first time, the right thing to do is wait.”
    “Since when have you ever been concerned with doing the right thing?” Devon asked incredulously. “We’re talking about the king of get-it-done, it’s business, not personal, whatever it takes, score the deal. Are you getting soft in your old age or has she messed with your head so much that you no longer know up from down?”
    Rafael scowled. “You make me sound like a complete bastard.”
    “Yeah, well, you are. Why should that bother you now? It’s what’s made you so successful. Don’t go growing a conscience on me now.”
    Rafael frowned even harder. “What do you know about this deal, Devon? What aren’t you telling me?”
    There was a long silence. And then his friend said, “Look, I don’t know what happened down there. What I do know is that before you