Memories Of You Read Online Free Page A

her diet. While food was the last thing on her mind, she opted for iced tea instead of coffee and requested a bowl of crisp tortilla chips and salsa to munch while she waited. Not exactly what Rodríguez would have called healthy food, but she figured it was better than just coffee.
    She glanced toward the water a few yards from the elevated restaurant. Instead of looking inviting, it appeared chilly, just like her mood. It would be, she thought, considering the fall weather.
    Waves lapped against the rocky shore, and the reflection of autumn leaves that hadn’t yet fallen warmed the otherwise crystal blue water, giving it a less ominous presence. Unlike the icy shell her heart had developed. She didn’t want to be here, but she was damned if she’d pass up the chance to find out for sure what Aldridge wanted, other than validation.
    She tensed, sensing someone approaching, but she steeled herself not to turn.
    Heather’s voice was clear but professional, masking the hint of curiosity Charlie knew her friend must feel. “I believe this is your party.”
    Charlie couldn’t resist sliding a sideways glance to look at his shoes and pants. Expensive jeans and Italian loafers, hardly Seth’s laid-back denim-and-sneakers look, but the man was the right height and build. Long, slim legs, big feet.
    She stole a look at his hands as he placed them on the table, a natural reflex for someone sliding into a booth’s bench seat, and she had her first feeling of doubt. Dismayed, she realized she had no clue whether Seth’s fingers or hands had held any distinguishing marks. She didn’t recall any scars, and this man had none, but it was hardly enough to go on.
    Finally, she met his eyes and was startled. Different face but same blue-gray orbs, the same color eyes that had met hers intimately, but there was a total lack of recognition and an expression she’d never seen in Seth’s eyes.
    She looked at his hair. Same color, same hairline, but different style, so again…a good likeness, but nothing she could say was definitively Seth. Her insides churned as she looked, compared, scanned and found only glimpses of someone she might have known intimately.
    He looked across the table inquisitively. “So?”
    Charlie shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t believe we’ve met.” She could swear he looked disappointed. “Give me a few minutes, though.” Then she cursed herself for dropping her guard and letting him see she cared, even a little.
    Don’t get suckered into this man’s drama. You don’t need it, and he probably wouldn’t appreciate it anyway.
    He held out his hand for her to shake. “Mason Aldridge,” he said, “but I’m afraid I don’t know who you are.”
    She nodded curtly and gave her name as she took his hand. It was warm, and her throat went dry at its touch. A flood of sensations washed over her, and she fought hard not to get swept into the storm as memories of Seth assaulted her.
    You’re just feeling that electrical current pass between the two of you because you are thinking of Seth, she scolded herself.
    He knew—he had to—that she was experiencing something out of the ordinary. He held her hand a little longer than she’d anticipated. “Are you sure you don’t know me?”
    Damn. She shook her head again. Same voice, same hands holding hers. Different face. How could this be? It wasn’t fair! She tugged gently, but he kept her hand in his.
    “No.” His voice was insistent but not commanding, not threatening. “Please, if you think we’ve met, if you have any idea…I need to know.”
    She pulled again and finally was free of his touch. “You don’t look anything like the man I knew.”
    “I’ve had facial reconstruction,” he told her.
    Charlie’s guts twisted. She stared at him openly, long and hard. “Because of the accident?”
    “Yes. I don’t know who I am, but I know I’m not Mason Aldridge.” His face was handsome, but it was as if he were a work of art in