Sophia hardly remembered the evening before.
At one point, she was in the arms of a man named Mr. Morelli, not John. She could have sworn she felt his nose pressed against her neck before she fell asleep but maybe it was just a good dream after being held so affectionately. The smell of spearmint took over her senses until she woke up.
Before she knew it, it was morning and she was tucked into her bed.
Her alarm was going off, telling her that it was time to open the bakery. It was 4:30 am on the dot. Her body was used to the early hour after two years of the same schedule.
She had been too emotional the night before to look into Grant's boss. Mr. Morelli, she mused. She wondered if his first name was as pretty as that. The name rang a bell but she couldn't figure out why.
However, she had no time to dwell. It was time to open the bakery after missing the day before.
After she showered, she put on a towel, did her hair, and light makeup. It took her thirty minutes to get ready because she would eat breakfast and have a cup of coffee at the bakery.
While she was getting into her clothing, she heard knocking from the opposite bathroom door.
"One minute!" she called.
She buttoned up a pair of light-wash jeans and put on an oversized red flannel shirt that fell off of her shoulders, revealing a lacy bralette underneath. She wore a small necklace with a tiny ruby on it along with her usual silver watch and her hair was loose around her shoulders.
Sophia went into the bathroom and opened the opposite door. She was surprised to see John standing there.
"Sorry," she said. "Did I wake you up?"
He had been worried about her after how sad she was the night before. Yet when he saw with a bright look in her eyes and a relaxed expression on her face, he realized his worrying was for nothing.
"I want to shower," he said. "Aren't I coming with you?"
"I like your diligence, but you were only just in the hospital yesterday," Sophia argued. "I'm a tough boss but I'm not totally unreasonable."
Even though she had wanted him to work for her so he wouldn't be able to look through her things, it was too much to get in the way of someone's healing.
That seemed to displease him as if she was doubting his strength despite all of the times he had proven himself to her the day before. She could tell his jaw was tense and she decided to relent.
"I can handle myself," he said.
"You're right. I guess I can't stop you," she admitted, not wanting to argue. "I promise I won't put you up to hard labor today though." Sophia nervously tucked hair behind her ear and she glanced away from him. "Just remember the nurse said not to get water on your staples for two days."
His mood improved the more she fretted.
John had been upset before that she had lied about being his fiancé. If she had a boyfriend, he wondered why she did that in the first place. Then she allowed him to comfort her through her tears and he felt a tinge of something bittersweet.
He felt like he was making progress with her. Hearing her concerns for him was giving him false hope that after he remembered his life, she would continue to be a part of it. He had known her for a day but he found an invisible pull toward her.
For the first time, a small smirk pulled at his lips. She thought he looked devilishly handsome but she wasn't going to say anything.
Before she could close the door and go back to her room, she said, "There are towels in the linen closet and there should be soap and deodorant for you to use."
When he was by himself, he put his hands on the countertop and a long sigh escaped his parted lips.
Mr. Morelli.
He was on the verge of remembering something.
As he slept he dreamt violent dreams tinged in blood. The way he behaved in the dreams, he didn't believe it was the first time he had experienced withdrawal symptoms before. Before he woke up, someone was screaming Mr. Morelli at him.
Strangely enough, what he worried about was how awful he might be and how Sophia allowed him into her house. He was beginning to believe he was a danger to her, especially after the way he behaved the night before.
As he stepped into the shower, he thought about how, after that idiot left, they moved to the couch where she quietly cried until she exhausted herself. She apologized and tried to get away but he put an arm around her and told her he didn't mind if she fell asleep on him.
She held onto him like she needed no one else but him. Even if he had his memories, he wasn't sure he had ever been needed by another person so much before in his life.
Eventually, he went upstairs with her in his arms. He gently placed her in her bed but after he laid her down and put the blankets over her, he couldn't resist her sweet scent any longer. Her room smelled overwhelmingly like her.
He cradled her head and pressed his nose against her neck, inhaling all he could. She smelled like a vanilla cookie. It caused his heart to race and his body to light on fire. When he realized what he was doing, he had to escape her room or he was going to do something regrettable.
What was wrong with him to behave like that?
As John showered, he saw that there was already men's soap in the shower and he couldn't control his jealousy. He wondered if he was going to smell like the bastard on her doorstep the night before. Perhaps that was his punishment for treating her like she was his to take.
John got out of the shower and dried off. He used the other toiletries and got into the clothing that Sophia had supplied for him.
When he made it downstairs where Sophia was waiting, the smile she gave him made him believe she was happy to see him.
Based on what he had seen of himself, he believed he didn't deserve for her to look at him like that.
He would have to learn to control himself better until he figured out where he belonged. He would work at her bakery until he repaid her for all she had done for him then he hoped they would figure out who he was so he could go back to his life.