An Unexpected Engagement

Chapter 93

- Where are we going?

'How about Primark?' - She suggests excitedly starting the car.

"What does it have to do with our history?"

"Nothing, but we can go shopping!" I love the Christmas deals and wanted to buy us matching pajamas, you know, one of those Christmas ones? I saw you have some gnome costumes, are you the size of Penelope?

“No, we're not going to Primark in the middle of Christmas. Oxford Street must be infernal full of clueless consumerists!

'But it's Christmas!' Best time of year to be a clueless consumerist. It's allowed!

“You won't convince me.

"Fine, it wouldn't help at all."

"So where are we going now?"

— To Canary Wharf.

“I thought we weren't going to work.

- We will not!

I don't even dare ask what Natasha is up to this time until she pulls up in front of an ice skating rink.

- What are we doing here? I ask when we get out of the car and enter the place that at that hour is full of teenagers and children skating.

“When we were pretending for your parents, we went out to dinner and your sister was musing that we had to come skating later.

“Hope really loves it,” I comment absently as she orders two skates from the front desk and we head over to put them on. - Are we really going to skate? “I'm not sure that's going to help anything.

"I told you we were going to do some things we did before, so you'll start remembering!"

I sigh tiredly and sit down beside her to put on the damn skates.

"So we came to skate and?...

“I was scared!

- Because?

“Because your family expected me to be great at it, since I made up the story about being a dancer before the ulna accident… But the truth is, I was terrible.

"And yet you wanted to come back here?"

Natasha gets up and curls around her legs and I hurry to hold her, guiding her onto the floor.

- Yes, it's for a good cause - he smiles taking my hand and putting it on his waist - but you'll have to hold me like you did before.

Again, I'm tempted to refuse to do what he asks, but I've already realized that refusing to comply with Natasha's requests, even those absurd ones, might not be a good idea. So I slide her down the track. Natasha turns her head hopefully.

- Remembered?

“Nothing,” I reply to his annoyance.

“Damn it, Steve!

"Don't curse me!" Do you think it's my fault I have this hole in my head? All this mess? Do you think I planned on going through this?

She spins around until she's facing me while we're still gliding across the floor.

- I'm very sorry. I think so far I've only thought about how shitty it is for me, but for you it must not be nice.

“To say the least,” I grumble.

Natasha bites her lip thoughtfully, then lifts her arms and frames my face and moving closer kisses me. For a moment I'm frozen in surprise, but like the other time Natasha kissed me, the world explodes around me within seconds and I just follow an instinct older than the world and hug her, pulling her close as our feet glide across the ice. And when the kiss ends, Natasha rests her anxious, excited eyes on mine.

- What's up?

'And then what?'

- Anything?

I shake my head and Natasha rolls her eyes, annoyed.

'Not a spark?'

"What do you mean by spark?" Want to know if I feel horny kissing you?

“Of course you're hot for me. We are perfect together.

She seems so sure of what she's saying and suddenly all I want most is to remember her.

The first time I felt this irresistible urge to bring her close and keep her there, in my arms. And understand why I forgot it. Was it just a physiological consequence of the fall or is my mind playing a trick on me?

Natasha looks like a runaway train most of the time, but she has something about her that is irresistible.

And maybe I'll begin to understand why I couldn't resist.

- What happened? I question. “It was all a lie. How did it become...

“And I was afraid to have sex with you after we kissed.

- Like this?

“I realized you could break my heart if you went through with it.

- I do not do this.

'Doesn't what?'

“I break female hearts. I don't even have relationships. — I don't realize that I spoke in the present, as if I were still there, in that time when I was not attached to anything. But at some point I became attached to Natasha. Or did she hold on to me?

“You didn't have relationships. Before me. I mean, there was Sharon's snake, but I prefer to pretend it didn't exist.

"Do you know Sharon?"

'Unfortunately I do!' But she is past. While it would be nice if you'd forgotten about her too, it would help my self-esteem a lot. Anyway, I was scared, I said I didn't want to anymore, but then you insisted a lot.

- I?

- Yea! You! And it was...

- He was?

She smiles in that mischievous way of hers.

“Maybe I should show you.

- Here?

"Not here... Or... well...

- Youfreaked out?

she laughs.

“Oh Steve, I'm kidding! But the thing is, sex between us has always been amazing.

"So we went from fake engagement to real engagement?" I don't see how this could have happened!

“Why is it hard to believe that you fell in love with me? “She looks offended. "Why don't you believe you're in love with me?"

"Because I don't remember!" If it's that special, why don't I remember?

"That's what I want to know too!" But everything is fine. She takes a deep breath. "I'm too smart to let that traitorous mind of yours ruin everything!"

- What you mean?

- Let's go.

"I thought you were going to tell me our story... How did I marry you even though I put my career on the line..."

— It was quite complicated actually and there was confusion that if I were to tell you in detail we would need a whole week and we don't have that time.

- What you mean?

- I have a plan B.

Again I'm terrified of what Natasha means by plan B.