Here's the latest in this story again mistakes may be present due to the haste of the writing : ) This latest chapter moves along just a bit hopefully within the next few chapters the story will be further explained to you all…. For now enjoy :) Oh and you get some DL action …

Chapter 7 - 'I've got you. Why would I notice anyone else?'

She knew she was almost begging him to tell her, but right now that didn't matter. Pride took second place to need. 'I think I need to hear it.'

She didn't think, she knew. She needed to hear it, to believe it, because more than anything, she needed something to cling to, to work with. A foundation on which she could build, knowing that he loved her would give her that beginning.

He'd never said it to anyone – not those exact words, anyway. He'd implied it and let woman draw their own conclusions, but the words themselves had never actually left his lips. He knew that is he would ever have said them, it would have been her. Irritation joined hands with impatience. Some of it, he knew was unreasonable. Danny rubbed his nape, feeling the itch beginning all over again. Glancing at her, he muttered, 'I love you.'

Disappointed, Lindsay frowned. He'd said it with as much feeling as someone asking for an order of fries from a cardboard clown at a drive through. 'You don't sound like you mean it.'

'I mean it,' he ground out, and then felt a shaft of guild puncture him. She'd just gone through hell, was still going through it. The least he could do was make it a little easier on her. 'I don't cue very well, okay? A man picks his own time to say that he loves a woman – at least, I do. That doesn't mean that the feelings aren't there.'

There, that should placate her. Then, because it was Lindsay, because he really did care about her, Danny added, 'I guess I'm really just a little tense because I'm worried about you. I've never been faced with a situation I didn't know how to handle before.'

She could well believe that. He looked like a man accustomed to having things go his way, or making them go his way if necessary. As for saying, 'I love you.' She supposed that some men had trouble voicing their feelings, even to their wives. She flashed him an apologetic look. 'I'm sorry; I guess I'm just being overly anxious right now.

'Small wonder.' He blew out a breath. All in all, she was handling this pretty well. 'Hell, I don't know how I would react to waking up and finding myself in some strange hotel room without the vaguest idea of who and where I was.'

Except for the identity part, there had been a time or three when he had come to in unfamiliar surrounds. But he'd never been stripped of his chief asset – his mind. That would have been very, very difficult for him to come to terms with. That she hadn't broken down just proved what he had already known – that Lindsay was one hell of a strong lady. Danny reached over and covered her hand with his own. 'We'll get through this, Lindsay. Just hang in there and trust me, no matter what.'

What an odd thing to say, she thought. Why shouldn't she trust him? Was there some kind of cryptic message in his words? Without warning, she suddenly had the eeriest feeling….

But then, just as suddenly, it was gone again before she could grasp it. A wet tissue breaking up in the wind. Maybe later.

Danny drove the rented car up to the front of the hotel. A tall, strapping valet dressed like a eunuch standing guard in a sultan's harem strode over to them and opened the door for Lindsay. It tickled her sense of the absurd. 'Nice outfit,' she told the man.

Brilliant white teeth flashed against a dark complexion. 'Hey, it's different.' The valet held his wide palm out, waiting for keys.

Danny surrendered one of the two sets he always made a point to keep on him. It was one of his idiosyncrasies, but the extras were known to come in handy at times. Lindsay stepped away from the curb and into Danny. As her body brushed against his, she could feel the electricity almost jumping between them. Their eyes met and held for a long moment.

'I picked a hell of a time to lose my memory,' she murmured with regret. 'On my honeymoon.' She raised her face to his. 'But it doesn't have to get in the way of things.'

'No,' he agreed cautiously. What was she up to? 'It doesn't.'

'We can still have a good time.'

He had a feeling right now their definition of a good time differed drastically. 'Yes, I'm sure that we can.'

It was almost one o'clock. He had arranged for them to meet with Quinton and his mistress at the ground level pool at one. They had to get going. But first, he wanted to take certain precautions. He didn't want to risk things getting fouled up. He placed his hands on Lindsay's shoulders, commanding her complete attention.

'Listen, Linds, we have to meet Quinton now. I think it might be for the best if you don't make a big deal about your amnesia.

That was an odd way to put it. He made It sound as if her amnesia was an annoying little inconvenience, like a tiny blemish the night before a date. A minute ago he'd sounded concerned; now he was trying to sweep it under the rug. Why the sudden change?

'Big deal?' she echoed.

He knew he'd phrased it wrong the minute it was out of his mouth, but he didn't have time to smooth it over for her. Taking Lindsay by the arm, Danny walked into the hotel's casino.

'Just don't mention it to them, all right?'

It wasn't something she'd intended to blurt out right after saying hello, but she'd understand why he wanted her to not say anything at all.

'Why?'

Because it might inadvertently ruin everything. He didn't want either of them questioning her in an attempt to see what they could make her remember. She might remember the wrong thing and blurt it out. He knew he couldn't say that to her without having to explain other things, as well.

'I'll probably make them feel uncomfortable.' She supposed that did make sense but still…

'Won't they wonder if I don't know the answer to things they might ask me?' There were all sorts of common, everyday things that she had no knowledge of. She looked at him in frustration. 'I don't know what my address is, or where I was born.' She tried now to let that get to her. 'What if they ask me what I like to do in my spare time? What am I going to say? Noting? They'll think I'm an idiot.'

They wove their way through the lobby, heading toward the rear door and the pool beyond. Danny fell back on the truth. 'You were born in Bozeman. Montana.' And then he began to fabricate. 'We live in L.A.' He gave her an address that would have checked out if necessary. Probably had been checked out already, he thought, if what he knew about Quinton was true. 'And you like going to the movies. Everything but horror, you like comedies the best, although you hate slapstick. And they won't think you're an idiot, although they sort of have the impression that you're scatterbrained.'

Lindsay abruptly stopped walking, nearly bumping into a waiter carrying a tray full of tall glasses that looked like a liquid rainbow. Scatterbrained? That really didn't feel right. 'Why would they think I was scatterbrained?'

Because that was what he'd wanted them to think. It put Quinton off his guard a little. Quinton was accustomed to women being ornamental, remaining in the background and being easily diverted.

Danny shrugged, making light of it. 'The first time we met them you were talking really fast and saying didn't think before you said some inappropriate things to them, but they don't know you like I do, you were just joking around.'

Well she did speak quickly but that was no reason to come to that conclusion. 'But I'm not.'

He didn't want to be late. There was a great deal ridding on this meeting and the additional groundwork it would lay. He gently ushered her in the right direction. Quinton was visible from here. 'Not what?' He was hurrying. She had to walk quickly to keep up.

'Scatterbrained. Ditzy.' Maybe he thought she was. 'Am I?'

There were times when she could think rings around him, and other times when he could have sworn she had the mind of a child. But even then at her most infuriating, he would never have said she was dumb. Danny shook his head. 'No, you're not.'

It was a relief to know he didn't think so. 'Then why would they think…?'

'People tend to stereotype.' He shrugged the matter off. 'Look, there they are now.'

There were a lot of people in the pool and even more around the perimeter, both in lounging chairs and at the canopied tables that were strategically placed not to interfere with foot traffic. The odds of picking out the right couple were completely against her, especially since she didn't know who she was looking for. Still her reflexes had her looking around. 'Where?'

Danny pointed to the left. 'There. The waiter just walked by them.

'Quinton looks like the guy who played James Bond. The first one.' Danny stopped. 'Do you know..?'

She knew what he was going to ask. 'Yes, oddly enough, I do know who you're talking about' Even if she was still a mystery to herself.

Lindsay looked in the general direction where he was pointing and picked out the waiter, then looked just behind him. There was an older man sitting at one of the larger tables besides a stunning brunette who appeared to be filling out the scarlet sundress she was wearing quite well.

Danny was right – Quinton did look like Sean Connery. Very suave and sophisticated. He was wearing immaculate white slacks and a navy pullover, open at the throat. What looked like a designer insignia was discreetly resting over the single pocket. As they drew closer to the pair, the scent of a pricey cologne mingled with a whiff of heady perfume and the smell of suntan lotion. No a sun block, Lindsay amended. The brunette was fair enough to have passed for Snow White. An X-rated Snow White. The hem of her dress was carelessly gathered around her thighs. It was artfully arranged carelessness, Lindsay realized, judging by the knowing look on the woman's face.

Lindsay shifted her eyes to look at Danny, was he aroused by woman who were well endowed enough for two? In comparison, Lindsay felt that she looked like a boy. Her build leaned towards athletic. Inclining his head, Danny whispered last – minute information into Lindsay's ear. 'Their names are Richard and Sally.'

Sally the name was far too average to suit the woman. 'What is she to him?'

'Ecstasy, probably.' Quinton liked his women willing and hot. Sally looked as if she was both. The tennis necklace at her throat, with stones that looked like small robin's eggs, were a testimonial to the fact that she did her job well.

Lindsay sniffed. 'If you like that sort of thing.' She commented, her lips barely moving. The unabashed display of jealousy tickled him. It wasn't something he would have expected from Lindsay. But then, this wasn't really Lindsay.

'I'm sure he does.'

She had to ask. 'Do you?'

Well she was certainly direct. He'd almost replied that he wouldn't have kicked Sally out of bed but managed to catch himself just in time. Under the circumstances, it wouldn't have been a prudent thing to say.

'I've got you.' Danny pressed a kiss to her temple. 'Why would I notice anyone else?'

She doubted if any man wouldn't have noticed Sally but it was a nice thing to hear.

Grateful for the lie, pleased that he'd offered it to her. Lindsay stopped just short of Quinton's table. Impulsively, she rose on her toes, framed Danny's face with her hands and kissed him. His surprised expression, just before their lips met amused her.

A moment later, Danny knew just what Lindsay had to be going through right now. Within seconds of contact, Danny discovered that his head was completely depleted of all thoughts, all memory, everything. Everything but the cataclysmic effect that her mouth had on his. He could feel his blood heating even as wonder bloomed with his breast. Aroused, curious, he drew her into his arms and let the kiss deepen even further. Lindsay? Was this Lindsay? Just what had that bump on her head done to her? And what was she doing to him?

Well what you think? Hopefully the DL action has satisfied you until next time… ;) Please review to let me know :) … until next time when Lindsay 'meets' Quinton officially …