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“Goodnight. You should drink some water before you go to bed.”
She unhooked her seatbelt and lurched forward. “I’d invite you in, but you’re going to turn me down again, aren’t you?”
I held still with my gaze fixed on the house. “I can’t go inside with you.”
“So, you want all those things on your profile, but just not with me? I’m offering myself on a plate to you here, Reece, and you’re saying no?”
Exhaustion washed over me. I’d craved this woman every moment of my teenage life. I was an absolute idiot to think I wasn’t still infatuated with her. I should never have even agreed to work with the team. This had all been about Skylar Marshall. I’d been kidding myself to think it was anything else. This wasn’t the time to get into an ethical discussion. I just needed her out of my car.
“I didn’t create that dating profile. It was my siblings.”
A small smile twisted the corner of her mouth. “You’re no fun, you know that?”
“I’ve heard it said.”
She chuckled and her speculative gaze roved over me. “I bet you could be, though. Do you ever loosen up?”
She turned her drunken smile on me and rested her hand on my leg, just above my knee. My breath caught in my chest and I was barely breathing in the first place. Her gaze locked with mine and the cockiness in her expression faltered, replaced with something vulnerable and tentative. She was taking a leap. Skylar had always been brave. I didn’t want to make her feel bad, but I couldn’t do this. It was unethical. She was also blind drunk.
Gently, I took her hand and put it back on her leg. “Goodnight, Skylar.”
“I thought maybe…”
I kept my gaze fixed on the windscreen. “No. I’m sorry.”
“The thing is… I like you.”
There was so much vulnerability in her voice. A pang speared my chest. I kept my voice as soft as I could. “I’m not an option.”
“Because of the therapy stuff?” Hurt flickered in her glassy eyes. “Or because you don’t like me like that?”
If I was going to rip off the Band-Aid, it would be more effective to do it swift and hard. It was better for her in the long run. I’d have to extinguish any possibility in her head.
“Both.”
She flinched as though I’d struck her. My heart contracted. I’d wanted to do this gracefully. What a fuckup. We’d have to have a proper discussion about transference and what this all meant, but now wasn’t the time for an ethical discourse. I just needed her out of my car.
“Your loss, Dr. Forster.” She chewed her lip and shrugged, but tears swam behind her eyes. “Your loss.”
She flung open the car door and cold air rushed inside. I watched her weave her way up the drive and disappear into the house. I fought every instinct to run after and drop down on my knees in front of her.
My loss.
Chapter 15
Reece
Skylar lay on the therapy couch in my office, her lilac hair soft and gleaming. She sat up, hooked her thumb under the strap of her tight purple dress, and inched it down over her inked shoulder. Her fingers danced over the top of her cleavage.
“Did you see my goal, Dr. Forster?”
She pulled the strap down and eased the lacy cup of her bra aside, revealing the soft mound of her breast and her perfect, taut nipple. Her lips parted and her head fell back with pleasure. I’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
A slow, seductive smile spread on her face. “Do you ever loosen up, Dr. Forster?” She uncrossed her legs. Her hand glided from her ankle, grazing her inner thigh and inching her dress up along with it. Her knees fell apart, revealing white lace underwear. “I can’t let you see any more.”
A surge of excitement heated my blood. “Yes. You can. Show me.”
“Your loss.” She smiled and vanished.
