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“We’ve only had two sessions. Are you saying we can’t speak to each other outside of this room? Even if this was therapy, can’t we be friends on the outside?”
“Once a client. Always a client. I have strict ethical standards to follow. A person comes to therapy because they are vulnerable. They need a safe space with someone they can trust.”
She snorted. “I’m not vulnerable. I just have a terrible boyfriend.”
“You’re going through a breakup. That’s a huge stressor. You’ve told me things you wouldn’t tell me if you weren’t seeing me as a therapist. Do you understand? There is a power dynamic between us.”
She blew out a breath and sat up straight in the chair. “If you don’t want to meet in here, then maybe we could talk somewhere else… over coffee or something?”
I hardened my heart. This was for the best. I had to do the right thing by Skylar, and the right thing was to let her go. “No. Thank you.”
Hurt flashed across her face. She stood. “Fine. Good. I have to go anyway. I have … things to do. Can’t sit around chatting all day. I just wanted to say sorry if I made things awkward.”
She moved to the door. My gaze flicked to the couch and I couldn’t help picturing Skylar laying there, squirming and biting her lip.
“Here.” I scribbled a note on my pad, ripped the page and passed it to her. “These are the names of other therapists that you might want to consider working with. Maybe you’d feel more comfortable with someone else.”
Because I would definitely feel more comfortable if you went to someone else.
She screwed up the note and tossed it straight into the trash can at the other side of the room. She stepped closer and looked me squarely in the eyes. So close I was barely breathing.
“Our conversation the other day reminded me of something. It reminded me who I am. You’re right, I have always had to fight. I fought my way to the top, and maybe it’s because I needed to prove myself. Maybe I didn’t feel good enough. But you know what else it shows? It shows that I’m determined. I learned to swim against a current, and it’s made me strong. When I line up a shot, I always score. I’m not afraid to go after what I want.”
I didn’t doubt that for one second. I might have been trying to uncover her vulnerabilities, show her that she was as human as everyone else, but it didn’t mean I’d underestimated her strength. Skylar radiated power. She’d always been a goddess in my eyes. Shock and desire at her nearness held me frozen. She was so close I could see the specks of green in her blue eyes.
Her eyes dropped guiltily to my lips. “I can’t believe I sat next to you in school and didn’t notice you.”
“Of course you didn’t.” My voice came out low and rough. “You were the most popular girl in the school and I was… a nobody.”
It shouldn’t have been possible for her to get any closer, but she inched nearer. “I wasn’t the most popular girl in the school. I was just an idiot like everyone else, muddling along and trying to look cool. And you could never be a nobody, Reece.”
“Still, you would never have looked twice at me.”
Her seductive gaze raked over me like a caress. “I’m looking now.”
Fire heated my blood. Her closeness was a drug and I’d been trying so hard to resist the craving, but Skylar Marshall made me weak. She was my kryptonite. She brushed her lips against mine, and a shiver of pleasure burst through me. She stepped forward again. My back hit the office door. Her body molded to the contours of mine. Flames of desire licked over my skin, heating my blood like a firestorm.
Her eyes searched my face, seeking permission. Standing on tiptoe, she touched her lips to mine. Shock held me frozen. The whisper-soft press of her mouth sent spirals of ecstasy through me. The heady sensation of her body—so hard and athletic but so soft and warm at the same time—inflamed every nerve.
“What are you doing?” My voice barely broke a rough whisper.
“Fighting for what I want.”
Her lips came coaxingly back to mine, a delicious sensation. I used every last shred of resolve I had to stand statue still. My senses reeled as though short-circuited. A strange rough groan left my mouth and a knot tightened within me, begging for release.
Her lips brushed my ear, her breath hot against my cheek. “Yes?”
I swallowed. Words wedged in my throat.
“Tell me if you want me to stop, Reece.”
Blood pounded my temple. All thought flowed from my head downward. Two treacherous words slipped from my lips. “Don’t stop.”
Her mouth curved into a smile against my lips. She slipped her hand low so that it grazed where I ached for her touch. A gasp escaped me, but she smothered it with a kiss. Her persuasive mouth moved against mine, urgent and exploratory. Her fingers moved with more insistence, rubbing my hard length through the fabric. A jolt ran through me and another choked, agonized noise escaped my throat. Her hand froze.
“Okay?” she whispered.
Yes. No. We need to stop.
