by Ashlee Price
“John, I know that this is hard on the whole city. We haven’t seen that kind of violence here for a long time.”
My mind started to wander after the two newscasters began to talk about the bombing that occurred ten years before at the court house. I hadn’t lived in the city at the time, but it was a case that I’d studied extensively. It was my job to help people recover from traumatic events, and I worked with the police department a lot. They were the ones who’d sent the few survivors to me for help. Now I wondered if I was going to be able to provide it.
The newscast then showed pictures of the business tycoon they’d mentioned earlier. I wasn’t sure how it related, but the news show tied one of his up and coming business deals to the man in the same breath that they proclaimed him a survivor.
When I got to the fax, it was the billionaire’s file that was on top. He was one of the people that I was going to have to see Monday, and I wasn’t really looking forward to it. The man was handsome, put together by the looks of it, and he was most likely better off than me. How could I help anyone given the state I was currently in? It just didn’t seem possible.
Scanning through the file, nothing really jumped out at me. The file was a generic one, most likely compounded by the police, and didn’t tell me much about the handsome man who was smiling on my television screen. Just because he was rich, I didn’t see why he was getting that much time on air. It didn’t seem right. At the same time, I was happy that it wasn’t my name and face being blasted all over the TV.
I turned the television off and felt better almost immediately. There was nothing I wanted to do more right then than go back to bed. I was sure that was where I was going to find the most comfort, and that was all that I needed. I just wanted to sleep some more and pretend like none of it had really happened. But my eyes went back to the files in my hands. I knew that Sara was right. I had a job to do, and there was no one who was going to do it for me. I was going to have to help myself so that I could help others. That was what I’d gotten into psychology for in the first place. I couldn’t fix my own damage, but I knew how damaged a soul could get, and I wanted to help others in a way that I couldn’t help myself.
Getting up for the first time in a long time, I went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. It was part of my job to learn about the clients before I saw them, and since Tyler Hudson was first on my list, I figured he was as good a place to start as any other.
The small picture on the file was one that I’d seen on the news. He was not at all what I expected. The man was gorgeous. He didn’t look like a billionaire tycoon. He looked too young, and the dark stare that came back from the paper made me nervous. How was I going to meet with this man and make him better?
The information that the file contained was limited, and I learned more about him from a quick internet search. He was everywhere, and although a lot of the press was about the business, there was a little bit put in about his love life and his marriage several years back. Watching a couple of clips of him speaking at ribbon cutting ceremonies, I knew that the man was going to be a challenge. I was already looking at him in a way that I shouldn’t, although in my defense it was hard not to.
I ignored the phone when it rang again and let the machine pick it up. It was Jesse, the man I’d been so excited to see. He was worried, but I didn’t answer. The last thing that I wanted to do was talk to him. What was I thinking in the first place? He wasn’t for me, and since he was one of my patients, it all seemed even worse. It was time for me to make some better choices and stay away from clients in that way. I didn’t have time to think about everything, but I never did call Jesse back. Maybe I would soon, but for now, I had work to do.
Looking back at the picture in my lap, I tried to push away the thoughts that I wasn’t supposed to have. I was a professional, after all. It shouldn’t matter what he looked like. I was going to help him.
Part 2: Tyler
Tyler Hudson, one of the survivors of the mall shooting, finds himself walking into the office of Dr. Camilla Loring. He doesn’t want to be there, but he’s been pressured into going by his family. The man dreads the appointment – until he sees who his new doctor’s going to be. Dr. Camilla is breathtaking, and all of his doubts disappear.
When he tries to get more information on the buxom brunette, Camilla doesn’t want anything to do with him in that way. He sees the look of need in her bright blue eyes, but she seems immune to his charm. No woman has ever been immune to the billionaire’s charm before, and it just makes him want her more. Tyler is ready to play the game to get his way and get the doctor into his bed. One way or another, she is going to be his.
Chapter 1 – Tyler
“Tyler, it’s for your own good. Your mother has been on me for days to say something to you. So just go, tell the doctor what they want to hear and deal with it. It won’t be long before she’s happy with your progress. Just do it and save me from getting calls at six o’clock in the morning.”
So Dad didn’t really give a damn if I went or not. It was my mom. She never called me, and it didn’t seem to matter that the two of them had split up years before. If there was a problem, she would call Dad, and then I would get one of these calls.
“Do you know what kind of schedule I have right now? I’m already working more than a lawyer bills.”
“It’s a few sessions for an hour. You can’t squeeze it in for a little peace?”
He was trying to use my emotions against me, but what he didn’t know was that I didn’t have any. Just like him, and it was one of his traits that I didn’t mind sharing. “Let’s talk about the Rothwell deal and then we can talk about peace.”
His face changed as the smile grew on my own. I knew that I had him, and I knew that it was going to suit me well. I was going to make plenty of money for a few hours at a shrink’s office.
“You’re too much like me.” He didn’t realize that his thought mimicked my own.
“Yeah, so do we have a deal?”
“Fine, just call her and tell her that you’ll go.”
I had to chuckle. My father had been with innumerable women, but he was somehow afraid of my mother. I didn’t know what she’d done to him all those years ago, but he still held her in a regard that I just didn’t understand. That or he was just afraid of her. This was one of the moments that I thought the latter. He was going to lose more than I would have been willing to for peace. No woman could get me like that.
“I’ll give her a call this morning. She left me a message with a date and place. It’s for Monday, so I’ll go then. Problem solved. You can send over the paperwork today on the other.”
His agreement was not free of coercion and it showed. What I wouldn’t have given to have been able to see his face. It would have been priceless, or at least it was something I would have paid to see. The smile on my face lasted most of the day after my conversation with him. Not only was I going to make another million or two with very little effort, I was also getting to stick it to dear old Dad as well. I was feeling productive.
***
My good mood lasted till about two o’clock Monday afternoon. That was when I was supposed to go to this doctor that my mother was convinced I needed to go to. It was a small practice, out of the way, and as I stared at the polished white building, I looked back down at the card. Dr. Camilla Loring. The name didn’t seem to fit a doctor, and I didn’t like the idea of getting my head shrunk by a female. It was already going to be awkward enough. Maybe if she was hot, I could pass the time in a more pleasurable way.
I didn’t want to envision some old broad, and when a cute redhead came to ask who I was there to see, I was really hoping she was my doctor. “I’m here to see…” I looked down at the card and repeated it for her.
“Just a minute. I think she’s still with another client. Why don’t you’ve a seat, and she’ll be with you in just a moment.”
“Does this count for my hour?”
She looked at the clock
and shrugged, most likely not sure what answer I wanted. “It won’t be long. Camilla is very prompt.”
It was two minutes before I was supposed to be there, and it was exactly two minutes before her head popped out, following a man who seemed to be leaving in tears. That didn’t bode well, and I felt a slight bit of dread when I heard my name called. Only when I really looked at her did everything else fall away.
Dr. Camilla Loring was more beautiful than I could have hoped for. I was already forgetting about the redhead who’d smiled at me with the hint of a promise.
“Nice to see you, Tyler. Come on in.”
I followed her into an office that was the size of my desk. It felt even more cramped when I sat down on the half couch concoction that she had for a seat.
“Is this really necessary? There has to be something better to sit on than this.”
“We could switch places if you like. I wouldn’t mind putting my feet up.”
Her answer threw me off for a moment, and I felt kind of silly. Just like that, she’d put me in my place. I wasn’t sure if I should agree or not.
“This will be fine, thank you.”
The dread inside of me grew. I’d already botched it up.
“I remember you. You were the man in the suit at the front, weren’t you?”
Another blow from left field. I took a closer look at the woman who had my insides in a jumble. “That’s where I was. How did you know?”
“I was in the back, in the changing room.”
“You were there?”
She nodded her head as a flash of pain ran through her eyes. I had a feeling that I had the same look when I thought about the incident. It almost made me feel bad to talk about it, even though she was the one who’d brought it up.
“Well, I’m just here to make some people happy. I don’t have a problem or anything.”
Camilla smiled and her cheeks pushed the bottom of her glasses up on her face. It changed the look of her, and I felt a stirring inside.
“Of course not. Sometimes it’s good to talk about it, and sometimes it’s good to let others think you have. We can talk about whatever you want to. It doesn’t have to be about the mall. I apologize for my forwardness, but I placed you immediately because of that tie.”
I looked down and grinned. “This is the same tie that I was wearing that day. It has now become my lucky tie. I’m not usually superstitious, but when it comes to this, I might be.”
Looking down, I realized that I was holding it harder than I had to. I pulled my hand away and hoped that she hadn’t noticed. She made a note in the small writing tablet in her hands, and I grimaced to myself. She’d noticed.
“I feel lucky as well. Did you lose anyone?”
Shaking my head, I was thankful for that. Not only was I okay, but Ivy was as well. She was not the woman of my dreams, by no stretch of the imagination, but we had a good time together, and I would not have liked it if something had happened to her.
“No, my friend and I were fine.”
The doctor opened her mouth and then shut it, like she’d had an ill-advised thought. I don’t know why, but I was more than a little curious as to what she’d been going to say. “Ask me anything you want. Whatever I can do to make this easier, Doc. I’m an open book.”
“This doesn’t have to be easy. It’s not supposed to be.”
The look in her blue eyes stopped my heart for a moment. There was more there than the entire ocean, and it looked to be the same color as the water in the Caymans where I have a house. “I’m just letting you know that I’m not going to be leaving here in tears like that other guy.”
Her lips pressed together. Apparently I’d annoyed her. She was complicated for a doctor, and not nearly as pulled together as I would have thought. I was starting to think that maybe she was the one who needed to talk about it, not me. I didn’t have a problem.
“I’m glad you’re dealing with it well. You look like you are. It’s a traumatic experience, but we all deal with those in different ways. You say your friend was with you?”
“Yes, Ivy.”
“Is she your significant other?”
I didn’t know why that mattered, and I wasn’t sure why I tempered my answer. It was not something that I did often. “She’s just a friend.”
“I see. Well, how is she dealing with it?”
“Okay, I guess. I haven’t seen her much this week. It isn’t like there’s much between us. I just see her once or twice a week.”
It slipped out before I could stop it, and I saw the blush creep into the woman’s fair skin. I rather enjoyed the way it looked on her, more than I should have. That was what egged me on to say more.
“She’s that kind of friend, so I don’t really have these conversations with her. Ivy is just pretty to look at and fun to be around late at night.”
Dr. Camilla looked away, unable to keep my gaze. I wanted her to think about me naked, as I was thinking about her. It was the first thing I’d thought of when I saw her curvaceous body, and now I wanted her even more. The longer I sat across from her looking at her face, the more I was eager to make these meetings more interesting.
Chapter 2 – Camilla
This man was too much. I was trying my best to keep a straight face. I didn’t know if I should laugh at his audacity or if I should be offended. I felt a little of both. It was my first day back to the office, and I’d had a few good breakthrough moments with others. I was feeling like it was going to be a good day, until the handsome devil in front of me sat down. Now I wasn’t sure if I hadn’t come back too early.
“Would you like to describe the scene and how you found yourself there?”
I tried not to stare at the hard lines of his jaw and the even harder chest in front of me. The pictures of him on the television had not done him justice, not at all. He was far bigger and cockier than he’d been in the clips that I’d found and watched of him over the weekend. I always did my homework, but it was never as extensive as it had been with him. His internet footprint was just too interesting.
“Sure, Doc.”
I cringed a little as he started. This was going to be a long hour. If I could get him talking about anything else, it would have to be better than this.
“We were there to get her something hot for an event that was planned for next week. I don’t know what I was thinking, letting her drag me out there in the first place, but you know how you women get.”
I could only imagine what he meant by that, but I wasn’t going to let it bother me. There was no reason too.
“Of course, go on.”
He paused and smiled at me, a dashing smile that showed all of his perfect white teeth and a small dimple in his chin that I hadn’t noticed before. His dark eyes held lust, and while it was misplaced, I was as guilty of it as he was.
“I think that I’m aggravating you, Doc? Is that true?”
“Not at all.” He was doing more than that, but I wasn’t going to argue with him, and I certainly wasn’t going to admit the way I was feeling about him. I had no business doing so, and I was trying my best to be as professional as I was able to with Tyler. He was all kinds of bad news, a man that I needed to stay far away from. That was going to be hard to do, and I was already wondering how long he was going to keep coming back.
“Good, because I was just getting to like you.”
“So go on, please. I would like to hear what happened from your point of view.”
“Well, like I said, we were there to get something for Ivy to wear. I didn’t really want to be there, so I was going to hang out in the front while she picked something out. The owner was busy, though, with someone else in the back, so she was waiting up front with me.”
Tyler was finally sitting back, and his eyes closed as he tried to picture the day in his mind. It was already coming back to me, and I wished more than anything that I could forget it for just a little while.
“I saw the man come in. I remember thinking that there was som
ething off about him. He was really mad and had a bag in his hands. I thought that it was a return and he just had his panties in a bunch. I didn’t know that there was a gun in there until he pulled it out. The owner was the first one who got shot. It was quick and point blank. He yelled something, but I don’t remember what.”
My heart was racing. He was talking about Marge, and an image of her lying dead on the ground crept into my mind. I was going to miss her. I hadn’t known her that well, but she was always a bright spot in my day. Marge was a gentle woman and hadn’t deserved that.
The need to ask if it was quick filled my head, but I didn’t want to say anything. I shouldn’t have said what I did, so I let him speak. I wasn’t the only one who had to get it out.
“The sound was so loud. Ivy screamed. I mean, she really screamed. It was as good as those actresses in the horror films. That’s what made me get with it, her scream.”
In spite of myself, I was getting into his story. He was a good storyteller, even though I knew he wasn’t trying to be. The man was handsome, and now that his eyes were closed, I could look at him without having to worry about what he thought of me. I didn’t have to keep my eyes away. I knew that he was a patient, and that he was off limits and a mile out of my league, but he was at least fun to look at if nothing else.
“So what did you do?”
Those cocoa brown eyes opened up and met mine. I was busted looking at him, and I had to force myself to not look away guiltily.
“Well, I grabbed Ivy and I pulled her under the front register. I didn’t have anything on me, and the man had his gun pulled out before I could really think to do anything else. So I hid.”
“That was what kept you alive. You shouldn’t be ashamed of that. Your actions kept you and another person alive. That’s nothing to be upset about.”
He stopped, and our eyes met again before I finally pulled them away and looked at the notepad in front of me. I was so wrapped up in the story and my own take on events that I hadn’t written much of anything.