“What about girls? Did you have any girlfriends?”
Giving a wry laugh, he shook his head. “I was kind of a late bloomer. The only girl I was with in high school wasn’t even a real relationship. It was strictly for the sex.”
“Are you still friends with her?” I asked, curious.
“She’s dead.” He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “You should know that she, and her death, factor into the hostage situation. My best friend shot and killed her after she attempted to kill his wife.”
I couldn’t help it. My eyes widened a bit and I quickly tried to school my face back to being neutral.
He laughed. “Don’t feel bad for being shocked. It’s a pretty tangled web of events.”
I could see there was much more to this story than met the eye. “Russ, why don’t you start at the beginning and bring me to the present.”
“Got a few hours?” he asked, giving a wry chuckle.
“You’re my last appointment. Originally, I’d taken the afternoon off for a meeting, but it was canceled. We can go as late as we need to.”
“I have to work tonight.”
“We’ll do the best we can then.”
For some reason, I felt completely connected to this man. I wanted to know his story and what made him tick.
Chapter Six
Russ
Glancing at the clock, I knew I was running out of time. Evie had already stayed past her regular business hours and I had about ten minutes before I absolutely had to leave or I would be late for my shift.
To her credit, she was still sitting across from me. She hadn’t blinked when I told about using drugs or having sex with a psycho bitch who tried to kill one of my best friends. We’d covered everything from my childhood up to Cami’s old best friend, Clay, poisoning my drink with methamphetamines and how I almost died from an overdose as a result.
Now she was staring at me, tapping her pencil against her notebook.
“So, what’s your verdict so far, Doc?” I asked, shooting her a half smile. “Am I headed for the loony bin?”
She snorted. “Hardly. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of my work and what I’ve done with combat soldiers?”
“I have, recently.”
“Well, I bring that up because I feel like treating you will be very similar to treating them. You may not have been a trained soldier, but you and your friends have definitely been at war. You’ve had to deal with some seriously disturbed people, and you’ve seen people you know die as a result. That’s not an easy thing to deal with.”
Staring straight into her eyes, I was brutally honest. “I can’t say I was sorry to see any of them die, though. I consider them being gone a blessing.”
“That may be true, but even that can weigh heavily on your psyche.”
I glanced at the clock again. “Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt all this, but I’ve really got to go to work now. I can’t be late.”
“No. It’s okay. I understand.” She smiled and laughed. “It’s not like we have to try to get to everything in one day. We can take it slow. We’ve got time.” Setting her pencil and paper on the table beside the chair, she stood, and I couldn’t help letting my gaze travel over her figure.
I could think of a few things I’d like to take slow with her—or fast, or maybe right up against that wall over there.
Pull your mind out of the gutter, Weston, I ordered as I felt a certain something rising to the occasion. Standing, I extended my hand. “Thank you for your time,” I replied. She slipped her hand in mine and I was reluctant to release it, continuing to grip it. “Same time next week?”
“Actually, the pace in which we go is up to you, but I’d prefer to see you sooner, if possible.” I noticed she didn’t try to let go of my hand either. “The sooner you can tell me all your story, the sooner we can get on to the therapy part.”
Still holding her hand, I nodded. “That works fine for me. When would you like me to come back?”
“I had a late cancellation for tomorrow. Say around four? That way if we need to run over we can.”
“Sounds perfect.” I smiled. “It was nice seeing you again today, Evie. I hope you’re still feeling okay after your . . . swim.” I winked at her.
“I think you mean my lack of swim.” She laughed lightly and I joined her. “I’m doing fine, thank you.”
“Well, my advice to you is don’t be afraid of the water. You know, that whole ‘if you fall off a horse, get back on and ride’ thing.” I shook my head. “I should just shut up now, you’re the therapist. You know better than I do.”
“No, I appreciate your concern. It’s heartwarming.”
Both of us glanced down to our still clasped hands and I couldn’t resist rubbing my thumb over the back of hers before glancing back into her eyes. “Who’s your therapist?” I asked softly.
“Excuse me?” She seemed flustered, and I wasn’t sure if it was from my question or the fact that we were still holding each other’s hand.
“Who do you go to for help?”
She stared blankly at me.
“That’s what I thought. You help all these people, but you don’t seek help for yourself.” I continued to slowly brush my thumb over her skin. “If you ever need to talk to someone, you have my number. There’s no reason this street can’t go both ways.”
Seeming to regain some of her senses at this point, she straightened and pulled her hand free. “Actually, there is. It would be considered an unethical practice for me to call you or associate with you outside of this office.”
I shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll just have to fire you.” Her jaw gaped at my suggestion and my chuckling as I headed for the door. “I’m serious. If you ever need anything, just call me. I’m happy to help out. It’s what friends do. See you tomorrow.”
“So, you aren’t firing me?”
“Hell, no. Why would I fire the best doctor in town?” Resting my hand on the doorknob, I turned to glance at her. “I may instigate that old legend though.”
“Old legend?” She looked completely lost.
“You know, the one that says if someone saves your life you become beholden to them until you’ve repaid the debt.” I grinned widely and she smiled back at me.
“I’m definitely beholden to you, Mr. Weston.”
Raising my eyebrow, I stared at her. “You better not be beholden to my dad for anything.”
She practically giggled. “Russ. I’m sorry. It’s something that’s been engrained into me for many years.”
“You’re not old enough to have anything engrained in you as far as I’m concerned.”
Laughing, she moved forward, waving her hands in a shooing motion. “Out you go, Russ, before I succumb to your flattery and want to keep you here all night.”
This time I was the one who was shocked. “Oh, I’m all for that,” I responded quickly.
Shaking her head, she practically pushed me out the door. “I meant to continue our session.”
“Well, damn. You got my hopes all up.” I kidded.
“Goodbye,” she said.
“Goodbye,” I answered and she shut the door.
Chuckling, I shook my head and turned to walk away.
“Mr. Weston?” her voice called after me and I turned to find the door open just a crack, enough for me to catch a glimpse of her plump lips and a hint of her sparkling eyes.
“Yes?”
“I just wanted you to know, that in my professional opinion, there’s nothing wrong with your libido.” The door quickly shut, again, and I laughed heartily, shaking my head.
“I didn’t think there was, Doc,” I replied to the closed door, knowing full well she could hear me. “But thanks for the assessment.”
A slight giggling sound was heard to my left and I turned, spying Misty staring at me with twinkling eyes. “You caught all of that, didn’t you?” I asked smiling, and she nodded. “Well, I hope it didn’t scar you too badly.” I winked at her.
“Not at all, Mr.
Weston. I find the whole thing to be quite romantic, personally.” Her green eyes sparkled as she spoke.
“Romantic?” I asked, placing my hands on her desk and leaning in so close I could smell her sweet perfume. “Don’t you know? It’s unethical to date your therapist.”
Smiling, she nodded. “Yes, I know. I’m simply hoping you might be able to convince her to date you instead of being your therapist. I hate seeing her so alone all the time.”
“I don’t know about that. Your boss is a pretty stubborn woman. I’m not sure I’m up to the task.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I can totally see you rising to the occasion.” Briefly, her gaze dropped lower before returning to my face. She was obviously flirting with me, and I didn’t hate it.
Laughing, I pointed my finger toward her. “I need to stay away from you.” Slowly, I backed away, moving toward the door.
“And why is that, Mr. Weston?” she asked, clearly teasing me.
“Because you’re one of those girls who could get me in a lot of trouble,” I stated, resting my hand on the door. “And please, like I told Ev –Dr. McKnight, please call me Russ.”
“Certainly. Have a great day, Mr. Weston.”
Leaving her office, I couldn’t stop chuckling and feeling confused. It was too damn bad Evie was my therapist, because I liked her. And damn it all to hell, I liked Misty, too.
I was looking forward to seeing them both at my appointment tomorrow.
***
“Where have you been?” Dylan asked as I sauntered into the fire station. “I’ve been trying to call you for hours.”
“Shoot!” I reached into my pocket and retrieved my phone. “Sorry, bro. I forgot it was turned off. Thanks for reminding me.” I quickly turned it back on.
Glancing back at him, he continued to scrutinize me.
“What?” I asked, still trying to avoid his initial question.
“Where’ve you been? Chief wanted us to come in early for a briefing. You missed it.”
“Shit. What was it about?” I asked, deflecting the question once more.
“The last couple of fires we’ve run on have been ruled as arson. They match the M.O. of some of the fires Department Two has run on, as well.”
I considered this information. “So, if they started in Department Two’s area, and they’ve branched into Department One, then whoever is doing this is expanding their threat zone.”
Dylan nodded. “The police have asked us to be hyper aware of any fires we’re called out to and on the lookout for any early evidence that might be considered arson. They want to catch whoever this is before it gets any worse. So far it’s been abandon or vacant buildings, but they’re all close to residential areas, so that’s a cause for concern.”
“I agree. Is the chief still here?”
“No, he left right after. I told him I’d been unable to reach you and he said to fill you in on the details.”
“Okay, thanks. I would’ve been here had I known.”
“Which brings me back to my original question. Where were you?”
Damn. He was like a hound dog on the scent and wasn’t letting this go. “I was meeting with someone,” I said evasively.
“Someone?” He raised his eyebrow and folded his arms. “Is this someone of the female variety?”
Sighing, I nodded, knowing he was heading in the completely wrong direction with this; but that was fine with me, as long as he didn’t discover the real reason.
“Awesome!” He clapped me hard on the shoulder. “Do I know who this someone is?”
“You’ve met her, yes.”
“Then come on, give me the deets. I can’t have my bro out there getting lucky and me not knowing a thing about it.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “I didn’t say I was getting lucky. Hell, I just barely met the girl.” Going over to the turnout wall, I routinely began inspecting all my gear, like I did at the beginning of every shift, making sure everything was ready to go at a moment’s notice. “I’m fast, but I’m not that fast,” I added.
Dylan laughed. “So, who is it?”
By all that was holy, why wouldn’t he give this up? “Evie.” I waited.
“Evie? Evie as in the woman we rescued from the lake? Doctor Evelyn McKnight?” he asked skeptically.
“One and the same,” I replied, trying to sound nonchalant.
“How’d that happen?” I could tell he was totally interested now.
“Her office called me and asked if I would come in and meet with her. She wanted to thank me, in person.”
“Well, that was nice of her.”
“I thought so, too.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“How did it go? Was she nice? Did the two of you hit it off? Will you see her again?”
“You’ve turned into a girl, you know that right? I swear, spending all that time with Cami has turned you into some romantic fool.”
Dylan burst out laughing. “Is that so bad? And is it bad that I want the same for you, too?”
I simply grunted in reply, wishing to avoid this line of questioning. I didn’t want to mislead him, but if that was what it took, then I wasn’t above lying to him about it. He couldn’t know the real reason I was seeing her. It would hurt him too badly, and I was done seeing my friend hurting.
“Come on. Give me something, Russ.”
Standing, I forced a grin. “She’s hot; and I mean really hot. And she’s very nice.”
“Hot as in you’d like to date her hot?”
Shaking my head, I stared at him. “Yes, that kind of hot. There’s definitely some chemistry going on.”
“Will you see her again?”
“I already have. Today was the second time I met with her.”
“Oh.” He grinned widely. “You do move fast.”
I shrugged. “What can I say?”
“I just want to know why you’re holding out on me?”
“Maybe I wanted five minutes to see how things would work out before I start bringing her around to meet the family.” I rolled my eyes. “One meeting with Cami and her and the next thing I know you all will be helping her pick out wedding gowns or something.”
Dylan punched me the shoulder. “We aren’t that bad.”
Eyes widening, I stared at him. “Really? This from the guy who has practically tutored me on how to make babies with all his public displays of affection?”
“Whatever.”
“Yeah, ask any guy on this crew. We could walk in here and find you doing Cami against the wall and no one would even blink an eye, we’re so used to it.”
Dylan shook his head, grinning. “You’re so full of shit.”
“Just like you, huh?” I smiled. “Two peas in a pod.”
“Well, I hope you will bring her by sometime. Cami and I would love the chance to get to know her.”
“We’ll see how it goes,” I replied, frustrated. It seemed I’d just dug myself into an even bigger hole.
Chapter Seven
Evie
For the twelfth time in ten minutes I glanced at the clock, my hands subconsciously running over my clothing to make sure everything was still straightened. Sighing heavily, I rolled my eyes. He was late, and I was acting like some nervous schoolgirl about to go out on a date. It wasn’t like patients hadn’t missed appointments with me before. Russ didn’t seem like the type that would miss and not call, though. I hoped everything was okay.
“Dr. McKnight, Russ Weston is here,” Misty’s voice came through the speaker and I immediately relaxed.
“Send him in, please.”
The door opened and I couldn’t help smiling as he stepped inside, looking much the same as he did yesterday, sporting a navy blue fire department shirt and EMS cargo pants of the same color, except where a few reflective strips of material were sewn on them. The uniform made him look even sexier, I thought.
A smile broke out easily across his face and I didn’t miss the way his eyes roamed over me,
looking pleased. I guess the four times I changed outfits this morning had actually paid off.
“Sorry I’m late. I got a flat tire.”
“No worries,” I replied with a smile, and gestured toward the chairs. “Have a seat.” Moving around my desk, I quickly settled into the chair across from him. “How are you, today?”
“I’m good; but before we get started, I need to confess something.”
That caught me off guard. “Okay. What’s that?”
“Well, Dylan has been quizzing me about where I’ve been going lately. I told him I’d been meeting you and he naturally assumes we are dating. I’m sorry, but I let him think that.”
For some reason it made me very happy to hear that. “Oh, all right. How does that make you feel?”
Chuckling, his eyes traveled over me, again. “It makes me think it’s a damn shame that it’s not true. I think I’d like dating you.” His eyes shifted to the ring on my hand. “But it looks like some other lucky guy has already snatched you up.”
Glancing down at my ring, I rubbed it lightly. “His name was Kory.”
“Was?” he said, catching that immediately.
I nodded. “He died six years ago in Afghanistan.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“He survived a helicopter crash and fired on insurgents covering the rest of his crew so they could make their escape. Unfortunately, he didn’t survive the insurgents.”
“Now, see? There’s a real hero,” Russ said. “That must’ve been awful for you.”
“Extremely. My brother, Paul, was in his unit. They were best friends. Paul was one of the guys Kory saved that night. Sadly, Paul never recovered from the incident. I didn’t even know he was having problems. I went to visit my parents after class one night and found him and the suicide note he left.” I didn’t know why I was telling him all this. I wasn’t usually so free with information about myself—especially with a patient, but Russ didn’t feel like a regular patient.
“So that’s why you got so heavy into this line of work?”
I nodded. “I was already going to school for all this. I should’ve known—I should’ve seen the signs that something was wrong. I’ve often wondered what kind of therapist am I if I can’t see someone suffering right in front of me?”