Page 167 of Black Light: Cured

collar it means you can’t just run when things get tough.”

Growling, he wraps his arm around me and hauls me back to his side. “Even without the collar, I

wouldn’t be able to leave your side again. You’re a part of me, the other half I didn’t know I needed

until it was gone.”

Running my fingers over his shirt, I pluck at the expensive fabric, once more noting the vast

difference between us. “And the symbol?”

“I was an ass.” He lets out a sigh that ruffles the top of my hair before continuing. “The way I

treated you was beyond deplorable, and I have no excuse for it. Without going to therapy and getting

an opinion, the only thing I have to say in my defense is that I had to work so hard to get to where I

was. And here you were, able to do things that made me feel invalid with only a fraction of the

education. I was threatened by you, and I let that cloud my judgment.”

“You were an ass,” I agree. “But you’re trying to tell me you’re not threatened by me anymore?”

“Not in the same way. In fact, I told those stuff-shirts in Dallas just how much I consider you an

asset to sports medicine. Your work with the point guard might have also won you their favor. But no.

When they implied that you did salacious work, the same way I assumed months ago, I stood up for

you. I didn’t care if it cost me the job or not.”

"You— you did that for me?”

“Not just that, but I forced them to create a position just for you. What do you say, want to be my

massage therapist?”

Snorting, I push off him and laugh like I haven’t been able to in the last month. “Not just no, but

hell no.”

His face droops, and I can’t help but chuckle at his saddened expression.

“I’m sorry, but with as much as we clash on things, I don’t want a job to ever be the reason we

split up. Our relationship is much more valuable than working with you.”

“Will you consider working in the facility but not under me? I’m more than willing to

compromise.”

The pain is still there, raw and tender, but having him here in front of me, asking me to come with

him, helps soothe it somewhat, and the fact that he actually wants me to be an integral part of his

practice says even more.

“Just as long as I can be under you in other ways, too.”