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Betrayed.
Tired.
Pissed off.
I made it to the front porch of the woman’s practice in an old historic house on a cliff overlooking the Pacific before Katie caught up with me.
“Jackson? Are you okay?” she asked.
I walked around the wraparound porch to look out at the ocean. The sound of the waves and the smell of salt water filled the air, relaxing me. There was something soothing about looking out over something so much greater than just one person and their problems.
I stopped at the railing, turning to lean against it as I crossed my arms over my chest. I stared at the porch floor, unable to meet her eyes.
“Jackson, baby, talk to me. Please,” Katie begged, sliding her arms around my middle.
I unfolded my arms and pulled her against my chest. I nuzzled my face into her mahogany tresses. The smell of her shampoo and the salty fragrance of the sea air calmed me. The rage I’d felt when I stormed out of the office dissipated.
“No, darlin’, I don’t think I am,” I told her, whispering into her mane of hair to hopefully muffle the sound so it wouldn’t carry to everyone watching over us.
“Do you want to go home?”
I sucked my lips into my mouth, biting down on them and causing my beard and mustache to poke the skin around my mouth. “How mad is the Doc?”
“She said she would be waiting on us when we were ready to come back in. Apparently, she blocked off the day for us at Liam’s request,” Katie explained.
I bit back a groan, causing Katie to chuckle. “I agree. I thought these things were an hour max.”
“Ahem.”
I looked up, and the therapist was standing several feet away with her hands clasped in front of her. “What would you two think of sitting out here and talking with one another?”
Katie and I scanned the area and noticed several more visible team members recede, giving us an additional buffer zone of privacy. I knew they might still be able to hear us, but it felt less intrusive. I looked down at Katie, and her beautiful, soulful brown eyes were there, looking back at me, waiting for me to decide.
Still showing signs of being a submissive.
I grasped one of Katie’s hands and walked over to the furniture grouping in the gazebo that adjoined the porch. I sat, and Katie curled up next to me while we waited for the doctor to settle into her own spot.
“Jackson, can you explain what set you off?” asked the doctor—I think told us to call her Tammy.
“You asked how we were doing; it was a stupid fucking question. If everything were a-okay, we fucking wouldn’t be here, now would we?” I explained.
She jotted a note down in the journal she had placed on her lap. She must’ve brought it out here because it was the same one she’d had in her office.
“You’re correct, Jackson. You wouldn’t be here if you were doing well and shitty things hadn’t happened to you, but they did,and I need to know where the hell we’re starting from,” she responded bluntly.
I looked at her with new eyes. Maybe Tammy wasn’t a waste of time.
“We’re not doing well, Doc. Nightmares are a given. Night terrors are becoming a norm. We’re withdrawn and tend to isolate ourselves. Jumpy is putting it mildly. When startled, Katie withdraws even further, and I lose my shit,” I explained.
Tammy made more notes before asking, “Katie, is there anything you want to add?”
Katie looked up at me and replied, “Umm. I want things to go back to normal. I want…”
Katie’s voice quivered, and her body started trembling. “Darlin’, are you okay?”
She nodded, pulled away from me, and sat up, dashing the tears from her eyes as she did so. “Yes. I was a virgin when I met Jackson. We had a whirlwind courtship, partly thanks to the stalker craziness…”
“Sugar, stalker or no, I fell for you instantly. I went down hard and fast. They have nothing to do with my feelings for you or where we are in our relationship. That’s all us.”
