I looked back to see him reverse his steps and shut the door before letting me lead him out of the building.
Chapter 3
Stewart
I stood on the basketball court trying to wrap my head around the woman standing in front of me. She was nothing like I had expected, and that wasn’t just because I had expected her to be a man.
Now that I thought about it, that was sort of sexist. My mother was a very strong woman. So were my younger brother’s girlfriend and my sister. All of them commanded a room and respect. A lot of my commanding officers were women. Why wouldn’t the therapist that the military assigned to me be a woman? The real question was, did they have to assign a woman who was a sexy as fuck spitfire? We hadn’t known each other an hour and already she had me out of my pants. Granted, it was into basketball shorts, but I wouldn’t mind it being the other way either.
I was still trying to figure out how I walked into her office with the goal of getting back to work and ended up here. I had nothing against basketball, or any sport for that matter, but was this how she conducted all her sessions? Was this even professional? I would never take a patient out on the court to see if he was well enough to be discharged.
“One on one or horse?” She bounced the ball in my direction.
I wondered if I could use this to my advantage.
“If I win will you sign off that I don’t need therapy?” I added my best smile. The one my mother always said would allow me to get away with murder.
“Nice try.” She held her hands open for me to give the ball back.
I tossed her the basketball. “There has to be a prize for winning.” I pointed out.
“Perhaps.” She held the ball under her arm as she tilted the top of her head. She’d pulled her black hair, which had these beautiful brown highlights, into a ponytail. The ends fell over her shoulder, and she wore the cutest little half smile.
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling back. It had been quite some time since I found a woman this attractive. Not since my last relationship. I didn’t have time for romance. At least right now I didn’t. Plus, I had learned the hard way that military life wasn’t for everyone. Romance and dating were going to have to wait until my service was done. Then perhaps I could settle down.
I rubbed my hand over my breastbone to relieve the sudden tightness in my chest.
“Hey, you alright?” She dropped the basketball and rushed over. Her hand lightly touched my arm, but the liquid fire that filled my body from that touch was scalding. The smile she had before faded as fast as it appeared. There was no reason I should miss the smile, but I did. It gave her a lightness that I didn’t think was normal.
What the hell? I shook my head. I didn’t know this woman. She could smile all the time. It was possible she was only serious when she was working. I had no space to make judgments about her. Then again, we were on a basketball court for a session. I was pretty positive that wasn’t normal in therapy.
“I’m fine.” I dropped my hand. She moved her hand and backed away.
“Let’s do horse.” I put a smile back on my face.
“You sure?”
“Yep.” I nodded.
“Alright.” She went back to the ball and sent it my way. “You start.”
“And my release papers?” I dribbled the ball as I walked over to the top of the three point line. I was sure I could win this easily. I used to kill my brother Rex when we played.
“Nope.” She followed behind me. “I will let you pick the game for our next session if you win.” She laughed. “That’s the best I can do.”
“We’ll see.” I tossed the ball and easily caught nothing but net. The ball bounced on the black top and Rita ran after it.
“Why are you in such a hurry to get back to work?” She stood in the same spot I’d been at and let the ball fly. Hers went in just as smoothly as mine.
“I have patients who need me.” I’d positioned myself by the net so I could catch the ball. I bounced it a couple of times as I went to the right side of the court.
“Don’t you trust the other doctors to take care of them?” She watched as I made another basket. This time she was under the net to catch.
“Sure, but my unit, my responsibility.” I watched her make this shot too. I was going to have to mix it up.
I wondered if it would help to start flirting. It was possible that it might throw her off her game and get my papers signed faster. It wasn’t the most ethical thing to do, but sometimes the ends justified the means.
“Do you play basketball with your boyfriend?” I saw her stumble on her way to the net.
