I’d racked my brain, trying to remember if I’d ever had anything to do with him before the case, but I kept coming up blank.I wouldn’t forget a man like Erik Jensen.I doubted anyone would—woman or man.The man made an impression.Which still didn’t answer my questions about why he seemed to be gunning for me and what the hell he’d been thinking, making it personal.
Despite the slightly unorthodox nature of my career choice, I was proud of what I did, and I had a list of satisfied clients to prove it.Of course, until I got out from under this damn lawsuit, the list would shrivel to nothing.Before I left her office, I’d grilled Charlotte about what Jensen pulling himself off my case meant.She seemed as stunned as I was, which was saying something.Charlotte was a Titan.In her element, I’d never seen her show an emotion I wasn’t sure she’d intended to show.She’d tried to shake it off and had managed to convince me that Jensen withdrawing could only help my case, but I couldn’t tell if she meant it or if she was trying to save my nerves.
I was grateful for either, I thought, digging into my bag for another roll of the chalky fruit-flavored antacid that was my constant companion.I managed to peel the paper back on a new roll as the elevator doors slid open.Thumbing one of the discs into my mouth, I stepped out into the lobby and almost ran into Erik Jensen.
“What do you want?”I asked, moving back so quickly I almost stumbled.The last thing I wanted was to give the man another excuse to touch me.
He moved with me, closing the distance between us, the look in his eyes positively predatory.
“What the fuck’s your problem?You withdrew.As far as I’m concerned, that means we’re finished.”
Charlotte had at least been clear about that when she explained to me what it meant that Jensen had withdrawn.She’d even used words likedisbar.He couldn’t possibly hate me enough to risk that.He didn’t know me.
“No, Dr.Smithson, we’re nowhere near finished.”
He reached for my elbow, attempting to steer me through the lobby.The practiced ease with which he moved made it clear he was used to doing just that.Steering.Leading.Controlling.I doubt he’d had a woman complain before.His touch was firm and commanding, and if I wasn’t so damned confused and pissed off, I might have liked the way his strong fingers dug gently into the tender skin above my elbow.I didn’t like it—or at least I didn’t want to and that was enough.I made a show of yanking my arm out of his grip and moving away from him.
When I squared my shoulders and looked up to meet his gaze, instead of the anger or, at a minimum, irritation I expected to see, I found amusement.The smug bastard actually looked like he was laughing at me.Fuck that.I was through being treated like a child.He’d patronized the hell out of me during the interrogatories, at least before he’d gone off his rails.
“I don’t know what the hell crawled up your ass or why you’ve decided to direct your personal vendetta toward me, but you and I are done.”I lifted my chin, daring him to contradict me, and then turned back to the door outside.I’d walk away from him, catch a cab home and lose myself for the time being in the luxury of a long, hot bath.And I’d never have to talk to Erik Jensen again.
“Do you remember Kyle Sondheim, Dr.Smithson?Or has yourclientlist grown so extensive that they all run together?”
His mocking tone when he saidclientmade me want to punch the smug smirk off his face, but my curiosity was stronger.Kyle had been a client.When he’d come to me, he’d practically been afraid of his own shadow.We’d done a session a week for three months and by the end of our time together, he seemed like a different man.I’d been proud of the work I’d done with Kyle.
“Why do you want to know?”I asked, determined not to surrender anything to this man.
“He was a client of yours?”
He asked the question like he already knew the answer, which I didn’t doubt he did.My question was how.Client confidentiality was the foundation of what I did.I wouldn’t have a business without it.The only way he could have found out about my work with Kyle was from the man himself.And if he was half as pleased with our results as he had been at our last session, I couldn’t imagine what he could have said to Jensen to cause such animosity.
“I can’t tell you that, and you know it.”
“Ah,” he said, rocking back on his heels.“Now you’ve developed some standards.Pity it’s too late.”
“You don’t know anything about me or my standards.What makes you think you’re qualified to judge me?”I spat out the words, layering them with as much disdain as I felt.I was done being lectured by this overbearing pompous asshole of a man.
He took a step closer, then another, and I forced myself to hold my ground.I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of making me back down.
“I am a Dom, Dr.Smithson,” he said, standing so close to me I could feel the heat radiating off his tall, hard body.
I couldn’t take a breath without being inundated by the rich, spicy scent of expensive cologne and powerful man, but I’d be damned if I let him intimidate me.Then his words cut through the fog his nearness was making of my brain and I snorted.A decidedly unladylike sound.My mother would be so disappointed.
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
The flare of his nostrils was the only indication I had as to how he felt about what I’d said, but he didn’t give an inch.He simply stood, completely invading my personal space.I caved, not willing to face the intensity I saw in his gaze and hating myself a little bit for it.
“You don’t have to believe in gravity, Dr.Smithson.It simply is, regardless of your perception of it.Mr.Sondheim was a guest at a club I frequent.”
I could tell by the care he used to pick his words that there was more than he was telling me, but I wasn’t about to let myself be sidetracked.
“And your point is?”Apparently we both had secrets we needed to keep.
“It’s a BDSM club, Dr.Smithson.Mr.Sondheim was engaged in a scene with his partner and took things too far.He was calling your name as the bouncers had to physically remove him from the club, insisting that Lexi taught him what to do.”
My momentary fascination with the fact that Jensen considered himself a real Dom and frequented BDSM clubs evaporated as the rest of his words sunk in.Kyle had done something so over the line, he’d gotten himself kicked out of a club.Mouth dry and heart hammering in my throat, I asked the question I needed to know but was afraid to hear the answer.
“Was his partner hurt?”My voice sounded rough but given the sick uneasiness settling in my stomach, it was lucky I could speak at all.
