“Don’t.” My jaw sets hard. “The truth.”
She licks the water from her lips, the sensual act a threat to obliterate my resolve. “You’re quick to anger, Dr. Night.”
“I’m quick to detect bullshit, Dr. Holbrook,” I fire back.
The shadowy night presses in, heavy and tangling with the electric pulse vibrating between us.
She adjusts, sitting straighter. “I’m here to conduct a risk assessment,” she finally says. “But my objective is to help you, Dr. Night.”
Something in the way she says this makes me want to believe her.
I nod once. “You can help by telling me how Leo intends to get rid of me,” I say, allowing the darkness to bare a layer of my desperation.
She licks her lips again slowly, sensually, and fucking Christ—whatever barricade I erected crumbles like sediment assaulted by the ruthless storm of waves under her weighted stare.
Firming her shoulders, she says, “I think Dr. Banner wants to have you placed under evaluation. A psychiatric hold.”
“Hmm.” Now that I believe. It’s why he was pushing so hard for me to commit tojust one session. Hiring a professional who can sign the necessary legal documents to deem me a danger and have me removed, leaving my instruments and research all to the university. That ungrateful bastard. “I confess, that’s particularly brilliant on his part.”
I have my answer, and yet I’m stalling, searching for an excuse to keep her trapped on this rock. I tap my fingers against the stone in ritual count to ease the restlessness.
“Dr. Banner is concerned for you,” she says, her tone softening.
“You were doing so well with your honesty. Don’t offer excuses for him.”
Collins rubs her arm, chasing away a chill as she nods. “Yeah, you’re right. I was appalled when I realized his intentions.”
From my peripheral, I study the tightening of her lips, the forced swallow pulsing down the slender column of her throat, my gaze drawn helplessly to the erratic flutter beneath her skin. My tapping speeds, syncing to her accelerating heartbeat—a Euclidean rhythm of rising beats and notes until my chest nearly explodes.
Maybe she’s not part of Leo’s scheme, but that does little to change the outcome.
What has to be done.
As she shifts her position for comfort, her fitted skirt rides higher up her thighs, weakening my resolve another fraction. If we weren’t stranded on the fringe of a surging ocean, I might accuse her of trying to distract me on purpose.
“You should let me conduct the assessment,” she says suddenly.
A derisive smirk curves my mouth. “Haven’t you already? What was it you called it… Naturalistic Observation?” I tilt my head andtsk. “Unless all those lingering glances and blushing smiles when caught watching me was because I am, in fact, so devastatingly attractive.”
Her lips part slightly, her blinks coming faster, and I’m somewhat bothered to realize I’m holding my breath in anticipation of her answer.
When she takes too long to respond, I nod again, firmer. “Sorry, Dr. Holbrook. But given this new knowledge, I feel undergoing an evaluation by you would be unethical.”
Her hand curls into a fist against the rock, and a hot coil of tension snaps the air. “That’s pretty hypocritical coming from you, considering how unethical your behavior has been.”
I cock an eyebrow, amused.
She lifts her chin defiantly. “The inappropriate remarks during our first meeting. All the lurking and smoldering grins, and intimidation tactics?—”
“Yes, I can see how offering you an umbrella is diabolical.”
She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip, gaze narrowed. “Don’t gaslight me, Dr. Night. I see the way you look at me…” She trails off, her insinuation clear.
I scrape a hand over my jaw. “Before I discovered that you came here to sabotage my life’s work.”
She lifts her chin higher, undeterred. “I see how you’re looking at me now.”
On impulse, my gaze drops to her exposed thighs, and I take my time roaming back up. A hot ember flares beneath my icy skin at the sight of her nipples peaked against her wet blouse.
