What does that make me? An unprofessional therapist who can't keep her hands off a vulnerable patient. I’m no different from a doctor who seduces someone in their care. I took advantage of a man at his lowest moment. He was scared and hurting, and I let him use my body as a distraction.
No. That's not fair either. I didn'tlethim do anything. He gave me an out. A chance to leave. But I wanted it. I wanted him. When he said how beautiful I was, I didn't hesitate. I kissed him back like my life depended on it.
I've been in New York for barely a week, and I've already fucked up everything. My fresh start, my new career, and my chance to prove that I'm more than the woman Brody cheated on.
“Nat?”
I pull myself back to the present and plaster a smile. “It's going well, actually.”
Harper and Avery stare at me.
“Wait.” Avery sets down the bottle. “You mean Ethan Ward isn't biting your head off every five minutes? The same Ethan Ward who made his last PT cry?”
I force a laugh and take a sip of wine. “He's okay. We've found a rhythm.”
A rhythm.That's one way to describe what happened in the changing room. I take another sip of wine.
“That's amazing,” Harper says. “Cole was worried about him. He's been so withdrawn since the injury. It's good to hear he's making progress.”
“He is. Slow but steady.”
I try to focus on the conversation, but my mind keeps drifting back to the desperation in his kiss and the way he groaned when I straddled him. The raw need in his voice when he said he’d been wanting to kiss me since we met.
“Earth to Natalie.”
Avery is waving a hand in front of my face.
“Sorry. What?”
“I asked if you want to order appetizers.”
“Sure. Whatever you're having.”
Harper and Avery exchange a look. They order some kind of fancy flatbread and more wine, and the conversation shifts to their own lives.
“Liam's been at the gym constantly,” Avery says with a sigh. “I know he needs to stay in shape during the off-season, but I swear he spends more time with his trainer than with me.”
“Cole's the same,” Harper says. “He's up at five every morning for workouts. By the time I'm awake, he's already done a full session and is watching game film from last season.”
“They're obsessed.”
“Completely obsessed. Hockey is their first love. We're just lucky they have room for a second.”
They laugh, and I smile along, but I'm not really listening. I'm thinking about Ethan's hands on my thighs. The way his fingers dug into my flesh like he needed to hold onto something solid. The heat of his mouth between my breasts.
What is wrong with me?
I should be thinking about how to face him at our next session and how I’m going to reestablish professional boundaries. Instead, I'm sitting here reliving every second like it's something to be proud of.
I crossed a line, and instead of feeling ashamed, my body heats up every time I think about it.
“Sorry, I'm late.”
A woman with wild curly hair and an even wilder print dress slides into the booth beside Harper. She's beautiful with sharp cheekbones and bold red lipstick.
“Natalie, this is Ariel,” Harper says. “She’s my best friend and the reason I have any fashion sense at all.”
“I'm a buyer at Bergdorf's,” Ariel says, shaking my hand. “Which means I spend my days convincing rich women they need another handbag and my nights recovering from the trauma of it all.”
