Page 34 of Tempting Fire

Chapter Nine

“Six things?”

“I beg your pardon?” Zarek turned to look at Chloe in the small waiting room. They were the only two people in small area, but she was still whispering.

“There are six things that are making me feel better.”

Zarek grinned. “Let me guess, Skye’s cupcakes have now made the list.” She had one for breakfast this morning.

Chloe nodded. “Yep.”

“Okay, so what’s number six?”

“You are.”

The door to the therapist’s office opened and a small man came out. “Hi, I’m Dr. Michaels. You must be Ms. Avery. Would you like to come in?”

Chloe stood up, and they looked to be the same height. Zarek imagined how Luke must tower over the doctor. As if he could read his mind, Dr. Michaels looked over at him, his eyes twinkling. “You must be Mr. Post. Mr. Larkin speaks highly of you. Are you going to be waiting for Ms. Avery?”

“I am.”

“Follow me, Ms. Avery.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled as she followed him into the office. Then the door shut.

Zarek picked up a magazine and thought about what Chloe said. He was one of the six things that made her feel good. That was huge. Thank God she felt that way. Luke’s comment the other day had hit home.

The last relationship that Zarek had had lasted four months, and that was two years ago. When they finally parted ways, he’d been relieved. After a few beers, he admitted to Luke that the woman hadn’t measured up. When Luke pressed him to explain that comment, he couldn’t. Luke had just laughed and made some remark about him having his head up his ass.

Now he realized that he had been measuring women against Chloe Rose for years. He stretched back in the small office chair, and let his head rest against the wall and thought about what that meant. He felt a grin form on his face. For one thing, it meant that Luke was right and he’d had his head up his ass. For another, it meant that he had to figure out a way to find out if Chloe might be on the same page. Him being the sixth thing was a good sign.

He felt his phone vibrate, and he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the group text that was on his phone. The Avery’s were a pushy lot. They demanded daily updates. Up until today, he hadn’t had anything significant to report. Seeing Zoe’s request, he realized he wasn’t going to tell them about Chloe’s appointment. It just felt wrong to basically go behind Chloe’s back about this step.

She’s eating more. I see improvement.

He pressed send.

Drake was the first one to reply. He was always the first to reply.

What else do you have to report?

Zarek ignored it.

His phone buzzed.

It was Drake.

He let it go to voicemail.

***

Chloe felt drained. She stared out the window watching the traffic go by on the toll road. It was taking forever to get back to Zarek’s house. It felt cold. She looked at her purse that held the vile slip of paper. She hadn’t realized that the therapist had actually been a psychiatrist. He had prescribed medication. Avery’s didn’t need fucking pills. They pulled themselves up by their bootstraps.

She needed to get back to the house so she could get to the guest bedroom and tear the paper into tiny little pieces. Tiny, tiny little scraps.

“Chloe, are you okay? You’re shivering.”

“I hate him.”