“You’ve already had, what, six sessions?”
“This is my eighth,” Dirk said.
“Scarlet. Dirk. If I may.” I had to interrupt and gain some semblance of control.
Scarlet adjusted her skirt. Dirk cast a sideways glance at his wife. Neither looked happy to be here. The big question was, did they want to save their marriage? I had to get them to say yes to my next question, and I only had three more sessions to do it.
“Do either of you want to save your marriage?”
“Me. I have no desire to divorce Dirk. I love him.” Scarlet slid closer to Dirk and laid her hand on his knee. She tried to meet his gaze, but Dirk turned his head to face me.
“And you, Mr. Baxter?”
He glared at me as if I had betrayed him. After the night at the Cherry Pit and our sexual encounters in the surrogacy room and my condo, maybe I had. It was for the best, though. Mine and his.
“And me what?” he replied.
“Do you want to save your marriage, Mr. Baxter?”
I held my breath, waiting for him to answer. Mr. Dark Eyes pierced me with those black eyes of his.
“If there is a chance to save it…”
“Then it’s settled, Doc. What do we do to make Dirk’s… make him attracted to me again?” She scooted even closer to him.
There wasn’t any more room on the couch for him to move away. He didn’t shirk or shrink, though. In fact, he stretched to his full height and put on a stone face. His eyes, though, seemed to question me. I could sense his confusion.
“Let’s start off with a dyad. Scarlet, tell your husband something that you love and admire about him. Mr. Baxter, when she’s finished, you just say ‘thank you’. Understood?”
They both nodded.
Scarlet shifted on the couch so that she faced Dirk and started. “Dirk, I love those dark eyes of yours, especially when they look at me with lust. Lust for me and no one else.” She cast a glance my way, as if accusing me of infidelity.
When Dirk didn’t immediately respond, I prompted him. “Say, ‘thank you’, Mr. Baxter.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“Now, Mr. Baxter, tell your wife something you love and admire about her.”
“Well. I…” he paused, his brow furrowed. “I love how spontaneous you are. You always will do and try almost anything.”
Scarlet actually blushed. “Thank you, Dirk.”
“Scarlet, tell your husband something you love or admire about him.”
“Well. I love how you stay in shape. For a man of your age, you are extremely fit and I just love touching your body.”
Did Dirk just blush? He definitely seemed uncomfortable with that compliment.
I scribbled notes under both Scarlet’s name and Dirk’s before continuing.
“Say ‘thank you’ Mr. Baxter.”
“Thank you, Scarlet.”
“Again, Mr. Baxter, tell your wife something you love or admire about her.”
“Well, I love your intensity for life. It always kept me feeling young.”
