Page 27 of Healing the Heart

He worked all the time to stay busy because he was lonely, but he was lonely because he worked all the time. He loved his wife and daughter; nothing would ever replace them, but he was damned tired of coming home to an empty house, eating dinner out of a can, and going to bed alone.

Night after night, he stared up at the ceiling, unable to sleep, the silence in the house deafening. More and more, when he finally fell asleep, instead of Claire’s blue eyes and Leah’s infectious baby giggles, he encountered deep-brown eyes, wavy caramel-kissed hair—and so damn much of it—and Fiona’s velvety voice.

The guilt of betrayal gnawed at him, even though he knew it was irrational after almost five years. Like Esme had urged, he had to break free of his frozen state or find someone to help him. Maybe Fiona was that someone.

That he was open to a potential match might be the difference for her this time around. But could he open his heart to another woman? Did he even want to?

If it turned out the answer was no, he’d see a professional. No more Doctor, heal thyself. Obviously, this was a specialty he did not excel in.

WITH ESME PRESSED AGAINSTher back, Val peeked around the doorjamb, and together, they watched as Master Noah stormed out.

“What do you think, Val? Is it a case of methinks he doth protest too much?”

“Definitely. You should have seen him that night. I thought he was going to strangle Jordan, which he richly deserved. Then he carried her all the way to our apartment, cradled in his arms. And once, while she was crying, he kissed her head.” She heard Esme’s breath catch in her throat at the romantic gesture, the same way she’d felt when she saw it. “That goes beyond bedside manner, don’t you think?”

“Maybe not for a master at a kink club.”

“But remember that night in the lounge? He seemed ticked about Axyl being with her over a year ago. It was at an open sub night, so it couldn’t have been much of anything, but I could see the green-eyed monster stirring before he locked it down. If a man isn’t interested, he doesn’t get jealous. Besides, neither of them was going to fill out the questionnaire on their own. We had to do something.”

“Forging Doc’s answers though, Val. You’re going to get us both in big trouble. I’m talking carousel punishment level.”

“You think so?” she replied, intrigued. “I’ve never been for a ride. Have you?”

“No, and I don’t want to. One dom doing erotic and kinky things to my body is enough, thank you very much. I’m not angling for six.”

“Seven,” Val reminded her. “Your master would ride with you too.”

“Yeah,” Esme said softly. “I forgot about that part.”

They got quiet, their fast breathing making it obvious they were lost in their own hot and spicy carnival ride, with their dom as the kinky ringmaster.

Val cleared her throat, interrupting the long silence. “You’re right. A ménage à six plus Eric is entirely too much. I’ll keep riding the carousel a crazy notion in my head, where it belongs.”

“That’s my definition of sanity,” Esme soberly disagreed. “As long as it’s the same for Keiran and Eric, should they find out.”

FIONA’S TWO O’CLOCKcanceled, and her three o’clock was running late. That never happened. She was pulling up the lunar calendar to see if it was coming up on a full moon or something when her phone rang. Seeing Val’s number, she wasn’t even tempted to send it to voice mail.

“You work fast,” she said in greeting.

“That’s because you matched with over 90 percent compatibility. That’s the highest rating I’ve seen yet.”

“Really. Who is it?”

“Master Noah. He’s not really a club master, so we shouldn’t call him master. Most club members do because he should be.”

She frowned, not recognizing the name. “Is he new?”

There was a long pause from Val, and, when she spoke again, she sounded funny. Not funny ha ha, but funny strange. “You’ve met him, Fiona. I was sure you’d remember.”

Allison, the receptionist, stuck her head in. “Your three o’clock is finally here. Mom said they left an hour ago but hit traffic.”

Fiona looked at the clock. They were twenty minutes late.

This would put her behind on all the appointments that followed and those patients, mostly the parents, would be irritated with her for making them wait. She’d have to do an abbreviated session, but she needed to start now.

“I hate to, but I’m due back and have to cut this short. Where and when?”

“Does Thursday at eight work for you?”

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