Page 55 of Fight or Flight

“Oh geez! How magnificent!” Katherine had no clear memory of the view from this standpoint, but seeing it now was mind-boggling. She turned around, her eyes scanning everything, trying to take it all in, all that she’d prevented herself from experiencing for seven years—the joy, the scents, the sounds—it was out of this world. There truly was a God, she thought. She had doubted him as a child, but no more.

“K, you’re going down in the record books as the most successful case of agoraphobia on record. How do you feel?” Tyler asked when he joined her.

She saw the amazement on his face. Fighting off the urge to jump in his arms, she held back, though her smile was as bright as the sun that shone in the sky. “I feel like the biggest idiot on the planet, that’s how I feel. Why now? Before today, I couldn’t eventhinkabout going outside. I’ve tried stepping onto the deck many times, and I would run back inside because I was afraid, and I’d have a panic attack. Sometimes I could stop them—but why this, why now? Did that shot you gave me last night have some magic potion in it, or what?”

The dogs were as ecstatic as she was, both jumping up and down. She bent down to their level. “It’s a miracle, right?” She scratched them between their ears, and then they took off running so far, she lost sight of them. This is what they were used to; she’d been clueless. What if something had happened to them? Of course she would’ve called Doc, her safety person.

“What about going for a drive?” Tyler asked, a sexy smile on his face. His blue eyes really did match the sky, she thought, knowing how cliché it sounded, but she didn’t care. It was true. His dark black hair was no longer sleek. Her first impression of him had conveyed professionalism, but now his hair was messy and even sexier. He took her hand again. “So, do you?”

She raised her brows. “Do I what?”

“Do you think you’ll be able to get in my SUV, which is parked around the other side of the house. And yes, before you ask, we can take Sam and Sophie. So, are you up for a ride? You wanna see the town where you live?”

She wasn’t sure what to do. “What if the people who broke in last night return?”

“Trust me, they won’t,” Tyler said, still holding her hand.

“You can’t know that for sure, Tyler.”

“I want you to look at me, and don’t take your eyes off of mine. Can you do that?”

If he only knew what her thoughts had been a moment ago. “Of course,” said the new Katherine.

“Okay, there are six professionals watching your house as we speak.” He touched her cheek. “No looking around. I had Ilene do her thing last night. No one will get within a mile of your house, I promise.”

Katherine couldn’t say a word.

“I’m going to be blunt, so if I hurt your feelings, I’ll apologize when I’m finished,” Tyler said. “Who did this to you? Someone has beaten you down so badly that you have no faith in humanity. Whatever I did—and will continue to do for you—is because I want to. I really like you, Katherine. I like you more than any woman I’ve dated. I don’t really know you, but it’s easy to see you think so little of yourself by the way you question what others do for you. You’re kind and beyond beautiful. You are smart. You’re a bestselling author. You’re a fantastic cook. You love Sam and Sophie and take excellent care of them. That’s all I know about you, but I want to get to know more. You’re broken; and I want to help put you back together. Not as a doctor, but as a man.” He backed away. “The doctor part is secondary, for when you decide.”

Stunned, she just stood there like a lawn ornament. She wrapped her arms around herself, against the beginning of an autumn chill. Words were her life, but at the moment she couldn’t think of a damned word to say.

“Are you pissed off?” Tyler asked. “I’m sorry, okay? But I meant every word I said. I want to be with you, get to know you better. We can figure out everything as we go, K. Do you mind if I call you K, or would you rather I call you Katherine?”

She shook her head, turning away from him, knuckling away her tears so he wouldn’t see how his words affected her. He was right. For one man to discover those things about her in such a small amount of time was precious. Before he walked away, she turned to face him. “I don’t care what you call me, Tyler. I’m not sure if your ability to see through all my craziness is due to your profession, or if you’re just the sweetest guy in the world. Probably a bit of both.” She wiped away another tear that had spilled down her cheek. “I am grateful for all that you’ve done for me in such a short time. Why would I be upset? You’ve brought me back to life. How can I thank you?”

Tyler had positioned himself a few steps away from her. Now he stepped forward and took her in his arms, holding her so tight, he felt her rib bones. Afraid he’d hurt her, he loosened his embrace.

Katherine could no longer hold back her tears. She didn’t care if Tyler or the people guarding her property saw her. She’d lost seven years of her life, by her own hand. Working with Tyler, she hoped to understand why she had done that to herself. She was unsure of everything, but all that mattered to her now was the freedom she’d rediscovered. And she had two people to thank for it: Doc and Tyler. It didn’t matter if he denied it; she knew if she hadn’t met Doc that she would still be hiding behind her computer, living her life via the Internet and spending her evenings pretending to be a sixteen-year-old girl named Darby.

Karrie!She felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her. “Tyler, last night I was supposed to make a call to Karrie, the young girl from the Friendlink page. I had one of those disposable phones so I could call her without giving my identity away. Did you find the phone?”

“I saw your phone last night. Karrie called you. She seemed pretty upset. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I was so focused on you that I forgot.”

She pulled away from his embrace. “What did she say? Was she all right?”

“She wanted to speak toDarby.Apparently, she thought I was your father, Walter. I told her you didn’t feel well and had gone to bed early, said you’d call her back. She was upset. She was worried about K.C. Winston. She said it was urgent.”

“Shoot,” Katherine mumbled. “Something is going on with that kid, I feel it in my gut. I just can’t figure out what it is. She says she’s sixteen, but I’m not so sure that’s true. I’m thinking thirteen, fourteen. She just seems . . . I don’t know, like a scared rabbit.”

“I’ll get the phone and you can call her back,” Tyler said.

“You must think I’m out of my mind. I don’t know why I got involved with this kid, but I have, and I need to finish what I started. I need to call her now, Tyler. I want to find out what this girl needs, and possibly help her, but I don’t want to reveal my identity just yet.”

“Let’s go,” he said, then called out, “Sophie, Sam. Come.” The shepherds came running back, stopping when they saw Katherine. They were panting, saliva dripping from their muzzles.

“You two need water,” Katherine said. “Good dogs.” She rubbed their heads affectionately. “They like you, Tyler.”

He smiled. “The feeling’s mutual. You trained them well. Let’s go get that phone, and then we can plan our day after we figure out what’s going on with Karrie.”

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