Page 8 of Locke 2

His brows shot up, intrigued. “What school?”

“Forest View.”

His lips twitched. “I went there as a kid.”

“I’m in the split class. Kindy and grade one with Patsy—”

“Butte,” he cut in on a laugh that sounded infectious.

I laughed, too. “You had her?”

He nodded, amused. “I had her.”

“Well, she’s ancient now.”

“She was ancient when I had her. Hell, my dad probably had her.” That remark made us laugh again. “She was also easy to distract. We could get away with a lot in Miss Butte’s class.”

I nodded. “I’m supposed to put a stop to that.”

He smiled warmly, and it made my stomach flutter. “So, your anxiety is probably getting worse with all that noise and kids and taking on what she doesn’t want to see.”

“I enjoy my job,” I explained. “I really do. I love the kids. They make me happy, but yes…it gets to be a lot.”

He nodded in understanding. “I get anxious, too. I tend to focus on the things that make me happy when it gets too much.”

Oh, god. Please don’t tell me to take a hike and get in touch with nature.I just wanted some pills. Something to easethe anxiety.Please don’t be a hippy doctor that prescribes sunbathing.

“I can tell,” I said, motioning to one of the photos. “You’re outdoorsy.”

He glanced at the photo. It was of him much younger with his dad, and they were out front of a log cabin. “My old man taught me how to fish, hunt, and make a fire.”

“That’s really cool. It’s a nice picture of you and your dad. Is that place here?”

He nodded, and he looked sort of sad. “Sort of. My cabin on Hollybrook is my escape. It’s about an hour’s drive in the mountains. Great place to retreat to when it gets too much. Nice family cabin, but a little neglected lately.”

“You haven’t been, you mean.”

“No.” His gaze went faraway. “I don’t get to have breaks around here. Doctors are in high demand. We’re needed.” He shook his head, like he was getting off track. “Anyway, you got anything to unwind to?”

I nodded. “I foster dying dogs.”

He stilled, surprised by that answer. I realised how it sounded. He recovered quickly and this time his eyes really looked at me. “That relaxes you, Kari?”

It distracts me, actually, and they need me. They look at me and have me and we become each other’s worlds.

I shrugged. “Among other things.”

He glimpsed me over, and his cheeks burned suddenly. I was in tights and a cropped sweater. It showed off my hips.He was having indecent thoughts. I could tell by the way his gaze lingered in places. I wondered how indecent they were. He looked down at a spot on his desk. “I uh…I think you should consider some breathing exercises, maybe even do some exercise…not that you need it. I mean…you know…” He cleared his throat, fumbling. “I can try you on some medication, and we can start from there. I have a couple you can choose from, but we’d need to do a follow up to see whether we need to tweak the doses.” His eyes finally met mine, and he was back to being composed, though still very much conscious of my presence.

I sort of didn’t expect it. To be around someone so evidently attracted to me. It’d been so long, I almost felt invisible. I should have glowed and felt excited.

But I thought of dark eyes and black suits and a man that would have shoved me down and taken what he wanted instead of blushing up a storm.

Oh, no.

Something was still wrong with me.

I needed it gone. This terrible flaw had to be cut out of me somehow. In fact, if this doctor asked me out, I had to agree to it. I was here to be part of the normal fabric of society. Surely as I continued to live like this, I’d finally be normal, too.

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