Page 18 of Hypnotized By Love

He let his eyelids drift shut and then said, “You’re eyeing your letter opener, aren’t you?”

“I’m not!” I protested too quickly.

That made his smile bigger.

I hated this feeling. Like he knew me better than anybody and could see right through me.

I couldn’t stab him because Sierra would probably be the one who would have to clean his wound when I took him to the emergency room, and she’d be mad. Not to mention the paperwork and the fact that I absolutely would lose my certification.

It wasn’t worth it.

Instead, I returned to getting him to relax, having him concentrate on one body part at a time. It turned out to be a very bad idea, as it allowed me to watch him flex repeatedly and wonder what he did to work out these days. He most likely didn’t play volleyball any longer. The gym? Did he run?

Such a terrible path to go down.

I preferred doing face-to-face sessions with clients as opposed to online ones, but right now I could have used a few miles and some computer screens between us.

Because I didn’t understand my warring impulses. How was it possible to want all of his blood to be outside his body but also want to climb on top of him and kiss those firm lips of his?

The worst part was that I couldn’t look away from him because I had to make sure the relaxation technique was working.

Which it finally, fortunately, did.

He relaxed completely into the couch, his arm dropping down and his body slack and loose. I started the deepener process, telling him to imagine a staircase and to count each step as he went down, starting with ten until he reached one, reminding him to relax his body, to concentrate on my voice, to let go.

Shifting into this phase somehow made it easier to get myself back on track and focus. I told him to open a door at the bottom of his staircase and to imagine, just beyond the door, a place he loved, one so beautiful, peaceful, and warm that he would always feel serene, relaxed, and completely happy when he thought of it.

“I want you to take it all in. The more details you allow yourself to see and experience, the deeper we’ll go into your subconscious. Can you see it?” I asked.

“Yes.” His voice sounded different, slower and deeper, and it reminded me of his mother’s when she would reach this stage. Like he was well and truly hypnotized.

Heather definitely fell within that small percentage of people who were highly hypnotizable, so it would make sense that her son would be suggestible, too.

But the larger part of me assumed that he was messing with me. I’d accused him yesterday of being a troll, and now he probably was actually trolling me.

“What do you see? Hear? Smell?” I asked, fully prepared for him to say something stupid.

His voice retained that low and relaxed tone. “I’m at a pond, sitting on the edge of an old, weathered dock, my legs dangling over the side. There are fireflies dancing around me, frogs croaking softly, crickets chirping. The water makes a hushing noise. A rowboat is tied up nearby, rocking back and forth. There’s a bonfire in the distance, but I’m surrounded by bright twinkling stars and a sky so dark that I can’t tell where the night starts and the water ends. Dark cypress trees dot the edge of the pond, Spanish moss swaying slightly in the breeze. It’s warm, but there’s a hint of a chill in the heavy air. I smell campfire smoke and perfume that smells like wildflowers.”

My heart leapt up into my throat, choking me. I couldn’t breathe. I sat there, waiting for him to open his eyes and say, “Gotcha!”

Only he didn’t. He stayed in his trance state while perspiration broke out on my hairline.

He was describing one of my best memories. Both the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams had traveled for an away game, but there was a hurricane warning in our hometown, so the decision was made to stop at a cheap hotel to wait it out. I remembered the look in Mason’s eyes when he’d knocked at my door, telling me to come with him, that he’d found something cool he wanted to show me.

Some of the kids were standing around a firepit, a massive fire blazing. Mason led me away, taking me by the hand. It was the first time he’d ever held my hand. I remembered the rush I’d gotten from our fingers being intertwined, giddy at him finally touching me in a way that was more than just friends.

He took me to that dock, not far from the hotel. It was perfect, secluded, romantic. I hoped he’d kiss me, but he didn’t. We just sat and talked, holding hands, until the sun came up.

That night made me fall even harder for him. I was so sure we were soulmates. Meant to be.

No wonder he’d made theNew York Times’ bestseller list. He had painted me a picture so vivid and perfect that I was right back there in that place with him again.

“Are you alone?” I asked, not able to help myself.

A ghost of a smile flitted across his mouth. “No. There’s a beautiful girl next to me. Someone I’ve loved my whole life.”

If I’d had a hard time breathing before, it was nothing compared to this suffocating, smothering feeling. Like I’d never be able to breathe again.

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