Fantastic. Anything that would get her mind off the past, off the way her body was feeling right now, and off Donovan West sounded like a great plan. A vital one.
“Bring it on.”
12
“I wrote her an email.” Lawrence chewed the corner of his thumbnail as he stared out the wi
ndow in the therapy room. “I wanted to send her pictures.”
Donovan kept his sigh to himself but couldn’t contain the frown. “What kind of pictures did you send?”
Lawrence’s gaze shifted over to Marin, who was sitting prim and poised at Donovan’s left, taking notes. She’d taken out her contacts after lunch and put on her glasses. The sight of her was driving Donovan to distraction. He’d told her this morning that he saw her as a stranger because he could tell their past was making her feel off-balance, but he was so full of shit. Sure, she was a stranger in many ways, but the ways in which she was familiar were far too vivid in his mind. He’d had to fight all day to keep his focus on his clients. And apparently it was taking Lawrence’s focus as well, but for different reasons.
Lawrence gnawed harder on his hangnail and looked back to Donovan. “Personal photos.”
Which meant dick pics, or worse. Great.
Lawrence had been obsessed with a particular porn star for the last year, and Donovan had been trying to help him detach from that fantasy, to go out in the world and date real women, but Lawrence was regressing.
“What did you think the email and pictures would accomplish?” The question came from Marin.
Donovan looked her way, pleased that she’d jumped in. He’d sensed Marin’s nerves and her hesitation in sessions today. She was confident when talking with him in between appointments, and her assessments of the clients were pretty spot-on. But once she was face-to-face with them, that confidence collapsed.
Plus, she was way too easy to read. Even when her poker face was in place, her body language and tendency to blush were giving her away. On one level, he thought it was sexy as hell. He could imagine the things he could do or say to her to coax that kind of reaction from her. But for work purposes, she wasn’t going to make it long if she didn’t loosen up and relax in the sessions. Her blushing was the equivalent of an M.D. grimacing or saying Oh, gross when a patient revealed some medical issue.
Lawrence shifted in his chair, looking uncomfortable that Marin had spoken at all. Not surprising. Lawrence knew how to objectify fantasy women, not speak to real ones. “I thought maybe if I tried to talk to her and sent her pics, she’d email me back. I . . .” His jaw twitched and his gaze flicked toward the window again. “I’ve got a big cock, you know, so I thought she’d be into that.”
Marin’s lips pressed together as she obviously tried to temper her reaction and not roll her eyes or something. “I see.”
Donovan was proud of how mild and unaffected she sounded. He made a note. “Did she respond to the email?”
A secret smile touched Lawrence’s lips. “She did. She said I was hot and that she was sorry she couldn’t be there with me, but she sent me a code to get a discount off of her body mold so I could, you know, fuck her. I ordered one.”
Fan-frigging-tastic. Donovan wanted to tap his head against the wall. All the progress from previous sessions was unraveling before his eyes.
Marin’s eyebrows lifted in question as she looked Donovan’s way.
He could tell she didn’t want to ask and seem uninformed, so he threw her a rope. “So when you say body mold, you mean the sex toy that’s specifically shaped like Rebecca Bling’s anatomy.”
“Yeah, pussy and ass.” The pleasure in Lawrence’s voice was bordering on giddy. He’d slipped into fixation mode. He wasn’t looking at either of them anymore. He’d gone into his head. “I don’t know why I didn’t get one before now. It’s like fucking the real thing, especially with that lube that heats up. I rubbed my dick raw this weekend.”
He grinned, but then he lifted his head, apparently remembering that there was a woman in the room, and winced. “Why the hell does she have to be here again?”
Marin sat there stoically, but her fair skin took on that telltale shade of pink again. Donovan couldn’t tell if it was embarrassment or anger. Either way it was not going to go over well.
Donovan put down his pen. “Because Dr. Rush is training with me and is here to help.”
“Look at her. She’s fucking judging me is what she’s doing,” Lawrence said, his voice going snide, the spoiled-rich-kid side coming out. “How am I supposed to talk about this stuff when some chick is staring at me like I’m a pervert? I want her to leave.”
Marin blinked, her spine going poker straight, and she looked to Donovan, clearly unsure on how to proceed.
Donovan lifted a finger, silently asking her to give him a second. “You have the right to not have her observe, Lawrence, but maybe we should think through this for a moment. It seems like you’re getting angry because Dr. Rush’s presence has triggered some reaction in you. She’s not looking at you like you’re a pervert, but maybe that’s a fear you’re having. That this behavior makes you a pervert?”
“Fuck that noise. I’m just doing what everyone else does and doesn’t have the balls to say out loud.” He sent daggers Marin’s way. “Dr. Proper over there probably has a big fake cock at her house to shove inside her. I don’t see what’s the difference.”
Marin’s face went full red now, and Donovan had to wrestle back his own flash of anger. He sat forward. “The way you’re talking to Dr. Rush is beyond inappropriate, Lawrence, and you know it. I’m going to ask you to apologize to her, and we’re going to end things early today and schedule another session for next week. I expect you to come back then and be ready to work instead of lashing out.”
“You want me to leave? I’m paying for this fucking session.” Defiance sparked in Lawrence’s eyes.