“Yes, I remember.”
“But when I ended up at the ER a couple months ago, and you were there, you acted like you’d never met him before.”
She reddened a bit. “Did I?”
“Yeah, you shook his hand and said it’s nice to meet you.”
If possible, her cheeks pinked even further. “I suppose I—”
“Oh my God. You’re attracted to him, aren’t you?”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
“I’m not going to lie. I think he has the hots for you. I’ve told you that before.”
“Honestly, I just didn’t want to embarrass you or your brother that day.”
“So you did remember him?”
“Yes.” She let out a sigh and pulled her long blond hair off her neck. Was she getting hot and bothered? “And this part of our session is over, Mr. Steel.”
“Understood.” But I smiled to myself. I had to get Joe in here for some therapy. Or to get laid. Maybe both.
“You look a lot like him,” Dr. Carmichael said. “About the same height, same build. He has a little more silver in his hair, and his nose is straighter.”
“Yeah, you know the bullies broke my nose.”
“And you have a younger brother?”
“Yep. Ryan. He’s known as the most handsome and as having the best personality of the Steel brothers.”
“More handsome than the two of you?” She lifted her eyebrows.
I laughed. “Yeah. And I thought we were getting off this subject.”
She shook her head as if to clear it. “Of course. I’m sorry. Let’s get back to you with Jade. So she wants you to take your relationship public, but you don’t want to. Why does she want to?”
“Well, this cop, who I thought was a friend of mine, asked her out.”
“So he’s no longer your friend?”
“He asked my woman out.”
“Talon, he had no idea she was your woman. That’s probably why she wants to make the relationship public.”
Of course. I knew that. “Why is this so hard for me?”
“Only you can answer that.”
“But you’re the shrink.”
She smiled. Always amazed me how she didn’t mind being called a shrink. “I think you’ve answered it yourself. You feel like she won’t love you anymore when she finds out everything you’ve been through.”
“Yeah, but it’s more than that though.”
“What’s that?”
“There are times, Doc, when I want to kill those three bastards. I dream about it.”