“Thank you, Maryann.”
“If there’s nothing else you need from me today, I’m going to head out.” She looks down at her watch. “Bonny’s plane should be landing in about thirty minutes.”
“That will be all. Tell Bonny I said hello.”
“Will do. See you tomorrow.”
After she closes the door, I take my first look in a week at the silent woman before me. Just like every time I see her, she takes my breath away. Straight midnight-black hair, natural tan, almond-shaped light-blue eyes, and a body any man would fall to his knees to worship. Today she’s wearing a deep-blue long-sleeved silk shirt, tucked into a black knee-length skirt, and black heels.
“Good afternoon, Charlotte.” I gesture to the chair across from me. “Please take a seat.”
“How are you today, Dr. Erikson?” she asks, dropping her purse on the table before gracefully sitting down. Her skirt rides up her legs when she crosses them, showing the side of her thigh. It takes iron will to not look at that tempting sliver of skin.
“I’m fine.” I click my pen open and set it down on the notepad. “How has your week been going?”
She shrugs. “The same as usual.”
Her usual is not the same as most people’s. It’s the reason she’s been coming here every week for the past six months.
“I assume the exercises we spoke about last week didn’t work?”
“No. I tried, but the impulse was just too strong.” She traces an imaginary line on the arm of the chair. “I’m afraid I may not want to curb them. I think I enjoy what I do too much.”
I tilt my head and regard her. “If that’s the case, then why are you here? These sessions are meant to help you learn to overcome these cravings.”
When her eyes connect with mine, she gives me the look she’s given me on several occasions, one that always has my heart hammering in my chest and my dick growing hard. It’s a look that suggests she wants something. Wants something from me.
She uncrosses her legs, and the second before she recrosses them, I think I catch a hint of black in the shadow up her skirt. I quickly dart my eyes away, gritting my teeth at the forbidden sight. I pick up my pen and pretend to write something down on the notepad.
Get your shit together, Bryan.
Instead of answering my question, she asks one of her own. “What about you, Doctor? Do you have any dark, secret cravings?”
Her question catches me off guard. I do have a dark craving. A secret I’ve had for the past couple of months. One she can never know about, because I could lose my medical license. Not to mention, it could end with a big fat restraining order against me.
I look back at Charlotte, and my mouth goes dry. Her skirt has ridden up way too damn much, showing the black strap to her garter belt. Did she lift it higher on purpose, or does she not realize she’s damn near flashing me?
I nearly laugh at the irony of that thought.
Fuck my life.
I clear my throat and meet her eyes. “We all have secret desires.”
She lifts a brow. “Have you ever acted on them?”
I incline my head. “Yes.” Too many times to count, I silently add in my head.
“Hmm… interesting.” She props her elbow on the arm of the chair, one of her slender fingers rubbing along her bottom lip. “Care to tell me what those desires are?”
One side of my mouth tips up. “Have we reversed roles here, Charlotte? Are you now the doctor and I the patient?”
Charlotte looks gorgeous no matter what expression she wears, but when she flashes me a smile, I swear to Christ the world around us ceases to exist. All I see is the curve of her luscious lips.
“Maybe I’m just trying to get to know you better. Find out what makes you tick.” She drops her hand to her thigh, and my question from a moment ago is answered when her eyes stay locked on mine as she not so subtly slides her skirt up an inch. I try to keep my eyes away, I really fucking do, but it’s no use. “You know so much about me, but I hardly know anything about you.” She licks her bottom lip, teasing my control. “I’m curious what secrets you hold. What your desires are. What tempts you.”
She’s all of those things. She’s my dirty little secret, my naughtiest temptation, and my desire for her grows every fucking week she walks into my office.
I move my notepad to the center of my lap, hiding my growing erection. From the smirk tipping up her lips, I have no doubt she knows the state she’s putting me in.