Stare Me Down (Stare Down) (4 page)

The silence was palpable. The stillness overwhelming. Something was wrong. He peered harder into darkness and brushed her hair aside, saying, “Let me…”

Her head fell back against his shoulder at the same time the shadows turned to mist. Suddenly, the white-pearly glow gleamed bright and brighter still. Clearing the fog and giving him a perfect view of her. Lighting every satin inch and all her feminine curves. He took in the sight until his eyes lifted to her face and he found the prettiest set of purple-blue eyes gazing up at him. He was stunned. “Dr. Gavin?”

“Jesus!” His eyes snapped open and he nearly fell out of the chair.

Knock, knock.

“Come,” he called then grinned bitterly at the irony.

“Damn, you look like shit. What happened to you taking some time off? Your infamous catnaps aren’t cutting it anymore. I can tell.” As usual, Sharon, one of his night managers, didn’t mince her words. She was right too. At least about the naps.

“Hey, Shar, what do you need?”

She came in and shut the door. “We’ll get to that stuff in a minute. Right now I’ve come to help. I think I’ve an idea on a date for you when go to your brother’s party.”

Aries snatched up his water bottle and unscrewed the top. “Really? I hope it’s better than your last suggestion.” Although he appreciated that she cared enough to try to find a solution, he was a little leery to listen to her latest plan. Her last one had been laughable. His brother never would have bought Shar being Aries’ conventional date for the night. Aside from the gothic clothes and numerous facial piercings, her white-blond hair with various ends tinted navy blue in spots might have given her away. If not that, surely her tattoo sleeves would have.

“I could see where I wouldn’t work as vanilla arm candy. But my sister can. She’s about as vanilla bean as they come.”

He waited for her to collapse in a chair and asked, “Isn’t she married?”

“Yup.”

“Well, then I’m going to have to pass. I wouldn’t want her to get into trouble with her guy.”

“He’ll never know.”

“Shar, you know I don’t like deceit in any form.”

“But I know how much you want the unit next door, and it isn’t going to be available forever. This is the perfect time.”

He leaned back and rubbed the knot out of his neck. A remnant from his nap, no doubt. “You’re the one who wants me to expand. I’ve already told you I have no plans to do that here.”

“You want that unit for something. I know it. I know you. And if you don’t jump on it, you’ll miss the opportunity.”

“You worry too much. Things will work out the way they were meant to. Trust me. You’ll see.”

The moment he was alone, thoughts of Dr. Gavin and their last session surfaced. There was no longer any point denying his attraction for her. He was interested the moment he’d attacked and she’d defended. Valiantly. In fact, if she didn’t second-guess herself and her conclusions, she might have occasionally won the unspoken battle they waged. Yeah, the little shrink thought he’d been sulking during their group sessions over the last month and half and prowling around her office this morning because he didn’t want to be there, but the truth was, at least as far as her office went he stalked around the place in an attempt to keep his hands off her and not put her over that desk and play with her. How messed up was that?

He didn’t hesitate. He picked up his cell. The way he saw it, he needed to find an out before he made an in with her. Now was not the time for a woman in his life. Especially a smart one who, consciously or not, was giving off signals unmistakable to a guy like him. She wanted something. Something bad. And bad was just up his alley. A vivid image from his dream came to mind. The collar, tattoo and those eyes… Fuck. He wanted something from her too. Something that didn’t bode well for her quiet and conservative lifestyle.

He closed his eyes and thought about The Dragon Lady constantly breathing down Jaxx’s neck.
Jaxx needs her confidence bolstered. She needs a dependable shoulder to lean on
.

His eyes snapped open. What the hell was wrong with him? He couldn’t afford to be that guy for her right now no matter how much he wanted to be.

Dialing, he put a call in to the attorney who was handling this legal snafu, hoping to be able to finagle his way out of the last two “individual” appointments. The group sessions he had handled, but him and her alone in her private office was a disaster in the making.

As usually his overpriced lawyer was no help so Aries knew what he had to do. He tossed his phone on the desk and plucked up Jaxx Gavin’s business card. Spotting her email address, he sighed. Maybe there was a way he could kill two birds with one stone. He could get out of the private sessions and force her to deal with The Dragon Lady head-on. If he had bet on what Jaxx would do he would have put his money on her sending the she-beast to hell. At least that’s what he would have been rooting for, so it was a fine line he had to walk as he came up with his present plan. It was dangerous, he knew, using Jaxx’s insecurities against her. This usually wasn’t his style, but he was desperate. He needed to take control before they had a situation on their hands. Hopefully, he’d make her uncomfortably squirm enough that she’d give him the paperwork without completing the last of the appointments , but not freak her out so much that it would affect how she felt about her methods, because so far they’d been pretty good. Swallowing his guilt, he turned on his laptop.

*****

Jaxx was up working late when the ting of an incoming message sounded from her computer. It was Ramsey Taylor. No doubt this was his list. Clicking the tab, she spied the one word and frowned.

Rorschech.

Interesting. Although he’d spelled it wrong, she could be just as vague. She typed back.

???

He responded quickly.
It’s a kind of test. Do you want me to explain it to you?

She snorted. Very funny. First he was an expert on tropical fish, and now he was going to school her in psychology?
I know what it is.

Great, then we’re good for our next session.

What could she say to this? She would have loved nothing more than to tell him not to show up and she’d give him the signed document for his attorney anyway, but she’d made her bed so to speak, and besides Maggie was hovering.

I’ll be ready.

She’d have to be ready for anything, now that she thought about it. It was only two more one-hour sessions. She’d managed this far with him.
Not alone.
Surely she’d survive just two short hours?

All she needed to do was stay focused. But even as she pushed thoughts of how attractive the man was out her mind, she had to acknowledge one thing. Giving a guy like him the Rorschach test was any woman’s dream. Therapist or no. Getting a glimpse into a sexy Dom’s psyche was a rare occurrence, she imagined. That was the appeal for her. She’d had him for six group sessions and it hadn’t been enough. His kind of smoldering, “I’m a man who knows how to be a man” attitude was secretly intoxicating and it was this phenomenon that had her wanting him around longer. Although now that she had him? She’d have to keep him busy and this test might just do trick. Well, at the very least it would keep him seated, and if she picked enough of the right kind of images, he’d be as ‘entertained’ as he’d wanted to be until she figured out what she was feeling for him. Yes, the more she thought about it, the better she liked the test idea. Insight was always good and where he was concerned the more insight the better.

Goodnight, Dr. Gavin.

Chapter Three

“What’s that?”

Ramsey bent and put the small wicker trunk down beside the couch. “My test items.”

The doctor’s head snapped up and her pretty eyes pinned him. “Your test…”

He nodded, letting her take a moment to get her head around the concept.

“B-but I have my Rorschach Test ready to give to you. And what do you mean by items?”

He looked at the fish tank and smiled. She got more oscars. “I like that.” He shot a curt nod toward the tank. “I’m guessing there’s no more fighting.”

She frowned. “No, there’s not. Now what’s this all about?”

“I didn’t say Rorschach.” He pronounced it correctly as Ro-shock. “I said ‘Rorschech’.” He pronounced it Ro-sheck so she was sure to hear the difference. “I did ask you if you wanted me to explain it to you.”

“I thought you misspelled it.”

He shook his head, enjoying how one expression after the next flitted across her face. He gauged confusion, embarrassment and finally anger just before she turned and marched to her desk. Snatching up a stack of papers‌—‌probably her images for her test‌—‌she turned them on edge and banged them on the desk top until they were all neatly aligned.

“I tell you what.” He sat down on the arm of the couch and waited for her to sit in the white linen upholstered rocker. She looked great today in her silky blouse and tight little skirt. “I’ll conduct my test first, and then you can do yours. Once we’re both finished, the saner person gets to decide what we do for the second half of the session. Deal?”

She eyed him over her glasses and scowled. “Do I need to remind you that I’m the doctor?”

“Should I remind you that I’m the innocent sucker who landed on your sofa because of discrimination?”

Her nose pleated up on one side and the accompanying disgusted expression reminded him of a kid facing a bowl of lima beans for dinner. “Um…‌the closest you’ve gotten to landing on my
couch
is sitting on that arm.”

She had guts. Maybe this wouldn’t be so difficult after all. “Should I go first, or would you rather?”

She put the stack of images on her lap and pushed on her glasses. “I think you can go first. But maybe you should explain the rules of your Ro-Shick Test to me.”

“It’s Ro-Sheck. Sure. Okay, even though there really isn’t supposed to be a right or wrong answer to this kind of testing, I know your little secret, and that’s what we’ll use to figure right and wrong.”

Her gaze was leery. “I don’t have any secrets.”

“If that were true, it would be a shame.” He winked at her. “I’m talking about the code.”

Now she rolled her eyes at him. “I thought guys were the only ones with a ‘code’?”

He pointed at her. “Don’t deny it. I’ve been assured that each therapist has a secret crazy meter. If the individual does this test and says something reasonable and imaginable, the answer is deemed acceptable, so they aren’t crazy or, in the case of our test-off, they’re ‘right’. If however, the individual says something unreasonable and therefore unimaginable, that person is wrong.”

“Or crazy,” she added so blandly he almost laughed.

“Exactly.” Leaning down, he opened the trunk lid. When she craned her neck, almost falling out of her chair to see inside, he angled it with his foot so he was sure she couldn’t get a look. “No peeking.”

“I wasn’t.” Her blush told a different story.

“You were, but I happen to like curious women, so I’m not going to mention it again.”

She fell back against the rocker with a sigh and he ignored it.

“This is simple. It’s basically the same way you conduct your test, only I use items that you have to identify instead of images.”

“That doesn’t sound too hard.”

He grinned. A low-down dirty one. He couldn’t help it. She was walking right into this just the way he’d planned it. “It’s all in the interpretation. Ready?”

She was slow to do it, but she eventually nodded.

“Good.” Ramsey leaned down and rummaged through the trunk. He pulled out the first item and held it up.

Damn, she was easy to read. A virtual open book. She sat up and her eyes sparkled, even as her cheeks turned the prettiest shade of pink. Darker than any blush he’d seen on a woman in a good long while.

“Tape.”

Oh yeah, this was going to be a lot of fun. “What kind of tape?”

She folded her arms across her chest. “I’d rather not say.”

“Ah, but I insist.”

“And I insist we keep things on a professional level, Mr. Taylor.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.” He maintained his poker face as he dropped the tape back in the trunk prior to plopping the lid on. Time to tap into her insecurities.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting ready to go.” He really wasn’t, but this was the fastest way he could think to get her to loosen up a little. “I heard The Dragon Lady loud and clear. I can be reassigned. I’ll just tell them we had a difference of opinions.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I mean, there’s no need for that. I…”

“Yes?”

She drew in a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “Oh, all right. If you insist. It’s glow-in-the dark bondage tape.”

“Do you mind?” He held up the clipboard, indicating with the pen in hand that he was going to record her answers.

“No, by all means. Although why you asked first is beyond me. You seem to be good at steamrolling ahead with what you want.”

“I am, aren’t I?” He didn’t look up. He just finished writing and then went in search for another item before holding it up as he turned it on.

“Really?” Now both sides of her nose crinkled. She sat forward and moved her head from side to side, trying to get a better look. “Does it have a place for attachments?”

He stared right at her. “Yes. It has a place for an attachment.”

“A vibrator.”

The way she said it was so blasé, so “meh,” he wanted to laugh, which was bad. She wasn’t supposed to be getting more interesting by the minute. Far from it. He snapped the off button, put it back and recorded her answer. “Now,” he said as he pawed through the trunk. Time to pull out one that would no doubt make her squirm. “What’s this?”

He held it up, and when her cheeks turned that deep shade of pink again he got a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d had this much fun with a woman, and she wasn’t even naked.