Healing Pleasure Read Online Free PDF Page A

see.”
    Lena smiled, loving the bond she had with her father that enabled them to communicate so well. It hadn’t always been this way, but she supposed she should be grateful for that. If not for her depression over her mother’s abandonment and the loss of Mark, neither she nor he would’ve ever met Barbara and she wouldn’t have found her calling in life. She’d struggled through years of depression, barely making it through high school, and then fell even deeper when she’d lost Mark.
    Not knowing how to help her, her father had found Barbara, a grief counselor who worked for the hospital, and talked Lena into making an appointment with her. Less than a year later, after countless hours of baring her soul to the only woman who had ever been able to get through to her, her father and Barbara had sparked a relationship that had then turned into a marriage.
    “I got that impression during my meeting with the friend, though he might be more reluctant than the SEAL I’m supposed to be seeing.”
    “Men who go through what they do will have more than a few invisible scars, Duchess.”
    Lena sighed. “I know and, honestly, I’m not sure I’ll be able to give either of them the help they need.”
    “Well, if you need advice on how to handle it, you know Barbara is always here for you, too.”
    Emotions twisted around her heart. “I know.”
    Her father hesitated for so long, she thought for a moment they might have lost signal. “Pleasure, you realize what kind of town that is, don’t you?”
    Lena rolled her eyes, glad now that her father couldn’t see her. “Men outnumber women three to one. Most of the relationships in Pleasure are ménage and it’s openly accepted for people to live that way. Yes, Dad, I know.”
    “And you’re headed to a ranch that gives a home to troubled boys, two of whom are SEALs who are apparently your age.”
    This time, she suppressed a giggle. “Actually, I think they’re a couple of years younger than me.”
    “That’s not the point, Duchess.”
    No, but his first statement had raised an interesting question in her mind. “How do you feel about people who live that way, Dad?”
    “To each their own, as the saying goes.” His answer came quick enough that she didn’t doubt the sincerity of it. “I wouldn’t share Barbara with another man, but I don’t hold anything against those who chose to do such a thing.” He waited a beat and then added, “And, no, sweetheart, I wouldn’t hold it against you either if you fell in love with these two SEALs.”
    Lena was so shocked she nearly drove off the country road. “Dad!”
    He chuckled. “I just wanted to make sure you understood.”
    “There’s no need to make sure I understand that. Engaging in a relationship with a client is strictly taboo.”
    “Your stepmother married me.”
    “You weren’t her client. I was.”
    “Touché.”
    “To be fair, engaging in a relationship with the father of a client is strictly taboo, too.” Barbara shrugged. “Despite that, I couldn’t help myself. I looked at your father and client , or anything remotely close, was the last word that came to mind. That doesn’t make you any less professional or good at what you do. It merely makes you human.” Her lips stretched in a knowing smile. “And something is telling me the last thing you thought about when you met these men was about one or both of them being your client.”
    It hadn’t been the last thing, Lena wanted to argue. She’d mulled over it, had known she needed to keep a professional distance, and had let them blow every bit of willpower she possessed to smithereens from the very start all because she’d wanted them.
    “All we’re saying, sweetheart, is we think it’s past time for you to move on and, if that means you move on with two men, then Barbara and I will fully support your decision.”
    “Thanks.” She frowned and then added, “I think. Listen, Dad, I’m getting closer to my destination. I’ll