Healing Touch: Play Doctor, Book 2 Read Online Free PDF

too far and frustrate people by being a freak.” She sighed.
    “Has someone accused you of that?” A cloud floated above them, shading his face.
    “Yes.” She glanced away again.
    “Because you’re afraid of—”
    “Being closed in small spaces.” A shudder raced up her spine. She took a big gulp of tea to wet her dry mouth.
    “Plenty of people are claustrophobic, Brielle.” He set his glass down, leaving wet rings on the clear table. “It’s a very common affliction.”
    “You’re talking about people buried alive in a coffin, submariners freaking out miles under the ocean or…I don’t know…something actually scary.” She shook her head. “This is different.”
    “How?”
    “I like that your doors are open.” The glass panels pinned against the wall left no doubt she could escape.
    “No one else is working this weekend.” He shrugged. “There’s no one to overhear us.”
    “Right. But I could leave if I wanted to.”
    “At any time.” He held his hands out, palms toward her. Another shadow crossed his face. “Though I hope you’ll give me a chance to help.”
    “I think you already are. After my boyfriend—well, my ex-boyfriend, Brad—made it clear I was no longer welcome…” She couldn’t divulge the whole truth yet, maybe not ever. “I didn’t think I could share again. You make it easy.”
    “Thank you, Brielle.” He smiled sadly. “Though I’m not quite sure what we’re talking about yet. For the record, it sounds as if your boyfriend didn’t support you as you needed. Moron.”
    He muttered the last under his breath. She caught it anyway.
    “Is that your professional opinion?” Her giggle cut off. Would he construe her innocent amusement as flirtation? Awkwardness wasn’t anywhere on her agenda for the day. Not that she’d have a chance with a man like him. He was…above and beyond.
    “Hell, yes. My personal one too.” He scrubbed his face with knuckles. “You make it hard for me to separate Luke and Dr. Malone. That’s not a problem I usually have, Brielle. I’ve known you less than ten minutes and I can already tell you’re extraordinary. I could tell the day we met in VegVana. There’s something different about you.”
    “Yeah, like the way I can’t brave the produce aisle? Or get in a freaking elevator? Or how I sweat myself to sleep in a panic most nights. Or don’t drink coffee in the mornings so I won’t have to endure a visit to the tiny bathroom in my office.” Or always have to be on top when I have sex so I don’t feel stifled. Or how I ended up driving my boyfriend away with all my rules and regulations for living day in, day out in a state slightly less than full-blown hysteria.
    “No, like different special . I told you, phobias are common.”
    “Is special code for a pain in the ass?” She grinned.
    He choked on the next swallow of his tea. “No. I reserve the term complex for those types.”
    “Good to know.”
    “Do you want to tell me how you developed an aversion to tight spots?” He left another door open.
    And she felt safe enough to walk through it without hesitation.
    “My mother died when I was six. My father wasn’t interested in raising a kid or in the settled life without her. After my mom… He abandoned our house. Just moved one day. I found out later he didn’t even try to sell it. Left it to rot—empty, overgrown. I don’t remember a ton about my mom, but I know she would have hated that.
    “He stopped at a gas station that afternoon. He tried to leave me too. I should have let him. I screamed and cried until he realized he couldn’t get away with dumping me so easily. It was less effort for him to tote me along and make it look like things were fine to the outside world.
    “So he moved us to some tiny place in the city. Somewhere near Fifth and Livingston. Where fewer people noticed any particular kid.”
    Luke squeezed her hand lightly. “That’s no neighborhood for a child. Hell, I would lock my doors when