Repressed (Deadly Secrets) Read Online Free PDF Page B

when she was sure he’d never find it a white light flicked on.
    Sickness rolled through Sam’s belly when she took in the broken jars and powders spilled over the ground. Luckily, there hadn’t been any dangerous chemicals on that shelf, but her relief was short-lived when she spotted McClane.
    “Oh my God. You’re hurt.” She stepped over a jar of powder to reach him. His white dress shirt was ripped at the shoulder, his hair covered in fine white powder, and something wet and black ran down the side of his face. She touched his forehead only to realize the liquid was warm and sticky. “Don’t move. I have towels.”
    “Trust me. Not planning on it.” He rolled back to sit on the floor. “Damn. My day is not improving.”
    “Mine either.” Sam took the phone he offered so she could shine the light over the shelf. Grabbing a stack of towels, she knelt at his side and pressed the cloth against his forehead. “I have no idea how that happened. Those shelving units are bolted to the wall.”
    “Not so well apparently.”
    She pulled the towel away. That sickness resurged when she spotted the amount of blood on the white cloth. She pressed the towel against his forehead once more.
    He hissed in a breath.
    “Sorry.” Sam gentled the pressure. “I’ll try to be more careful.”
    “I’m starting to think you’re a bad luck omen, Ms. Parker.”
    Sam grimaced because, yeah, she was starting to feel like a bad omen herself.
    She checked him for any other injuries as he sat leaning back on his hands, his eyes closed. Colored granules covered his left shoulder, but thankfully he wasn’t bleeding anywhere else. Her gaze skipped over the hard line of his jaw, the muscles in his arms and chest, and the thin tapered waist that disappeared into his slacks.
    Warmth gathered in her belly. A warmth that came out of nowhere. But it was quickly overshadowed by the realization that he’d just protected her—again.
    All the animosity slid from her veins as she moved the towel so a clean portion of fabric pressed against the oozing wound. “I’m sorry about being a bitch earlier. It’s not you, it’s—”
    “Therapists. Yeah, I got that.”
    She checked the towel again, reminded herself head wounds bled a lot, but couldn’t quite quell her concern over the fact that the blood wasn’t slowing. “It’s not just that. I like Thomas. He’s trying hard to fit in. I know what it’s like to be the odd man out, and I don’t want him to have any kind of setback. Your being here could do that for him. I know he’s had run-ins with the law, but I honestly believe he wants a second chance. He’s a good kid.”
    Dr. McClane’s hand brushed her forearm, and sparks of heat ricocheted across her skin, the kind that drew everything else to a stop. “I’m not here to cause problems for Thomas. As long as he stays out of trouble, my being here is just a formality. Trust me, no one believes in second chances more than I do.”
    Her pulse picked up speed. She barely knew this man, and considering what he did for a living, she had no reason to trust him. But something inside said he was telling the truth. And after the way he’d just put himself between her and danger, even when she’d done nothing but antagonize him, she knew he wasn’t at all like her last therapist.
    Her gaze locked on his, and in the dim light she saw something else. Something lurking in his eyes that told her even with all the horror and misery she’d experienced in her life, this guy knew way more about second chances than she ever would. And not just from clinical experience.
    Electricity arced between them. An electricity that knocked her totally off-kilter. “Dr. McClane—”
    “Ethan.” A smile tugged at one corner of his lush mouth. A mouth that was a thousand times more tempting than it had been before. “My first name is Ethan. And since I just got my ass handed to me by your shelving unit, I think it’s time we moved past the