Page 52 of The Sandbar saga

Chapter 19

Race poured himselfa cup of coffee and held the phone up to his ear. "Can you identify your negative thoughts?"

Katie walked into the room, winding her hair up on the top of her head. He lifted his chin and motioned toward the stove where the teapot was warming, then walked out on the patio while Ann, one of his patients, listed what would happen if she attended the concert with her friends."

He sipped the coffee and sat down in a chair, facing the pool. "Let's look at being around a crowd. What can you do to soften the noise?"

"Don't go," said Ann.

"How about wearing earplugs."

While Ann listed the pros and cons of his suggestion, he kicked off his shoes and used his big toe to drag his socks off. It'd been a long day, and yet he had an open-call policy with a few of his patients that were on the verge of making it on their own. They came first before he relaxed for the night.

"Worrying about others seeing your earplugs is a cognitive distortion. There are many reasons why people would wear ear protection at a concert. For one, to protect their hearing." He unbuttoned the front of his shirt, yanking the tails out of his trousers. "Yes, of course."

Ann teeter tottered between wanting to go and making excuses. Finally, she decided to go for a half-hour, and if her anxiety worsened, she'd come home.

"Remember, any amount of time you succeed at going out is something you can count as a reward. You're making the effort." After a few more words of encouragement, he disconnected the call.

Tossing his phone on the cushion of the chair next to him, he rotated his shoulders, needing a good soak before he called it a night.

"You made the woman feel good," said Katie behind him.

He glanced behind him, waiting to strip off his clothes until Katie went inside. "You're not supposed to listen to my calls with patients."

She walked around him and sat in a chair. "Am I just a patient to you?"

"No." He frowned at her. "Why would you ask?"

She pointed to her neck. "Your tone of voice when you were talking to her was similar to how you've talked to me. A lot. I don't like it."

"You don't like my voice?"

She shook her head, and her lips pinched together. He stood and walked over to her in his bare feet. Grabbing the arms of her chair, he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Do you think I'd take care of you when you were a child, invite you into my house, live with you while you start a career if you were only a patient?" He waited until she looked up at him. "I don't kiss my patients on the forehead."

She shuddered. "I don't like to think that you would."

He studied her. Was she jealous?

Straightening, he walked toward the house. "I'm going to grab a pair of shorts and take a soak in the hot tub. Grab your suit. It's too nice of a night to spend it inside."

Not waiting to see if she would take his suggestion, he went into the bedroom. After changing, he walked back outside. Katie had left. Whether she was going to join him or not, he lowered himself into the sectioned area at the end of the pool and turned on the jets.

Letting his head fall back, he closed his eyes.

Something brushed his arm. He looked and found Katie sitting on the edge with only her lower legs in the water.

"Aren't you going to get in?" He eyed her.

She wore a bikini. All he could see were her breasts and her eyes.

"No." She leaned over and cupped her hands in the hot tub and poured water over her thighs. "I took a shower earlier. I don't want to take another one to wash the chlorine off me."

He closed his eyes again to keep from staring. It was hard to relax with her moving beside him, her leg brushing his arm.

"Donna mentioned there was a real estate course coming up next month. Beachcomber Real Estate will pay for it if I want to go." She dribbled water over his shoulder.

---