Page 15 of Silent Threat
If he was one of her other patients, she would be talking now, explaining the science behind ecotherapy. But with his eyes closed, she couldn’t do that. She let him rest, watching as the lines on his face smoothed out, as his breathing evened.
His face relaxed, still not handsome, but no longer harsh either. Cole Makani Hunter had strong, tough-set features. He had a scar under his jaw she hadn’t noticed before. His nose wasn’t just a little flat, it’d been broken.
He was several notches rougher and tougher than the average guy she usually saw around town. Annie couldn’t imagine herself walking into Broslin Diner with someone who had barbed wire tattooed on his shaved head.
The softest thing about his face was his eyelashes, nearly black and slightly curled.
Her gaze slid to his lips. Now that they weren’t pressed together in disapproval ...Quit looking.
Annie turned her attention to the meadow and the forest around them. She breathed in the peace of the forest and let all distractions float away from her.
Minutes ticked by. Half an hour passed. She shifted in place, rolled her neck and shoulders, careful not to break the connection between them.
She settled into this new experience of being physically connected to someone while being connected to the earth. She normally didn’t touch her patients, but with Cole she had no other way of getting his attention when he wasn’t looking right at her. She was going to have to get used to that.
Of course, she wasn’t trying to get his attention now. He was asleep. Yet she stayed where she was. She felt as if some kind of sacred circle had formed, something unfamiliar but powerful and important. So she decided to be still and give herself to the experience.
She thought about lying in the grass next to him, but she’d promised to stay on guard.
Fifteen minutes before their session was over, she woke him with a gentle nudge of her knee to his hand, so they’d have time to get back.
His bottomless dark eyes blinked open. He looked straight at her. “How much longer do we have to do this?”
“Done for today.” She smiled, pretending that her breath hadn’t hitched at that sleepy, half-hooded look. “You fell asleep.”
“I was resting my eyes. Can’t sleep without drugs.”
“You just did.”
“Might have blinked out for a minute, but that’s it.” He sat up and brushed strands of dried grass from his shoulders. “Sounds like your watch is broken.”
Instead of arguing with him, she pushed to her feet and stretched her legs.
They headed back to the path side by side.
She turned so he would be able to see her lips. “How do you feel?”
He gave an exaggerated groan and a flat look. “Thinking about hugging a tree and getting it over with. It’d save you the effort of trying to manipulate me into it next time.”
“Does that mean you’ll be giving ecotherapy a try?”
“Might as well, or the program coordinator will push me into art therapy. Believe me, nobody wants to see that.”
She bit back a smile. “There’s music therapy too.”
He didn’t credit her comment with an answer. But then he said, “So, tomorrow, same time, same place?”
“Not tomorrow.” She pushed back the unease that tried to settle on her. “I’ll be off for the rest of the week.”
She expected him to leap with joy, but instead, his forehead pulled into a frown. “What for?”
“Worried about missing me too much?”
“I like a regular schedule. You going on vacation?”
“Going on a TV show.” She tried not to think about everything that could go wrong in the next couple of days.
“Making people roll in dirt in front of cameras, on national TV? Don’t look at me if you’re asking for volunteers.”
