Page 78 of Hero Unbound

I know you want to talk, and I want to listen. Whatever it is, we will work it out together. I’ve cleared my afternoon so that this no longer needs to hang over your head.

~ Theo

She read it twice then ran her fingers along the bottom where he’d scrawled his name in bold strokes. Signed it as if she might not know who had left the note on her pillow. The thought brought a smile to her face.

Until she thought about how she’d behaved with him yesterday.

It was almost as if she’d been having an out-of-body experience. She could hear what she was saying, see what she was doing, and even though she didn’t mean the words that came out of her mouth and what she was asking him to do, she couldn’t seem to stop herself.She was lucky that Theo had realized something wasn’t right. Even more lucky that her mental and emotional well-being had meant more to him than what sexual favors she’d been offering.

She curled up in a ball on the bed, clutching the note to her chest. She needed help. Yesterday had proven she needed some sort of counseling or something.If one encounter with Gareth had caused her to spiral in that way, she had to work with someone to come up with better coping strategies.

And it all started with telling the truth. All of it. Even if the truth was that she wasn’t completely sure about some events and that she’d made some big mistakes on her own.Telling the truth about what had happened might mean she lost her job.If so, she would have to deal with that.

But she had to believe that she wasn’t going to lose Theo. Even as she thought it, she could feel the fear creeping up inside her. He said he wanted to understand, but once he knew the details, things might change.

She uncurled herself and got up. If that happened, then it happened. There was nothing she could do about it. All she knew was that she couldn’t live this way anymore. She had to learn to depend on herself. To trust herself.

To know who she really was.

She also had to figure out what to do about Gareth. She didn’t want to talk to him and definitely didn’t want to see him, but he didn’t seem to be taking her no for an answer. And now he was in Oak Creek.

He thought a face-to-face encounter would change her mind. It wouldn’t. But instead of running away like she had yesterday, she needed to sit him down in a public place and tell him it was over for good.

She could bring backup—Becky maybe—not to sit there with them, but to make sure nothing got out of hand.

And then, who knew, maybe Eva might have to do the same for Becky with Derek Bollinger. She still had no idea what was going on with that situation.

Or if Becky wouldn’t do it, then Sam. The important thing was, she didn’t have to do this alone.

Eva got dressed, ate some breakfast, and soon was in the truck heading over to the Mad Zoo. She still hadn’t given the miniature pigitsmedicine from yesterday. Just another example of how her actions got so off-kilter when she was around Gareth.

She bent and straightened her sore elbow. That couldn’t be blamed on him. It had been her own reaction that had caused her to trip and fall.

But enough was enough. She was embarrassed by how she had acted yesterday with Gareth. She was mortified by how she had acted with Theo. It was time for her to start taking back her life.

She went about her duties with the smaller animals: cleaning, feeding, administering medications where needed. Once she told Theo and Becky the truth, hopefully they would agree to allow her to continue to work with the animals. It definitely wasn’t what she would’ve been doing as a vet, but that wasn’t an option anymore, so this was close enough.

She loved this place. She loved the animals. She loved…

Did she love Theo? It was too soon to know. She definitely wasn’t ready to jump into anything serious, but she knew that her feelings for him were a big part of the good decisions she was trying to make. And she wanted to keep moving forward with him.

Last night, he’d proven to her that she did like fast and rough…with someone who cared if she was really enjoying it. She was never going to forget the look on his face hovering over her as he took her—the mixture of him losing control while also making sure she was right there with him.

The way his brown eyes had locked with hers had told her everything she’d needed to know. That he would stop if she said a single word. He would slow down, change positions, even let her be back on top the way she liked so much. Whatever she needed, he wanted to give to her.

She might not love Theo—yet—but shetrustedhim. That was more than she thought she’d ever have again.

She reached into one of the larger cages and picked up one of the seven guinea pigs here in the Mad Zoo. The guinea pigs were always one of the favorites for the children the therapist worked with. It was amazing how sitting and playing with the small animals allowed children to talk more freely about big feelings on their minds without putting undue pressure on them.

“Maybe I should try that,” she said to the guinea pig.This one had a slight eye infection, so she got out the drops to put in his eyes. “Maybe if I could just play with animals, it would be easier for me to talk to someone. Maybe it would be easier for me to remember things more clearly and heal.”

“I’m not at allsurprisedto find you with animals, but really, guinea pigs? That’s a waste of time, even for you.”

Eva froze again at the sound of Gareth’s voice in the doorway. She spun around to face him, her back hitting the cage with a thump. “What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here.”

He leaned casually against the doorframe and crossed his legs at the ankle, looking like a model from some men’s fashion magazine. “Actually, I have an appointment to be here. If I had to guess, I would say it’s you who is not supposed to be here caring for animals, given your past history.”

Considering he wasn’t wrong, she didn’t say anything. She needed to keep her wits about her. She could not spiral down into that black hole like she had yesterday, where she couldn’t determine what was real and what wasn’t.

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