I anticipated confusion in our relationship from both of us after he had subbed for me, but it never came. Not from him, and not from me. Several days had passed and my apprehension or expectation for strife to manifest itself vanished. We had agreed before the scene we would not be intimate again before we met with Dr. Wright, which thankfully happened today. We both wanted to get professional advice before proceeding. Hopping in the truck, I looked to Dax. We haven't talked about the scene, and I hoped we wouldn't have to today, but I knew that wasn't realistic. Dr. Wright would pick it apart bit by bit, and I wasn't sure which of us that would make more uncomfortable, Dax or me. He always seemed to sense my apprehension, and as he caught my gaze, his body paused before he reached for my cheek with his hand. "Kitten, there's no need to worry. We're good."I can't help but return his grin. "We'll see how good we are when Dr. Wright starts asking you intimate details." I laughe

Two hours later, somehow my Fish had turned into an entire school. Not only had my friends shown up, but Sutton had told Fisher they were coming over and why, and it resulted in the entire horde making an appearance. The Wrights, the Coopers, and my girls had all arrived in support. The encouragement from people who knew little about my circumstances but wanted to figure out how to help me deal with the public onslaught and put Josh Fost behind bars was overwhelming.When the topic of our gathering finally came to mention, the opinions of each person were deafening. I felt myself retreat to escape the verbal assault. My Fish normally talked over each other and everyone still managed to hear what was said, but add seven loud-ass men and a tiny Julie to the mix, and my brain couldn't function. Times like these made me realize how much of myself I'd lost-the ability to take charge and herd cats was a foreign concept. I found myself tucked under Dax's arm and buried in his chest, taking

"Kitten, what are you doing?" Dax hollered."I just got out of the shower." The sound of a thousand bulls trampling up the stairs startled me until I realized Dax was the stampede, and it had just dawned on him I was nude and wet. I turned toward the noise just as he came barreling through into the bathroom. I gazed up at his tall frame, finding his eyes. They were fierce, and he was looking to play. Our time together was limited with the start of Healing Wings. He didn't say anything, just assessed my face. Slowly, I released the towel wrapped around my chest. As it fell to the floor, I followed, tucking first my right foot under me as I reached my knee, then my left. When my butt hit my feet, I cast my glance downward. Placing my palms on my thighs, I waited in a pose that drove him wild.His bare feet peeked out from under his jeans-his toes were cute. I fought the urge to reach out to touch his leg, to run my hand up his pants, to caress him. Instead, I waited. The time drag

The board approved the lease for the space downtown, which sent me into a flurry of activity where everything moved at the speed of light. While I was busy setting up a help hotline and securing volunteers to man it twenty-four hours a day, my team was in search of donations and benefactors, and Dr. Wright was in the throes of interviews. The number of candidates had grown exponentially since it had become a paid position instead of volunteer. My phone rang, and Dax grabbed it off the counter. "Hello?" he answered with it on speaker."Hey, Dax, it's Shelly. I've narrowed the applicant pool down to three general practitioners and two psychiatrists. Can you get with Cam and find out when the board wants to interview?""Yeah, I'll talk to her and have her send out an email to find out what date works best for everyone. Do you want to do group interviews?""I think that would be best and would require the fewest number of meetings for the candidates. They're all currently working

My opportunity never presented itself. I think Piper knew I planned to interrogate her, so she came down with a migraine and sent Moby by himself. As much as I loved him, I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to grill him for answers, and no matter how many times I gave Dax the look to get him to ask, he just smirked and shook his head. I was like a kid waiting on Christmas morning for the go-ahead to open presents-I couldn't sit still and had to restrain myself from interrogating Moby. I figured the best thing I could do was remove the temptation, but since I couldn't ask Moby to leave, I kissed Dax on the cheek, hugged his brother goodnight, and set off to take a bath.Piper hadn't made an appearance today at the center, and when I texted to check on her, she legitimately had a migraine and had been in bed since late yesterday afternoon. I told her I wasn't going to push the issue now, but when she was feeling better, I needed the lowdown on Moby. She assured me she'd give me i