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“Is that your analysis, Dr. Navarro?” I teased, unsure of what he meant. Nobody suffering from a phobia or trauma would agree with that reasoning. “Are you saying that based on proven research? How am I meant to remember that devastating event?”

“No.” Forrest stared at me, looking into me as though he wanted to jump into my mind and experience my pain firsthand. That was my fuzzy brain interpreting the way his sage eyes shifted. What was he thinking?

“Do you think I’m weak for not overcoming that fear after all these years?”

“You’re anything but weak, Kiera. You were a child who witnessed a life-and-death situation. Trauma changes a child’s mind and his or her perception of the world. I can attest to that.”

I wanted to ask him what he meant, but he kissed me on the lips, and all thoughts scattered elsewhere. Though it wasn’t a passionate kiss, it made me warm inside. Heat swirled in places that shouldn’t be aroused right now.

When he drew away, empathy and something I couldn’t identify swam in his eyes. “Thank you for listening. I feel better talking about it. That event changed my life.”

“That moment changed my life too,” he said.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

KIERA

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Was he trying to be poetic by saying he felt my suffering? His expression was something I’d never seen on Forrest. Pain and vulnerability were rare on this man, who normally portrayed a powerful and magnetic exterior. I’d noticed him whenever we hung with our mutual friends. How could any woman ignore a package like that? He was like a warrior fighting an endless battle.

The intensity in his eyes made me think about the power of an interesting photograph, where it could pull you into its story simply by being itself.

“I should thank the owner of the Chococat T-shirt for comforting me that day.”

No way.

I sucked in a breath, trying to absorb his words. “That little boy . . . wasyou? From the accident?”

He asked me about the date, and I rattled it off. I remembered it vividly because the following day I had a birthday party, but I never went to it because I’d been too traumatized.

“My mother died that day.” The corner of his eye twitched.

Oh my God.

“I’m so sorry about your mom.”

What were the chances? Fate was an indescribable wonder. Sometimes I cursed it, and other times, I relished in it. Right now I wasn’t sure how I should react to fate for connecting me to Forrest. Part of me loved the idea of meeting him when I’d been a child. But the other part wished it had been under better circumstances.

Would I have remembered him if I had met him at a playground? Would he have stood out to me? I didn’t know.

I threw my arms around him as though I was hugging the injured boy from my memory.

He tightened his arms around me, and we stayed like that for a while. Our heartbeats spoke to each other while questions formed in my head.

“You witnessed my trauma, Kiera.” He ran a hand down my hair, comforting me when I should be the one comforting him.

If I had been traumatized by seeing it, how had he experienced it as the boy who had gotten hurt—the boy who had lost his mother. It must have been worse for him.

Unlike me, who feared blood from that incident, he became a doctor.

Drawing back, I studied his face. “Did you become a doctor because of what happened?”

“No.” He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “But it motivated me to work even harder.”

“Where was your dad during that time?”

“He died when I was six.”