Page 64 of Beach Cottage Kisses

But he didn’t believe himself.

Or her.

Unless she could find a way to convince him that the touch of her hand on his forehead had somehow transfused her “surge” of emotions into him.

Because he was feeling a whole lot more than sexual desire for the woman.

He might be foggy, but even in his current state, he knew that pheromones didn’t pour compassion through skin.

Stuff like that came from the heart.

And matters of the heart—his twin and her daughter withstanding—were off-limits to him.

Other than the twin thing that had been formed at conception and permanently solidified in the womb, the heart was where he faltered.

And there would not be another failure.

Chapter Fifteen

Reestablishing status quo was a difficult thing when one was in the aftermath of an emotional hurricane. Iris had had to do major cleanup before. She knew it didn’t happen in a day. That she’d be in a state of surrealism until she was back in her routine.

But Scott… For him she had to pretend for all she was worth. She’d gotten really good at that, too. She had to, to be okay.

Still, she couldn’t get the prelunch call from Sage out of her mind. Or rather, couldn’t rid herself of the concern the call had instilled in her. It had taken everything she had to keep her dear friend off a plane home. Sage had said she’d never heard her brother sounding as off as he’d sounded when he’d called her that morning. Not only had he been mentally a bit out of sync, but he’d sounded…needy. In a way she’d never heard before.

Like he was in crisis.

Iris hoped to God it wasn’t because of her. And then, considering other options—that the board had maybe hit Scott’s head, too, causing damage that no one knew about—she hoped his less than stellar statewasbecause of her.

For that problem, she had the solution. She’d focus on distancing herself from her emotional cortex long enough to let it get back into sync with the rest of her.And the intensity between her and Scott would dissipate. She just had to convince him to buy into the solution and let it work.

By pretending she was already in sync.

Nothing she hadn’t done many times before.

And to start, that meant not hovering. She had her instructions. Knew what to watch for. And beyond that, she needed to leave Scott to his own counsel. Worry accomplished nothing.

If something did go wrong again, she’d handle it just as she’d handled their early-morning issue. With calm and clear thought.

She’d watch for signs of head trauma, too. He’d shown no signs of concussion or other cranial disturbance at the hospital. Nor in the twenty-four hours post accident. She’d been told what to watch for. Hadn’t seen a single sign. But she’d start monitoring again.

Just in case.

And for the rest, her own authentic healing, she needed to get back behind her camera. Do the work that allowed the part of her soul that still lived to breathe. To be heard.

To that end, after lunch, icing and bandage check, she left Scott alone long enough to get to her place and collect more camera equipment, including the electronics she used for editing. Taking the dogs with her, because until she got herself under better control, she was still seeing him that morning, nearly passing out in the kitchen while his wound bled out.

Had she not come out…

But she had. End of that story.

However, until Scott was more mobile, she was acutely aware of the chance that Morgan could inadvertently hurt him again.

And…she checked that he had his phone nearby.

Not overcompensating out of fear on that one, she assured herself. Just being a reliable caregiver.

All went smoothly until she got back to Scott’s cottage, had her equipment set up and ready to go, only to turn a complete circle and stand there.