Page 68 of Taming a Menace

“Whatever. Aren’t you in a hurry to get back to bed?” She sassed.

“Keep rolling your eyes and they’re going to get stuck like that.”

She raised her hand and gave me the middle finger as she sank down into her car.

“In time, baby. I’ll be doing that in due time,” I muttered to myself.

I watched her pull out of her parking spot and shoot across the deserted parking lot before pulling out behind her. I didn’t have to follow her all that closely since I knew where she lived. Iexpected her to try to lose me. With how fast she was driving, I’m sure she was trying.

Laughing under my breath, I turned the radio up as I continued to tail Iyla’s little feisty ass until we made it to her neighborhood. She broke her speed down after sailing across a speed bump like a mad woman and almost knocking loose everything under her car. I couldn’t stop laughing as she turned down her block.

Less than a minute later, she pulled into her driveway. I didn’t bother pulling up into the yard. Instead, I stopped in front of her mailbox and waited for her to get out of the car. She didn’t look my way as she rushed over to her front door and unlocked it.

Once she opened the door, I blew the horn before pulling off. Now to try to make myself fall back asleep without the warmth of her body to soothe me.

Eleven

Iyla

I shook my head at myself as I stood in the bathroom mirror checking my lip gloss and making sure my hair didn’t look as crazy as I felt. Since when did I care about how I looked before seeing a patient? Of course I always wanted to look presentable, but primping like I was getting ready for a date was new for me.

I took a step back to take a third look at the pink wrap dress that made me feel sexy yet professional. It did the trick. I just hoped that it wasn’t obvious that I was trying to look good. Rolling my eyes at my own reflection, I washed my hands and left the bathroom. I’d only had a fifteen-minute window between my ten o’clock and Keywan’s arrival. He was always on time, so I didn’t linger long before going back to my post.

There was no use in continuing to deny how crazy about him I was. There was something so comforting about being in his presence. There was never any telling what he would do or say, yet I found myself wanting to be around him even outside of the office.

I knew it was too late to find a new therapist for him. I’d already been seeing him for weeks. It was all kinds of wrong to want to pursue a relationship with him. Not only was it unethical, but it was against the law.

I had never broken any law that wasn’t a minor traffic violation. Now I was considering throwing caution to the wind for a change and seeing where things went with the man I couldn’t get off my mind.

By the time I made it back to my desk, my heart was pounding. It was five minutes until eleven. Either it was just me, or the clock had stopped. I picked my phone up to verify the time, then called the front desk to speak to Janet.

“Good morning, Ms. Iyla,” she greeted me.

“Good morning, Janet. Whenever my eleven o’clock gets here, you can send him back.”

“Sure thing. He’s already here.”

“OK. Send him back when you get a chance.”

“Will do,” she said, ending the call.

My excitement only grew once I knew my baby was in the building. I had to temper my mood down because there was no way I was going to let him see how excited I was to see him. I needed to keep him at bay.

If Keywan knew the power he had over me, I would be in even deeper trouble than I was in now. It was bad enough that I had started to consider ways to get around the obstacles blocking us from exploring our attraction. I should have booted him the first day he stepped foot in my office. Now I was in too deep. Now I wanted desperately to indulge in the growing feelings I had for him.

A gentle knock on my door made me smile. I took a deep breath before yelling out for him to come in. I put my glasses on, hoping to create some kind of barrier between us. I forcedmy lips to stop smiling just in time for him to open the door and walk in.

His warm cologne made me inhale. A black T-shirt with his company logo on it clung to the top half of his frame while a pair of joggers hid the bottom. It was sickening for someone to be so sexy dressed down.

“You good today, Ms. Iyla?” he asked, walking over to occupy one of the chairs in front of me.

“Yes, I am. Thank you for asking. How have you been since our last session?”

“I’ve been having a hard time.”

“How so?” I asked, picking up my pen, prepared to write down what he said in response.

“Any time that I don’t get to spend with you feels forced. It’s like I’m just spinning my wheels until I get back to you.”