She was going to hell, Nikki thought as she cleared her throat, coughed into her hand, cleared her throat loudly again before she moved onto scratching her arm. “Is anyone else itchy? God, I hope I’m not coming down with leprosy,” she said, sighing heavily only to follow that up with a quietly murmured, “Does that look like a rash to you?”
“Perhaps it would be better if you came back when you were feeling better,” Cindy murmured absently with a helpless sigh as she watched three more group members race for the door.
“I would. I really would, but my parole officer was pretty adamant about me getting my sheet singed today,” Nikki said with a sad shake of her head as she pulled out her sheet only to narrow her eyes on Cindy when the other woman mumbled, “I can’t sign that.”
“And why’s that?” Nikki drawled as she took in the panicked expression on the therapist’s face, the way that she sent a wistful look at the piece of paper in Nikki’s hand, letting her know that she really wished that she could sign it, and the way that her small shoulders finally dropped in defeat.
“Grey,” was all Cindy said, but then again, that’s all she needed to say to let Nikki know that she’d underestimated a certain therapist.
*-*-*-*
“So, I’ve been thinking about our last conversation,” came the thoughtfully murmured words that had Grey biting back a groan when he realized that he’d fallen asleep in his office, again.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, opening his eyes to find the woman determined to make his life a living hell sitting across from him, considering him with a thoughtful expression on her face as she absently nibbled on what looked like a double-chocolate donut.
“Wondering what it’s going to take to get you to remove your therapy recommendation from my sheet,” Nikki murmured absently as she scrolled through her phone as she continued to nibble on her donut.
“Probably you actually showing up for your therapy sessions,” Grey said, biting back a sigh as he sat up on his couch and rubbed his hands roughly down his face.
“That’s going to be a problem,” Nikki said as she finished off the donut and reached for the large coffee resting on top of a stack of patient files that he’d stayed up all night reviewing as he stood up and headed for his private bathroom.
“Why’s that?” Grey asked as he closed the bathroom door behind him and headed for the toilet.
“Because I don’t have time for therapy,” came the muffled answer from the other side of the door while he relieved himself.
“Make the time,” Grey said as he contemplated taking a quick shower, but one look at his watch let him know that he didn’t have time.
Wondering where his first appointment was, he washed his hands and face, brushed his teeth, and combed his hair before grabbing a clean shirt and–
Fucking sighed when the pain in the ass that was doing her best to piss him off walked into the bathroom and hopped up on the bathroom counter with a heartfelt sigh. “That’s not really an option.”
“Get out,” he said, not really surprised when she ignored him.
“I don’t need therapy,” Nikki said as she picked up his deodorant and held it out to him as she took her time, taking in his bathroom.
“And your anger issues?” Grey asked, watching as she quickly took in the large Celtic tattoo on his chest before moving on.
“Help me deal with rush hour traffic,” she said, shrugging it off as she took a sip of her coffee.
“They also landed you in jail,” Grey said, plucking the coffee out of her hand and took a sip as he headed back into his office, deciding that she owed him for all the bullshit that she’d put him through over the past year.
Every day for the past year, she’d gone to great depths to piss him off so that he would sign off on her sheet and every day, he ignored her. If she’d just showed up for her therapy sessions she’d be done by now, but the woman was determined to get out of them. Until she completed her therapy hours, she was stuck volunteering here at Shadow House, the trauma center that he’d helped create to help people that needed help rebuilding their lives.
Speaking of which…
“How did you convince the judge to extend your community service?” Grey asked, plucking the white bakery bag off the coffee table on his way to his desk.
“Called in a favor,” Nikki said, shrugging it off as she followed him back into his office and…
Hopped up onto his desk and plucked the coffee back out of his hand, took a sip and placed it on top of his laptop.
God, she was a pain in his ass, Grey thought as he pulled a glazed donut out of the bag and took a bite only to glare at the woman that was testing his patience when she plucked it out of his hand. “It would be so much easier for everyone involved if you just signed my sheet,” she said with a tragic sigh and a sad shake of her head as she pulled out her phone and frowned down at whatever she saw as she nibbled on the donut.
“You need therapy,” he pointed out, stealing the donut back and finished it off as he shifted his attention to his schedule for the day.
“I really don’t, though,” Nikki said, sounding bored as she climbed off his desk and made her way back to the couch.
“You kneed a guy in the balls in front of a judge,” Grey said as he found himself watching her, wondering just how long she was willing to drag this out before she accepted the fact that she wasn’t getting out of this.
“He had it coming,” Nikki said, not really sounding all that concerned as she grabbed her bag off the couch.
“You don’t see that as a problem?” Grey asked, leaning back in his chair as he watched her, taking in her long dark hair pulled up into a messy bun, the black T-shirt and tight-fitting jeans that she wore and the–
“I thought I asked you to stop wearing your gun in the center,” Grey said when he spotted the ankle holster outlined beneath her pant leg.
“Did you?” Nikki asked, pursing her lips up thoughtfully.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure? Because I’m pretty sure that I would have remembered that conversation,” Nikki said absently as she focused back on her phone.
“You don’t remember the part where I told you that I would kick you out of Shadow House and send a report to the judge that you violated the terms of your court-ordered community service?” Grey drawled, watching her quickly text something as he waited for a reaction that he already knew that he wasn’t going to get.
“You’re not going to do that,” Nikki said as she slid her phone in her back pocket and headed for the door.
“And why’s that?”
“Because you’re not going to risk losing the best part of your day,” Nikki said, shooting him a wink as she left, leaving him sitting there wondering what the hell he was going to do with her.
A Sneak Peek from
Misunderstood
A Neighbor from Hell YA Novel
Chapter 1
Twenty Years Earlier…
“Yeah, I’m not doing it,” Sebastian said as he stared down at his mother’s latest attempt to…
Well, he wasn’t exactly sure what it was supposed to be, but he knew that he didn’t want to put the gray-greenish, crumbling, oozing substance in his mouth. But the problem was that he’d been dared by his brothers, who were both standing next to him, pointing flashlights on the gooey mess as they took turns poking it with a spoon because none of them wanted to touch it with their bare hands.