Sisters In Love (Snow Sisters, Book One: Love in Bloom Series)

Chapter Twenty, Sisters in Love

Chapter Twenty

Danica had stewed all night over Blake’s refusal to give Kaylie her night of pleasure. On one hand, she was proud of him for denying himself the exquisite gratification that she was sure her sister was capable of providing. She knew how difficult it must have been for him to not follow through. She’d seen stronger men than him unable to restrain themselves with her sister. On the other hand, he’d been back in a bar again, obviously flirting with disaster. Danica pushed away thoughts of Blake and Kaylie.

“How did you make out at the funeral?” Danica asked Blake, who sat across from her in a dark T-shirt and jeans. They’d had only a few short sessions together, and Danica knew it could take years to change behaviors. Every client had setbacks, and she expected that of them. So why was she monitoring Blake like he was different? Concentrate, Danica.

“I wanted to thank you for helping me through that. I did fine, I guess. I mean, I made it through. I sat in a middle row, as you suggested. So much has happened since then that I feel like it was ages ago. In fact, I feel like every time I come here wanting to talk about one thing, I get sidetracked with other issues that seem to be rising up in my life way too frequently.”

I’d like to see something rise. Jesus Christ, Danica, focus!

Instead, Danica thought about Kaylie flying through her door Saturday night. She knew she’d been right not to tell Kaylie about Blake being her client, but what she wasn’t sure of was if she should have him as a client at all. Their lives seemed to be a bit too intertwined lately. What if Kaylie had slept with him? If she had, would Danica have had to uphold some sort of unwritten sisterly pact of full disclosure? Would she have had to let Blake know she was Kaylie’s sister? Danica was not up to answering any of those hypothetical questions. She’d been so conflicted that she’d woken up at three o’clock in the morning with a killer stomachache, and even now, several hours later, she sat across from Blake with her stomach fluttering in ways she wasn’t sure could be qualified as typical therapist woes. Maybe she needed to rethink this relationship.

Trying to regroup, she locked her eyes on his and said, “That happens to a lot of people, I think. But we can talk about anything you want.” Stay focused. “Sometimes it helps to list the things that we need to address. Then we can prioritize and work our way through them.”

“Okay.” Blake leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

Danica caught a whiff of his musky cologne and sat back in an effort to remain professional.

“Should I write them down, or…”

“No, just tell me and I’ll note them.” A good distraction.

“Okay, well, there’s my bar hopping, Dave’s affair, and Rusty.” He sat back and looked at Danica.

Did she see something other than worry in his eyes, or was it her imagination? Could she be transferring her lustful feelings onto him? She really needed to get a grip. She noted each issue. “Okay, anything else?” Danica wondered if the heat she felt in her cheeks was visible or just in her mind. She looked down at the notebook again.

Blake smiled. “Isn’t that enough?”

She smiled at his joke. “It is, yes. Okay, so which of these do you want to tackle first?”

He looked at her thoughtfully, his eyes traveling over her hair to her face. She felt him staring at her mole. Stop. Please stop. He lifted his eyes, then said, “I just realized what’s different about you lately. You’re not dressed all professional. Wait, that didn’t come out right.”