As I headed for my car I caught myself looking back towards the building, hoping to get one last glimpse of Dr. Michaels, but there was no sign of him. Disappointed, I climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. I was just about to pull out onto the road when I spotted him at his office door. His eyes were locked on mine, and I felt the wind rush from my lungs. Seth Michaels was a living, breathing force of nature who had me completely spellbound. He was just too perfect, and I found myself wanting him in ways I couldn’t begin to explain. From the way he was standing there looking at me, there was no doubt he knew the effect that he’d had on me. He must’ve known that I was attracted to him and that it had taken all I had to get out of that office without throwing myself at him. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath, trying to push back my raging hormones, and pressed my foot to the accelerator. I needed to get the hell away from there before I did something I’d regret.

Too rattled to go back to work, I headed to my apartment. Even though the streets were buzzing with people, I felt completely alone as I made it up the stairs to the front door. There was no one I could talk to. I could call one of my girlfriends, my sister, or even my mom, but I couldn’t tell any of them about my experience with Dr. Michaels. None of them would understand how I felt; they’d just twist it into something wrong and make me feel awful about it, telling me that it was unethical to lust after my psychiatrist. As I walked into the kitchen, I could almost hear my mother say, “This is so typical of you. You’ve always wanted what you can’t have. That’s why you’re still single.”

I grabbed a bottle of Chardonnay from the refrigerator and poured myself a drink. I took a long sip then carried it over to my desk and turned on my laptop. Hoping for some kind of distraction, I started sorting through my emails. I had an assignment due by the end of the week and should’ve spent my time researching for it, but without even realizing what I was doing, I typed in the name Dr. Seth Michaels. A thrill shot through me soon as I hit enter. I wanted to know everything about him, but I ended up getting more than I bargained for. Damn. In a matter of seconds, my screen was bombarded with a long list of sites mentioning Dr. Michaels and his associates. Intrigued, I clicked on his work website and couldn’t help but smile when his handsome face popped up on my computer. As I stared at his picture, I was lost in my thoughts and almost didn’t hear the vibrating from my phone across the room. Setting my wine glass down, I hurried over to the counter and quickly reached inside my purse to grab it; as soon as I saw her name flash across the screen, I sighed with disappointment.

“Hi, Mom,” I answered.

“Did you see that email I sent you?” she asked excitedly.

“The one about the gym?” I’d seen her email, along with the twenty other text messages she’d sent, but as usual, I ignored them. I hoped she’d just drop it and move on to her next grand idea.

“Yes! It just opened, and it’s only a few blocks from your apartment. They’re offering free memberships for the rest of the month.”

“Okay,” I grumbled. Shoot me now. She wasn’t going to let it go.

“Grace, it would be a great way for you to meet people.” I knew why she wanted me to join the gym, and it had nothing to do with meeting people. She had it in her head that I needed to lose weight. There were days when I would agree with her, but today wasn’t one of them.

“I said okay, Mom.”

“There’s no reason to get snippy, Grace. You spend most of your day sitting in front of a computer, and it wouldn’t kill you to get a little exercise now and then.”

“You’re right,” I groaned. “I’ll look into it tomorrow.”

“Why tomorrow? They don’t close until nine. You have plenty of time to run by there today.” A curse was on the tip of my tongue. It was just sitting there, ready to lash out at her, but before I had a chance to let it roll, she continued, “I’ll come down and go with you if you want me to. I don’t mind.”

“No. That’s not necessary,” I replied, biting my tongue. I knew deep down she had good intentions, but she was just ticking me off. Knowing I needed to change the subject, I asked, “Hey, don’t you have to help Mia with Nate’s birthday party this afternoon?”

“Oh. Yes, I guess I don’t have time to do both.”

“No, you don’t! Besides, Nate’s birthday is more important than checking out a gym.” I knocked on my wall several times and then said, “Sorry, Mom. I have to go. There’s someone at the door.”

“Are you at home?”

And just like that, I’d opened another can of worms. Next, she’d be asking if something was wrong at work or if I was sick. Trying to kill two birds with one stone, I said, “Umm … Yes. I needed some peace and quiet to finish this article.”

“Oh.” I was relieved that she’d caught the hint. “Okay, dear. Let me know how it goes at the gym tomorrow.”

I was beyond aggravated as I hung up the phone. My mother had a way of getting under my skin better than anyone. I grabbed the bottle of wine, and I poured myself another drink, taking it into the bathroom. I filled the tub with the hottest water I could stand, then undressed and slipped inside. The warm water felt like heaven, and I quickly forgot about my conversation with my mother. I turned on the jets, then leaned my head back and closed my eyes. It didn’t take long for Seth to creep back into my thoughts: his beautiful green eyes, his strong, masculine hands, and our playful banter. My entire body tingled with desire as I thought about him, and without even thinking, one hand reached for my breast while the other slipped between my legs. I imagined him touching me as I caressed myself, and with each twirl of my finger, I found myself becoming more and more aroused. With visions of him fluttering around in my head, it didn’t take long for me to find my much-needed release. My entire body fell limp in the warm bath water—sated and relaxed. I laid there for a few more minutes until the water started to get cold, then pulled myself out of the tub.

After drying off, I went into my bedroom and threw on some comfortable clothes, sprawled out on the bed, and turned on the TV. Flipping through the channels, I ended up with some romantic comedy, and as I watched the couple interact, a thought came to my mind. If I could just find a flaw, something about Seth Michaels that would completely turn me off, then I might be able to forget about him and move on. It wouldn’t take much—maybe something like he was a momma’s boy, or he was a cheapskate, or maybe he talked with his mouth full. Anything that might help me stop obsessing over him.

I went to get my phone, and once again started researching Dr. Seth Michaels. After an hour of poking around, I landed on his Facebook page. It was set on private, so I couldn’t see much, just a few older photos. None of them revealed anything major until I came upon a picture of him with his arm around a beautiful woman’s shoulder. They were both smiling and looked like a couple, a close couple, which made me wonder if she was his girlfriend—the girlfriend he said he didn’t have. That was it—I found the flaw that I’d been looking for. Finally, I could stop acting like some crazy, off-balanced stalker and move on with my life, but instead of feeling thrilled with this new piece of information, I was disappointed. I felt like someone had popped my big, red balloon, but at least I could put Dr. Michaels behind me, once and for all.

I checked the time on my phone and hoped that Mia was done with Nate’s birthday party as I dialed her number. It only rang twice when she answered, “Hey, I was just about to call you.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t make it to Nate’s party.”

“Don’t be. It was a madhouse, and with all those kids running around, he didn’t even notice that you weren’t there.”

“Geez, thanks.” I teased.

“You know what I mean.”

“I do, and I’m still sorry I missed it. It’s not every day that my adorable nephew turns six years old.”

Mia groaned, “Actually, he wasn’t all that adorable today.”

“Really?”

“He has a little cold coming on, so he was tired and irritable. I didn’t even like him today.” She chuckled. “I mean, I love him, but he can be a real pain in the ass.”

“He’s learning early.”

She replied playfully, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure that he turns out to be one of the good ones.”

“With you as his mom, I’m sure he will be absolutely amazing.” After trying to butter her up, I asked, “So, I was calling to see if you’d join this gym with me. It’s right around the corner from my apartment, and they’re offering free memberships for the rest of the month.”

“Oh. Is this the gym Mom wants you to join?”

I didn’t even try to hide my frustration and groaned, “Yep. That would be the one.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t really have time to join a gym right now. With my new promotion at work, I’m pretty strapped for time.”

“But you were just telling me a few weeks ago that you needed to shed a few pounds and you wanted to—"

She interrupted me by saying, “I already lost the weight I was trying to lose.”

“Of course, you did,” I told her sarcastically.

“Well … I started running in the morning with Roger. It’s been kind of fun. You’re more than welcome to come and join us,” she offered.

“Yeah, I’m sure Roger would love that.”

“He would. You’re the only girl around that will talk football with him.” She laughed. “And I’d like to have you around, too.”

“I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”

“So, how did it go with that counselor today?”

Knowing I couldn’t go into too many details, I told her, “It was interesting.”

“Do you think it helped with anything?”

“I really liked the guy and he was easy to talk to, but I just don’t think the whole therapy thing is for me.”

“I totally get that. I don’t think I could do it either. It would be hard to talk about all that personal stuff with a complete stranger.”

Thinking back on all the things I’d shared with him, I smiled to myself. I considered telling her it wasn’t as hard as she might think but knew it would only lead to more questions. “It’s not for everyone, but I’m glad I tried it.” Knowing it was getting late, I said, “I’ll let you get back to the kids. Be sure to tell Nate that I’m planning to bring his present by tomorrow.”

“I will, and I hope you’ll stay for a little while. It seems like I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

“You got it. I’ll see you sometime after lunch.”