Irresistible SEAL Book 3: A Navy SEAL Romance by Amanda Heartley

Author:Amanda Heartley [Heartley, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: military romance
Publisher: Heartley Publishing
Published: 2016-07-20T21:00:00+00:00

Seven

Luke

“You can stop fidgeting now.”

I chuckled out loud, surprised at myself—and by my new doctor. Scratch that—therapist. Darlene Carmichael, Ph.D., looked nothing like the impression given by her dull, bland business card, nor did her spacious, hip, LA office on Poplar Way.

I’d made the appointment a few days prior, alternately regretting the decision to reach out and get help for whatever condition I had and needing it so badly I couldn’t not do it any longer. Now I sat, spit shined and polished in khaki slacks and a crisp dress shirt, fidgeting—apparently—in Dr. Carmichael’s office.

“Sorry,” I muttered for perhaps the dozenth time since she’d buzzed me in a few minutes earlier.

“And stop apologizing!”

“Sorry,” I said instinctively, making us both snort, then softly—and quite nervously, at least on my part—laugh. “Old habits die hard.”

Dr. Carmichael crossed her legs beneath her desk and fixed me with soft, blue eyes. “That’s precisely why you’re here, sailor,” she said, making me look up in surprise.

She rolled those blue eyes once more. Crisp and fit in her late fifties, Darlene Carmichael wore a brown blouse to match her sensible tan skirt, rectangular framed glasses pushed slightly down her nose. “That’s right, Luke,” she said, leaning forward slightly. “You’re not the first Navy SEAL to walk into this office, complaining of nightmares and day dreams and simmering violence after returning home from war.”

I nodded, peering down at my stiff new dress shoes—and not for the first time. “Look up at me, Luke,” Dr. Carmichael said softly, after an appropriate amount of avoidance time on my part. When I obeyed I was met with a kind, understanding expression. “This is your safe place, okay, Luke?”

I nodded, entranced by the older woman’s wisdom and kindness. Peering around her office at the bamboo covered walls and funky, Asian-inspired art, I did feel safe. Not just by the scented incense curling into itself in the corner, or the gurgling pond in the atrium outside her office window—but by the woman herself.

“Do you feel safe right now, Luke?” she pressed.

Knowing she was expecting an answer this time, I nodded earnestly. “I do,” I croaked, overcome with emotion.

Nodding in return, she asked, “How often have you felt safe since you returned from Afghanistan?”

I groaned aloud in reply, making her nod all the more. “I’m glad you reached out for help, Luke,” Dr. Carmichael said, tapping her desk for emphasis. “It’s not a weakness to need rehab for your mind any more than it is a weakness to rehab your leg. In many ways, no matter how strong your body gets, it’ll still be weak if you don’t conquer the fears created by your mind.”

“But how?” I asked her, my voice just shy of begging.

“By working closely with a trained professional like myself to gather the tools you need to care for yourself,” she replied, leaning back slightly. In the calm, far from awkward silence that followed, I noticed the sounds of gurgling water and the type of soft, background Asian music you might hear at a funky LA sushi bar.

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