Page 73 of Catch and Release

And then, he said that, wiping away her tears.

Somehow, he read her mind. He knew she was thinking that something must be wrong with her. That had to be the case, otherwise, why would so many men cheat on her? She hadn’t said it outloud, but he responded anyway.

There is nothing wrong with you.

Words she’d needed to hear for far longer than she realized. All the cascading emotions she had been feeling vanished in an instant, once he was touching her. He’d wiped away that tear, and his hand hadn’t left her face since. He’d come closer, kneeling beside her, looking deep into her eyes as if extended eye contact could somehow convince her of what he said earlier.

There is nothing wrong with you.

The sinking feeling in her stomach was still there, but only slightly. Saying it outloud had taken away some of the fear in that sentiment, and now Shawn had looked at her like he wanted to take her pain away.

His truck pulled into the driveway, taking her out of her reverie.

“You gonna tell me what we’re doing?” she asked as she climbed into the truck.

“I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out.”

She chuckled and put it out of her head as he pulled out of the driveway. She’d find out eventually. Though she’d usually have her suspicions, but she just wanted to turn her brain off after the morning she had. Letting Shawn take the lead so she could relax for a minute felt like a gift she didn’t know she needed.

Blake’s appearance at her yoga class today left her feeling unsettled. She wanted to give him another chance—hoped she’d been wrong about him at first, but he proved her initial judgment right today. Distantly, she thought back to when Layla first mentioned him, and she hoped her friend’s work situation wasn’t as toxic as Willa suspected.

Of course, when Shawn stepped in and saved the day as her fake boyfriend, she thought she might swoon on the spot.

But she still had that meeting with Blake to contend with, and she didn’t quite know what to expect. Willa had been kicking herself all day for agreeing to meet with him over a drink despite her best judgment. A business meeting over a drink seemed harmless enough for most people, but with a man like that—one who clearly was used to getting his way with women—she wasn’t so sure. She didn’t feel like she could decline, though. She was rarely rattled, but something about Blake bothered her. And it wasn’t just Layla’s warning; it was a gut reaction, something that screamed for her to be careful.

And she hated to admit it, but Blake reminded her a bit of some of her exes. It made her feel stupid. Shouldn’t she have seen through their bullshit the way she saw through Blake’s?

Willa had her first therapy session a few days prior, and they talked about her sordid history with men—how they always seemed to disappoint her in the long run, with their cheating and their lying and their hurtful words.

Her therapist said that in their next session, she wanted to dig into self-love and self-trust, and how to rebuild it. Willa felt like that was a big task for her to undertake, but she had to admit, she felt better after her first therapy session. Even if she was emotionally exhausted.

“Are you thinking about that jerk?” Shawn asked, his knuckles white as he held the steering wheel. “Blake, or whatever the fuck?”

She leaned back in her seat and propped up her legs on the dash. “How did you know that’s what I was thinking about?”

“I can read you like a book, Greene,” he responded with a smirk, then grew serious. “I didn’t like the way he talked to you.”

“That makes two of us.”

“He tried to break my hand with that handshake of his.”

“Shit, I’m sorry,” she said, looking over at him with sympathy. “You ok?”

Shawn chuckled. “I said ‘tried,’ Greene. It’ll take a lot more than a pretty boy like that to hurt me.”

Willa laughed with him and rolled her window down, closing her eyes as the salty breeze covered her. She breathed it in deeply, sucking it into her lungs in an attempt to calm her racing mind. Before she knew it, Shawn was pulling the car to a stop.

She opened her eyes and looked around.

“The marina?” she asked.

He nodded, giving her a grin as he sat back and waited for her to finish connecting the dots.

She looked out the window toward where the boats were docked. One of them was a nice little speedboat with the name “Ida” painted on the side. She turned back toward him suddenly and sucked in a breath.

“You’re taking me on a boat ride.”

“You won it, fair and square,” he responded.