to mention how the family couldn’t stop treating her like the wounded baby sister. Whether they meant to or not, they always seemed to reinforce her feelings of self-doubt and fear. The same emotions she was trying hard to shed so that she could move on with her life.
There had been a time when she’d been confident, invincible. She really wanted to find her way back to that woman.
“Look, Karyn, I understand why coming home is hard for you, but everyone only worries more when they don’t see or hear from you for a while.”
Everyone worried even when they did, so she didn’t see what difference it made. And while she understood their reactions, they hadn’t helped her much.
“The rest of us are getting together for Labor Day, a nice family picnic on the lake.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but I make no promises.”
“I’m sure you have no concern for the messenger, but I’ll pass that along. And don’t be surprised when you get a call from Mom.”
Oh, she wouldn’t. “I still owe you payback for a few childhood incidents. I’ll let you handle Mama.”
He gave a derisive snort and paused for a moment before his voice went deep with concern. “I worry about you, sis. I know I probably shouldn’t, but I can’t help it. I’ve been watching out for you for twenty-six years.”
“I’m fine. I’ll try to get away. Tell Mom, Dad and Randall that I love them.”
“Will do, squirt.”
Before she could hang up, the familiar guilt crept in. “I love you, too, Blake. I know you’re just trying to help and I appreciate your concern.”
“Yeah, well, what are brothers for?”
“You mean besides torturing me as a child and tormenting me as a teenager?”
She heard his laugh resonate down the line before it went dead. Placing the phone on the edge of the tub, she settled back to resume her evening of self-pampering. At least as much of it as she could get in before her mother called.
Which was why when the phone rang again twenty minutes later, Karyn barely looked up from the book she’d been reading. Answering without glancing at the caller ID—there was no need—she said, “I’m fine. I’ll try to be there for Labor Day but I make no promises. Give my love to everyone. Bye.”
She’d moved the phone away, not wanting to give her mother a chance to talk her into chatting—she’d call back tomorrow or on the weekend maybe—when a single word stopped her dead.
“Wait.”
The small sound echoed from the receiver. That was definitely not her mother’s voice—unless she’d developed a severe case of laryngitis.
Looking at the caller ID didn’t help; it showed Unknown.
“Hello?” The tiny sound reverberated out of the receiver.
Karyn nearly dropped the phone into the water. That voice sounded strangely familiar. Almost like…No. It couldn’t be.
There was one way to find out. Holding the phone gingerly by two fingers, she put it to her ear, said, “Hello?” and held her breath.
“Karyn? This is Christopher Faulkner.”
Oh my God. It was. Her book slid from numb fingers, landing with a liquid plop before swishing beneath the bathwater. Why was Dr. Desire calling her? And how had he gotten her number, her name for that matter?
She closed her eyes, a blush of embarrassment joining the flush on her skin from the heat. She did not want to talk to this man.
“Karyn?”
Dread sloshed through her body. She couldn’t stop the knee-jerk reaction to cover herself and cringed as a wave of water splashed over the side of the tub, soaking the deep green mat on the floor.
“Why are you calling?” She knew the urge to rush for her robe was idiotic, but that didn’t stop her from leaning against the cold acrylic to shield her naked body with the edge of the tub.
“Do you know who I am?”
A tingle rippled down her back, goose bumps following the path. She told herself the reaction was from the cool air across her wet skin.
Did she know who he was? Oh, she knew all right.
“Yes.”
Pulling her legs up under her, she glanced across the room to her towel hanging on the rod by the door. Getting it would mean standing up. Standing up would mean a rush of water, something he would surely hear. For some reason she didn’t want him to know how naked—and vulnerable—she was.
“Great. I’m calling to ask you out to dinner.”
Whatever she’d expected, that had not been it.
“You what? Why?”
“I want to help. And while sex with you is out of the question, maybe a dinner date might move you in the right direction.”
The right direction? Karyn bit back a bitter laugh. At the moment she wasn’t even sure where that was.
Dinner. How in heaven’s name did he think that would help her sexual frustration and inability to trust anyone with her body?
“What’s in this for you?”
“I’d like to make an announcement on the show, nothing specific, just a quick mention that we’re getting you help.”
An attempt to control the unruly mess his show had turned into over the last few days. Maybe if she agreed to this, the fervor over Katy would die down and the entire city would stop talking about her life.
“Why don’t you just say that, anyway? We both know you don’t really want to do this.”
Silence echoed across the line. Karyn wondered where he was. At the station, in his home, naked in his own bed? Screwing her eyes tightly shut, she wiped that mental image right from her brain. At the station. Definitely. His show would start in an hour or so.
“Look, Katy, I have a reputation to uphold. I won’t go on air and lie to my listeners.”
“I won’t tell.”
“Yes, but I’ll know.”
Her mouth opened to tell him, not a snowball’s chance in hell, but she couldn’t force the words out. A few hours from her life. A chance to put the entire situation behind her and maybe get his listeners to do the same. One night had the potential to wipe the slate clean, almost turn back time.
“Fine. But no media. No publicity. I don’t want anyone to know who I am.”
“Agreed.”
Her heart sped up, not with concern, but excitement.
“I’ll
