For The One(62)

“Great,” Mia said. Pressing up against him in the doorway, she snagged the phone out of his pocket. “I’ll be right there after I throw this in the pool.”

He laughed and kissed her on the nose. “Don’t be grumpy. It was important. “

“You promised…”

He let out a long sigh. “Okay. Turn it off, then.”

And he didn’t have to tell her twice. She powered down the phone, then slipped it into her bra with a laugh and trotted down the hallway.

“I’m going to enjoy going after that later,” he said, turning to follow her.

I brought up the rear, still marveling at what I’d seen on William’s sketchpad. We were going over to his house after dinner, and I was going to make it my mission to see inside his art studio.

If I could make it out of family interrogation hell....

***

Hours later, William and I were sitting in the middle of the floor on the mat in his gym-slash-living room, ready to take on the art of meditation.

My plan was to get him so relaxed that he’d agree to go to Disneyland with me. I was convinced that if we could conquer the chaos of Main Street USA and penetrate Sleeping Beauty’s castle without having to surrender, we’d have a very good chance of vanquishing William’s phobia of crowds.

“You’re a Dungeons and Dragons player, right?” I asked. “We’re going to approach this like you would a D&D game.” Again with that skeptical look on his face.

I caught a glimpse into his brown eyes that were the color of dark chocolate. He had amazing eyes fringed with dark lashes. Even if he didn’t gaze deeply into mine, they were still enjoyable to look at. In fact, I never stopped appreciating William’s good looks.

“How is this like D&D?”

I shrugged. “Well, you envision what the Dungeon Master is describing to you, right? ‘You enter a room that is so dark you can only see a few feet around each torch. There’s a musty smell in the air and the echoes of water dripping in the distance.’ Et cetera. It’s all about creating the story in your mind as you experience it in your Dungeon Master’s campaign. What we’re going to do is similar to that.”

“Only less fun and without the dice rolling,” he said.

I laughed. “Right. But you can put your D&D skills to work when setting up a way to be in a crowd without allowing it to affect you. Just visualize your preferred scenario, perhaps one where you are a hero fighting off evil.”

His brows knit as he contemplated that, and then I replayed in my mind the words I’d just spoken. “And you know, that’s really true. You really are a hero fighting off the evil ex.” I laughed. “At least in my book, you are.”

He focused intently on my fingers as I traced random shapes on the mat in front of me.

I straightened. “Now…take some deep breaths and relax. Just close your eyes and picture yourself in a room with five other people.”

“What sort of room?”

“It doesn’t matter. Any room. A large room.”

“Okay…the dining room at Adam’s house.”

I inhale, reminding myself to be patient with him. “That will do. You’re there with five other people.”

“Do I have to tell you who they are?”

“No…just picture those people. You’re standing around talking.”

“I really don’t like to stand around and talk.”

Argh. I was starting to get a little hot under the collar. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to relax. “Okay, you’re standing in Adam’s dining room with your hands in your pockets staring creepily at the other people in the room.”

Silence from him. Good. If he’d asked me another question, I would have lost it.

“Okay, now another five people walk into the room.”

“Do I know these people or are they strangers?”

Oh my goddess! I was going to stab him in the eye. “Does it matter?”

“It does to me.”

Of course he would say that. Calm, Jenna. You are in a wide-open field… “Okay…um…you know these people. Now there are ten people in the room.”

“Eleven.”

“What?” I almost shrieked in frustration.

“There are eleven people in the room. Me, plus the original five, that makes six. Then five more. Eleven.” He sounded supremely pleased with himself.

“Okay, whatever. Just focus, Wil. You’re in this room with eleven—I mean, ten other people. How do you feel?”

“I’m okay. The dining room is big. It’s not crowded.”

At last we were getting somewhere. “All right. Now ten more people walk in. There are now…” I fumbled to figure it out.