Free Phoenix by Amelia Jade Page B

work.
    Uriel would be here before she knew it.

***
    Knock.
    She looked up at the single confident rasp of knuckles upon the glass of her door. Although it had a greenish-blue frosting to it, she could still make out the large outline of what she assumed was Uriel through it.
    A momentary flutter of her heart accompanied the lurching stutter-step as she all but threw herself out of the chair. She reached the door and paused, taking a deep breath to help compose herself before opening it.
    She opened her mouth to say something but Uriel spoke first, confusion on his face.
    “Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn’t mean to bug you. I’m looking for Doctor Hightower? Is he available?”
    She closed the door firmly in his face. Only then did she allow herself to giggle and shake her head at him. Putting on her serious face as best she could, Sydney opened the door again.
    “I’m sorry, Doctor Hightower is busy at the moment, and doesn’t have time for your sorry ass,” she growled, stressing the emphasis of her title.
    “Sorry? I’m not sorry,” he said with a frown.
    “No, but you will be,” she promised, opening the door fully and letting him in.
    “Oooh, you almost sound serious there!” he teased.
    She couldn’t help it, she giggled again. Then she allowed herself to be swept up by him, throwing her arms as far around his broad chest as they could reach.
    “Miss me?” he asked, all teasing gone from his tone.
    She nodded, taking a deep breath and inhaling the slight, natural man scent that all men seemed to have. Her body seemed to melt as she did, and she was positive the only thing keeping her on her feet at that point was the strong arm wrapped tightly around her lower back.
    “Ready to get to work?” she asked after a moment, disentangling herself from him.
    “Almost,” he said, stopping her as she took a step toward the exercise room next door.
    “What is it?” she asked, tilting her head as she looked at him.
    “Can we do this elsewhere?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I want to be outside. It seems to help me. Up here,” he said, tapping the side of his head to explain.
    She frowned in thought. “I suppose we can probably do most of it outside, yes,” she said, nodding her head. “It’ll be trickier, but if you think it’s going to help...” she trailed off.
    “I think my bear needs it. I think it’s been more traumatized about this than I’ve been.”
    She could sense that he wasn’t telling her everything, but he made no move to explain, so she didn’t press him about it. Not yet at least. Sydney specialized in the body, not the mind. Unless it was causing a problem, she was content to let him work on it himself. She would probably do more damage than good.
    “Let me grab my stuff then,” she said, slipping her shoes off and putting on her boots. “I take it you’re good in that?” she asked, gesturing to the very military-looking tactical pants and shirt he wore.
    “Very,” he assured her.
    “Must be nice,” she said, forcing her foot into the soles of her purple winter boots. She caught him eyeing her footwear. “Got a problem?”
    He snickered. “No, not at all. It’s a very, um, unique color.”
    She gave him an unimpressed look. “There’s the door, use it.”
    A loud bark of laughter came from deep within him, and instead of saying anything more Uriel opened the door, holding it so she could exit through it first.
    “How far are we going?” she asked as they wandered through the nearby forest, moving farther and farther away from the building.
    “Enough that I can put the office out of sight and out of mind,” he replied.
    Sydney frowned at the tension evident when he spoke. That wasn’t like him. “Does it bother you that much, being in there?”
    He glanced over at her. “I think so. Not sure why, to be honest. Either way, I felt incredibly relaxed the other day when I was outside at Gabe’s cabin. So I just want to try it here.”
    She shrugged. “That’s fine.