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uneasy whenever she used anything sharper than a butter knife.
    There had been a period of adjustment, which was only natural when two people were getting used to having each other around, but he was sure it was harder on Serena than it was on him.   Twice during that first week he forgot to scoot his chair in after getting up from the table and still felt guilty as hell that she’d run into it and wound up with a few bruises as a result.   But the one that really made him feel like an inconsiderate jerk was when he left his empty coffee cup sitting beside the sink instead of washing it out and putting it away.  
    How many times had he watched in utter fascination as Serena moved around the kitchen with the confidence of a person who knew exactly what she was doing because she had memorized the precise location of everything in her house?   And yet it hadn’t occurred to him that she wouldn’t expect the cup to be there, or that she would send it flying when her hand swept across the counter.   Will was just coming downstairs to leave for his morning classes when he heard the crash as the cup hit the floor and shattered.   His heart had slammed against his chest when he came racing in to find Serena on her hands and knees, gingerly feeling around for the broken pieces and cutting the tip of her finger in the process.
    He’d crossed the kitchen in three long strides and pulled Serena to her feet , alarmed to see how shaken she was by the incident.   Her entire body was trembling as he led her to the sink and gently washed away the blood while he openly admitted to being an idiot and offered several heartfelt apologies.   After drying the wound , he was relieved to find it was a minor cut , then cursed himself all over again when she refused to let him bandage it because it would inhibit her ability to read.
    “Honestly, I’m fine,” she said with a wobbly smile as she twisted away from the arm he’d looped around her waist.
    That’s when it finally hit him that it wasn’t the mishap with the cup or the cut on her finger that was making Serena so edgy ; it was the fact that he had been touching her.   He knew about the phobia she had developed .  Rose warned him before he moved in, but he foolishly assumed the time he’d spent with Serena had put her at ease with him.   It was a crushing blow to discover he was no closer to gaining her trust than he’d been on the first day he arrived here.
    Will closed his eyes, certain he would drop off to sleep in a matter of minutes , but his mind kept wandering back to that night when Serena hadn’t heard him come into the kitchen and run right into him.   Her soft hands had seared his skin and her mouth had been so close to his, he’d felt the warmth of her breath on his lips.   There had been an awareness of each other as a man and a woman, a connection he believed would continue to grow stronger as they got to know one another better.   At least that’s what Will thought at the time, but now he wondered if he had only imagined it.    
    Rose assured him Serena didn’t remember anything about the night she was attacked, but if that was true then why did she have such a negative reaction to being touched, and why was she plagued with nightmares nearly every night?   He’d heard Serena crying in her sleep more than once , and a few times he’d gone down to check on her but she had usually quieted down by the time he got there.   The one time he mentioned hearing her, she shrugged it off and insisted she never had bad dreams so he hadn’t brought it up again.  
    That’s why he ignored it when the sound of her muted cries drifted up to him, and why he tried to block it out when it went on longer than normal.   But when Serena let out a wail that sounded more like a wounded animal than a human being, he couldn’t bear listening to her suffer any longer.   Will leapt out of bed and yanked on his jeans, his heart thumping erratically as he tore down the