Exposure Read Online Free

eyes, and knew that I couldn’t have him thinking the worst about me. He couldn’t start to think about me the same way that I thought about myself.
    “Brooklyn,” he said, suppressing a smile. “We’re a good ways away from there right now.”
    I shook my head. “Not far enough. And, besides, there are others out there like this bad person. They might be waiting for me outside.”
    He nodded his head. “Okay, now, perhaps I can make you feel safer. I have a Black Belt in Karate. I can defend you against any attack. I know that you don’t really know me, but I hope that you feel that you can trust me. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
    Those words rang through in my ears. I won’t let anything bad happen to you. I looked into those blue eyes, and I knew that I could trust him. Now, if I could only learn to trust myself.
    “Okay,” I said. “Let’s go outside.”
    We stepped outside, and the evening was cool and mild. There were familiar sounds on the sidewalk, and the sounds that I heard felt comforting. The sounds of cars driving on the slick roadway, as it had apparently rained earlier. The sounds of barking dogs and people chatting on cell phones.
    Still, I felt that I couldn’t step any further than the sidewalk right in front of his building. My legs felt as if they were made of lead. I tried to ignore the pounding of my heart and I willed my legs to keep me up. Just keep standing, CJ, and keep breathing. Just keep standing and keep breathing. All at once, I wasn’t aware of where I was. I wasn’t aware of Asher’s presence beside me, or of the traffic on the street or other sounds. I started to feel as if the world was spinning off its axis, and I was in danger of hurtling helplessly through space.
    I finally came back to reality, and I looked at my tremulous hands, which were gripping Asher’s own. It looked as if I was going to cut off his circulation. I looked at his face, and he showed no sign of impatience or pity. Just a look of understanding. He nodded his head at me. “How are you feeling?”
    “I, I, I don’t know. I mean, I’m still standing, so that’s a good sign, isn’t it?” I looked down the street. “How far is it to this place?”
    “Two blocks,” he said. “Now, we can stand here for as long as you want. You might want to just stand there for a few minutes and try to calm yourself if you start to feel panicky again. It might help you to know that the building is so close, so you have safety at hand.”
    I looked at the door of his building, and realized that Asher was right. Since the safety of the indoors was so close, I was able to calm myself within a few minutes. I finally nodded. “Okay, I’m ready to walk to this place. I think.” I tried desperately to quell the feeling of dread that was bubbling up at the thought of leaving the safety of Asher’s building far behind.
    I put one foot in front of the other slowly. I tried not to turn around and see Asher’s building fading into the background as we got further and further away from it. All I tried to concentrate on was putting one foot in front of the other.
    We got about fifty feet away from the building, when Asher stopped and looked at me. “Okay, CJ, how are you feeling?”
    I nodded my head and said nothing. I finally just croaked out “okay, let’s keep going.” I was feeling a mixture of panic, encouragement and adoration for this gorgeous man. Two of the emotions were extremely positive, so they almost outweighed the extremely negative emotion of panic.
    Almost.
    I ignored my pounding heart and shaking limbs as we eventually made our way to the restaurant in question. We walked in and were immediately showed to a table. Both of us sat down, and Asher inquired about what I wanted to drink. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a neat martini. How about you?”
    “Um, yes, that sounds good. Get one for me as well.”
    With a smile, he asked the waitress to bring two neat Tanqueray