by Lucia Jordan
In the hours in which she found herself awake, she contemplated just about every angle there could have possibly been involving Trevor. It simply could not happen. He was rich, famous and didn’t want anyone as simple as her. That really wasn’t the main thing that was holding her back. The main thing was that if she got serious with Trevor, it meant she had to do one thing she wasn’t sure she could do. Trust him.
***
Lacey sat at her desk, updating patient files and progress reports. When she looked at the clock she realized that is was 1:20. Trevor’s therapy began at 1:30. Early on she’d made up her mind to put the kiss behind her. It hadn’t meant anything. Trevor could have any woman he wanted. He sure as hell wasn’t going to settle for her.
“Time to pull the big girl panties up,” she muttered as she prepared to leave her office. The flashing email icon on her screen reminded her that she’d received one nearly a week ago and had forgotten all about it. She rarely checked her mail, but for some reason she felt she needed to this time.
Using the mouse, she clicked on the envelope and waited for her mailbox to open. When it did, she saw a message from an unfamiliar address. She hovered her pointer over it for a few seconds before opening it. She had no idea what she was getting herself into, but she wished more than anything she’d never opened that email.
Lace,
I miss you. No matter how far you run from me, we will be together again, soon. I love you and want to make things right.
Always my love,
Robert.
Lacey’s breathing became shallow and her eyes watered. It couldn’t be. How had he gotten her email address?
Pulling a spare phone out of her top desk drawer, she hid her number and quickly dialed a familiar number. It rang twice before a woman’s voice answered on the other line.
“Hey Momma,” she said.
“Hi baby girl,” her mom said cheerfully. “It’s so good to hear from you. How are you doing? Is the weather nice where you are?”
Lacey flinched. When she’d left Kansas she hadn’t told her parents where she was going, only that she would be fine and check in. That’s how it had remained for the past three years. Sure, at first they’d pressed her for her location, but she’d refused to give it to them. If they really wanted to find her, they could. It wasn’t that hard. But with her dad’s salary at the mill and her mom’s teaching job, they didn’t have the funds to track her down. Finally, after realizing they weren’t going to get any information out of her, they’d stopped pressing for her location.
“I’m fine, Momma. Hey, did you give Robert my email address?” She drummed her fingers nervously on the top of her desk.
There was a long silence on the other end.
“Momma?” she pressed.
Her mom huffed out a breath of air. “He misses you, baby. He’s really sorry about what he did and he wants to make it up to you. Just give him a chance,” she said in one long breath.
Lacey could hardly believe what she was hearing. The sting of betrayal from her own mother hurt deeper than anything.
“Give him a chance? Are you kidding me right now?” she screeched into the phone.
“Baby, he’s real sorry.”
“Momma! It’s not like he cheated on me.”
“I know and he’s been getting help.”
“HELP?! He’s been getting help? Momma, he’s a sick man. There is no help for him.”
“Lacey I raised you better than that. I’ve dealt with your flightiness over the years, but it is time you grew up and came home.”
Frustration blossomed in Lacey’s chest but she clamped down on her tongue. “Does Daddy know you gave him my email?”
“No,” came her mother’s clipped tone. “And you’d best not tell him either.”
Lacey made a snorting sound. “Momma. I don’t want Robert in my life. Tell him to leave me alone. I am home and I’m not coming back to Kansas.”
“Don’t talk to me like that young lady.”
She wasn’t about to be cowed by her mother. “Do. Not. Give. Him. Anything. Else,” she said in a clipped tone. “If I hear from him again, this will be the last time you hear from me, but not before I tell Daddy what you’ve been up too.”
“But …” her mom sputtered.
“I mean it Momma. Stay out of it or I’ll fall so far off the grid you’ll never know what happened to me.”
That was the last thing she said as she disconnected the call and threw the phone back in the drawer. She let out a frustrated cry and squeezed her eyes tightly together. Tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto the papers she’d been working on. The ghosts of her past were sneaking back in, and just when things in her life were finally on the right track.
“Damn it.” She sighed. She scrubbed the heels of her hands against her eyes. It was a good thing she hadn’t put make-up on this morning.
She looked up at the clock. It was already 1:35. “Fudge,” she said as she gathered her things and rushed from her office.
When she got to the gym, she found Trevor tying his shoes. He looked up and greeted her with a bright smile, but the smile immediately faded. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he climbed to his feet and pushed the hair out of his eyes.
“Nothing,” she said with a slight sniff. She adverted her gaze and began to gather the weights she’d planned on using. “Okay, since you are doing so well I thought we could start …”
He was standing in front of her and his arms reached out and clutched her firmly by the shoulders.
“Lacey? What’s the matter?”
There was no way in hell she was going to tell him what was bothering her. It simply wasn’t going to happen. She’d much rather focus on something else.
Finally she looked up, her blue gaze meeting his green one head on. “There was a slight family issue. It’s been taken care of. That’s all you need to know. Now, I want you to start with the weighted ball and slowly go into the throwing motion. Don’t over exert or use too much force, but I want to check your range of motion and see how your muscles are holding up.”
She didn’t give him a chance to respond. There was no need for him to. It was none of his business what had happened or what was happening in her life, because he was a patient, and that was all.
Their session was quiet. Lacey was lost in thought as Trevor went through with his therapy. She went easy on him simply because she couldn’t get her mind off of Robert’s email. Was he really going to come after her? Would he be able to find her? She shuddered. She sure as hell hoped not.
“You did well today,” she said as he Trevor his shoulder out.
“Thanks.”
“You said you found a massage therapist to help you?”
He nodded, his blond hair falling over his sweat dampened forehead. “I did. I have an appointment for tonight. My manager talked to the owner and they agreed to let me come in after hours since the media seems to be all over the place.”
Lacey sat on the bench and leaned forward, resting her forearms on her knees. She studied her hands without really seeing them. “That must suck after a while,” she said thoughtfully.
“Yeah. It does. I came from a small town in Nebraska. I’m not used to a lot of attention.”
“I don’t like attention either,” she muttered.
“Is that why you’re having a tough day? Because of attention?”
“Where at in Nebraska are you from,” she said, blatantly dodging his question.
He snickered. “A little town called Wymore.”
Lacey’s eyes grew wide and she whipped her head around. “You are not!”
“Yeah. Pretty sure I am. Why?”
“Because I’m from Marysville Kansas.”
Trevor smiled. “Well isn’t it a small world.”
She shrugged. “I guess.”
Well, things made a little more sense. That would explain why he looked like an all-American boy next door, because he practically was. You can’t grow up in a small t
own like Wymore and not be a country boy. What was even more ironic was the fact that, apparently, they’d only lived about thirty minutes apart, just across the state line.
“How long have you played ball?” she asked.
“I played all throughout high school, but I’ve only been in the majors for about two and a half years now.”
That would explain why she hadn’t heard anything. She’d already left her hometown at that point, so she didn’t know any of the news. Even though they’d lived close together, they were still thousands of miles apart. There was enough of an age difference between them that they wouldn’t have crossed paths. She’d been in Elementary school when he was a senior.
“Well, I need to get going,” she said. The silence between them was making her uncomfortable, even if it was only a thirty second lapse.
“Lacey?”
She turned and found him standing and staring at her. Her heart fluttered and, when he smiled, her core began to throb.
“Yeah?”
“It’s not worth it.”
She frowned, confused by what he was saying. “What do you mean?”
“Whatever it is that made you cry. It’s not worth it.”
His words touched her, but the only thing she could do was offer him a sad smile.
***
The rest of the day flew by. Lacey reached the massage clinic just a little past five. She was having a late day since her physical therapy was running late.
“Hey, Ali,” she said with more cheer than she felt.
“Hey girl. You only have one appointment tonight,” Ali said, looking up from her computer.
“What? I had at least five booked two days ago.”
“Grace just had me move all your clients to a different day.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” She frowned.
Ali just lifted her shoulder and snapped her chewing gum. “I don’t know.”
Lacey made her way to Grace’s office and rapped her knuckles on it twice, sharply.
“Yeah?” came a sharp reply from the other side.
“Hey,” Lacey said, poking her head through the door. “What’s up with my clients?”
“Oh, I’m glad you’re here. Come in, come in. I had a special request for you. Apparently it was doctor’s orders and he paid handsomely to have us close down early tonight. As in closing down in thirty minutes early.” Grace’s face practically glowed with excitement as she perched her ample hips on the corner of her desk.
While Grace was excited, a knot was forming in the pit of Lacey’s stomach. She had a feeling she knew who the client was.
“Do you have the name of this client?”
Grace nodded her head and it was all Lacey could do to keep from rolling her eyes at the high school antics of her boss. “Trevor Barns,” she finally gushed.
Lacey nodded. “I see.”
Grace’s smile fell. “You see? That’s all you have to say. A star athlete specifically asks for you to be his therapist and all you can say is ‘I see’?”
Lacey lifted a shoulder, casually acting as if she was completely unphased. She wasn’t though. Her insides were churning and her heart was racing. She was pretty sure her panties were growing damp at just the thought of Trevor lying on her table. “I’ve already been dealing with him,” she said casually.
“Well, this isn’t just a massage therapy. He has paid for a full massage.”
“A full massage?” Lacey squeaked. Images of Trevor laying on her table were already in her mind, now him lying on her table barely covered with a thin sheet was taking over. Good grief. She was going to die by the end of the day.
“Do I have a choice in this?”
Grace looked at her as if she’d sprouted another head. “No, it’s not an option, but why in the hell would you want another option?”
“No reason. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay. You can lock up tonight.”
“Will do.”
Lacey was in her room, going through her routine. She’d changed from her hospital scrubs into a pair of blue yoga capris and a racer back fitted tank top. Since they were all about their clients being comfortable, Grace felt that her employees should be comfortable as well. So as long as the outfit did not give the wrong impression, the girls were allowed to wear whatever it was they were comfortable in.
Lacey wound her hair into a sloppy bun on top of her head and pulled on a pair of socks. The next part of her routine was getting the room ready. She turned on calming music and moved about lighting scented candles that helped calm people’s nerves. Unfortunately, neither the music nor the candles were doing anything to calm her frayed nerves.
In a few short minutes Trevor was going to be on her table. The only thing she’d been able to focus on was the way his lips felt as they moved against hers. There wasn’t going to be much between them and that was going to be extremely dangerous.
A knock slammed through her thoughts, causing her to yelp and nearly climb out of her skin. “Come it,” she called with more bravado than she felt.
The door opened and she held her breath.
Trevor poked his head through the opening and smiled at her. “Hey,” he said brightly as he stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind him. The soft click of the latch catching sounded like shotgun fire in Lacey’s ears. She was confined in a small space with a man that she was wildly attracted too.
Just breathe. He’s not Robert. He’s not going to hurt you.
“Hey,” she finally answered back awkwardly.
“Sorry about paying everyone to leave, but people are all over and it’s so hard to get privacy.”
“No. It’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting your massage therapist to be, ya know, me.”
His face deflated a bit. “Is that a problem? If it is I can ask one of the other girls. I just figured that it would be easier than having to explain everything to someone new.”
Well, that made sense. She couldn’t fault him with that logic. “You could have told me.”
“I tried to, but…well, with what happened, I didn’t want you to think I was being weird.”
She laughed. This guy was seriously too good to be true. Which, in her experience, was something that simply did not happen. If it was too good to be true, then it usually was.
“Don’t worry about that,” she said casually, shrugging it off and playing cool. “It happened.”
“It did. I promise to be on my best behavior, but to be honest I just need the whole package because of the workouts. It’s been a while and I’m a little sore. I promise that’s all it is for.”
She was thankful for his explanation. It had looked a bit odd but, standing in front of him, she could see the sincerity in his eyes. He was strange, but she found herself feeling at ease with him.
She nodded. “Okay. Go behind the screen and strip down. There is a clean robe hanging on the wall. Slip it on and when you come back out we’ll get started.”
“I can do it.”
He disappeared behind the screen and she finished her prep work. She had to treat Trevor like any other client. Sure, they’d kissed, but it was an accident. It wouldn’t happen again, especially after she’d spazzed and ran out on him.
He walked out and stood beside the table. “Okay. I am quite vulnerable here. What’s next?”
“I’ll turn around and hold up the sheet. I want you to climb on the table and lay flat on your stomach. We’ll start out by working on your shoulders, neck and back. Then I’ll moved down to work on your hamstrings and calves.”
He nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
He began to shrug out of his robe, barely giving her enough time to get the sheet lifted and her head turned. She wasn’t naive as far as the male form went, but she still struggled to be comfortable with it. Especially after being raised to believe that it was naughty to have sex and look at a member of the opposite sex.
“Are you all set?” She chuckled as she listened to him squirm and grunt a
s he tried to get comfortable.
“All set,” he echoed back.
She draped the sheet over his posterior. If she did her job right she wouldn’t see any of his manly parts. At the same time, her inner voice groaned with disappointment. Neatly, she rolled the sheet down to just below the cleft in the small of his back.
Walking over to the wall, she turned the switch and dialed down the lights. She moved back to the side of the table.
“Okay, in order for me to do my job, you are going to have to tell me if I begin to hurt you. If I am going too deep…”
He snickered.
She rolled her eyes but found herself laughing in spite of herself. “Really?” She chuckled.
“Hey, I’m a guy. My mind automatically goes there.”
“Fine, I’ll give you that. Anyway. There are going to be a few spots I’m going to get into pretty deep. I can tell just by looking at you, you’re all in knots.”
“I trust you,” he said as he turned his head and pillowed his cheek on the backs of his hands. Again, the sincerity in his eyes was there, causing her heart to squeeze. Why was it so easy for him to trust? Had he never been hurt?
“O—okay. Hands to your sides and relax.”
As he adjusted, she poured a quarter size amount of oil in her hands and began to rub them together to activate the ingredient to cause it to warm. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her slicked palms to his shoulders and slowly began the massage.
Slowly she allowed her mind to clear and let her hands do their job. Over the hills and valleys of his back and shoulders she rubbed, the oil gliding and causing his skin to glisten. Ever so slowly she kneaded his arms and back, moving lower and lower. The tight sinew in his arms stiffened under her hands as she worked with the skin.
Moving around, she stood above his head and began to fan her hands out over his upper shoulders in slow circular motions. As the muscles shifted and rolled under her hands she closed her eyes. She didn’t have to see what she was doing. As she continued to work, the heat of his skin radiated into the palms of her hands, sending warmth up her arms and through her chest. She imagined his large hands moving over her, massaging her skin, rubbing her in ways that would make her body hum.
