by Haley Travis
“Actually, your massage is a little different,” he said. “I think you hit that weird spot that’s been tight for a while.”
Reaching under his shoulder again, I nudged along the edge of the scapula to find the point where it still felt pretty tense. “Right here?”
“Mmm hmm,” he murmured.
The feeling of helping a patient was always satisfying, but turning a giant man to jelly from my touch was incredible.
After working the entire area again, I asked, “How does that feel?”
James sat up, rolling both of his shoulders back and stretching his arms in all directions. “Wow. That really does help.”
“Try this.” I showed him a very specific angle to stretch his arm, and the look on his face was priceless. “I can see that hits the spot,” I giggled. “After your other stretches, do that one. And maybe just try it for a minute several times a day, while you’re standing cooking dinner or something.”
His beautiful deep brown eyes locked on mine. “I sometimes do half of my stretches while I’m waiting for dinner to cook, actually.”
“A multitasker. Okay then, use that to your advantage. Do your stretches while you’re watching TV as well.”
“I don’t watch much TV.”
“Online videos. Whatever.”
He nodded, his perfect lips turning up in a slight smile. “For you, little Molly, I’ll try. How about that?”
Spinning away quickly while he laid back down, I pretended to make a note on his file so that he didn’t catch me blushing.
When I turned back, his hands were folded on his stomach and he looked perfectly relaxed. I tried to remain cool and collected as well while I ran my hands over his injured leg.
I could easily feel the area with the metal pins, and where the muscles were damaged. His skin was tough but warm as I moved my fingers over the area, gently digging my thumbs in where the muscles needed to be loosened.
Then I felt him flinch slightly. “Sorry,” I said automatically. “That spot shouldn’t be so tender.”
“Well, the whole leg shouldn’t be so screwed up, but what are you going to do, right?” he muttered.
I was grateful when I could lower my hand from his thigh to work on the knee. Although we were both being completely professional, it felt strangely intimate. I was only touching him where I needed to, but the fact that I was enjoying the exploration of his body so much made it feel wrong, somehow.
Quickly finishing his knee, I started to help him stand.
“I’m fine,” he said. Slipping off the table, he tested his leg with a few bends and stretches. As he grabbed his cane from where he had stashed it in the corner, it seemed like he was walking a little straighter.
As I walked him to the main door, he turned to me with a smile. “Molly, I don’t know what you did, but I swear it feels a bit better.”
“If you do absolutely all of your exercises, I’ll put a gold star on your chart next week,” I grinned.
James surprised me by holding out his hand, shaking mine gently, and holding it longer than I expected. “Thank you, Molly,” he said, looking deeply into my eyes. “You’re very talented, and I appreciate you being a tiny bit of a bully.”
“It’s for your own good,” I smiled. “See you next week.”
I watched as he navigated the step, then turned back to see Allie giving me a thumbs up from the far doorway.
As soon as I rushed over to her, she said, “Linda walked right by when he was thanking you. It’s hard to tell with her, but I think she’s seriously impressed.”
“Thank goodness,” I said.
We went back to her desk and I exchanged his chart for my next patient. For the rest of the day, I couldn’t get that gruff voice out of my mind, and I wished that I was still touching him.
CHAPTER THREE
* James *
Lying on my living room floor the day after I met Molly, I ran through the entire round of exercises she had assigned to me. Strangely, I needed her to be proud of me. Or at least, not disappointed.
The brute force physical therapy in the hospital right after my surgery had been painful and rough, but I knew how to process that. If something hurts, you know it’s working. This new, gentler program with soft-spoken nurses and light stretches had made me feel like a helpless invalid.
Molly had done something that no one else had for months. She made me feel like a man.
She had not pitied me in the slightest. Only focused on the job at hand. That was something I always respected in the military, but never expected in a beautiful young lady who was a caregiver type.
Since the accident, I had been processing a flurry of tangled emotions. Relief that it hadn’t been much worse. Anger that I’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Self-pity. Horrific guilt. Confusion.
The one thing I hadn’t felt in ages was lust.
I’d felt a bit nervous today when she was working on my thigh, since my arousal was quickly becoming visible before she moved down to my knee.
I’d been trying to visualize nasty things to keep it in check, but her soft little fingers were almost too much to take.
By the third day, the second I finished the exercises, I rushed to my desk to open my laptop. I’d been swearing to myself that I would never do this, but I just couldn’t resist any longer. Calling up the clinic’s website, I scanned it, but Molly was not on their staff list.
But I hadn’t seen her there before. Hadn’t she talked about a “new” boss? Searching for other clinics in the area, I saw that one had just closed, but their website was still active.
My eyes almost burned from not blinking until I found her. Molly Stevenson.
I knew it was wrong and creepy, but I searched through a few social media websites until I found her. Most of her page was friends-only, but to my great relief, it didn’t seem that she was married.
From what I could gather from the few photos that were publicly visible, she liked hiking on a forest trail, big family dinners, and a few people that it looked like she had gone to school with. She was absolutely beaming in one photo where they all had their arms around each other. There was a photo of her with two other girls that must have been her sisters.
Everything about her was sweet and pure. Being near her energy was like turning on a light bulb inside me that had been burnt out for...a while.
I’ve never looked forward to a physical therapy session in my life, but I could not wait until Friday morning. I found myself doing the strangest things without even quite realizing why.
I scrubbed both the inside and outside of my truck, just in case she saw it. I got a haircut. I found a much nicer t-shirt and shorts.
For the first time since I was able to walk without crutches, I practiced walking more naturally, straightening up so that I was my full height. Luckily, this fancy cane my brother had found for me had a telescoping base, so I was able to make it two inches longer.
By the time I drove up to the clinic Friday a few minutes early, I was so excited to see Molly I felt like a nervous schoolboy with a huge crush.
Even though I parked around back, this time I went around to walk in the front door. Several of the staff who had worked with me over the past few months gave me a big nod and smile, obviously noticing that I was improving.
Even the pinch-faced woman who ran the clinic looked impressed. Yet I didn’t care about any of them. My eyes were scanning the lobby almost desperately for Molly.
Finally, she came out of the main room, holding the arm of an elderly lady whom she delivered to a waiting gentleman who was probably her husband. “See you next week, Mrs. Lopez,” she said brightly.
The second her eyes turned to me, her smile shifted. Walking straight to me, she tipped up her chin. “You’ve gotten taller, Mr. Little,” she smiled. “Were you a good boy who did all of his exercises this week?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said. “Every one, every single day. I’ll be expecting that gold star on my chart.”
> Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the friendly receptionist nudged the boss, and they both glanced in our direction. Molly’s laugh made everything else disappear as she led me into the back room.
Once again, our session went brilliantly, and this time I forced myself to be more chatty. I mentioned looking forward to taking long, slow walks in the forest someday soon, and her eyes lit up.
“There are amazing hiking trails just a twenty-minute drive from here,” she said excitedly. “I talk my sisters into coming with me sometimes.”
I had to practically bite my lip so that I wouldn’t suggest that I could go with her. Even if I couldn’t walk the full trail yet, I would love to keep her company on the drive.
“You know,” she said, “the shortest trail is wide and flat, so that people can go through with strollers and show their little kids the forest. That would be an amazing trail for you to start on.”
“How about this,” I said. “You tell me when you think I’m ready to go on the kiddie hike, then maybe you could give me directions?”
“Perfect.”
As she ran me through the shoulder stretches, my hand nearly darted out to graze her cheek. Her delicate skin looked so soft that I just had to know what it really felt like. Whoa, dude, hitting on your therapist? It was genuinely possible that I was finally losing my grip on reality after the strangely stressful time I’d been through.
After the stretching and exercises, I managed to keep my focus during the massage, except when she hit that one spot on my leg. Gritting my teeth, I stayed silent, but Molly picked up on my expression.
“Sorry,” she said. “It really shouldn’t be so sore there. I’ll make a note for your doctor to check next time you’re in.”
“Please don’t,” I said quickly. “I can’t stand going for those stupid scans again. I thought that part was finished.”
She looked uncomfortable, her mouth tightening. “If there’s something out of place, I’m supposed to make a note.”
“It’s just a mushy spot,” I tried to smile. “With the whole area healing, it’s going to put pressure in weird places. If it’s not better in a month, maybe we’ll look into it then.”
She wagged a light pink-tipped finger at me. “If you promise to do all of your exercises every single day, I’ll let it go for this week.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I slid off the table, grabbing my cane and following her out to the main room. I could see the receptionist waving to her.
“Have a great week,” I said. “I’m just going to use the washroom before I leave.”
“Good work today,” she said, patting the back of my shoulder gently. “Even though I don’t have real stickers, I’m giving you an imaginary gold star.”
I mimed plucking it out of the air and sticking it on my forehead, making her laugh.
Molly rushed out to reception as I walked slowly to the washroom, trying to move as smoothly and naturally as possible since I could see her boss was watching from the corner.
How strange that my main concern for my health was now completely focused on making Molly look like a champ. Maybe this was some sort of sign that I was ready to put myself out there and date again. Yet now that my crush on Molly was overtaking me, I couldn’t imagine dating anyone else.
CHAPTER FOUR
* Molly *
Allie told me that my next patient had canceled due to a stomach flu, and I was certainly relieved that they didn’t bring that in to share with the entire clinic.
I had a bit of paperwork to file, but since I had half an hour to do ten minutes’ worth of work, I grabbed my phone and darted out to the back parking lot. As I hit the button to call my sister, I saw that my fingers were still fluttering slightly from my session with James.
He was trying so hard, and I had a sneaking suspicion that he was doing it partly for me. I’ve never flirted with a man before, and certainly couldn’t do that with a patient. But I could take a moment to grin to myself about it.
“I’m so glad you called!” Janice squealed the second the call connected.
Her wedding was tomorrow night, and even though it was a very casual affair with less than seventy people or so, she might need to vent a few jitters to her little sister.
“How are you hanging in?” I asked.
“You know, I’m actually completely fine,” she laughed. “The venue called this morning and said that there was a mistake with the tablecloths they ordered. They sent eggshell instead of light cream. I asked her to please relax and just throw them on the tables.”
“You are a dream bride,” I giggled. “I love that you’re not stressed about anything.”
“Well, there is one little thing,” she said slowly.
“Can I help?”
“I just wanted to warn you that Aunt Madison is coming after all.”
It was impossible to stifle the groan that rattled through me. “You have got to be kidding.”
“I know. I’m so sorry – she’s gone back and forth several times, and I thought she canceled for good. But she called Mom and announced that she was definitely coming tomorrow.”
My Aunt Madison was politely described as “eccentric”, but more realistically described as a “pushy bitch” by my sister once we had a glass of wine.
Madison believed that all women should be on the prowl for a rich husband. Until we were married with a house, a car, and expensive furniture, we just weren’t worthwhile people. My mother tried to run interference, but it wasn’t always possible.
Our oldest sister Sandra was already married. Now that Janice was marrying a relatively well-off man, I was the only one left for her to harass.
“There’s plenty of room if you want to bring a date at the last minute,” Janice suggested. “You could ask your friend Kevin.”
“She already knows he’s just a friend,” I said, slumping against the back wall of the clinic . I didn’t mention that I hadn’t really spoken to my old friend from school in ages, since he was obsessed with his new girlfriend. “I can’t go through that again. I can’t.” I felt the back of my head t apping against the bricks behind me i n frustration. “But there’s absolutely no way I could get a date for tomorrow night.”
I was excited for my sister, but the thought of dealing with that woman on my own was too much to take. “Don’t worry,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I’ll just have a little wine and dance with all of the uncles.”
“I’m sorry, I have a call on the other line,” Janice said quickly. “I’ll call you back tonight.”
“Okay. Take care.”
If I hadn’t been wearing my white jacket, I might have thrown myself down in the gravel parking lot and moped like a child. My two closest friends moved away after college, both of my sisters were starting families and would be busy all the time, and I was left alone. As always, I’d get through it, but I needed to wallow in self-pity for a solid thirty seconds.
“Molly?”
I jumped, straightening up at the sound of the deep voice. James was staring at me, looking worried. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re lying,” he said gently, coming closer with a slight smile. “Can I help with anything?”
I shook my head, the breeze ruffling my hair. “Thanks, but no.”
“May I ask what it is, so I know whether I should worry about you or not?”
Somehow the thought of him worrying about me filled me with…something. Something nice. A flicker of warmth. I knew it wasn’t professional to vent to a patient, but the words tumbled out anyway.
“My sister’s wedding is tomorrow night, and my incredibly judgmental aunt is going to be there, and since I’m not married to a rich professional type, I’m a worthless spinster in her eyes, and she’s going to give me an earful all night long so I won’t even enjoy the party. She’d canceled, so I thought I was safe going without a date, but now she’s coming again.”
“If you had a date, would you enj
oy the night more?”
“Yeah.” Straightening up, I smoothed down my hair. “But that’s okay. It’s Janice’s special night, so I’ll keep a smile on my face no matter what.”
Looking up into those deep brown eyes, I slowly realized what James was about to say as he opened those sultry lips. “I could stand in as your date.”
“I…Oh. Really?”
He cautiously stepped closer. “Listen, Molly, you’ve really started to pull me out of the dark hole I was sinking into. I can’t possibly thank you enough for that.” His smile was making my stomach tighten strangely. “I was thinking about bringing you chocolates or something, but if it would help you out, I would be happy to be your date.”
