Out of Alignment (Hearts & Horsepower #5)

by A. K. Evans

  “You don’t even know him. How can you say that?”

  Kaia’s eyes ran down the length of my body before she said, “Because you look smoking hot. There’s no sane, single man that would take one look at you and be the slightest bit annoyed that you interrupted his time with his buddies.”

  “There’s no proof he’s single,” I countered, even though I knew I was grasping at straws just to avoid doing what I wanted to do so badly.

  Nash had approached me at the laundromat. Sure, he could have just been a nice guy who wanted to help out a frustrated woman. I felt that if that were the case and he had a girlfriend, he wouldn’t have taken to folding my clothes that included my undergarments. And he probably wouldn’t look at me the way he does that makes me feel like he’s looking right into my very soul. That just wasn’t normal. There was also the fact that he’d told me earlier today that he didn’t have anyone at home who could help him out with his psoas. Even if he had a girlfriend that didn’t live with him, I’d like to think that if one existed, she’d still be able to help him.

  “You could ask him,” Kaia suggested.

  I was burning up as I stared at him. So, I lifted my glass to my lips, sucked my drink back, and slammed the glass down on the bar. Then I took Kaia by the hand and ordered, “Nope. We’re going to dance.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Holding tight to my sister’s hand, I led her through the crowd of people toward the dance floor. Once we were there, I let go. I needed to just let go for a little while. So, I closed my eyes and just listened to the music. I let it seep in, oblivious to the words, and simply allowed it to consume me. My body moved effortlessly, and as the music changed from one song to the next, I didn’t stop. When it changed again, I still didn’t stop. And for the first time in a really long time, I enjoyed being completely free and out of my comfort zone.

  Dancing in the middle of a crowded saloon was not the typical behavior of Parker Banks.

  Nope.

  I was always the girl that stayed in control and held the reins tight.

  But right now, I wanted nothing more than to be the girl who could just go with the flow and take each moment as it came. I wanted to be spontaneous.

  And the second that thought filtered into my mind, I realized I couldn’t just think about it being that way. I needed to put that plan into action.

  Maybe it was against my better judgment and everything I was, but I chanced a glance in Nash’s direction. What I saw was not what I had expected to see.

  He was still in the same spot he’d been in before I made my way out to the dance floor. The only difference now was that his eyes were pinned on my body. And they were saying everything words would never be able to communicate.

  I licked my lips.

  Nash’s eyes drifted up my body and landed on my face. Quickly trying to cover the fact that he’d been checking me out, he offered a friendly smile and a wave.

  Seeing him do that should have squelched any desire I had been feeling. He’d been looking at me in a very not innocent way until he realized I was watching him. Then he tried to play it off as nothing more than seeing an old friend.

  No way.

  He had been checking me out.

  I wasn’t letting him take that away from me.

  Not today.

  “Are you okay, Park?” my sister’s voice filtered into my ears and pulled me just slightly out of my daze.

  Not taking my eyes off him, I answered, “Yeah.”

  “I need to pee,” she declared. “And we could use another round.”

  Nodding, my focus still on the gorgeous man, I absentmindedly replied, “Okay. You do that while I go over and talk to Nash.”

  “You’re going to go talk to him?”

  I dipped my chin again.

  In the next instant, I felt her palm at the base of my spine, giving me a gentle nudge forward. “Go,” she urged. I could hear the excitement in her voice, and it only served to propel me quickly in his direction.

  My eyes never left him, and his eyes remained on me. When it dawned on him that I was coming toward him, Nash stood up to greet me.

  Only, that was when I made the biggest mistake of my life.

  “Hey, Dr. Ba—”

  I cut him off by pressing one finger against his lips. Maybe it was my desperate need to touch him, maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was something else altogether. But I pressed my body into his, leaned my face forward, and rasped, “It’s Parker.”

  Nash’s eyes searched my face in silence before he gave me a gentle nod. “Parker,” he returned, a husky edge to his voice.

  I was acutely aware of his hand on my hip, and that mixed with the sound of his voice saying my name made me feel powerful. Or, perhaps it was powerfully stupid. Unfortunately, in my inebriated state, I couldn’t decipher which it was.

  “How’s it going, Nash?” I asked as one of my hands wrapped around the back of his arm while the other had drifted away from his lips and down to settle on his chest.

  “I’m good, Parker,” he answered. “Are you okay?”

  I liked that.

  I liked it a lot.

  After biting my lip, I shot him a devious look and shared, “I like hearing you say my name.”

  His eyes widened. “I think you’re smashed,” he pointed out.

  Maybe I was. I didn’t care. And that’s when I said the most ridiculously humiliating thing that could have ever come out of my mouth.

  I shook my head and replied, “No. But maybe you could take me home, and we could smash.”

  His fingers tightened on my hip.

  “That’s not going to happen,” he said. His eyes, which had been filled with longing, and his voice that had been teetering on the edge of desire was now filled with a bitterness I hadn’t even felt the night at the laundromat.

  Suddenly, I was very, very sober.

  My body went rigid at his tone, and I took half a step back. Horrified, I swallowed hard and stammered, “I’m… I’m so sorry. I’ve… oh God… I’ve got to go.”

  I started to walk away when I felt his fingers wrap around my wrist. “Parker, wait,” he pleaded.

  I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t face him.

  Oh, God. What had I done?

  Foolishly, I looked back at him, felt my face burn with embarrassment, and ordered, “Let me go.”

  It came out harsh and very nasty, but I couldn’t help it. I was too humiliated.

  Nash immediately released me. Then I turned and moved as quickly as I could away from him and in the direction where I knew I’d find my sister.

  “Parker!” a familiar voice called out.

  I looked to my right, saw Kaia, and she instantly knew something was wrong. Not wasting a moment, she took charge. She closed the distance between us, took me by the hand, and led me out of Lou’s.

  And by the time our ride had dropped us off back at my house, I was barely holding on to my emotions. The moment we stepped through the front door, I collapsed into a fit of tears in my sister’s arms.

  “Hey, Nash, who was that?”

  Scarlet’s voice had penetrated the lust-filled fog I’d been in for the last half hour. Unfortunately, despite the fact that Ryker’s fiancée was seeking answers, I couldn’t move, let alone speak.

  I was still pinned to the spot, watching her walk away.

  Fuck.

  This was not what I’d had in mind when I told myself I needed to find some way to relieve the tension I’d been feeling.

  It happened so fast.

  One minute I was sitting there with Logan, Knox, Ryker, and Kieran while Kendall, Avery, Scarlet, and Elise were out on the dance floor, and the next minute my eyes landed on her.

  I already thought she was beautiful, but seeing her there, dancing, moving her body, and wearing that dress, there was no longer any question about it. She was exquisite.

  From the minute I spotted her, I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off her. Aside from her obvious beauty,
I was drawn to seeing her like she was when she was out there. Carefree and having fun. She was showing me that she was precisely what I had hoped I’d find when I first approached her at the laundromat. And now it was nice to know she wasn’t the uptight and bitchy woman she’d shown me that night.

  But as relaxed as she’d been when she was dancing, what just happened now was completely unexpected.

  Maybe you could take me home, and we could smash.

  Fuck.

  There was nothing I wanted more than to take her up on her offer. But I couldn’t do it. It was clear to see she’d had too much to drink. I couldn’t take advantage of that. I wouldn’t.

  And it made me angry.

  For two weeks now, I’d been struggling not to act on how she made me feel. I’d been trying to be respectful because she probably had some code of ethics to uphold… something about the doctor and patient relationship. I wouldn’t have cared about that. If she had given me any indication it was okay to take that step, I would have done it without a second thought. Hell, I could have possibly had her in my bed tonight instead of needing to come out in hopes that I’d find a way to distract myself from the constant thoughts of her.

  But she didn’t. She kept it completely professional until now. And I guess this was the right place to do it. Unfortunately, taking advantage of a woman who’d had entirely too much to drink wasn’t my style. I wanted her, especially after seeing her move in that dress, but I had limits.

  “Nash?” Elise called.

  I turned back toward my friends and took in their questioning faces. Well, all of them had been questioning except for Kieran. He knew who she was because he’d taken me to her office for my first visit the day I injured myself.

  He must have realized I was struggling because he spoke for me. “That was his doctor,” Kieran announced to the group.

  “Doctor?” Avery repeated.

  “Dr. Parker Banks,” Kendall declared. “She’s the chiropractor.”

  “She seemed upset when she ran away,” Knox noted. “Is everything okay?”

  I shook my head.

  “What happened?” Logan asked.

  Somehow, I found my voice and blurted, “I turned her down.”

  I didn’t mean to share it like that. Hell, I wasn’t sure it was smart to say anything at all. But I was still so rocked by what she said to me that I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly.

  “You turned her down?” Ryker asked. “What do you mean? Why would you do that?”

  “She’s hammered,” I explained, unable to say the word smashed. I knew if I did, I’d only think about her hopeful eyes staring up at me, pleading with me to take her up on her offer. Had I been wrong? What if that was the only offer she gave me?

  “Oh no,” Elise murmured.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nash, she just put herself out there, and you turned her down,” Avery began. “She’s humiliated.”

  I looked in the direction of where Parker had gone.

  I like hearing you say my name.

  I couldn’t say I didn’t understand how she felt, considering I loved hearing her say my name, too.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Kendall warned, interrupting my thoughts.

  “What?”

  “You can’t go after her now,” Elise answered.

  “Why not? I didn’t mean to make her feel bad,” I told the group. “I should go apologize and explain.”

  “Nope. You should not do that now,” Logan advised.

  “But—”

  “She’s probably already in a car on the way home right now anyway,” Kieran said.

  Damn.

  I sat back down and looked around at my friends. All of them had found love. I was the third wheel now. I was beyond happy for all of them, but I wanted that, too. Coming here tonight had been foolish. I wasn’t going to find what I wanted here.

  Part of that was because this wasn’t the place for it, but mostly it was because I hadn’t been able to think about anyone but Parker for two weeks now.

  “What should I do?” I asked.

  “Do you have another appointment with her?” Kendall asked.

  “Monday,” I answered.

  “Talk to her then,” Knox suggested. “It’ll just be the two of you.”

  I wasn’t exactly sure that would work. Initially, I’d been the one to demand that my visits to her office were purely professional. Unfortunately, as time went on, I never indicated that I’d be okay with changing that. Of course, I wasn’t convinced that Parker would have been okay with it. I mean, it wasn’t until tonight that she urged me to call her by her first name.

  Suddenly, this wasn’t where I wanted to be.

  “I’ve got to go,” I muttered as I pushed back in the seat to stand up again.

  “Don’t go,” Elise pleaded.

  I stood and said, “Sorry. I need to get home.”

  “If you need us, call,” Ryker offered.

  Nodding, I returned, “Thanks, guys.”

  With that, I walked away and left. Part of me had been hoping that Parker hadn’t left, and I’d find her still in the saloon somewhere, but she wasn’t.

  Disappointed with myself for not handling her better than I did, I got in my truck and drove home. Then I spent the remainder of the weekend trying to keep myself busy without overdoing it. My back wasn’t feeling one hundred percent yet, so I still needed to be careful.

  And though I wasn’t interested in halting my progress or heading back to square one, the idea of more time with Parker was a pleasant one. I just hoped that when Monday rolled around, I wouldn’t get a call from her office, attempting to cancel my appointment.

  I barely slept all weekend.

  And now, when the evidence of that was written all over my face and felt in my body, I had to face the music. I had to get myself out of bed so I could get ready for work.

  My nerves were shot. The only thing I knew for certain was that things were only going to get worse as the day went on.

  I’d humiliated myself in the worst way imaginable, and now I was going to have to see the man.

  I was so worked up about all of it because not only did I have to face Nash today, but Kaia left to go back to California last night. Even though she spent the rest of her time here trying to comfort me and make me feel better about the whole situation, I still wished she hadn’t needed to leave. I was convinced that by the end of the day, I’d be in tears again and needing my sister.

  I would have been lying if I didn’t admit that a small part of me hoped that Nash would think that things were too awkward now and that he wouldn’t show up for his appointment. In fact, I’d have been okay without him even calling to cancel it. Normally, we required twenty-four-hour notice of cancellations, but I wouldn’t even charge him the cancellation fee.

  Of course, my need to avoid this whole situation like some infectious disease hadn’t rendered me heartless. I still wanted Nash to get the treatment he needed. I was more than willing to provide him with a referral to another chiropractor that could get him back to being one hundred percent. Given the way things had been going for me lately, I was willing to bet that I wouldn’t get that lucky.

  Nope.

  If things were going to continue the way they had been for me, I was convinced Nash would show up, he’d do it on time, and he wouldn’t want to go anywhere. And then I’d be expected to not only do the spinal manipulation for him, but I’d also have to help him out with his psoas. Maybe, just maybe, I’d be able to suck it up for the spinal adjustment. I mean, he’d be on the table facedown or on his side. It was rare for me to make eye contact during any of those adjustments, even when my patients were on their backs, and I adjusted their necks. But if I had to do the psoas muscle, there would be no way to avoid making eye contact with him.

  And my hands would be so close to his manhood… the very thing I’d openly admitted I wanted access to over the weekend.

  The thought of this scenario being the one
that would win out was making me feel queasy. How was I going to do this? I honestly didn’t know if I was going to survive seeing him today.

  Taking in a deep breath, I realized I didn’t have much choice. It was getting later, and I needed to get ready. I still had a slew of patients that weren’t Nash coming in to see me today. I couldn’t very well cancel all of them because I made a fool of myself two days ago.

  Without any other options besides living on the edge for the better part of the day, I threw the covers back from my body and got out of bed. Then I got myself ready, had some breakfast, and left for work.

  As soon as I parked my car outside the office, my phone chimed, indicating I’d received a text. Picking it up, I saw that Kaia had reached out to me.

  Kaia: I’m thinking about you today. Good luck!

  Me: Thanks. I’m going to need it.

  Kaia: You’ll be fine. Call me later. I want to know how it goes.

  Me: I will. Love you.

  Kaia: Love you too!

  When I walked into the office a minute later, I saw Trisha was already hard at work.

  “Good morning, Trisha,” I greeted her.

  “Good morning, Dr. Banks,” she returned. “How was your weekend?”

  Don’t react. Don’t react. Don’t react.

  I wasn’t going there.

  “Kaia came in to visit for the weekend, so it was really nice to spend some time with her,” I replied. Technically, I wasn’t lying. I just wasn’t going to give Trisha the full truth about my embarrassing weekend. “Did you have a good weekend?”

  “I did. I’ve been spending so much time outside since the weather is getting nicer,” she shared.

  “Yeah, I should probably try to start doing that, too,” I noted. “How’s it going here this morning? Is the schedule full today?”

  I wanted to get information from her, particularly about Nash, without it seeming obvious.

  “Well, I haven’t gotten through everything just yet, but I did listen to all the voicemails,” she started. I braced myself. Was she going to tell me that Nash called and canceled his appointment? Half a second later, she continued, “I had two people looking to schedule appointments and one person scheduled for tomorrow that needs to reschedule. As of right now, today is full, so I’ll see if I can’t get the new patients in later in the week.”