Page 8 of His Jersey Girl

My shoulders relaxed. Years of studying and this jerk acted like I’d bought my certifications out of the back of a truck like I was sure some of my co-workers had. If the client was injured, hopefully he wouldn’t be looking to do anything more than a massage. Depending on the type and location of the injury I would need to carefully tailor our session. “I’ll do my best.”

Seth’s smile made my skin crawl. “You better make him happy. The Destroyer is used to getting what he wants. I’d make sure you do whatever he says.”

My hands trembled at the implied threat, but I refused to let him see how his words affected me. “I’ll do my job.” And that job did not include anything sexual. “Since he’s such a big deal, if he needs something I won’t provide I’m sure someone else will be happy to step in.”

I stuck my chin up trying to show courage I didn’t have. Seth chuckled and shook his head. Fear bubbled in my stomach. Hopefully the Destroyer wouldn’t be as bad as his name implied.

CHAPTER 4

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS IS NOT ACTUALLY EXERCISE.

Gabriel

“What kind of new-age bullshit did you sign me up for, Rocco? I didn’t misalign my fucking chakras, I pulled a goddamned muscle in my back.”

Screaming at my friend through the phone wasn’t the most productive use of my time. With my luck, there was probably someone outside the door listening or even recording me. But between the pain and my frustration, I needed to vent my anger and my usual outlet wasn’t possible in my current condition. When I woke up this morning the muscles in my lower back felt like they’d frozen solid, then shattered into shards of glass. It had taken every ounce of my willpower to get dressed and leave my room.

Missing my morning workout was bad enough, but discovering the sports massage Rocco had booked for me was in the casino spa instead of a physical therapist’s office was unacceptable. The place had crystals hanging off the walls alongside motivational posters for christ’s sake. Even the soft music they were piping into the room was grating on my nerves. Who the hell relaxes to the sound of an electronic flute?

Theoretically, it was possible someone in this place might know what they were doing, so I’d tried to take things in stride. Taking off my shirt to put on their stupid robe had been a torture I’d gritted my teeth through. I’d kept my calm, if skeptical, mindset until the receptionist who brought me to this room all but outright offered to drop to her knees and blow me as an extra service.

My growled ‘No’ had her running out of the room quicker than a scared rabbit. If the thought of getting dressed and going back to my room didn’t cause a cold sweat to break out on my skin, I would have followed her. So instead of soaking in my room’s hot tub, I was leaning against the table trying to move as little as possible while I yelled at my manager.

“I’ve heard from several people she is the best in the city for therapeutic deep-tissue massage.” The laughter in Rocco’s voice made me want to reach through the phone and punch him.

“I have trouble believing that by the look of this place. I need to be functional.” If I didn’t get this muscle spasm relaxed soon, I was going to end up flat on my back for days which would not only screw up my training schedule, it would utterly destroy my plans for getting to know Alyssa better.

“I’ve never seen you so impatient about missing training. Could this have to do with the sweet girl you cuddled last night?”

“Screw you.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Of course it was a yes. If I didn’t show up at the club tonight, she would think I’d ghosted her. Since I had no other way to contact her, I would be going to the club one way or another.

“Why can’t Phil just work his magic?” Phil was the best physical therapist in the league. If I remembered correctly, he was supposed to be here for this sort of thing.

“Phil is at the event in California and doesn’t fly in till next week. He sent over your info to the spa and approved the woman who will be working on you.”

“Christ, Rocco. Unless this woman is as big as I am there is no way she’s going to be able to break up even half the knots in my back.” It wasn’t my first time dealing with this exact injury. It took painful and serious pressure to relieve the tension before I regained any sort of mobility. “This is a complete waste of time!”

“Blame Phil, not me. I simply booked the session.”

A light knock on the door was the signal I was out of time. “Come in!” I grunted. Lowering my voice and turning, I growled into the phone. “Rocco, I am going to get even with you, I swear.”

“Don’t worry, I promise to go to the club for you tonight and tell your sweet Little her big bad Daddy is too old and out of shape to keep up with her.”

“Fuck you.” I hung up the phone to his laughter.

“I’m sorry, do you want me to come back later?”

The woman’s voice was almost a whisper. Yelling at her wouldn’t be productive and could end up in a tabloid. There was no way someone with that timid of a voice could possibly be what I needed right now.

“It’s fine, I was talking on the phone, not to you.”

I stood slowly so I didn’t set off my back. Was there a polite way to tell someone they were wasting their time? I was about to try, but my breath caught in my chest as I recognized the tiny woman at the door. She looked like a different person. The joy I’d found so entrancing last night was gone and replaced with tension. Her dark hair was pulled up into a bun and her wide eyes looked tired as they widened in shock. The shapeless black scrubs she wore did nothing to highlight her body, and yet without any makeup or fancy clothes she was breathtaking.

“Gabriel?” Her head tilted as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing either.

---