Page 88 of Extended Bridge

I giggle.

I feel him smile. “What’s that for?”

Tracing his tattoos, I reply, “You lived up to your hype.”

“You more than surpassed yours.” He rubs his nose against my cheek. “I did get five orgasms out of you.”

Can’t deny the truth. “You did. Not sure how.”

Behind me, his body swells. “It was us.”

His statement hangs in the air, then alights in my heart. I twist so we’re facing each other. “We’re blessed.”

He pushes the hair away from my face. “I’ve never thought of that word as applying to my life. Ever.” With a gentle touch, he kisses my lips. “But with you—us—I think you may be right.”

I clasp his hand. “Oh, Bennett, you’re blessed in so many ways. Maybe not with your family, but with your band of brothers. With Luke. And Jeb and Nese and Danny the bus driver and everyone associated with UC. You’re surrounded by so many blessings. Even the fact that you were able to hire Kieron as a new guitar tech on such short notice. Believe me, you are blessed.”

His cheek goes in and out as he contemplates what I’ve told him. I reach out and smooth his eyebrows, but remain silent. He needs to understand what I’ve told him is true.

“They’re all contracted to do what they’re doing for me. You’re not.”

My heart hurts at how he’s processing this. I’m about to argue with him, when he adds, “Well, you sort of are.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ifreeze. He can’t believe I’m only here—naked—because I’m contracted to do a job? Myjobis to give him physical therapy, not get him off! My mouth drops open to tell him off when I stare at his face and my teeth click as they shut. Reflected back at me is sheer anguish.

No, no, no. This is not the way things were supposed to go, not with the man I love. His deep-rooted trust issues cannot be brushed aside. He has tobelievein the reason I’m here, with him, now. More than that, he needs to embrace this conclusion for himself.

He pushes away from me. In a tone overlaid with love, I say, “Bennett.” He stops moving, which I take as a good sign. I continue, “Do you remember when we met again at the movie premiere?”

His eyebrows come together. “Yes.”

“You’d pulled your groin muscle and were in pain. You didn’t want anything to do with me, right?”

My hand drops to his injured muscle. His gaze snaps to the only place we’re connected.

“Right.”

I cover his upper thigh with my palm. “Your doctor said youneeded physical therapy if you wanted to be able to perform at UC’s scheduled concert tour dates. Luke told me he had to talk you into agreeing to any sort of therapy.”

“He did,” is pulled from somewhere deep inside him.

His whole world is imploding. I remove my hand. “Luke was adamant you come to At Your Service PT. Well, actually, he was more determined that I be your therapist.”

He nods.

“I wasn’t convinced. I was an administrator, not seeing patients anymore. Want to know what changed my mind?”

“The money?”

A small huff escapes. “Fine, yes, it played a part. I saw taking this job as a way to get another clinic up and running fast, so I’d be closer to my goal of ten. But it wasn’t the main motivating factor for me.”

“That’s not what Luke told me.”

“Because itwaswhat I told him.” I suck in a breath. “What prompted me to take you on as a patient was”—dare I admit this? I straighten my shoulders. “Darren.”

The ghost I had banished reappears.

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