Page 47 of Catching Our Moment
He pushed up on his elbows again, and a hand went to his eyes, pinching between them. “Yeah. Um. I need a minute.”
I stepped to him, coming around the front of the table so I could face him. “Are you okay? Are you having a muscle spasm? Did I hurt you?” I reached for his shoulder.
He held up a hand but didn’t look at me. “No. No. Um. Why don’t you get your stuff together, and I’ll get dressed.”
But he didn’t move.
“Shaw—”
“Kelce. You were fine. In fact, you did a great job. I was very relaxed. It felt great.”
“Then what’s?—”
He caught my eyes, and his face turned bright red. “Um. What you did to me felt really, really good.” His eyes danced, and the small, shy smile on his face made him look like a teenager again. “Maybe too good. I, um…I don’t want to embarrass us—well, I don’t want to embarrass you. That ship has sailed with me obviously.” And he dropped his head.
I let out a loud laugh. “I’m sorry.” I patted his shoulder. “It happens.”
“What?” He straightened more and then winced again. “You give men hard-ons regularly? Jesus, Kelcie?—”
“No. Not that—stop!” My face was burning. “You’re making this…ugh! I’m going to the restroom.” I motioned to him, trying hard to pull back on my laughter. “Take a moment and gather yourself.” I gestured to his crotch. “I’ll meet you out front.”
He pointed at me, trying to be stern, but his lips were twitching. “This stays between us. No one needs to know I had this reaction.”
I waved him off then walked to the restroom to pull myself together, whispering to myself, “No one would believe it anyway.”
The staff was at the front desk by the time we were getting ready to leave. As I waited for Shaw, I chatted with one of my co-workers.
“Hey, just the woman I was hoping to run into.” Mitch Williams’ slight drawl was unmistakable, and I couldn’t help but smiling when I heard it.
Flirtatious and kind, Mitch was exactly the kind of guy my bruised and confused confidence needed these days. While he wasn’t my client, we always exchanged flirtatious banter when he was in for his PT. His dazzling, mischievous smile only made his tall, lean, athletic body look hotter.
“Hey there,” I said. “I heard you were graduating from PT. Congratulations, although I will miss seeing you around here.
Mitch scanned the open-concept PT treatment area. “Yeah. It’s good to get back on both feet, but I will miss hanging out with some of the people.” He turned his gaze on me, slid his hands in his track pants, and said, “Some more than others.”
“I’m sorry we never got a chance to work together,” I said. Though I’d always wondered why. He jumped around to different therapists, but our paths never crossed. I’d simply assumed it was because our schedules didn’t sync.
He gently put his hand on my elbow, guiding me to the waiting area and away from everyone else.
“Trust me, I would’ve loved for you to be my PT, but my ego couldn’t take it.”
“What?”
He stepped closer. “I didn’t want you to see me sobbing like a toddler.” I started to laugh, and he leaned over, his breath tickling my ear. “Not the impression I wanted to leave on a woman I wanted to date,” he whispered.
He moved back to study my reaction. I was too shocked to camouflage my expression.
“Well, that doesn’t do much for my ego,” he said, trying to maintain a playful tone.
I shook my head, resting my hand on his arm. “No, I’m sorry. I think you just took me by surprise.”
Just touching him felt…strange. It was fun having Mitch to flirt with—he seemed like the easygoing type who flirted with everyone. But it was exhilarating to have such a good-looking man interested in me. I hadn’t been on a date since… God, in over a decade. James and I hadn’t had many date nights.
“So, is it a good surprise?”
Answer him, Kelcie. Don’t be a dud.
“Yes, of course,” I said. “That would be great.”
