Page 15 of Wine & Whiskey: Everything for You
The nurse rubs across Shae’s arm, nodding in approval. “Much better.” She ties the rubber tourniquet and pricks her delicate skin.
Only he flinches. Kathryn’s technique apparently smooth and painless. He’s a dick for thinking otherwise. “There you go, honey. All done.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiles at him before nodding toward Shae. “Now, you can take her home.”
The woman’s laughter swirls with Shae’s squeal as he scoops her up again. There’s no place he’d rather be.
Goosebumps freckle Max’s exposed skin. Soon enough, he’ll be warm from her touch. Always gentle at first and then almost painful with its strength. Giving him at least a temporary distraction from the endless thoughts circling through his mind.
The instrumental music intended to calm his mood almost hides the sound of her sock feet padding across the teak floor. Her seductive laugh fills the room as she runs her fingertips over his bare ass before smacking it with the palm of her hand. “You’re supposed to be covered by a sheet.”
“Why bother? It’s not like you haven’t seen me naked before.”
The crisp crack of unfolding linen fills the room before she drapes it over him. “Because you’re encouraging the stereotype of massage therapists being prostitutes. What if someone walked in?”
“The place is closed, no one knows we’re here, and the door’s dead bolted shut. Who’s going to come in?”
“I shouldn’t have even let you make an appointment. I’m still mad at you.”
He pushes himself up onto one forearm and meets the fiery gaze radiating from her huge cocoa eyes. Even more passionate when she’s angry. Almost exotic, with her black, silky hair, short enough to be considered a man’s style, but softened by her warm, olive skin and delicate features. “I said I was sorry, Gina, and I meant it.”
She shrugs her shoulders, feigning indifference before tucking the sheet around his legs with enough force her fingernails scratch his thighs through the fabric. “I don’t appreciate being called by another woman’s name, especially in bed.”
“Well, I don’t appreciate being lied to about your marital status.”
Her gaze drops from his. At least she has the decency to act ashamed. “I know. I’m sorry I wasn’t honest before.”
“Anyway, I was asleep. I can’t help what I dream.”
Her long strokes down his back end their argument. No, he can’t control where his mind goes, even though he wishes he could. Force it to stop thinking about the woman who doesn’t belong to him. Who loves someone else. Who’s too sweet to realize he thinks about her like that at all. And despises himself for it.
“You’re really tense.” Her voice is almost breathless as she uses all of her weight to press against him. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen you.”
“It’s been a long couple of weeks, and the fun’s not over yet.”
“That’s not sarcasm I hear in your voice, is it?” Her thumbs dig into the crook of his shoulder, forcing him to extend his neck.
“He’s going to risk everything to keep her safe. I just hope it works.”
“He must really love her.”
And she loves him. The way it’s supposed to be. They belong together. He won’t allow any man, including himself, whose own thoughts betray the few things he actually believes in, to come between them. “Yeah, he does.”
“Kind of like someone else I know.” She figured it out before he did. Her woman’s intuition, she said. Although she accepts it as truth, he knows it’s really just guilt or stress. Something, anything, other than what she says it is.
Always ready to remind him when she feels ignored by her husband, she brings it up when all he wants to do is not feel anything except her hands on his body. He turns to his side and starts to sit up. “Drop it.”
With a roll of her eyes, she pushes him onto his stomach again. “Lay down. I was just kidding. I’ll stop.”
Lavender fills the air from the oil she glides across his back. The clenched muscles release at her kneading touch. As deep into the business as he is, with her father one of Nick’s partners, and blessed with magic hands, he’d marry her himself if she wasn’t already taken.
“There, now you’re starting to relax.” She moves to his neck, popping several times as the strain is relieved. “You hold all your tension right there.”
“It feels better already. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, just close your eyes and enjoy.”
