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that his determination got his focus off her. By the time they moved into the workout room, her control was firmly back in place. A return to the comfortable fit of her therapist persona.
Luke’s rippling upper body muscles distracted her at times—clearly he worked out regularly. His body was slim but strong, deceptively so when hidden beneath his clothes. But it met every challenge she gave him and more. His lower body performed, though it was obviously not to his satisfaction.
He gave it his all—she couldn’t fault him for not trying. About halfway through the circuit, she started thinking of him as Tough Guy. No matter the demand, he did it without question. He never asked to stop, never cried—almost 90 percent of her patients did in the early days. He just kept pushing forward.
His expression was the most serious she’d seen on him since his return, except for the stoic one she’d glimpsed as he’d made his way across the dining room floor that first night. She’d seen similar expressions on many patients—that determination to ignore the stares, ignore the pain and force yourself to move regardless of your body’s protests.
As they came to the end of his session, she bent and twisted his legs, pulling them into positions that would ease the tension, improve his range of motion and hopefully lessen his pain. Time and again she forced her gaze away from glistening muscles and sexy hollows. Not to mention the scars that had her heart cramping in sympathy.
But he’d worked hard today and there was a much better way to help him recover than a simple muscle stimulation session, even though she knew she shouldn’t touch him any more than necessary. But it would help. By morning, Luke would appreciate anything that would make it easier for him to get out of bed.
At least, that’s the excuse she gave herself.
* * *
“Come on,” Avery said, urging Luke to his feet after helping him stretch. He’d always had a love/hate relationship with stretching. He’d rather be running or pumping weights, but one of his former trainers had convinced him how good it was for his body. After that, he’d been able to relax into it.
But somehow stretching with Avery was different. It should feel good, did feel good, but not in the way he’d experienced before. Male hands, male strength—his other physical therapist had a no-nonsense touch that did the job at hand and nothing else.
Avery’s hands during their sessions gave him a sense of comfort, as if he could feel her desire for him to heal within each touch. Even through the pain he caught a hint of awareness beneath his skin, an itch for more. And always, that low-level hum distracted him.
“Reward time,” she said.
Too bad that couldn’t mean what his body hoped it did. Nope. It would be the usual post-therapy ritual that included heat and some electrical muscle stimulation to reduce pain and atrophy. Sad when getting shocked was the highlight of his visit.
He assured his disappointed body that this was a good thing. After all, he had rules of his own. Namely, he was not staying in Black Hills—which meant no entanglements. No relationships. His body would simply have to mourn the loss of more intimate contact.
Her rules challenged and intrigued him. Professionalism was very important to her, especially when dealing with a lot of people who had watched her grow up. Still, he longed to break through her professional facade. One, because she needed some fun more than any person he’d met in forever. Someone to push her buttons, force her to loosen up.
Two, he needed a distraction from the first true attraction he’d felt in a long time. Especially since it was toward a woman he would not be able to get away from in the coming months. But they could be friends, right? Just friends.
“So how come I never saw you when I came home?” He chuckled. “It’s almost like you were avoiding me.”
He almost bumped into her backside as she halted. The odd look she threw over her shoulder smothered his teasing. Had she really—?
“Why would you avoid me?” he asked.
“Do you want your reward?” she countered in a cool tone.
“Um, yeah.”
“Then don’t ask irrelevant questions.”
She just might have found the key to making him fall in line. But that didn’t stop him from being curious. He’d bet his racing car that she had avoided him...and didn’t want him to know it.
As she walked away, she said, “I guarantee you won’t want to miss this.”
Just like that, his mouth watered, hunger rising out of nowhere to overwhelm him. It was totally out of character for him, this physical need to be close to someone. If it had been anyone else, he’d have let the hunger lead him, but he couldn’t. Not with Avery. Indulging in something physical with her wouldn’t be fair, knowing he would never make his home here.
But now curiosity had joined the mix of anticipation and arousal, so he leaned a little heavier on his cane to gain speed. What could be better than the usual after-workout routine? At least it eased the soreness long enough for him to get home. By tomorrow morning, he’d be stiff again. Even the massive whirlpool tub Aiden had installed in his suite didn’t help for long. His body resisted what he wanted.
He’d been told he pushed too hard before, but each moment without definitive recovery ramped up a panic inside. Getting back on the track was a need that called to him day and night. He couldn’t rest for the jitters beneath his skin.
An itch to escape.
It only subsided when he was with Avery. With her, he felt a constant, low-level hum that drew his gaze, his attention—hell, his body—in her direction. An illusion that, if he could just get close enough, all the fears and doubts and nerves would stop. Dangerous territory. Which gave him one more reason to keep his hands to himself.
When Avery opened the door to one of the smaller rooms around the perimeter and Luke glimpsed a thickly padded massage table, he wanted to groan. Have mercy. Now he had an itch for something completely different.
“Take off your shoes. I just want to work some of the tension out of your legs and back,” she said.
He wanted to joke, to throw something stupid out there to break the tension building under his skin. But nothing came to him. “Is massage an extra perk?” he tried, his voice sounding strained.
A slight choke had him glancing at her with a tight grin, but she’d turned away.
“Um, no,” she finally said, though her voice was muffled. It took him a minute to realize she was off balance, uncertain. Did she not normally do this?
That settled him down, and he was able to tease her again. “So am I simply special?”
Her obvious embarrassment was so cute he wanted to kiss it away. Her flushed cheeks and shaky hands made him warm, awoke a need to hug her and share a grin. Not the reaction he was used to, but definitely safer. Shucking his shoes and socks, Luke approached the table with a breathless anticipation that was exponentially higher than the situation warranted.
To his surprise, she launched a comeback. “It’s not actually on the fee schedule, but I do need to put my massage therapy license to use now and then.”
With those words, every muscle in his body went taut. For someone who already had mobility issues, it was not the best state of affairs. But how could he relax knowing Avery had even more skills in her arsenal that could slay him in an instant? He lay facedown as best he could and breathed through the pain of getting his legs prone. That took his mind off the ache forming in his groin pretty quick.
“Moving a little more slowly would make changing positions easier,” Avery chided.
“Can’t hide anything from you, huh?”
Her voiced softened as she drew closer. “Oh, I’m a bit more observant than most.”
What did she see in him? He was used to projecting the fun-loving,