Chapter 4
For the last time. It’s a wall rack, not a torture device.
Hazel
I smile as I switch on the lights for my physical therapy practice. It isn’t much. A slightly wide entrance I use as a reception area, a small room with a treatment table, and a larger room propped full with all of the rehabilitation equipment I could afford.
I would love to work as a therapist full-time, but there are simply not enough clients on this small island. We get a ton of tourists in the summer but most tourists don’t need physical therapy while they’re on vacation.
I get by because I have a second job at a restaurant.
But I don’t know how long I can continue to work at Smuggler’s Cove Restaurant.
Every year, the waitresses get younger and more flirty with the customers.
While I want to shove a fork into the eye of every man who thinks it’s okay to leer at my ass.
Stupid men. Stupid Miles. He’s the king of stupid men.
I am done with him. He doesn’t want to talk. He wants to have sex and then forget all about me the next morning. Well, no more. I am not a booty call. I deserve more. Way more than Miles Raider can ever give.
The bell over the door rings. “Hello,” a woman shouts.
I frown. My appointment isn’t with a woman.
I peek into the hallway. “What are you doing here, Maya?”
Caleb – who is a patient of mine – walks inside behind her and sighs. “Sorry, Hazel. She insisted on joining me today.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Insisted? Are you injured, Maya?”
“She’s fine unless dying of curiosity is a real thing,” he mutters.
Curiosity? Uh oh.
I love Smuggler’s Hideaway. I love being close to the beach. I love knowing most of the inhabitants. I love how safe it is. I love how quirky it is. I love the mermaid lore. I love the Prohibition stories about moonshine.
What I don’t love is how everyone gossips as if it’s a national sport. An incredibly competitive national sport. And it’s even worse. The gossipers appear to have their sights set on me.
“Curiosity? Are you interested in becoming a physical therapist?” I ask because I am not feeding the gossipers. They’d have better luck speaking to a mermaid.
Her nose wrinkles. “Would I have to interact with other people?”
Maya is shy. As the financial manager for the local brewery, Five Fathoms Brewing, she doesn’t have to deal with strangers much. Which is exactly how she prefers it. How she ever convinced Caleb – who was determined to keep her in the friendzone – to give her a chance is beyond me.
I giggle. “The whole point of therapy is to help other people, so interacting with people is kind of necessary. You’d have to touch them, too.”
Caleb growls. “Maya is not touching strange men.”
Holy smugglers caught in a storm. Caleb is one sexy dude but when he gets all protective over his woman? Wowzer.
I wouldn’t mind a man over six feet tall with bulging muscles, blond hair, and blue eyes wanting to protect me from the world. Miles certainly doesn’t protect me from anyone or anything.
He’s also not my man. Good reminder.
“If you’re not here to check out a day in the life of a physical therapist, why are you here?” I ask Maya.
She clears her throat. “Rumor has it—”
I hold up my hand to stop her. “Nope. No way. Not happening.”
She widens her eyes as if she’s all innocent. As if. Maya and her girlfriends, who own the brewery together, are the least innocent women on the island. Their troublemaking rivals the Raider brothers.
And now I’m thinking about Miles again. He’s not Rome. Not all roads should lead to him. But here I am. Steering my mind toward him every chance I get.
“I told you to let it go,” Caleb grumbles. “You just had a baby. Lucy should be keeping you busy enough.”
Maya sighs. “I love Lucy. She’s the best baby in the world.”
“Congratulations!”
She smiles and all the love she has for her baby and her husband shines through. A ball tightens in my stomach. I ignore it. I refuse to be jealous. Maya and Caleb deserve to be happy. Especially after Caleb came home injured from a deployment to some faraway, unknown country.
“Thanks. I’m a lucky girl.”
“Where’s Lucy now?”
“With Caleb’s mom. I’ll probably have to fight her to get her back.”
Caleb frowns. “The last time my parents babysat, they weren’t home when we arrived to pick up Lucy. They weren’t ready to say goodbye, so they took her on a road trip.”
Maya slaps his chest. “It wasn’t a road trip. They were home before it got dark.”
“Still. Mom would kidnap Lucy if she didn’t know I’d track her down.”
Maya rolls her eyes. “Yes, we all know how Mr. Former Army can track anyone down.”
“Speaking of Mr. Former Army.” I motion toward my rehab room. “We should get started.”
“Where do you want me?”
Caleb is the ideal patient. He never whines or complains. He does the exercises I assign him to do at home. He doesn’t really need to come to therapy anymore as he can continue to rehab on his own, but I’m thankful for his weekly visits.
I point to the wall bar. “Let’s start with some stretches.”
“Awesome. We haven’t used the torture machine for some time.”
I giggle. “You refer to all of my equipment as torture machines.”
He shrugs. “If the peg leg fits…”
Maya scowls. “You do not have a peg leg.”
“It’s just a saying, bunny.”
“I don’t want you making fun of your injury.”
“It’s hardly an injury anymore,” I say. “Caleb’s leg is stronger than the legs of most of the smugglers on this island.”
“Because most of the smugglers drink too much moonshine and beer,” Caleb says.
“How about Miles?” Maya asks. “Does he have strong legs? Do surfers have strong legs?”
I am not answering any questions about Miles’s physique. My body is also not getting warm and tingly, remembering how strong Miles’s legs are. How he can easily balance me against a wall with his legs without breaking into a sweat. Nope. Not thinking those thoughts at all.
“Surfers in general have strong legs. It’s necessary for balance and performing maneuvers. The upper body is also worked hard through paddling.”
She rubs her hands together. “In other words, Miles has great legs and a strong upper body.”
“Tell you what. I’ll answer your question…”
She grins but I haven’t finished yet.
“If you can do a pull-up on the wall bar.”
“A pull-up?”
“Do you need me to demonstrate?”
I start walking to the wall bar but Caleb shoos me away. “I’ll demonstrate.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “By all means. Proceed.”
He jumps to the highest rung of the bar and I nod in satisfaction. He used both legs evenly. He didn’t favor his uninjured right leg. He folds his legs behind him and I evaluate the bending motion of his left leg. Looking good.
“One.” Caleb executes a perfect pull-up. “Two. Three.”
Maya leans close to whisper in my ear. “Should I tell him I know what a pull-up is? Or stand here and watch how sexy his biceps are?”
I point to the corner of my mouth. “You’re drooling.”
She motions to Caleb. “Have you seen him? Of course, I’m drooling.”
“Ten!” He announces before jumping off the wall bar. He bends his knees evenly as he lands. He doesn’t wobble in the least.
“Looking good, Caleb. I hate to say it, but I don’t think you need therapy anymore.”
“But you have the best equipment.”
I roll my eyes. “You work at Hideaway Haven Resort. I happen to know Hudson equipped the gym with every piece of equipment a professional sports person could possibly need.”
“Hudson’s a former NFL player. He wants to keep in shape,” Caleb says.
“Wants to keep in shape or wants his former team to come and visit him?” Maya asks.
Caleb scowls at her. “You promised you could keep a secret.”
Secret? My curiosity is piqued. “What secret?”
Maya mimes zipping her lips.
Caleb sighs. “You might as well tell her before you burst. Hazel can keep a secret.”
I form the Girl Scout salute. “I promise not to tell.”
Maya unzips her lips. “It’s not official yet. But there might be a team of football players staying at the resort this summer during training camp.”
“Cool.”
Smuggler’s Hideaway is always full of tourists in the summer. And the Hideaway Haven Resort often hosts famous people. Movie stars, sports heroes, and rock stars have all been guests at the resort.
Maya’s phone rings. She frowns before digging it out of her pocket. “Shoot. It’s Sophia. I better get back to the office.”
She rushes toward the door but Caleb captures her wrist and drags her back. He plants a kiss on her lips. “Love you, Bunny.”
She smiles up at him with stars in her eyes. “Love you, too, soldier.”
When she doesn’t move, Caleb smiles at her. “Don’t you need to get to work?”
“Oh, right. Yes. See you at home.”
They’re more adorable than a pod of mermaids frolicking in the sea. The ball in my stomach tightens until it’s a knot. An uncomfortable, painful knot I can’t ignore.
I want what they have. I thought I found it in high school when I gave my heart to Miles.
I was wrong. Miles didn’t hesitate to throw me away the second he thought he was going to be a famous pro surfer. Asshole.