23. Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
Cal
“Did you see?” Cammie shouted as I opened the door. “You’re back up to three stars, and that witch hasn’t posted a review in two days.”
I heard a grunt from Adam’s office. He’d started leaving his door ajar, and Cammie and I both knew he listened to every word we said. He had to be monitoring my reviews online, but oddly we hadn’t discussed my ratings since he threatened to fire me. Other than being grumpier than usual and watching me like a hawk waiting for a field mouse to move into an exposed position, it was as if the conversation never happened. I couldn’t decide if his silence was a positive or negative indication of my future employment.
“That’s great. Did anyone pushed back when you asked for a review?”
“Of course not,” she yelled. “Like I’ve been saying, they all love you. Now let me work, I have patient bills to send.”
She winked at me, and I pushed down a laugh.
“Thanks, Cam,” I said and placed a large cinnamon toast latte on her desk.
She’d been arriving earlier and earlier to beat Adam into the office, which always seemed to put him in a better mood. Even if she grabbed her own coffee, I knew she’d be ready for another.
“Between you and Rowan, I’m going to gain fifteen pounds,” she said and tipped back the cup.
“The latte or the person?” I asked.
“Well, honestly, both. Rowan filled the pastry case at Karma, and I had to try a few things. Your girl has skills.”
I cleared my throat. Rowan wasn’t mine, and I didn’t need Adam watching us any closer. Monday’s session had been torture. After an hour of watching Rowan bend, stretch, and move, I announced we’d be ending with stair exercises and took her in the elevator instead.
“Your patient,” Cammie amended. “She’s first up today.”
“Speaking of skills,” I said, lowering my voice. “Are we ever going to talk about your performance at Church?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said and sipped her coffee.
I shook my head. “I’ll be in my office.”
I walked past Adam’s door and said hello. He gave me a curt nod and went back to typing. I closed my office door and woke up my desktop to check the most recent reviews. Pride filled my chest as I read the heartfelt words from my patients. Some had given me similar praise in real life, but others, like Mr. Carmichael, came to their sessions, did the exercises, and left without so much as a thank you. Carmichael’s comment made my eyes burn.
Good man. Knows how to get the work done. I don’t like chit chat and most of my doctors talk my ear off. Dr. Cardoso is a friendly fella. He’d joke around with the other patients, but he understood I was there to get better, not cluck like a chicken. My hip don’t hurt at all now. I hope I never need PT again, but if I do, he’s the only physical therapist I’d see.
My overall ranking had improved since Avery had stopped posting as well. Instead of relief, the pause made me nervous. Our brief text exchange hadn’t settled anything. She’d dumped several more negative reviews online after it, then gone oddly quiet.
Cammie sent me a message saying Rowan had arrived. My stomach did an odd flip. I needed to get myself under control around her. At least for the next hour. We had an entire weekend ahead of us, but just thinking about the possibilities of what we could do in that time made me hard. I ran through a couple JMU vs. Tech final scores to cool down and headed to the front.
Thankfully, Rowan had swapped the crop top and leggings combo she wore on Monday for a baggy t-shirt and athletic shorts. Even without the skin show, her warm smile hit me straight in the chest. My whole body tightened with anticipation as I erased the distance between us.
“Good morning,” I said. It took an absurd effort to stop several feet from her. I hadn’t seen her since yesterday morning when I’d greeted her with my head between her legs. She’d delayed her Thursday session a day to accommodate a rare new patient request I received, and I’d been looking forward to thanking her again when we were alone.
“Morning, Dr. Cardoso,” she said.
Cammie looked between us and smirked before turning back to her computer screen.
“How’s your back feeling today?” I asked as I led her to the table for heat therapy. She was walking slower than usual.
“A little tight,” she said. “I may have overdone it yesterday. I baked for several hours.”
My stomach sank. She hadn’t progressed as much as I’d hoped by this point in our sessions, but her gait had improved. I’d noticed her pain ebbed and flowed depending on her exertion level. I hoped the peaks would level out before our sessions ended. “Cammie mentioned you’re helping Lauren.”
“Standing is usually better than sitting for me,” she said, lying face down on the table. “But I’m definitely feeling it today.”
“Were you standing on a rubber mat?”
“Mostly the tile. There’s a mat like that by the sink.”
“An anti-fatigue mat at your workspace would help. Also, shoes with proper support.”
She nodded. “That makes sense.”
I grabbed the heat blanket and checked that Adam was still at his desk on the opposite side of the office. When I got back to the table, I ran my hands across Rowan’s lower back before putting the blanket over her. She sighed, and I grabbed the stool and scooted as close to her as I dared.
“Maybe I’ve been too rough with you,” I whispered, lowering my voice.
She opened her eyes and smiled at me. “No rougher than I’ve been on you.”
“You can’t hurt me.”
Something flickered across her eyes before she pushed it down and smiled. “I’m fine, really. Your suggestion about the shoes and mat should help. I admit, I wore flip flops yesterday while I worked.”
I cringed and a small laugh escaped her.
“After work, I’m taking you shopping for a mat and orthotic inserts.”
“Just tell me what inserts to get. I’m not wasting a Friday night with you at Walmart.”
“Did you have something else in mind?” I knew what I wanted to do with her, but I could spare a half hour to get her things that could help her back.
“Well, you’ve made me dinner twice. I thought I could bring groceries to your place and cook for you. There’s something I want to talk about as well.”
My stomach sank. Planning a talk was never a good sign. Still, I nodded and pretended to add notes to her chart. The front door opened, and I glanced up, expecting to see Adam’s first patient. Avery stood in the doorway instead, wearing a sports bra as a top and a pair of leggings with more cutouts than fabric.
“What the hell,” I breathed.
Rowan twisted her head to the other side and her shoulders tensed.
“Can I help you?” Cammie asked in a sharp tone I’d never heard her use before.
“I’m here to see Cal,” Avery said, waving her fingers at me.
“He’s with a patient,” Cammie said. “I’m happy to schedule you an appointment.”
“Oh no,” Avery said, loudly. “This is personal. I’m certain he won’t mind the interruption.”
Adam’s door opened all the way, and he hurried across the room to stand at the end of Rowan’s table.
“This is entirely unprofessional,” he said loud enough for Cammie and Avery to hear.
Rowan sat up and glared at him. “I agree. You’re interrupting my session.”
Adam blanched but quickly recovered. “Dr. Cardoso, kindly escort that young lady out,” he said, pointing to Avery. “I’ll take over here.”
Rowan didn’t look too pleased but flopped back on the table with a huff. I hurried to the reception area where Cammie was already holding open the glass door.
Avery smiled but didn’t move until I walked out ahead of her.
“What the hell, Ave,” I said as soon as we were beyond sight of the glass door. “When I said you knew where to find me, I meant my house. Not here.”
Avery shrugged and tucked her elbows into her sides, which pushed her breasts up more. “I wasn’t sure we could control ourselves somewhere private.”
I decided telling her I’d rather take a cheese grater to my dick than sleep with her again wouldn’t help the situation. “I would have met you at Church or Karma. Anywhere but here.”
She stuck out her full bottom lip. “I thought you’d be happy to see me. You spend so much time working with saggy old people, I thought you’d like the change in scenery.”
“You being here is unprofessional. I’m already on thin ice with my boss, Ave.”
“Was that Rowan Stevens in there?” Avery asked. “I heard she was back in town after her husband left her. How embarrassing.”
“That’s enough, Avery,” I snapped.
She pressed her lips in a grim line. “So, it’s true.” She shook her head. “When someone told me they saw the two of you together at Church, I laughed.”
“Leave Rowan out of this,” I hissed. I knew I was making it worse by continuing to protect her, but I couldn’t help myself.
Moisture pooled in Avery’s eyes and her shoulders slumped. “I didn’t think you’d move on so quickly,” she said with a shaky voice.
Fuck. She was still hurt. As angry as I was at Avery, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her and the pain I’d caused. “Let’s grab a drink at Church, tonight,” I said, softly. “Talk things through.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “Sure, baby.”
I shook my head. “Talk, Ave. About why you’re ruining my career.”
She gripped my arm and leaned in to whisper in my ear. “I’ll see you at Church at seven. Don’t be late.” She placed a kiss on my cheek and walked away, swinging her hips.
Before, my eyes would have been glued to the hypnotic swish. Now, her little show just looked overly dramatic, like everything with Avery. But beneath all the flash, I knew there was a person so deeply insecure, she needed everyone’s eyes on her to feel good about herself.
Cammie glared at me when I returned to the office, which set off alarm bells. I hurried to the center of the room where Adam had Rowan alternating knee-to-chest stretches with lower back rotational stretches.
“Thank you, Dr. Cohen. I can take it from here.”
Adam kept his eyes focused on Rowan, watching her movements. “You’ve made a lot of progress with her,” he said, then frowned when Rowan grimaced.
I knew Adam was testing her range of motion but seeing Rowan in pain grated my already frayed nerves. “That’s enough,” I said, my voice stern.
Rowan laid flat on her back, breathing hard.
“How many more sessions does she have prescribed?” Adam asked.
“Two,” Rowan and I answered together.
Adam looked at me and shook his head. As much as I disliked the man, he’d been a PT decades longer than me, and he’d just confirmed what I’d suspected. The exercises had helped Rowan, but they hadn’t diminished her pain as much as I’d hoped. The issue was likely her discs. She’d need an MRI and possibly surgery at some point. With continued exercise, she could postpone it, but she’d always have pain.
Rowan looked up at me, worry etched on her beautiful face.
“Great work, young lady,” Adam said. “You too, Dr. Cardoso,” he added before heading back to his office.
“He seemed upset,” Rowan said, standing. “So do you.”
“Let’s do some work with the resistance bands,” I said, placing a hand on the small of her back and rubbing gentle circles.
“Caleb?” she asked looking up at me.
I blew out a breath. “You should request an MRI after our last session.”
She nodded. “I know,” she said in a quiet voice. “My back feels a lot better than when we started, but it still hurts every day.”
I wanted to pull her into a hug. Instead, I set up the bands and guided her into the next exercise. She followed my directions but was otherwise quiet. I assumed she was focused on the work or in too much pain to speak, but at the end of our session she lowered her voice and asked how things went with Avery.
“Fine,” I said, shocked at how the conversation with my ex had completely left my mind. “I almost forgot,” I added, as we started toward Cam’s desk. “I have to take a rain check on dinner. I told Avery I’d meet her for drinks tonight. The sooner I talk to her about the reviews the better.”
“Oh,” Rowan said.
“I’m free tomorrow though,” I said. “I don’t want to stress your back any more than necessary. Let’s order takeout.”
“Sure,” she said and smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Six?”
“Sounds great,” she said.
“Make sure you get that mat. I’ll text you a picture of the inserts later.”
“I will. Bye, Cammie,” she said and hurried to the hallway before I could offer to walk her out.
Cammie shook her head at me.
“What?” I asked.
She stood and grabbed my arm, dragging me into my office and shutting the door. Adam was busy with a patient, but he’d undoubtedly noticed.
“What’s wrong with you?” she snapped.
“Um, right now, the fact you’re yelling at me for some reason.”
“Oh,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I have reason. Why on earth would you cancel plans with Rowan to spend the evening with that rattlesnake?”
“You heard me. I’m going to convince Avery to take down her reviews. If I make her wait too long to meet, she might change her mind.”
Cammie poked me hard in the chest. “Do not sleep with her.”
“I didn’t plan to,” I snapped. Then my stomach sank. “You don’t think Rowan assumed that, do you?”
Cammie shrugged. “Maybe. It was pretty clear what Avery wanted, dressed like that. Then you have a private chat in the hall and come back in here and tell Rowan you can’t see her tonight because you’re seeing Avery.”
“But I told Rowan why we’re meeting. You heard me.”
Cammie let out a sigh and put her hand on her forehead. “You might be the dumbest smart person I know.”
Avery had been flirting pretty hard. I’d just wanted to get her out of the office without pissing her off more, but I could see how the amount of time we spent in the hallway might have given the wrong impression. “So, you think I should text Rowan and tell her I’m not interested in Avery?”
Cammie threw her hands up in the air. “No, Cal. You should text Avery and say you’re happy to meet her at Karma for coffee tomorrow morning. Drinks on a Friday night sends a signal you don’t want to send. Then you’re going to call Rowan and say you messed up and ask her to dinner. Somewhere with candles and tablecloths.”
“Right,” I said grabbing my phone. “Candles and tablecloths.”
“Antonia’s is nice and walking distance from Sullivan Street. You can both have a drink and laugh about this.”
I put my phone down. “Or Uber,” I said, remembering how much pain Rowan had been in during her session. “I don’t want her to walk too far after she worked so hard here.”
Cammie’s eyes softened. “She needs to build strength, Cal. Even if it hurts.”
I nodded. But the thought of seeing Rowan in pain again twisted my stomach into knots. What was wrong with me? I saw patients hurting every day. Hell, I’d seen Rowan wince more times than I could count.
“Thanks, Cam,” I said, rubbing my forehead.
She recognized the dismissal and left, but not without shooting me a worried look.
I’m not sure when it happened, but I could no longer deny I felt something for Rowan. Instead of calling her or texting Avery, I stared at my closed office door, contemplating how best to get myself out of the mess I’d made.