Chapter Seven #2
She placed her palms on his legs, just above his knees. He froze. The feeling of his muscular thighs conjured all sorts of inappropriate thoughts, but she pushed them away. She needed to put her strength and conditioning coach hat on and keep this professional. For many reasons.
“Humor me? Please?”
For a moment, she thought he was going to refuse. She tensed up, getting ready to fight if she had to. Instead, he gave her a single, half nod. Her muscles relaxed, sending a cascade of relief through her. She patted the pillow next to her hip. He swung his leg up and rested his foot on it.
This wasn’t going to work. “You need to take your pants off.”
“What?” His voice had a husky, rough quality to it. It was so sexy.
And so not relevant right now. “You heard me.”
“No.”
She sighed. Who knew dealing with a moody, hormonal teenager would prove to be easier? “I don’t have x-ray vision and can’t see through your jeans. How am I supposed to monitor for swelling?” She was impressed by how even she kept her voice.
“I’ll just pull them up.” He leaned forward and yanked on his pant leg. His jeans were a looser fit, but they weren’t meant to be pulled up like that, and just barely made it over his muscular calf.
He made a frustrated noise that sounded a little like a growl.
Very animalistic. Her insides practically melted, heat jumping from nerve ending to nerve ending until it felt like she might burst into flame.
That band low in her belly tightened again, happy to be ushered back into the game, sending a sizzle of heat between her thighs.
“Nick, please.”
“Fine,” he said, his voice deep, his tone frustrated. The almost growl sent another spark of heat through her. He pushed himself to his feet and reached for the button on his jeans.
Her mouth dried like the Sahara in the middle of February.
She knew she shouldn’t be watching, especially this intently, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away.
He flicked the button open. She could feel his gaze on her, hot and heavy, but she refused to look up.
Looking at his face would break the spell.
He slid the zipper down slowly, the clicking of the teeth loud in the silence. The front of his pants gaped open, revealing a pair of tight, black boxer briefs underneath. She hadn’t given much thought to men’s underwear, at least not since her divorce, but she found herself enthralled.
His gaze bored into her forehead, but for the life of her, she couldn’t look away. He gave his jeans a push and they slid down his legs to pool at his feet. He kicked them aside.
His legs were long and dusted with hair that was slightly darker than the ginger hair on his head. Strong and muscular. The tight briefs left little to the imagination. Very little.
He had nothing to worry about in that department.
Her fingers itched with the need to trace the contours of his muscular thighs—and possibly other things. She tucked them under her legs to stop from reaching for him.
She slid her gaze lower. There were small incision scars around his right knee, the remnants of his surgery.
His knee looked like it was a little swollen when compared to the left one.
Nothing major though, and it would probably be fine with a little ice and a bit of rest. She trailed her gaze lower.
His calves were lean and muscular… and he was still wearing a pair of white sport socks.
Which didn’t kill her lust the way she thought it would. Interesting.
She slid her gaze back up the long length of him, finally meeting his gaze. He still had that impassive, blank look on his face, but his eyes gave him away. The heat in them scorched her, right to the marrow of her bones. He wasn’t as unaffected as he wanted her to think.
Good.
No, no that’s bad. She needed to focus. On her business and on Em. They were the only things that mattered. Getting involved with anyone was dumb. Getting involved with a client was dumber. Getting involved with Nick Sadler was the dumbest.
No matter how many times she tossed casual and no-strings and all of that around, she wasn’t sure she could actually do it. Letting herself do this, have this, was setting her up for disaster. She couldn’t go through what she’d gone through with Kevin again.
Not that whatever was between her and Nick would get that far. That was relationship territory, and she didn’t do relationships. Counting on anyone else for anything was the fastest way to get your heartbroken.
She just needed to keep reminding herself to keep things professional. Regardless of what her hormones wanted.
“Sit,” she said, happy with her no-nonsense tone of voice. Yay, me. She grabbed the gel pack and the towel.
He did as she asked and lifted his foot onto the pillow on the table without prompting. She wrapped the cold pack in the towel and placed it on his knee. Even through the cloth she knew it was cold, especially in contrast to the cozy living room.
He sucked in a quick breath. Goosebumps formed on his skin. She wanted to run her fingers over them, maybe to soothe them, maybe to see if she could get them to pop out in other places. No, bad Alex.
She looked up. He was staring at her—he seemed to do that a lot—and she suddenly felt very self-conscious.
“Fifteen minutes on, then fifteen minutes off.” So much for the no nonsense tone from a second ago. This time her voice came out breathless. She cleared her throat. “You want the tissue to come back up to temperature, to increase the blood flow and slowly reduce any inflammation.”
Why was she giving him a physiology lesson? Any second now, his eyes were going to glaze over as the nerdy girl talked about science. Except they didn’t. He was focused on her and her alone. Why, oh, why did she find that so hot?
Something thumped upstairs.
She glanced at the ceiling and then at him. Who was sitting on her sofa in his skivvies. Talk about a compromising position? And how on Earth could she have forgotten about Em? She was lucky her daughter hadn’t come bounding into the room already.
Sending a silent prayer to the universe for the bit of privacy to last a few more minutes, she stood and grabbed the crocheted throw that hung over the back of the sofa. It was awfully holey, but would have to do. She tossed it at him. He grabbed it and draped it over his lap.
“I’m just going to check on Em. I’ll be back.
Remember, after fifteen minutes, take the ice off.
” She didn’t wait for a reply, just headed toward the stairs, letting her annoyance with herself and her hormones kill her libido.
Or at least tamp it down. She wasn’t sure anything except him going back to New England was going to wrestle her hormones under control.
Or, you know, you could just sleep with him. Get him out of your system.
Nope, not happening.
Except, she often found giving in to her cravings made them go away. Depriving herself just made her want something more. Maybe this thing with him was the same.
She got to the top of the stairs, pushing that thought aside for dissection later. The hallway was dark, the only light the sliver under Em’s bedroom door.
“Em?” She made sure the name carried. The last thing she needed was to walk in on another yesterday. Not that she thought Em was foolish enough to make the same mistake twice. At least not on back-to-back days.
Silence.
She knocked on Em’s door, straining to hear something. Still nothing.
Bracing herself for anything, she opened the door.
Her heart melted into a big old pile of goo.
Em was in bed, sound asleep. Her book lay on the ground beside the bed, which was probably what had thumped. She looked so young and sweet it made Alex’s chest ache.
She went over and picked up the book, placing it on the nightstand. Bending down, she placed a kiss on Em’s forehead. Em felt a little warm. She pressed her hand to her daughter’s forehead. Yup, definitely warm.
Em’s eyes fluttered open. They were a touch glassy. “Hey,” she said, although it came out more like a croak.
“Hey, baby.” Alex sat on the mattress next to her, and brushed the hair off Em’s forehead. “Not feeling well?”
Em made a little noise in the back of her throat. “Just a headache. And I’m really tired.”
“You’ve got a bit of a fever. I’m going to get you something for it, okay?”
Em nodded and closed her eyes. Poor baby.
Alex hurried into the bathroom and grabbed the ibuprofen and a glass of water. She sat back on the bed and helped Em sit up so she could take the pills.
“Thank you,” Em said, and snuggled back against the pillow.
Alex stood and bent over to place another kiss on Em’s forehead. She snapped off the lamp. Em reached out and grabbed her arm.
“What is it, baby?”
“Mom, would you stay with me?”
“Of course, sweetheart.” She sat back down, taking Em’s hand in both of hers and rubbing it. This time, Em made a contented noise in the back of her throat.
Alex’s heart swelled so big she was afraid her chest might burst. She loved this girl so much that sometimes it hurt.
Unable to resist, she climbed into the bed and wrapped Em in her arms. Em snuggled against her. The fact she didn’t protest was all Alex needed to know about how yucky her girl was feeling. It had been some time since Em let her get away with this sort of stuff.
She smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of Em’s head.
She’d take what she could get, when she could get it.
“Feel better, baby,” she whispered. She started to sing the lullaby she used to sing when Em was a baby.
Everything else melted away and she soaked in the moment. This right here was all that mattered.
Nick didn’t know why he followed Alex upstairs, but as soon as she disappeared, he slid his pants back on and headed after her. He could probably come up with all kinds of excuses if he sat down and thought about it, but he didn’t want to.
Truth was, he just wanted to be with her. Even though his head was screaming that he needed to run as far away as fast as he could, something inside him refused.