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“Jane,” he repeated as if he were confused. Believe me, he wasn’t the only one.
“Yep, Jane. Just Jane.” I wouldn’t shut up. What was wrong with me? You know, other than that I heard a voice that was an obvious liar. And I was a liar too. That was so not me. Well, I had to run with it. It wasn’t like we would ever see each other after this. So what if I lived next door to his daddy and sometimes commented on his sister’s Facebook posts. The odds were still extremely low. According to his daddy, Brooks had vowed never to speak to him again, and as far as I knew, Brooks lived in Dallas, which was like forty-five minutes away from Pecan Orchard. Except what if he checked our website and saw my picture and name? Honestly, did I care if he knew I was a liar? The answer was yes because, generally speaking, I was a good person. However, in this instance I was choosing the path that led straight to hellfire and damnation.
“Please lie down,” I repeated.
He followed instructions this time. I had to admit I was sorry to see his pretty chest and abs go away. I wondered what kind of exercises he was doing. In high school he’d been on the track team. And although the cheerleaders didn’t cheer at track meets, I still decorated his truck before each one. Because I was a lovesick fool.
I took my place at the head of the treatment table and pushed the controls to raise it, trying to get my heart rate to calm the heck down. “Are you comfortable?” I eked out. Not that I cared if he was, but I had to say it.
“Yes,” he replied gruffly.
“Is there a specific reason for your visit today?”
“Other than using the gift certificate my girlfriend gave me so she’ll get off my back, no.”
“You have a girlfriend,” I squeaked. “How nice,” I lied again, because it was probably Morgan.
He cleared his throat. “Nothing official, we’re just dating.”
I wanted to roll my eyes. How very noncommittal. It was definitely Morgan. When had she come back to Texas? Last I heard she was at some uppity school back East and then got a bigwig corporate job. She, like Brooks, never came to Pecan Orchard, even though her parents still lived there and her older brother, Julian, lived in nearby Cherry Hills. Occasionally I saw him. Like his sister, he was gorgeous, driven, and full of himself. He was an OB-GYN and on his third marriage, I believed. However, he wasn’t as uptight as his sister and always waved a friendly hello whenever he saw me.
Brooks was staring straight up at me. Wow, did he have some luscious, thick eyelashes. It was disconcerting to have him peering at me. Most clients closed their eyes.
“I can’t shake the feeling that I know you.”
I shrugged and reached for the bergamot oil that smelled like citrus, and then I remembered he hated anything lavender scented. He used to get on Carly for using lavender lotion. I evilly grabbed that bottle instead. I rubbed some in my hand. “Close your eyes.” I cupped my hands and placed them a few inches above his mouth and nose. “Breathe deeply in and out.”
His warm, minty breath tickled my hands.
“Again.”
His chest rose and fell before he started to splutter. “Ugh. I can’t stand lavender.”
I smiled to myself. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”
He wrinkled his nose. “It’s fine, just use something else.” His manners were so brusque. I wondered what had happened to him to make him that way. The boy I remembered had never been happy-go-lucky, but he’d had a kind spirit to him.
“Just relax,” I whispered in soothing tones while squirting some almond oil in my hands, even though I felt on edge myself. I wasn’t sure I wanted to touch Brooks. I had given hundreds of facial massages, yet this seemed wrong. Probably because I knew part of me would enjoy it while the other part would want to smother him with a warm, wet towel. We weren’t supposed to treat our clients like sexual beings nor kill them. So, you see where this got tricky for me.
My eyes darted between my hands and Brooks’s tousled hair—gorgeous hair that I had always wanted to run my hands through. I’d had dreams about it all growing up. I’d hoped on prom night I would have gotten the pleasure, and then he would have fallen madly in love with me and decided he couldn’t live without me. Obviously, none of that panned out. The jerk didn’t even remember me.
Brooks made it more uncomfortable because he popped his eyes open. Dawning appeared on his face. “You really do remind me of someone I used to know.”
“Oh really,” I said, way too high pitched. “Who? Maybe I know her.”
