With the therapist gone, I tossed the flash cards onto a side table. Trekking back to the massage table, I glanced between the masseurs. “You guys all right with a quiet session?”
“Absolutely, sir.” Andre nodded with a smirk. “Are there any problem areas I can focus on for you today?”
“Do you have any experience with overenthusiastic therapists or meddling mothers?” I asked dryly.
He chuckled. “Maybe I could schedule your mother for a deep tissue massage?”
“There aren’t enough massages in the world to help her,” I said under my breath, getting back on the table.
The session was pretty standard from there. Andre kneaded my back—annoyingly effective at easing tension I wouldn’t admit was there.
Without Lovejoy around, I’d even say it was relaxing—until Ellie let out a soft moan that reached straight to my bones.
I cracked an eye open and lifted my head.
Ellie’s head was turned toward me, with her cheek pillowed on folded arms while Luca worked on her back. Blue hair spilled over her shoulder, loose and silky. I couldn’t keep my gaze from taking in how low the sheet rested on her backside—revealing a small dimple sitting above it which I had the strongest urge to lick.
Kicking myself for looking, I stuck my face back in the hole.
That didn’t stop my ears from listening to Ellie enjoy her massage. The more little sounds from her, the tenser I grew, until a soft sigh made me open my mouth without thinking. “Watch the hands there, Luca.”
He uttered an instant apology, but Ellie snickered. “Cade, please let the nice man do his job.”
Niceman? She’d just met him ten minutes ago.
“This feels amazing,” Ellie murmured. “It’s like every worry is melting away. Are your hands made of magic, Luca?”
My eyes narrowed at the floor, while Luca laughed. “I’m just well-trained, Miss Darling.”
Another sigh drifted over from Ellie’s table, and I ground my teeth. My shoulders tensed faster than Andre could relieve them.
Taking a deep breath helped—sort of. Focusing on Andre’s methodical kneading worked better. My breathing slowed. It was almost relaxing.
Until another moan floated over from Ellie, and I pushed up from my table as my last shred of self-control snapped. “Okay, guys. We’re good from here. You two take the rest of the morning off. Appreciate it.”
Both masseurs blinked back at me, before Andre nodded. “You got it, sir.”
Grabbing towels to wipe the oil from their hands, they both quickly exited. I slid off the table, wrapping the sheet around my waist and rolling my shoulders.
Ellie cleared her throat behind me.
“What was that all about?” she asked lightly, eyes sparkling as I moved to the side of her table. She cocked a brow. “I understand asking Dr. Lovejoy to leave, but those guys were perfectly professional.”
“Professional or not, I’m not going to listen to another man make you moan,” I said, earning an audiblegulpfrom Ellie.
“Oh,” she whispered, then her lips twitched. “So you called off the whole thing? I was really enjoying that massage.”
I nodded at the table. “Lie back down, then. I’ll give you one.”
Her brows inched higher. “…You’ll massage me?”
“Sure. Lie down.”
Ellie glanced between me and the table, before shrugging and lying back down. “Well, if you insist.”
I rubbed a drop of oil between my palms and eyed Ellie’s back, way too happy about this turn of events. Just like cuddling, I didn’t know the first thing about massages. But they seemed easy enough, and I placed my palms between her shoulder blades—copying the kneading motions Andre had used on my back. Almost immediately, Ellie melted into the table with a soft sigh.
So damn responsive.
