Page 43 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

She turned her whole body to look at Mario, and I could immediately tell where her inflammation was. She hurt her upper middle back and couldn’t move her neck.

“I was here in May and saw Gary. Is he still here?”

“No. He sold his practice to Mr Hudson that month, actually.”

“You’re bloody joking.”

“Uh, no, sorry, ma’am, I’m not.”

“Mia,” I interrupted. “I can tell you’re in pain. Come in and let me take a look.”

She shifted on her feet and stared at my chest. “Can’t I see someone else? I’ll wait.”

“Everyone else is fully booked right now,” Mario interrupted. “Sorry.”

I bent to meet her eyes. “It’s me or nothing.”

“Then I’ll take nothing, won’t I?”

Her dark glare was enough to heat my blood.

“Look, I can’t force you into my office, but that inflammation isn’t going away on its own. Let me help.”

She ground out a short, “You think touching me is a good idea?”

I huffed out a laugh, surprised. “It’s my job, and I’m pretty good at it.”

She said, “I don’t care how good you are, I want someone else,” and I couldn’t blame her. We didn’t have the smoothest history.

I bent to her ear and lowered my voice, “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Her breathy gasp was so small that no one else could’ve heard it, but the sound went straight to my cock. I squeezed my eyes shut and straightened. That wasn’t supposed to sound the way it did.

“Oh, really. You think you can keep this G-rated?”

Sarcasm. At least we were in familiar territory.

“This is my business,” I told her. “I can’t afford any other ratings.”

“Not even PG?”

“Not even that. You’re safe.”

As her arms dropped back by her sides, I could pinpoint the exact moment she surrendered.

“Well… all right, fine.”

I gestured to my office and let her walk ahead of me, taking note of how she held herself as she carefully stepped inside.

Her voice was quiet, but I managed to catch a muttered, “Fucking universe.”

She sat on my drop table, squeezing her thighs together as she tugged at the hem of her dress. I opened her file and read her facts out loud, taking a look at the circled areas on her last x-ray.

“You have severe scoliosis and used to see Gary every two weeks until he managed to get you to a stable state.”

“I hurt myself in November last year, and he put me on a program to make sure it wouldn’t happen as much.”

“Right. Stretches, biweekly visits, and you were advised to start a strength training program.”