Page 45 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

I smirked. “You’re trouble.”

“Apparently.”

I put her through a gentle version of the routine, releasing tension without aggravating her inflammation. Mia had definitely been in this situation before. She knew what to expect and didn’t fight me on any of the positions I led her into. It was almost disorienting. I expected her to push back, or at least stiffen in my hands.

Instead, she was pliable, soft, and willing, and fuck me if it didn’t make me think of how willing she was in that closet.

I shook my head and laid her on my table, on her back this time, as I sat behind her and worked her neck again.

“So you bought this place before the fundraiser started. This was the work you said you had to do.”

“When Kira and I moved, I had to close my practice back home.”

“And you moved here right after the funeral.”

“Kira needed it.”

“Why New York, though?”

I shifted her head to the left, testing it, watching her face. She winced, and I moved her back to the center. She looked up at me, waiting.

“Her mom wanted it. When Kira got her acceptance letter, Tash made me promise that I’d get her through the program. That, and my sister lives here. She’s the only other family we have.”

I felt her eyes trace my neck. “Was the band just a distraction then?”

I had to give it to her; she knew how to get a smile out of me. That fundraiser was a shit-show, but it was the last time Kira laughed before school started.

“Oh, look at that. The grump can smile.”

“I can laugh too. Almost like a real human.”

She pretended to gape at me. “Was that a joke?”

“Maybe.”

“So…” She lifted her hand and twirled it, prompting me to keep talking.

“So I’ve played music and worked wood since I was a kid. My parents sent my sister and me to almost every available extracurricular class in town.”

“Every class? So you had triangle lessons? Singing lessons?”

“Yep. I still can’t sing for shit, but that didn’t stop my parents from trying.”

She laughed, and I was surprised at how good it felt to pull that sound from her. Like I’d done something right and could call it a day.

“But you can play guitar.”

“And piano. I played for Kira all the time, and when she saw the flyer for the band, she thought it’d be good for me.”

“And was it?”

I could feel a snort coming on but managed to squash it. “It was interesting. Definitely distracting. Kira had a great time giving me a faux-hawk and ripping the sleeves off of my shirt.”

Mia’s laugh tapered off as I moved around the table and lifted her foot. She groaned as I kneaded into her arch and flexed her toes. The hem of her dress slipped along her thigh, and I tore my eyes away.

Mia was a client, and touching her like this shouldn’t have gotten anything out of me, but fuck, I was as hard as a rock. The minute she sat back up again, she’d notice.

“So you don’t play with Brent anymore?”