Page 75 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

Maybe this was a problem I just couldn’t solve.

Chapter 29

Mia

CHIROPRACTIC CARE

Saturday

It was late in the day when I finally stepped inside Chiropractic Care. The waiting room was empty, and the quiet felt almost eerie as I sank into a chair.

I’d spent some of the morning stretching and, well, freaking out a little.

I think about your mouth. And all the things I want to do to it.

That moment outside the amphitheater kept looping through my mind, and I was so frustrated that I couldn’t just turn it off.

I wasn’t this person. I didn’t obsess over a man. But here I was, all prickly and out-of-my-skin nervous that, any second now, he might step into the waiting room. I hated feeling like this.

And I didn’t understand it. We hated each other. How did we get here?

“Fucking universe,” I muttered, pressing my palms into my eyelids. “This isn’t what I need right now.”

What I needed was focus. Motivation. A reminder that Lilly’s promotion still depended on earning those program spots for my students. I needed to get my shit together, and I’d been trying. I even canceled my last few appointments. Two weeks away from here was supposed to help, but–

“Loretta, wait. I don’t remember talking about this.”

Well, fuck my traitorous heart. It swooped and dipped as Loretta and Theo stepped into the waiting room.

“You have one more client. You can’t just leave.”

Where his voice was low and firm, Loretta’s was high and exasperated. “I told you about this a week ago. I can’t cancel it now; my sister is waiting.”

The drama-lover in me couldn’t help but glance up. And sure enough, there it was–that familiar thrill low in my belly. Cripes. All I did was look at him.

Theo stood there, staring Loretta down in charcoal-colored slacks, his light blue button-down straining at his shoulders as he rested his hands on his hips. His hair was just long enough to curl around the base of his neck, and after two weeks without a Theo sighting, all I wanted was to bury my fingers in it.

Get your shit together, Mia.

“I know, but there has to be someone else who can meet her there. Just for the next hour.”

Loretta looked like she wanted to breathe fire at him. I stood and forced myself to join them.

Theo’s gaze flitted between taking me in, to refocusing on Loretta, to dragging his eyes along my body, to the door that Loretta was about to walk through.

“I can reschedule?” I offered, and they surprised me by shaking their heads.

“Our schedule is full next week, and you’ve missed too many appointments. Mike told me that you need these regular sessions or you’ll regress,” Loretta said before nodding at Theo. “But it shouldn’t be a problem. Theo can take care of you.”

And with that, she turned on her heel, backpack jostling on her shoulders as she made it to the door. Panicked, I squeaked out, “But I need a massage, not an adjustment.”

She paused and peered around the doorframe. “Don’t worry, Miss Walker. He’s a qualified massage and physiotherapist too. He has a doctorate and everything. You’re in good hands.”

Then, as if she didn’t just drop a bomb at my feet, she left. My mouth was still open as I turned to him. “You’re a doctor?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t really call myself one.” He shook his head, then gestured down the hall.

I let out a choked laugh. “Oh no. You can’t give me a massage.”