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She’d taken a few steps and looked back at Megan. “Yes?”
The phone rang, Mrs. Avery was still grinning, which should have set off a few alarm bells, and Ruby tapped her foot impatiently. Nash had paid a lot of money for his mother’s massage.
“Can it wait?”
Her receptionist still looked uncomfortable or weird or…well, she definitely looked like something, but Ruby didn’t have time to dig into the problem. “We’ll talk about whatever it is tomorrow. I’ll lock up since Lisa is the last client tonight.” She winked at Mrs. Avery. “Have a great weekend.”
“You too, dear.” The woman’s words echoed down the hall as Ruby made her way toward room three. She paused, realizing she didn’t have the release form all clients were supposed to sign. Megan would have looked after this, and considering she knew the client and it was for the fundraiser, Ruby let herself in.
“Hey, Lisa.”
The smell of peppermint and eucalyptus filled the air, while soft music and muted lighting set the tone. Ruby set her water bottle on the shelf just beside the door, noticing a large pair of flip-flops on the floor, and neatly folded clothing on the chair.
She smiled. Wow. Nash’s mother had some big feet. She turned toward the table, and her grin slowly faded away. The naked back, muscled shoulders, tapered waist, and round ass definitely didn’t belong to Lisa Booker. Hell, it didn’t belong to any woman she knew. It was too masculine. Too damn perfect. It wasn’t just any ass.
It was a hockey ass, and it was one she knew well.
Her eyes traveled back up until she spied the tattoo on the right shoulder. A vine with the initials R & T. She had the matching one on her lower back. To this day, it was an embarrassment Ruby was too chicken to have removed. What a cliché. The girl from the wrong side of town and the tramp stamp to show for it. Travis thought it was hot. He used to rub it when he was behind her and they were—
Cheeks warm, Ruby didn’t know if she should yell or scream or turn around and leave. Like an idiot, she stared at Travis, silent, holding her breath, wondering if he’d fallen asleep and maybe didn’t know she was there.
Maybe she could sneak out and get one of the other girls to come in. She took a step back, her mind racing. All the RMTs were busy with their last clients of the day, and that only left Megan, who wasn’t certified to massage anything other than her own feet.
She clenched her hands together, her fingernails making crescent shapes in her palm as she inched toward the door. Travis was asleep. He had to be. If not, he would have hit her with something as soon as she’d opened the door.
She didn’t know what game he was playing, but she had no desire to join in. She reached for the door, gently turned the handle, but then his voice cut through her body like a hot knife through butter.
“You’re late.”
Ruby froze, and every muscle in her body tensed. She took a moment, waiting for him to say something else. When he didn’t, she relaxed a bit and slowly turned around.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came for a massage.”
“I had Lisa Booker down as the fundraiser client.”
“Nash sold me the bid.”
“He did.” Mental note. Kill Nash next time you see him.
“He did.” Travis angled his head to the side.
“Why?”
“I tripled what he paid.”
“No. I mean why would you think this is okay? Seriously. On what planet did you think I would be okay with this? What do you want, Travis? Just tell me, and let’s get this over with.”
“My back’s a little tight from shoring up Dad’s dock, and I pulled my quad lifting yesterday. My shoulders—”
“That’s not what I meant,” she snapped, moving toward the bed. He rolled over and nearly took the blanket with him. “Why are you here?”
He pushed himself up onto his elbows, and shadow caressed skin and bone and muscle. He looked like a god. Of course he looks like a god.
“I told you. I need a massage, and Nash was willing to take the cash for his winning bid.”
Red-hot anger hit her. He looked so damn sure of himself, and she wanted to wipe the look off his face more than she cared to admit. A strange sort of exhilaration fell over her, and she found herself engaging him when she probably should have ignored him and marched her butt back out of the room.
