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She stood from the couch and bent to pick up the tray. An unnatural sound rushed past her lips, she froze in place, and her hand shot up to her neck as she muttered a curse.
“What is it?” I rushed to her side but resisted the urge to reach out and touch her.
“Muscle cramp.” She pushed a harsh breath out through gritted teeth and sat back down, hunched forward. “Jessica mentioned I was lying at a weird angle when she found me. The doctor gave me a muscle relaxer in the ER, but I guess it wore off.”
This was a problem I could fix. The guys on my old shift used to do massage circles all the time. Whenever someone new came on our shift, they always acted a bit put-off by it until they experienced their first one. Everyone became a convert.
I was the neck and shoulder guy. Will could turn anyone’s lats to jelly, and Ben could make low back pain disappear like a magician.
“I can rub it.”
Her eyes went wide.
Jesus, why did I sound like a goddamn caveman half the time I talked to this woman? This was what happened when you withdrew from society for as long as I had. “Your neck, I mean. I can help loosen it up. I’m good with my hands.”
Again, that last bit came out sounding dirtier than intended.
She closed her eyes and swallowed. I watched in fascination as her breathing quickened. It had to be the pain. There was no way I affected her the way she did me.
She looked up at me with hooded eyes. “Where do you want me?”
I suppressed a groan as I imagined her spread out beneath me on the couch, minus her hoodie and pajama bottoms.
Standing behind her with the back of the couch between us seemed like the safest bet, so I didn’t end up grinding a semi into her spine while giving her a neck massage.
“Are you able to sit up?” I circled around behind the couch and patted the cushion in front of me.
She flinched a little but got herself situated without too much trouble. “Should I take this off?” She gestured to the hoodie.
“Your choice.”
“This hood is going to get in the way.” She removed the jacket with stilted movements that reminded me of my purpose. She was in pain, and I was going to help her out. Nothing more.
I wasn’t here to ogle the smooth olive-colored skin of her shoulders that was on display.
Or to take in the elegant line of her neck.
Or to bask in the fact that she still smelled like my shower gel. The scent had a feminine undertone when she wore it, and it made me imagine that was what she’d smell like if she’d spent the night rolling around in my sheets.
Nope, none of that. Just here to work out a few knots, folks.
Cracking my knuckles first, I reached out and started by rubbing tiny circles along the top of her shoulders. The noises coming out of her made me thank god I had the back of the couch between us.
I hit a tight spot on her right shoulder blade, and she moaned. The sound pushed my cock beyond discreet half-chub territory into full-blown erection zone.
“Your fingers are magic,” she murmured while I tried not to imagine where else I’d like to graze my fingers.
The fact that I had a view straight down her tank top from this angle didn’t help my cause, although my cock didn’t mind.
I spent the next twenty minutes struggling not to blow a load in my jeans like a goddamn junior high kid while she kept making pleased little noises that drove me mad. Eventually the moans and hums tapered off. Her breathing evened out, and her head hung down, limp, before lolling to one side.
“Sadie?” I whispered.
A soft snore passed between her lips. She was out cold.
Probably for the best.I took a minute to get myself together, then gently scooped her up off the couch and carried her up to the room she was staying in. She didn’t stir.
After I pulled the quilt back and tucked her in, I took a moment to take in the soft lines of her face, lax with sleep. She looked peaceful.
I hadn’t felt at peace about much of anything in a long time.
The look on her face was a stark juxtaposition to the challenge that’d filled it last night when she showed up on my doorstep.
I wasn’t sure which way I liked her better.
But it didn’t matter, because she was going to be gone before I knew it.
