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"Haud yer wheesht, Hugh."
"My, you are in a mood this morning." Hugh slaps Callum's back. "Have fun being tortured by a beautiful woman. Kate, try not to work him too hard."
Fortunately, Hugh ambles back to the chair he'd sat in before and drops onto it. I know his interest in me is kind of my fault, since I agreed to a date with him and then backed out. But I've told him several times that I am not interested in him. When he suggested a picnic, I should've told him I do not want to date him because I'm not attracted to him. But I got anxious and experienced a sharp pang of guilt over what Callum and I did, so I babbled about not having time for a picnic.
I pull the door open and gesture for Callum to go through it first. He refuses to look at me, keeping his head down. I shut the door and lead him into the exercise room. This time, he doesn't gripe about warming up on the stationary bike. I catch him admiring my ass, and when he sees me noticing that, his lips curve into a smile so sensual that my nipples tighten. He shouldn't be acting that way. One time only, that was our agreement. Sure, our "one time" lasted two and a half hours, but that is not the point.
After the warm-up, I have Callum start his recovery routine. First up, straight leg raises. He doesn't unbend his knee very far, and he winces when he makes that small movement.
I crouch beside him. "Power through the pain, Callum. That's how you get better."
"My knee is too bloody stiff." He averts his gaze. "You know why."
Oh, he means his knee got sore from the incredibly athletic, mind-blowing sex we enjoyed on Saturday. My nipples get even harder when I think about that. I don't want to think about it, but he just had to mention it, indirectly. Today, I'm at work, not tangled in the sheets with him. Time to act like a physical therapist.
I hop over him to crouch alongside his bad knee. "Lay your leg flat on the mat."
"Cannae."
"Yes, you can. Put your leg down as flat as you can." I wait until he does that, but his knee is still mostly bent. "Now take a deep breath, hold it for a count of three, and exhale it for a count of ten. Ready? Go."
I can tell he's trying to follow my instructions, but seems to be so afraid to use his knee that he can't manage even to do the breathing exercise I gave him. Instead of letting it out gradually, he blows the breath out and scowls at me.
"Doesnae work," he says. "This is rubbish."
"No, it's not. But you need to relax." I rest one hand on his kneecap and the other on the underside of his calf. "Stop tensing up. Just do the breathing exercise and let me move your knee. Okay?"
"Aye."
He does what I said, and as he slowly releases the breath he'd held, I feel his muscles relaxing and ease his knee into an almost straight position on the mat.
"Very good," I say. "Now do the leg raises. And try not to tense up again."
"Afraid my knee will hurt too much."
Wow. He actually admitted to being afraid of the pain. That's progress.
After the leg raises, we do some of the other exercises I've taught him. Then it's time to add another new one. Naturally, Callum complains about that.
"I overworked my knee the other day," he says. "Adding another torture exercise willnae be good for my recovery."
"Trust me, this won't make things worse. But if you experience any sharp or shooting pains, let me know."
"All right," he sighs. "Show me the new torture exercise."
"It might help if you stopped thinking of this as torture. It's a therapeutic workout."
He grumbles, but I can't understand what he said. If it was even words.
"Roll onto your stomach," I say, "with your legs straight. You can prop yourself up with your elbows if you like, but make sure your hips and legs remain flat on the floor."
Callum gets into position. "Now what?"
"Tighten your glutes and raise your injured leg. Keep it straight."
He barely lifts his leg, then drops it onto the mat again. "Cannae."
"Yes, you can." I crouch near his hips and rest my hand on his bottom. "Tighten your gluteus muscles. That means your ass, Callum. You need those muscles to support the prone leg raise. Go on, tighten those glutes."
