“I’m starving.”
“So you’ll stay?”
“If you bring me food and cut the appointments short enough to give me time to pee and eat, then yes. This isn’t prison, Cole, I need to be able to eat!”
“And pee. Don’t forget basic human functions.”
She smirked. “You know I can never say no to you anyway.”
“And yet, you do.” He took a step toward her. “And quite often. If I were any other man I’d stop asking and cut my losses.”
“Please, you get enough ass without adding mine into the mix. Plus there’s that whole pesky employee-relationship rule.” He was standing so close she could feel his body heat.
“Oh, that one.” He chuckled. “I’m pretty sure I’ve already broken that one numerous times.”
“We know, Cole. All of us. The entire staff.” She groaned into her hands. “Please tell me that’s not why Sara quit.”
“Sara? Of course not. I think she just hated the hours.”
“Gee, I wonder why.”
Between our celebrity clientele and the buzz surrounding the hotel being bought out, lunch breaks had become a thing of the past.
“It will get better. The people from Titus have promised that they’ll not only keep all the staff but double our employees and take a good, hard look at our bonus structures. I know it’s hard now, but things are looking up. I mean, it could be worse, we could have the opposite problem and be going under, right?”
She hung her head. “Yes.”
“Thank you.” He reached for her hand and squeezed. “And I promise I’ll bring you food, all right? Even prisoners get a phone call.”
“So I get a phone call too, now? Wow, what kind of establishment is this? Best. Job. Ever.”
“Shhh, you’ll ruin my reputation as a hard-ass. Now, go massage the hell out of that NFL player in there.”
Nikki ground her teeth. “Why can’t they send me a soccer player?”
Cole laughed and ushered her toward the door, looping her arm in his as he led her down the hall and away from all major catastrophes. He always found time to help her to her next client even though she had the hallways memorized—it was the restaurants at the resort that gave her grief: all the tables, chairs, glassware.
Shivering, she suppressed the memory of the last time she’d attempted to go to dinner on her own, only to run into the buffet and end up with spinach in her hair—but hey, at least it wasn’t between her teeth.
See? Silver lining.
Optimism.
“He’s huge,” Cole whispered once they stopped at the door. The sound of him grabbing the clipboard had her straightening her back for another grueling workout with her hands. Clients had to fill out forms for legal purposes, but she much preferred having a discussion about their needs, not just because she couldn’t see the chicken scratch but because it seemed more personal. “No injuries or allergies.” Paper rustled. “And he’s had a massage every day since his arrival a week ago. See? Easy. Oh also, he’s three hundred pounds of muscle, so have fun with that.”
She elbowed him in the ribs and knocked on the door. “Are you ready?”
“Thanks, Nikki, I owe you,” Cole whispered before sauntering off. The man didn’t know how to walk in straight lines, couldn’t if he tried. A part of her wondered if Cole did it for her—refused to walk straight and nearly ran his body into walls.
She sighed.
Too bad he was her best friend.
Too bad her heart was still broken.
Too bad even if it was whole—it would still completely belong to someone else. Even if that someone else didn’t even really exist anymore.
“Ready!” a deep voice called from inside.
Quietly, she closed the door behind her and tried to mentally prepare herself.
It was always a bad idea to dig up the past during a massage. It wasn’t fair to the clients; they didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of her anger—and strangling the man in front of her was probably a good way to get fired.
Or sent to prison.
“Where would you like me to focus our session?” she asked in a soothing voice as she slowly ran her hands up and down the sheet, pressing her palms against his skin.
“Hurt my back in the last game of the season, so if you could fix that I’d love you forever.” His southern drawl was thick. “I think my IT band is ready to snap too, but that’s nothing new.”
Nikki took a deep breath and ran her hands down the man’s back. A violent memory surged forward the minute her fingers came into contact with his warm skin.
Hands. His hands on her body.
His hips. Driving into her.