Page 13 of Deking at Love
Meanwhile, she snatched a bright pink stress ball in the shape of an elephant from her desk and held it up.“Need one of these?”
“No,” he mocked, “I don’t need one of those.”
She kept it, squeezing it as she watched him.He hoped he was causing her as much stress as she was causing him because, damn!The exercise was harder than it looked.When he reachedK, he gave up, skipped theL, and started onM.
“Wanna try thatKagain, hotshot?”
“How did you even see that?”he scoffed.“That was a wild guess.”
“Not a wild guess.I told you I would know when you cheat.”He could have sworn one corner of her mouth quirked.She was enjoying this.She must really hate him.
“Fine,” he groused and started outlining the edge of the letter with his foot.The exercise sucked, and he was pretty sure she was putting him through it simply because she enjoyed watching him suffer.
Beads of sweat popped along his hairline, and he needed a distraction.“That trainer,” he began.“Trevor?Was he down here checking on my progress or something?”
Her uneasiness returned, showing itself in the way her grip tightened on the stress ball.“Keep that heel parked.I said alphabet, not aerobics.”
“So about Trevor …” he prodded.He was still sore about the stupid April Fool’s joke that hadn’t been funny at all.
“What about him?”she snapped.“He’s not involved in your care.”
Then whatishe involved in?he refrained from asking.
She jammed her thumb against her chest.“I’mmanaging your rehab for now.I upload my observations and reports into the portal, where the doc and the trainers whoarepart of your care team can access the information when they need to.Unless your ankle takes a turn for the worse, that’s how it’s going to stay for the rest of your rehab.”Her tone was as frosty as the gel packs in her freezer.
“Then why was he here?”Sam needled.“You got something going with him?It’s against company rules, you know.”
“No, I don’t have ‘something going with him,’ and even if I did, it would be none of your business.”She’d stopped squeezing the ball, but she held it in a death grip that turned her knuckles white.
Huh.
“Well, actually it would,” he drawled, “especially if you get your ass fired.I’d have to break in a whole new physical therapist.”
“Break in?Oh, I think you’ve got that backward, buddy.”Turning from him, she casually deposited the pink elephant on the desk and started clicking away on the keyboard at her rolling workstation, her eyes fixed on the monitor.“And don’t think I won’t see you cheating again.”
He chuckled, his mood suddenly lighter.Couldn’t help himself.As perverse as it sounded, he was having fun trading barbs with her, and he liked that he’d rattled her.Or at least hethoughthe’d rattled her.For some odd reason, it took his mind off why he was here in the first place.
A teenage boy hobbled into the space with an older woman, and Angie lifted her head and beamed a smile so dazzling it outshone the overheads.When she looked back at Sam, her smile faded.“I need to talk to these folks, but I’ll be right back.In the meantime, keep going through the alphabet.If you finish before I get back, start over again.”
He didn’t cheat as he went through the motions, watching her interact with the pair the entire time.The kid had a mouthful of metal that flashed every time he smiled at Angie—and he smiled a lot.So did the woman.Though Sam couldn’t hear what they said, their body language told him they were thanking Angie.Probably for helping the kid rehab an injury.When the woman produced a little gift bag, Angie lit up and covered her mouth in surprise.She accepted the gift with grace, then held up her fist for the kid to bump.The moment she did, his face flushed red, and the grin plastered on his face told Sam he was a little smitten with his therapist.She gave him the universal “wait a sec” signal and jogged to her desk, opened a drawer, and slid out a plastic container that she opened and presented to him.The kid’s eyes flared with excitement, and when he dipped his hand into the box, he came away with two chunky cookies.She offered the container to the woman, who shook her head.
Angie looked over her shoulder at Sam, who lifted his brows in anticipation she’d offer him some cookies too, but she snapped the lid shut as she said good-bye to her guests.Back at her desk, she placed the closed container back in the drawer and fiddled with something at her desk, keeping her back to Sam.
She seemed to have eyes in the back of her head because when he was done with his “writing” project, she pivoted and inspected the ankle and prodded some more.“Okay.Now it’s time for ice and compression.”
“That’s it?Don’t I get an attaboy or something?”Like a cookie?Or one of those brilliant smiles?
Her mouth parted.“For writing the alphabet with your foot?”
“It was hard work.That kid got a fist bump … and a cookie.”
“Thatkidjust recovered from a compound fracture, and he never complained during months of PT.You had a ten-minute exercise, and you complained for nine of those.”
“Did not.”
She rolled her eyes and spun on her heel.He rose up on his elbows again and watched her walk toward a rolling cart with a box-like machine on it.The soft sway of her ass in those ugly khakis hypnotized him.He tilted his head for a better angle.Those damn things had to be some of the unsexiest pants a woman could wear, but somehow, on her, they enhanced her curves.He might not like having her as his therapist, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the view.
She wheeled the cart into place and fired up the Game Ready machine.After checking the controls, she slipped a padded sleeve over his ankle, fastened it snug, and connected it to the machine.She stood beside him as the cold began circulating through the compressed sleeve, her eyes darting toward the machine.As she did so, her fingertips accidentally brushed his T-shirt sleeve, and she recoiled as if she’d touched a flame.
