“You make it sound like I’m a terrible date,” I joked.
Mira forced a chuckle. I adjusted my head to get a better view of her face, but she quickly moved around the table and pressed down on the center of my back. She did an excellent job of keeping my head turned in the opposite direction. No matter what though, the quality of her work wasn’t compromised in the slightest.
“I guess maybe I didn’t expect much talking,” she admitted. Her words stung a little bit and I was surprised they bothered me at all. “Most of my clients back at the clinic were pretty quiet.”
“The clinic?”
“It’s where I used to work. Now I’m starting out on my own and, honestly, it’s scary being a small business owner.”
“But isn’t it, like, most people’s dream to open up their own place?”
“I guess, but it has to be what you want and it should happen at the right time, not because it feels like the best or only option in a crappy situation.” Mira paused and so did her hands. She let out a long sigh and mumbled an apology.
“Don’t be,” I said without thinking. It wasn’t the way I treated anyone who worked for me, but nobody was little Randy. “Crappy situation,” I repeated before asking, “Why did you leave your old job?”
“I didn’t feel comfortable there.”
“But they paid you, right?”
I didn’t get it. It shouldn’t really matter how she felt if she was getting compensated for her work. That was how the world works. My thoughts switched to Janice and I could already start to feel the anger bubbling over. I paid her and I paid her well. So why did she have to go and bring emotion into it? Was that the sort of thing Mira does too? Maybe I just didn’t know the whole story. Maybe I was less willing to judge her as harshly as I judged Janice.
Mira looked at me sideways. “Some things are more important than money, Axel.”
I barely had a moment to decide she was wrong before she sank her thumb into an awful knot. I instantly jumped and yelped in pain. Then, as quickly as the pain came, I felt it dissipate as I thought more about what she had said.
Once I was finished with the massage Axel leaned up. I couldn’t help but glance at his deep muscular back and butt draped in the sheet. I could feel my pulse in my throat as my eyes traveled across his body. My tongue ran along the bottom of my lip. I bit it and shook my head, turning to look at the wall. I couldn’t get caught staring at him, much less staring like someone ready to eat the world’s tastiest food.
He positioned his body to lay on his side, smoothly adjusting the sheet to make sure he stayed covered up. I didn’t miss the knowing little smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, but I thought I did a good job acting totally chill.
“I want you,” he said. I turned to look at him just as he continued, “To work for me. Exclusively.” I had to suppress a glare. I knew he added that pregnant pause on purpose.
Still, my mind focused on what he was actually telling me. "What?"
“I'll pay you,” he quickly assured.
I rolled my eyes. He seemed to think money was everything. No wonder he didn’t get why I left my old job. It didn’t matter; he didn’t need to understand. He wasn’t my boyfriend or even a friend. He was just the lavish, arrogant incarnation of the guy I once had a crush on.
He’s my client. I reiterated inside my head.
“Look, you need money and I need your hands. Plain and simple.”
I paused for a moment, “It's not about the money.” I didn’t know why I had just said that. What was it about, then? And what was I supposed to say if he wanted me to explain? My heart started racing. I had Axel Montgomery, who wanted to book out daily appointments for the foreseeable future, with me and I was questioning it! Not to mention I was being annoyingly vague with him.
I leaned back against the door of the massage room. I hemmed and hawed for a couple minutes; I didn’t want to be caught in a bad situation by not having other clients, but at the same time I knew I had to at least consider it. I thought about my rent and the prestige of working on an all-star player. Well, not just any all-star—it was Axel Montgomery, ‘The Axe’. He was the cream of the crop.
I had worked on professional athletes before, but none of them came close to being as famous as Axel. If I took him up on his offer I wouldn’t only have steady work that was well paid, I would have the opportunity to advertise myself as the exclusive therapist to The Axel Montgomery.
I met his gaze and then glanced at his body when he looked away. That sealed the deal.
Fuck it. I stepped forward and reached out to shake his hand. He looked at me with a little smirk. There was obvious satisfaction in his eyes. I remembered that smirk of his. He always gave that look when he got his way. I knew it all too well from our youth. His hand closed around mine and I felt my knees nearly give out. I checked to make sure he didn’t notice and breathed a sigh of relief when it appeared he hadn’t. That relief didn’t last long; he held my hand a little too long and I felt a ball of nerves stir at the pit of my stomach.
He looked at our hands. He looked up at me. I felt his penetrating stare. It was like we were connected. The moment hung heavy in the air and I didn’t know how to handle it. I was acutely aware of the fact that he was practically naked as he held my hand.
Were it not for the sheet draped over his lap, I would be able to reach out and... I licked my lips.
“I missed you,” I said throatily. I had no idea why I said it, but it was out now and there was nothing I could do about it. I silently cursed myself for being so stupid. That could easily be something he held over my head.
“It's good to see you again,” he said, voice thick and heavy. I felt my knees go weak again and I gripped his hand a bit tighter as if that would save me from collapsing to the ground. Then he swallowed and a glint came to his eyes. He was about to speak and my heart was racing a million miles an hour with anticipation. I was on pins and needles.
“Randy,” he said, smirk reappearing in an instant.
My cheeks went hot with irritation. The moment was ruined, which was probably for the best, but I was far too annoyed to actually care. I turned and left the massage room to give him privacy to get dressed. The session was over and I had no business hanging out in there anyway. I could hear him laughing as I closed the door behind me. I felt my face grow red-hot.
“I need to calm down,” I mumbled to myself. I walked to the corner of my office, where Shellsea left her a yoga mat, and I unrolled it. I had to try calming down somehow so I figured yoga might work; especially with how Shellsea always went on and on about the different poses. I dropped down to the mat and got started. I was bent in downward dog when he came out of the room. My butt was practically waving in his face.
“Nice," he hissed, bordering on a whistle.
I blushed deep red and shot straight up into the air, turning to face him but looking at the blank space of wall next to his head. I couldn’t bring myself to make eye contact with his piercing blue gaze. I went to my appointment book and decided to blow past the infuriating moment and make everything about work. It was the only way out of the horrifyingly embarrassing moment. I took a deep breath to steady my nerves as I tried to force out all the bad feelings coursing through my body.
“I’ll see you here tomorrow.” I said in the most professional and well-put-together voice I could muster.
He shook his head and my heart dropped. Did he change his mind?
“It's a real pain in the ass for me to come all of the way out here. Come meet me at practice tomorrow.” He looked me in the eye and then nodded before turning around and leaving.
I cursed under my breath and lifted my two middle fingers toward the door, totally cancelling out any sort of Zen I might have achieved that day.
He was still an asshole, that much hadn’t changed.
It was early afternoon and practice had just ended. I felt the painful knots in my shoulder. They weren’t as bad now as they were a week ago, thanks to Mira
’s magic hands, but they were certainly still there. I had already showered and changed into something casual and easy to throw off as I waited for her to arrive for our appointment. I was happy she agreed to come out to me but, then again, that was the way I felt it should be.
I stood near the team doctor's office waiting for her. Today would take a bit longer to get through just because it wouldn’t only be the massage, but also a meeting prior to it. Dr. Killian needed to sign off on Mira now that I decided to take her on as my exclusive massage therapist. I felt a certain satisfaction at having nabbed her. As I was standing there smiling with smug satisfaction I saw her walking up.
I watched her, completely baffled and amused, as she struggled to carry her massage table across the parking lot. There was sweat dripping from her forehead and I could see some veins popping out in her neck. She was really exerting herself and I was enjoying the unexpected entertainment of it all.
“You know,” I said when she was finally in earshot, “We have those here.” I teased as a wide smile spread across my face. I could practically see the anger bubbling up inside of her and, sure enough, when she finally got to the door she looked like she wanted to murder me. That only made me want to laugh, but I held it back, at least for now. Mira grunted and slammed the table against the wall before dusting off her hands and swiping the back of her palm across her forehead to get the sweat off. Then she looked down at my hand and grimaced. I bit back another laugh.
“Come on, Dr. Killian’s already inside waiting for us.”
Mira shot me another angry look as I pulled open the office door and motioned for her to walk in first. She walked past me and I caught a faint whiff of her conditioner. I couldn’t make out what the scent was, but it was pleasant. Vanilla and flowers? I cleared my throat and shook my head; her hair wasn’t something I should be noticing, much less thinking about.
“Dr. Killian, this is Ra- I mean, Miranda Bach.”
“So you’re the therapist who is working wonders on The Axe,” the doctor said with a terse smile. He wasn’t rude or cold, but he was definitely all business. That was something I had grown used to when speaking with him. He nodded at a stack of papers lying on top of his desk and Mira looked down at them. She looked confused, which was something he picked up on because he promptly began explaining to her what the meeting was about and what all the paperwork was for.
“You’ll understand we’ve just got to have a Non-disclosure agreement.” It wasn’t a question. I was watching her for some sort of reaction, which I could tell was starting to bother her. She gave a curt nod and the doctor continued, “You’ll have yourself a very high profile client and the Razorsharks have to be sure any of his information or interesting anecdotes won’t get spread around.
Mira looked at the doctor straight in the eye, “I’m a professional, Dr. Killian. There is no way and no reason I’d betray any confidentiality.” I could tell she was clearly irked by the whole situation.
“Of course there is also this privacy policy we need to review and have you sign.”
“Okay,” she muttered, the disdain more evident in her voice now. “I just want to let you know I always make sure to follow proper procedure...”
I drowned out her voice until I just heard muffled sounds between her and the team doctor. It was all boring talk and really there was no reason for me to even be there. I preferred to keep my mind occupied with other things, like looking at Mira’s facial expressions when she was talking to the doctor. I squinted and watched the look in her eyes. I took note of how fierce her chin was as it jutted forward, particularly when she was standing her ground. I knew most people would be intimidated in her place, but she wasn’t having any of it. Still, she managed to stay professional.
I liked the way her lip curled into a snarl like a lion cub learning to hunt as she leaned forward to point at something on the paper, like she was arguing against it in a court of law. I thought it was a perfect mix of cute and sexy. A little voice inside my head reminded me that she was the once little Randy. The thought of her as my sports massage therapist got kicked to the back of my mind.
I leaned forward so much to see her lips more closely that she actually noticed and took a giant step away from me and shot me a funny look.
I shrugged and grinned, trying to play it cool even though I was caught. I didn’t care. I had never been bashful and was always carefree. I rarely noticed cute or interesting little things about a woman. All of that was different with Mira. There was something about her that made me want to study her every move.
As I continued to watch her a bit more covertly now, I realized very little of it had to do with the fact that she was an old friend. That excuse was wearing thin fast. I gulped and silently told myself to pull it together. There was no reason for me to be acting that way, much less allowing my thoughts to run wild on dangerous territory. But my eyes wondered to her fiery curls running wild on her head. I loved the way they playfully danced and bobbed with every turn of her neck. I cleared my throat, causing both Dr. Killian and Mira to turn and look at me.
“Nothing,” I muttered as I leaned back against the wall. I spaced out again as soon as they continued talking. Before long it seemed like they had agreed on everything. She took a pen off the desk and looked ready to sign. I smirked and snuck a peek at her round, firm ass when she bent over to sign the paperwork still strewn about on the desk. I had to hand it to her—it was a great ass. One of the first things I noticed when I saw her at her little practice was how great her body was.
She wrapped up the meeting with the doctor and the two of us left the office. As we walked back to the massage room near the doctor’s office, she snarled at me. “You could have told me I’d be signing my life away.”
I shrugged. “The money’s right, right?”
Mira looked angry, but I couldn’t figure out why. As far as I could see, I had just offered her the deal of a lifetime so there was no reason for her to behave like that. If anything, she could come off a bit ungrateful, but I knew better. I knew there was more to her attitude. I just couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Let’s just get started,” she told me, taking a seat outside the room with the massage table.
She looked at me impatiently so I stepped inside and got naked, quickly climbing on the table with the sheet draped over my ass. As soon as she stepped inside and put her oil-slicked hands on my skin she started pummeling my back like she was getting revenge.
“Oh! What the-” I cried between groans of pain and discomfort. I turned to look at her and she let up for a moment. Neither of us said a word and I placed my head back down, expecting her to start working her magic like always.
But I was in for a rude awakening. When she dug into the knots again I yelped in pain.
“Stay still!”
I froze, but not because she told me to, but because I wasn’t sure how to handle it. In all the years I had known Randy, this wasn’t the kind of behavior I thought she was capable of. I knew she had to be really pissed about something, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what it was. The confusion started to well up inside of me. It quickly turned to anger the moment she pressed and twisted another knot. I was just about to snap and tell her off. She had great and steady income now thanks to me and she had the nerve to do this.
Just as I opened my mouth to talk she interrupted me.
“How the hell is it that your shoulder could get so bad from yesterday to today?” Her voice was demanding, but even then I detected a trace of disappointment in her question.
“It's from throwing my daughter around,” I snarled back. Was I disappointed there were more knots in my back? Sure. Was it frustrating to have good progress halted? Of course it was. Was any of that worth letting up on playing with my daughter and making her happy? Not even a little bit. I made no apologies for it. Mira hit a nerve and I wasn’t afraid to show it.
Then I went stiff, realizing what I had just said. I felt Mira’s hands go still. I c
ould feel the buildup in my body, the tension and defense ready to go.
“You—you have a daughter?”
Her voice was dry. I knew she was shocked. She probably couldn’t imagine me as a father, much less a good father. I hated the fact that whether or not I was a good father probably crossed her mind. But I really hated the fact that I couldn’t blame her if it had. I liked to pride myself on treating my daughter like a queen, but I had my doubts. I dropped my gaze down to my hands, the very hands that expertly pass footballs to make big money, most of which I was happy to blow on gifts for my little girl. I finally nodded to let Mira know that yes, I had a daughter.
“What’s her name?” Her tone was hushed and her hands still hadn’t continued working.
I lied back down on my stomach and stared at the wall across from me. “Her name is Molly,” I said warmly, a genuine smile curling up the corners of my lips.
“Molly,” Mira repeated quietly as she placed her hands on my back. I closed my eyes as her palms glided over my bare skin, working their magic like always. She relaxed me, taking the time to soothe my muscles before working on my shoulder.
“And the mother?” Mira asked cautiously.
“She’s been out of the picture for years. Drugs. I used to think I was a fool for hooking up with her, but then I would have never had my daughter. A part of me feels terrible about bringing a person into this world that has a mother like her. But all I can do is try and be the best dad I can be.” I drew in a long breath to try and steady my nerves.
“I’m sorry to heart that.”
“It’s okay. She’s three years old, my little Molly.” I paused and my smile grew wider. As soon as I started thinking about her I couldn’t help but laugh. “She’s a spoiled little spitfire and I love her more than anyone or anything in the world.”
It was open and honest and totally emotional; this was definitely crossing all sorts of boundaries I set up with all people, let alone those on my payroll. I could feel Mira’s genuine interest in getting to know more about my baby girl and even about me. There was a definite shift in the vibe between us. It felt like we were in a strange new in-between relationship of grown-ups just getting to know each other and childhood friends. It was comfortable. Mira started to work on my shoulder and I winced. It hurt like hell, but I knew it would feel better as soon as she was done.
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