Can't Make This Up

by C. Morgan

  “You’ve been in pain that long? What happened?”

  “You happened.”

  He looked confused. “What?”

  “It turns out, I’m not a pretzel or a contortionist or any of those limber things. I am not a gymnast.”

  He was looking at me like he was worried I might have a head injury. “Okay, I understand that but what does that have to do with me?”

  I gave him a look. “You. Me. The wedding. The hotel.”

  Then it dawned on him. “Oh shit! Really? I hurt you?”

  “No, not hurt me. I just tweaked my back. I’ve done it before. I’ll be fine but the little slip and almost fall tweaked those same muscles.”

  “Let me help you.”

  “I really am fine.”

  “No, seriously. We’ll go to my office and I’ll give you an adjustment.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “That’s probably about the last thing I need.”

  He grinned, his eyes flashing as they tended to do. “Not that kind of an adjustment,” he said with a laugh. “Although if you think that might help, I could be persuaded.”

  “No thank you.”

  “I’m a chiropractor. I can take a look and see if it’s just a pulled muscle or something that might require a little more attention.”

  “You’re a chiropractor? I thought you were some sports doctor for the NFL?”

  “Yes to both. I have a practice here in Vancouver and in Portland. I also am the official chiropractor for the team.”

  And that explained why he was so damn rich. He not only grew up with a silver spoon, but he added several more spoons to his coffers. The guy was practically rolling in dough. Again, some people got all the breaks. He had a loving family and money and not a care in the world. We could not be more different.

  “Thank you for the offer, but it will get better.”

  “Come on. I was on my way into the office. I’ll take you.”

  “No, Ryker. I’m fine.”

  He got up from the table and reached out to help me up. I found myself standing even though I said I wasn’t going to do it. He gently led me out of the coffee shop. “Did you drive here?”

  “No.”

  “Good. We’ll take my car.”

  “I’m fine,” I said again.

  It didn’t matter what I said apparently. I found myself tucked into his Tesla Roadster.

  “I am really sorry,” he said as we drove down the street. “You should have told me I was hurting you.”

  “You weren’t hurting me in the moment,” I said with a blush staining my cheeks. “I didn’t feel it until the next day.”

  “I should have been more careful.”

  “Please stop,” I said with a sigh. “This does not need to be discussed. It isn’t something I care to talk about. You didn’t break me. It’s a pulled muscle.”

  He chuckled. “All right. I won’t mention it again, but I will fix you.”

  I could not believe we were having the conversation. I vowed to myself that it was one and done. We would maybe see each other in passing but we would never talk about what happened between us.

  At least that had been my idea. Life had other plans. This was the kind of luck I was used to. The kind where if anything bad, humiliating, or just plain shitty could happen, it was going to happen to me.

  If I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all.

  Chapter 6

  Ryker

  Life was getting a good laugh on my account. I wasn’t supposed to see her again. I never saw them again. This was different.

  I just happened to stop at a coffee shop that I never stopped at. And she just happened to be there. What kind of shit was that?

  Then to find out I broke her? I silently groaned.

  I hated that I hurt her. That was a new one for me. I was not a brute. I was not the kind of guy that hurt women. Ever. A little pinching and biting and maybe a scratch or two was the extent of my roughness.

  I glanced over at her. She was sitting awkwardly, her face contorted in pain. I knew she was suffering, and it was killing me to see her in pain. “I am so, so sorry,” I said again. “I should have been more careful.”

  “Ryker, I swear, if you don’t stop talking about it, I’m going to pull this door handle and jump out. Do not tempt me.”

  “Okay, got it, but I am going to fix you right up. I have a massage therapist on speed dial. She has magic hands.”

  She turned and looked at me with her lip curled. “You are actually offering to set me up with one of your women?”

  “She’s not my woman.”

  “One of your flings.”

  I was going to deny it, but she wouldn’t believe me, and it was true. Mary was one of the few women I revisited from time to time. She understood the arrangement and never pushed for more. “She’s a skilled therapist. If this is nothing more than a pulled muscle, she can help.”

  “No thanks. I can’t afford a massage.”

  “It will be on me. After all, I’m the one that caused the injury.”

  She groaned. “I’m never going to live this down. This is how you are going to remember. The inflexible girl that couldn’t keep up with Ryker Fallon.”

  I smirked. “You wouldn’t be the only one on that list.”

  She slapped a hand to her forehead. “This could not get any worse.”

  I stopped teasing her. She was suffering enough. I pulled into my reserved parking spot behind my clinic. I took her in through the back and quickly found an open room. “Go ahead and have a seat. I’m going to let my head nurse know we are in here.”

  “Thanks.”

  I quickly went in search of my staff. I let them know I was not to be disturbed. “Dr. Fallon,” my office manager called out just as I was about to go back into the room.

  “Yes?”

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “Right now?”

  She gave me that steely-eyed look that said she wasn’t joking. Donna was a very intimidating woman. I hired her to manage this office because she would make the toughest drill sergeant cry. I followed her into her office. She closed the door, which told me this was serious.

  “What’s going on?” I asked her.

  She cleared her throat and handed me a piece of paper. “Read it.”

  I quickly scanned the words. “Is this real?”

  “Yep, I got a similar one. Kenna is gone.”

  “Son of a bitch. Not even a two-week notice?”

  “Nope. That’s what you get for giving someone a great job. There is no responsibility these days. They do whatever makes them happy without any regard to anyone else.”

  I sighed and dropped the letter on her desk. “Put another ad on the job board. Hopefully, we will find someone soon.”

  “I will. You have a client? Already?”

  “It’s a personal favor for a friend.”

  “Will I need a file for this friend?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “Understood.”

  I left her office and went into the exam room to find Trinity sitting on the chair and looking wholly uncomfortable. “Sorry,” I said. “Just a bit of office business.”

  “This is really unnecessary. I don’t need your help. I’ll get better with time.”

  “Or I could check things out and we might get you better in a matter of days versus weeks or months. Let’s get you on the table.”

  She looked like she was going to say no but I gently pulled her up. She winced and flinched as I helped her onto the table. It was a little silly for her to be bashful considering my lips had pretty much covered every inch of her body. Except one part. I never got to that one very special part.

  “Just relax,” I encouraged her. “This won’t hurt. I just need to do a quick diagnostic.”

  “You make me sound like a car,” she muttered.

  I laughed and gently placed my hands on her back. “Don’t worry. I won’t check your oil.” I took some time feeling all the
little knots and tense muscles. When she flinched, I knew I found the spot. “I take it that’s it?”

  “Yes.”

  “The good news is it doesn’t seem serious. It feels like a strained muscle. A good massage should help.”

  “No.”

  I growled in frustration. “Damn, you’re stubborn. Fine, I’m going to put the heating pad on it and see if that helps loosen things up. Will you let me do that at least?”

  Trinity nodded begrudgingly. “Sure. Thanks.”

  I knew she was uncomfortable. I imagined she had not been sleeping well the last few days because of the pain. I grabbed the heating pad and placed it over her lower back.

  I let it work for a minute. “Any better?”

  “Yes.”

  I sat down on my stool and wheeled around to look her in the eyes. “The heat will help. A couple of ibuprofen will help as well. And I have to say it again, a skilled massage therapist can not only work out the tension in your lower back but all over. I can feel the tension in your shoulders and neck as well.”

  “It’s been a stressful week,” she said. She looked like she was about to cry. Her eyes were stormy, and I didn’t miss the strain in the set of her jaw.

  “You miss your friend,” I said.

  She offered a small smile. “I do.”

  “Your back?”

  “No. Not really. It really isn’t a big deal.”

  I couldn’t resist reaching up and brushing hair from her face. “She’s back today or tomorrow, isn’t she?”

  “Yes.”

  “You guys are really close.”

  “We are. I know I have to give her up. She’s Ryan’s best friend now. We’ve agreed to share her, but I don’t want to take her from Ryan. Right now needs to be about them.”

  I sensed there was more, but then again, I didn’t really know her all that well. Maybe she really was this upset about her friend getting married. Maybe she was jealous and wanted her own husband. That sent my stomach flipflopping. I felt like I dodged a bullet. I was not about to get married.

  “Ryan is a good guy,” I said. “He loves her. He will take care of her.”

  “I know. I’m not worried about that.”

  “What are you worried about?”

  She was quiet for several seconds. “I can’t pay for this,” she whispered.

  “For a heating pad on your back?” I teased. “I could do this at home.”

  Her eyes widened. “No thanks.”

  “You don’t owe me anything.”

  “Good, because I’m broke as a joke. I was barely going to be able to afford the coffee this morning.” A tear slid down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away. “Sorry.”

  “Trinity, are you in pain?”

  “Not physical. It’s just a really bad day. A really bad week.”

  “What happened this week?”

  Her face pinched as she struggled to fight back tears. “It happened on the day of the wedding.”

  “Me?” I asked with surprise. I didn’t think I was so bad to cause a woman to cry for a week.

  “Not you. Sheesh, do you think everything revolves around you?”

  “No, but you said at the wedding…”

  “When I was outside that night at the reception, I was checking my email and found out I’d been fired.” Trinity shook her head. “I got fired via email. I did nothing wrong but it didn’t matter. The magazine was downsizing, and I was at the bottom of the totem pole.”

  “You were fired? On a weekend?”

  She snorted. “Yeah. Lucky me. I just got a new apartment and now I’m jobless! I’ve been searching every day. I’ve applied online. I’ve walked in off the street and all but begged for a job. I’ve gotten nowhere. I have no one that says they are going to call me back. Nothing. No hope.”

  I opened my mouth to tell her it would all be okay when an idea popped into my head. “What did you do at the magazine?”

  “I was the editor’s personal assistant.”

  I smiled like the sun was shining directly on me. “Really?”

  “Yes. Why are you smiling like that? You are freaking me out.”

  “The office business I mentioned earlier? I was talking to my office manager. Apparently, my assistant up and quit on me. She emailed her resignation. She and her girlfriend hopped in her truck and hooked up their camper and have hit the road. They are traveling across America and fulfilling some lifelong dream they both had.”

  She smiled. “With no jobs?”

  I shrugged. “Apparently.”

  “Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure you’ll find someone soon.”

  “Oh, I think I have already found someone.”

  “That was fast.”

  I looked into her eyes. “You, Trinity. I want you to be my assistant.”

  “Me? What?”

  “You need a job. I need an assistant.”

  “But I don’t know anything about what you do. I know nothing about the medical field. Nothing.”

  “You don’t need to know how to crack anyone’s back,” I teased. “I just need you to help with my schedule and maybe run some errands. When I travel, I need you with me to handle my business while I work with the team.”

  “What would I be doing?”

  “Scheduling and handling personal and professional business.”

  “Personal? Like what?”

  “I have a lot of charities and parties and meetings with people. It can be hard to keep it all straight, and honestly, I don’t want to meet with all of them. I need someone to run interference. I need you to coordinate air travel and so on. Nothing nefarious.”

  “I don’t know,” she hesitated. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to mix things up.”

  “I’m not asking you to sleep with me. I’m asking you to work for me. Trust me, I do not combine the two. I keep my work and personal lives very separate when it comes to sex.”

  “That was blunt.”

  “I take my career seriously. I would never risk my professional reputation with the threat of a scandal.”

  “I need to think about it.”

  “Don’t you need a job?” I asked her.

  “Yes, but I don’t want you to get bored with me and fire me.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “That’s not how jobs work.”

  “Your reputation with women is well known. You change women more often than most people change their socks.”

  I laughed. “You do make a valid point, but again, my work and my sex life are very separate.”

  “Exactly. Which means us working together would blur that line.”

  I leaned forward, getting close to her face. “Are you suggesting we will have sex again? Because if the choice is between having sex with you or having an assistant, I’m going with the first choice.”

  She reached out and pushed me back. “No. I am not suggesting that, and if you are seriously propositioning me, this working-together thing will never work.”

  “Agree to be my assistant and I will not proposition you again.”

  She pulled the heating pad off. “I’ll consider it. I have a heating pad at home. Thanks for this.”

  “I’ll drive you home.”

  “I’ll take a cab.”

  “I’ll call you a ride,” I insisted.

  “You know you’re heavy-handed?” she said with a sigh.

  “I’m used to getting what I want.”

  “I guess rich guys usually are.”

  I was already on my phone and ordering her an Uber. If I waited for her to agree to it, she never would. She was one stubborn, independent woman.

  I liked it.

  Chapter 7

  Trinity

  I sat down on my couch and stared at the TV. It wasn’t on, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t actually looking at the screen. My mind was racing.

  Could I work for him? How could I? Wouldn’t that be too weird?

  There would be all kinds of tension between us. I would look at him
like I’d seen him naked, and vice versa.

  He’d be sitting at his desk, assuming he had one, and I would look at him. We’d exchange a heated look and think about that night and how wild it had been. How good it had been. And then we would be tempted to do it again. Or maybe that was just my fantasy.

  I wished I could call Naya and ask her advice, but I couldn’t bother her with this. She was enjoying her life with her man. Her man that was my potential new boss’s brother.

  She might not want our lives so intertwined. I could respect that. She’d want to complain about her husband from time to time without worrying about me mentioning it to my boss. I would want to complain about my boss without worrying she would tell her husband and then it would get back to me. It was a vicious cycle.

  But I was jobless and on the verge of being homeless. I needed a job, and it wasn’t like I had a long list of job offers to choose from. I needed something and I needed it now. Not to mention, he offered me free chiropractic help. Given the current state of my back, that would not be a bad thing.

  My back was torn up.

  I needed to think about it. I needed to sleep on it, and I planned on doing that while I was lying down on the heating pad. I got up and fished the old thing out of the bathroom cabinet I stashed it in. Then it hit me.

  A wave of grief as I stared down at the stupid heating pad that was probably as old as I was. It was my mom’s. I remembered her putting it on my various injuries gained from me trying to play tennis. Then there was the time I tried to lift weights. The heating pad was my mother’s remedy for just about anything and everything.

  I changed into my jammies before pouring a glass of wine. This little dilemma I faced required wine and pajamas. I plugged in the heating pad and settled in on the couch with the television remote. I tried to get lost in a reality show but found myself focused on Ryker.

  Working with him day in and day out was going to be challenging. I felt like it was too soon after our night together. With a little time, it would be easier.

  I ended up falling asleep on the couch only to wake up with a kink in my neck. “You have got to be kidding me,” I groaned.