by Sasha Winter
“Thanks—it’s actually been a help to talk to a nice guy for a few minutes. Gives me a bit of hope!”
“Likewise. Take it easy.”
“You too, Marc xx.”
Marcus logged off and went to bed. He hadn’t indulged in any inappropriate advances or innuendo during the exchange, so it was hard not to feel warmed by the ‘xx’ Ash had closed with, even though it was a normal way for many young women to close an online conversation.
Most likely nothing would come of it and he was envisioning this Ash to be something she was not—and vice versa—but just imagining that it might be more was useful for distracting his thoughts as he tried once again to get a good night’s sleep. The demons could only return if he left an open window for them, although he also knew that the house of memory was in need of renovation and difficult to defend.
Either way, no matter who Ash84 turned out to be, her presence tonight had brightened up a horizon that had never seemed bleaker for Marcus.
Maybe…just maybe, he thought. Maybe this online dating thing is worth a shot, after all…
Chapter 3
Shaking off the troubles of a bad relationship may feel like an arduous task, but even the smallest distance can sometimes be enough to put a spring back in our step…and the next morning saw exactly that from Ashley. It’s amazing how a positive attitude can change our appearance, although she might not have been aware exactly how much this was the case if she didn’t have Veronica to tell her so.
“Oh my! You look like you’re handling the breakup better than expected,” said her assistant, who was already sitting at her work desk. “Some color in your cheeks and a sparkle in your eyes as well!”
“Thanks, but you really don’t need to praise me,” Ashley replied, her cheeks blushing slightly. “I’m taking it a day at a time, that’s all.”
“I’m serious! You’re looking good—like a real weight’s been taken off your shoulders.”
“Well, I’ve realized it helps to be distracted by something. Incidentally, I have you to thank again.”
“For what?”
Ashley took a deep breath before replying. “I um…I went on that site.”
Veronica flashed her a triumphant grin. “Ah, that explains the smile on your face! So you’ve been flirting with some hunky lion shifter, huh?”
“I would exactly call it flirting. I chatted with a very nice man named Marc. He seemed…different, you know. Didn’t seem like a sleazebag or anything.”
“Well, who knows what will become of it?’” Veronica replied with a wink and a smirk. In response, Ashley couldn’t help but smile a wide grin in spite of not wishing to encourage her friend—who could be a downright menace under the right circumstances. Already there was more going on behind her colleague’s eyes than a workplace would allow them to discuss right then.
“So, who’s my first patient?” she asked instead.
“In twenty minutes,” Veronica replied. “New patient courtesy of the lovely Mr. Sanders.”
“Oh, that Mr. Sanders,” Ashley said, looking to return the tease. “The one whose thighs I’ve had my hands all over.”
Her assistant refused to acknowledge this; she could dish out the goods but had trouble taking them.
“One Mr. Marcus Wilson,” she said.
“Thanks. Want me to get some info about Blake from him?”
All that came back was a pair of raised eyebrows, signaling her assistant’s intolerance of the subject being alluded to. Pleased to be the one winding Veronica up for a change, Ashley decided to quit while she was ahead and retreated to her office. Maybe her assistant was right and she was dealing with the breakup better than expected. She certainly felt like she had a positive attitude right now, although not being quite sure where it came from.
As refreshing as this felt, however, the mood was not destined to last. Unfortunately her guard was down, and when the phone rang, she answered it without suspicion.
“Ashley, hear me out,” Vince’s voice sounded from the other end of the line, bringing her right back down to earth with a thud. “I miss you like crazy and a want to make a new start. Fuck the restraining order. I’m willing to forget it if you are.”
“Vince, I…” she replied tentatively—that was a mistake straightaway; her ex was always quick to hear weakness in someone’s voice.
“We should be together, Ash,” he urged. “You know we’re meant to be. We can talk through all the problems and put things right—I’ll be a good listener this time, I promise. I won’t lose my temper.”
“Vince,” she said again, more forcefully this time, finding the tone she had adopted for their last conversation and her ultimatum. “I’ve told you, this is not a matter for debate. I’ve made my decision, and you really shouldn’t be calling me.”
“Meet up with me and hear me out, Ashley, that’s all I’m asking. I can change.”
“No, Vince. No! Now please stop calling me, we need some distance to put this behind us.”
“Why are you doing this to me?” he replied, changing his tone so that he sounded like the victim. “You know this is a bad time for me. I’m out of work and need your support. What happened was a wakeup call, that’s all, because I’ve been bottling everything up. Please, Ashley, you know we’re stronger together.”
“Vince, I’m telling you straight,” she replied, firmly and hopefully calmer than she felt. “We will never be together again.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line as her response sank in. Ashley was relieved they were not speaking in person; clutching her forehead with her free hand and closing her eyes tightly was the only means by which her will could remain intact. She managed to sound more level-headed than she felt, that was for sure.
“I’ve still got a lot of your stuff, Ashley,” Vince replied at last. “You’re going to have to come and see me eventually if you ever want it back.”
“Holding it to ransom, are you?”
“I’m just saying. You can’t make me run errands for you, so you’re going to have to come and get it some time.”
“When I come by to pick them up I will be bringing someone with me for safety reasons, Vince. Maybe a policeman. You hear me? You’re not laying a finger on me again.”
“Have your friends put you up to this? They don’t know the real story. They don’t know how fucking mad you get me. It’s not my fault, you know. You’re just such an infuriating cu—“
But Ashley didn’t grace him with any further response, hanging up the phone instead. The exchange had made her blood rush right to her head. Reading the riot act to people was not her way; she was a reasonable and understanding person, but that had been her undoing when falling in with a manipulative, abusive boyfriend. In retrospect she could remember the subtle ways he had her on the defensive even early on, when the relationship had still felt pleasant. Causing her to question every thought and action had served to gradually build up his power over her, which eventually he had begun to abuse when it looked as if she was his to boss around…then his to intimidate…then his to slap. Bringing about an end meant she wouldn’t have to find out how extreme his influence over her could get.
Assertiveness had been maintained in the face of another challenge, but why did holding her nerve during another one of their conversations fail to bring a certain sense of satisfaction she felt deserving of? Standing up to the big bully felt strangely unrewarding, and she longed for some gesture of victory to cement what had been achieved, if not to convince her it was really over.
A new client would be arriving soon, though, and she really needed to focus. She suddenly recalled what had given her a cheery demeanor that morning—a memory of her conversation on PurrfectMatch.com—and an idea to make herself feel better landed on her desk.
It truth, it was already on her desk and she just hadn’t realized, but her cell phone was the key in being able to stick her middle finger up at Vince right there and then. What else would have wound him up more than th
e thought of her already flirting with other men? That was why the online exchange had cheered her up, and she now had an idea of how to go one step further.
Feeling reckless, Ashley took her phone and went to stand beside the door, just so she could put her foot in its way if someone tried to enter. She then proceeded to unbutton her shirt, meaning to take a sexy selfie with her bra exposed. When this was done, she decided it wasn’t enough. Let’s go a bit further for this lion shifter, she thought, taking her shirt off completely and, seeing that the photo frame incorporated more than she suspected it would, her skirt too. Standing there in her underwear, she was even inspired to pick up a nearby stethoscope and hang it round her neck, perched naughtily between her breasts.
Once the snap was taken, the adrenaline that came with misbehaving in her workplace (something she had never done in any way), was replaced by nervousness at being caught, and she proceeded to attempt the speediest act of re-dressing that humanity had ever known. As was often the case, when she tried to rush getting dressed a lack of precision meant it actually took her longer…and on top of that, Ashley was also clumsy enough to nearly fall head over heels with her skirt around her ankles.
The act of taking a sexy selfie had turned into some kind of Laurel and Hardy impression that would probably have put off her PurrfectMatch buddy if he could see it, and when she finally finished buttoning up her shirt and sat back at her desk, she spent some breathless moments in silence before wondering what all the rush was about. Only when checking out the picture she had taken did a smile return to her face.
Veronica had told her she looked good, but it was only on seeing herself acting out of character that Ashley suddenly agreed. Obtaining the selfie may have been farcical, but the sexy woman’s body within the frame reminded her of an Ashley she had forgotten existed. The picture had also captured the perfect angle to make her cleavage stick out in a tantalizing way.
At the time of taking the photo she had been unsure whether sending it to her PurrfectMatch buddy was something she would really have the nerve to do, but soon decided she would. It was a terrific snap, and who else could she show it off to?
As she hit send, her self-admiration was cut short by a knock at the door. After taking a few moments to recheck that her shirt was fully buttoned and her skirt properly back round her waist where it belonged, Ashley opened the door to greet her new client.
To her surprise, the first thing that entered was a large German shepherd. Ashley almost let out a cry of alarm, being unprepared and not knowing whether it might be aggressive, but her concerns were soon quashed when, with its tongue wagging as if greeting an old friend, the dog lay on its back with its paws up to its chin. You may give me love and attention, it was clearly saying.
“Oh, hello!” Ashley said, quite timidly, but still finding the confidence to reach down and pet the hound on the stomach. It was hard not to after such a show of affection.
“I’m sorry,” came the voice of the dog’s owner.
Ashley turned around to see a tall and extremely handsome man who had a rather puzzled expression on his face, and her mouth almost dried up at the sight of him. Jeez, he’s hot, she thought before shaking her head and attempting to push the thought aside. Professionalism was key in her job, and she couldn’t be thinking about clients in that way.
“You must be Marcus,” she said, reaching out to shake his hand, while still smiling because of the performance of his dog.
“Nice to meet you. I’m sorry,” he said again. “He doesn’t usually barge in like that.”
“That’s okay.”
“I was going to ask if it was okay for him to sit in your office.”
“I don’t think I could turn him away,” she replied. “What’s his name?”
“This is Max.”
“Hello, Max,” she said, petting him again. “He’s adorable. I like most dogs but this one’s something special.”
“He certainly is—if a little naughty today. Max, come and sit here in the corner,” Marcus said, and the dog immediately responded, going to sit patiently in the corner and suddenly being as good as gold. Still, Ashley’s new client insisted on being apologetic.
“Sorry about that,” he said again. “I don’t usually bring him everywhere I go, but today he insisted on coming with me after work. Had an early morning, you see.”
“That’s fine, he’s adorable. Anyway, have a seat.” Ashley beckoned, then asked, “You had him long?”
“Four years now,” Marcus replied, sitting down and still looking slightly confused. “Kind of strange, really.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, he usually only rolls onto his back like that for people he knows well.”
“Well, in that case I’m honored,” Ashley replied with a smile.
“He ran in here like he knew you,” Marcus went on. “He’s a terrific judge of character, though, so that fills me with confidence. You must be a really great physio.”
“Shame he can’t write online reviews for me,” said Ashley with a teasing grin. “Still, I guess I’m going to have to give you some attention at some point. You’re the paying client, after all. So why don’t you tell me as much as you can about your injury?”
“Well, I guess Blake already told you that I was in the military.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I was on tour when our convoy was attacked,” Marcus replied. “It was a crazy exchange of fire; at one point a blast knocked me off my feet and I landed awkwardly. I felt something pop but didn’t even realize until an hour afterwards that I might have done something bad.”
He didn’t add that his inability to notice was because he had been completely traumatized by the result of his own actions.
“Was it treated at the time?” Ashley asked.
“A medic looked at it,” he said. “I was given a week on crutches, then he just told me to monitor it for a while, but there wasn’t any operation or treatment of any kind.”
“So you practically went straight back into action?”
“That’s right. At the time I expected it would just need time to heal, but now it’s been a year and I’m sort of getting the message that the damage was permanent.”
“It’s one of the reasons I came to work with ex-servicemen so much,” she told him, shaking her head with familiarity. “Physiotherapy in the armed forces can be practiced very crudely on tours. They have good hospital units for very obvious wounds and injuries, but anything halfway they’re not really resourced to deal with in the best possible way.”
“You’re not wrong there,” Marcus said. “Blake actually convinced me to insist on a second opinion back when we were still on tour, but all that particular doctor was concerned with was that it would hinder us both from fulfilling our duties.”
“Does it always hurt?”
“Nah. I can always feel it, but it’s usually not so bad. But then every few weeks I get a couple of days that are just agony and I need painkillers to help me walk.”
Ashley shook her head again in response to this. “If it ever feels like agony, you shouldn’t be walking on it—even with painkillers. You mentioned taking Max to work with you early this morning…what’s your job?”
“I’m a park warden,” he said. “Up at Obsidian Springs National Park.”
“Oh, that’s a lovely place. Do you own a car?”
“Yes, though I don’t always have it when I’m in the park. Quite often, one of the other guys will borrow my truck to go and check something out.”
“Well in future, I’d suggest making sure you have your truck with you at all times. When the pain flares up, you don’t need to be putting more stress on it.”
It was subtle, but she sensed a little sigh coming from him after this piece of advice. No doubt she was matching up to some of his fears that visiting a physio would mean complicating his everyday existence. Ashley would have to win this one over—but both the healing process and the man-management looked like it might be complicat
ed.
“You and Blake still see each other quite frequently, yes?” Ashley asked, changing the subject and hoping to put him more at ease.
“That’s right,” he replied. “If I’m honest, I only came because he was badgering me to—in fact, that’s not quite true, he won a bet. Truth is I’m not too sure what physiotherapy can do for my knee.”
“Well, now you’re here, you can let a professional find out,” she replied. “Though I won’t ask what the bet was…”
“The bet was on whether Blake’s physiotherapy would work.”
Ashley smiled. “I see. Well, you’re not the first ex-service man who had to be badgered to turn up,” she replied, thinking that at least Marcus was honest, even if he was decidedly unenthusiastic. “I guess you’re a proud bunch, huh?”
“I suppose so.”
She grinned again. “Well…are you too proud to take off your pants?”
Chapter 4
At first Marcus was a little lost for words at this. His gorgeous new physiotherapist’s request was probably intended to be lighthearted, but he couldn’t help but pause and wonder if she was serious. He had no idea how physiotherapy worked; did he really need to be half-naked?
“I’m sorry, there’s never an easy way to make that request to a client I’ve just met,” Ashley added, though he knew his uncertain response was the only thing to blame for the unease.
He nodded. Naked limbs were clearly essential to this woman’s business.
“Of course, I’m sorry. Took me by surprise, that’s all,” he said, standing up to get undressed. “Been a while since I’ve taken my pants off in front of a woman.”
Jesus….what did I tell her that for? he thought as soon as the words left his lips. He’d been caught off guard and detoured off-mission into the minefield of his absent love life. The therapy had not even begun properly yet and already it was getting cringe-worthy.
Ashley let him get away with that revelation without attempting any witty response, simply telling him to lie down on the examination table when he was ready and adding “Don’t worry, I don’t bite.”