Page 70 of After You

She reached up and moved his hand an inch to the left then pressed down on top of it. He increased his pressure on the spot and she groaned again.

“I found the life I love early,” he said, after taking a big breath of her scent. His rubbing seemed to release it from her skin. “I think I’d be foolish to not hang on toit.”

He opened his mouth to continue, but she reached up again and grasped his thumb, moving it down slightly and pressing again. “Feel that?” she asked.

There was definitely a hard ball under his thumb. “Theknot?”

“Yes. That’s a trigger point. That one flares up a lot. Can you press right into it? You have to hold for about ninety seconds to release a trigger point.”

“Um, yeah, sure.”

She kept her hand on top of his as he pressed. He didn’t count, far too distracted by just the simple act of touching her. But after about a minute, the knot of tissues softened. He was surprised to actually feelthat.

“Ah,” she sighed. “Thankyou.”

Something in her voice, or maybe just the realization that he’d done something for her that had helped, made him lean forward and press his lips to the spot. It was slightly reddened and a little warmer than the rest of her skin. He felt her sigh and lean back slightly.

“So much better,” she said softly.

He lifted his head and she turned. He’d given this woman a lot of touches of all kinds over the years, in a lot of places, but he didn’t know if he’d really ever taken pain away. And doing it with his own two hands was a very intimate thing, as he thought aboutit.

And as much as he wanted her, he had the urge to do something else. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for ahug.

“I’m sorry your neck hurts,” he said against the top of her head. “I want tohelp.”

She seemed surprised for only about a second. She wrapped her arms around him and her body softened against him. “I know,” she said. “I really do knowthat.”

“Just tell me what youneed.”

She hesitated. “This actually feels reallygood.”

He squeezed her a little tighter. It didn’t feel like enough, but he could definitely be happy holding her for as long as he could. His time was limited. He knew that. And he knew that even being prepared for her to leave again wasn’t going to help abit.

“Are you growing the lemons for the lemonade?” Alice asked as she came into the kitchen.

Hannah didn’t pull back immediately. But she did take a deep breath, and then slid her hands up between them and pushed.

Just like she was supposedto.

Of course, Alice missed it completely. She’d crossed to the fridge and had her head ducked behind the door, looking for the pitcher of lemonade.

Kyle let Hannah go anyway. They stood staring at each other for a long moment. And in that moment, it became clear that this plan where he pretended to want her and she pretended not to want him wasn’t working. Because he wasn’t pretending.

“Sorry, Alice,” Kyle finallysaid.

“Oh, was he on an errand for you?” Hannah asked. “I got him roped into helping me with the cupboards.”

He’d actually forgotten about the lemonade completely.

“Of course he helped you,” Alice said, turning from the fridge with the lemonade.

Hannah and Kyle both started for her. Carrying a pitcher and using her cane wasn’t easy. Hannah took the pitcher and Kyle steered Alice to a chair at the table.

“Did I give you a chance to steal a kiss?” Alice asked Kyle, not at normal volume but hardly in a whisper.

Kyle gave her an eyeroll.

She elbowed him, though from her seated position, her elbow connected with his thigh. “I stalled outside as long as I could.”

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