Page 21 of All Night with the Cowboy
“Tanner?”
“I think I’ll just stay here a bit longer.”
What the hell? “Look, you’re the one footing the bill, so it’s up to you if we stay here three weeks or five. But last night you were all fired up about climbing aboard a bull again. You want a wrist strong enough to hold the rigging? You want to be able to walk without a limp?”
Tanner pushed up, his eyes meeting hers. “I think coming here was a mistake. The island is great, but I could have recuperated just fine at home.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Lauren asked. “Tanner, come on!”
He went to settle back down, but she kicked him, her toes butting into him. He grunted and she planted her hands on her hips, ready to scream. Athletes were often frustrating, but Tanner was beyond annoying! Why was he behaving like a child?
“You want to be a thirty-year-old man with the arthritic, grinding joints of a ninety-year-old? Then be my guest. But don’t act like you didn’t have the chance to heal, not on my watch.”
Lauren spun around and marched back to the house. Screw him! They’d been civil, things had been going just fine, and then he’d flared up the night before and dared to treat her like she was dirt? As if she was just some girl he could act cool with, and not a highly trained professional hired to assist his recovery? He was more stubborn than she’d realized.
“Lauren, wait up.”
She stopped, fists bunched, still seething. She didn’t bother turning.
“Sorry. I was being a jerk. You’re in charge. I’m just pissed with the world I guess and you’re an easy target right now. I’m sorry.”
That got her. She understood “pissed with the world.” She understood giving up. She didn’t understand acting like a jerk.
“I’m in charge?” she asked, watching as he limped around in front of her. The guy was seriously sore, and part of her worried that she wouldn’t be able to heal him. Maybe that was one of the reasons he was acting so moody—pain did weird things to a person.
“Yeah,” he said softly. “You’re in charge, Lauren.”
“Then get your ass back to the beach and wait for me,” she said. “It’s time for a deep tissue massage, and you’d better be prepared for some pain.”
He saluted her, but she refused to crack a smile.
“No pain, no gain. I get it.”
“Good. I’ll be back down soon.”
Lauren walked past him, up to the house, stopping in the kitchen for a glass of water. Her hands shook as she reached into the fridge for one of the small bottles and stood, guzzling it down. She prided herself on having nerves of steel and being able to take all kinds tocrap from her players, but Tanner was different. Because Tanner put her on edge just by looking at her, and nothing about that was ever going to change.
***
“You weren’t joking about the pain part.” Tanner grimaced, gritting his teeth as Lauren pushed hard into his muscle, her table set out on the sand. “I recall massages being pleasant, not excruciating.”
She didn’t look up, her concentration absolute. “It’s not meant to feel good, it’s meant to help.”
Tanner suffered in silence, resisting the urge to groan or push her the hell away from his body.
“We’ve got a lot to work through,” Lauren said matter-of-factly. “Just to make sure I get this right, you had an ankle fracture, broken ribs, crushed knee ligaments, horn piercings, wrist damage, a bad concussion, but no spinal damage, correct?”
He gasped as she pushed into a sore spot.Motherfucker!“Yeah, I don’t think you missed anything.” His breath was wheezing in and out as he tried to cope with the pain.
“Do you like swimming?”
Why the hell was she asking him that when she already knew the answer? Lauren paused and looked up, and he stared straight back at her until her neck and cheeks turned deep red.
“Ah, sorry. I forgot who I was working on. Forget it.”
They’d swum together in Hawaii, they’d swum in the river on the ranch, splashing each other and fooling around in the water when the temperature had driven any sane person crazy. He had plenty of memories of her skin, her slick and wet body dripping all over his.
“I’ll finish up soon. I don’t want to do too much onday one.” Lauren pushed harder, and he thought his thigh was going to explode. “You’re doing great. After this you can rest a bit, then before lunch we can take a nice long swim. It’ll be good cardio for you and gentle on your joints and muscles.”
