Page 34 of All Night with the Cowboy
The male voice on the other end was unfamiliar, and extremely quick to get to the point.
“Where the hell are you two and how’s his recovery coming along?”
Lauren held the phone away from her ear a little, not liking the tone or the volume. “Ah, and you would be?”
“Tanner’s agent. The one he didn’t bother filling in on his recuperation plans. I need to know when he’s good to go again.”
She sighed, looking over at Tanner. He had his eyebrows raised in question. “I don’t know how you got my number or why you think I’d breach patient confidentiality, but if you want to speak to your client, I suggest you call yourgoddamn client.” Lauren clicked end and then switched her phone off.
“Please don’t tell me that was my agent checking up on me?” Tanner said with a groan. “He must be sick of me not answering my phone.”
She shrugged. “Come on, we have work to do. You want to talk to him?
“Hell no!” Tanner said. “I’m sick of being asked questions, being told what to do, all of it. I don’t want to answer to anyone while I’m here.”
“Well, good,” she said, meaning it. “If he calls me again, he’ll wish he hadn’t.”
***
Tanner felt like he’d had an erection all day, and he knew how impressive that was given how damn rough she’d worked him. He was getting punished and he knew it, but whatever she gave him, he grit his teeth and took it,because he was hating not being strong enough to do the things he wanted to do.Like scoop Lauren up and carry her back to his bedroom like a goddamn caveman.The fact he’d had to call an end to their fun at the kitchen table this morning had almost killed him, but it had also reminded him of just how hard he had to work to get his body back.
Without his strength, he felt useless. He craved the feeling of his calves burning from a run instead of every muscle, bone, and ligament in his leg feeling like they were going to collapse. And he wanted to feel the same kind of burn in his lungs from fighting for air after a workout rather than the piercing stab he still grappled with from where he’d been gouged.
“How you feeling, cowboy?” Lauren asked.
He could feel sweat on his brow, knew he was glistening, while she looked cool as a cucumber.
They’d been walking, they’d stretched and stretched some more, then gone for a light swim. Now he was lying on his stomach while she performed another deep massage, focusing on his upper body this time, and he was more strapped up than he’d been the day before. He was seriously getting used to living on Fiji time, and he seriously liked that she’d let him lie on the sand for this massage.
“I’m feeling like by the time it’s my turn to be the boss, I won’t have any skin left to show. You’ll be naked and I’ll look like a mummy all bandaged up.”
Her laugh was sweet. “Sorry. It got pretty intense there, but you’re in a bad way.”
“So you keep telling me.” He groaned as he rolled over.
“So what are our plans for the rest of the day?” heasked, looking up into her big brown eyes and wishing she’d been giving him an entirely different kind of massage. He reached for her hair, coaxing his fingers beneath the tie that held it up off her face. It didn’t take long for it come free, and her hair tumbled down her shoulders. That’s the way he liked it—her dark mane wild and loose.
“Well, you know Fiji,” she mused, sucking in her bottom lip and giving him the cutest damn look. “It gets dark here pretty early.”
He inhaled, sharply, biting down on his fist to stop from touching her. “So I’m officially yours until sunset. Do I get to rest now?”
She slowly bent to him, her lips hovering into a smile. “Uh-huh,” she murmured, her lips so close to his he could feel the heat of her breath, could sense the hum of her skin as she paused.
Finally she kissed him, so softly it was barely even a touch. “I’m going in to take a shower. I’ll see you at dinner.”
“Dinner?” He’d been thinking they’d head straight to bed.
“A girl needs her strength,” she said as she rose and winked at him, laughing as she walked off.
“When you saidshower…” he called out after her.
“I meant me, in the shower, alone,” she confirmed, holding onto the big glass door as she looked back at him. “See you at dinner, Tanner. And I’ll leave out some turmeric supplements for you to take.”
“Turmeric?”
“It’s a wonder food, trust me. A week of taking that twice daily and my expert care, and you’ll be feeling like a fine-tuned athlete.” She gave him a look that hecouldn’t decipher. “If you’re game, I’ll even switch your coffee to a turmeric latte. It’s surprisingly good.”
He raised a brow and shook his head. “Sweetheart, I’ll swallow the pills, but try to get me drinking turmeric coffee and that’ll be the end of me following orders. Period.”
