Page 15 of Rehabbing the Beast
Chapter Nine
“Hi, Quinn,” Shane McManussaid, coming to sit on the small examining table before her when it was his turn. At one time, the small space had actually been a doctor’s office. It looked very much the way it had when old Doc Shaughnessy had seen patients here fifty years earlier. Two exam rooms, a waiting room, and a small apothecary in the back. Since mostly everyone went to Siobhan anyway (including the now-retired doctor), the town hadn’t put much effort into finding a replacement.
“Hi, Shane,” she said warmly. For all her earlier bellyaching, she had become fond of the townspeople, even the block-headed men who made no secret of the fact that they sought her attentions. Shane was one of her favorites. Approximately the size of a small barn with the most beautiful auburn hair she’d ever seen, he was as charming as he was big.
“What can I do for you today?”
He grinned, a roguish grin that had her smiling too. “Is that a trick question?”
She laughed and swatted him on the shoulder. “Yes, let me rephrase. What malady brings you here?”
“A broken heart?” he said, unrepentant.
“You are incorrigible,” she said, but there was no bite to her words, not when his teasing was done with such warmth. She’d had enough of the truly vicious kind to know the difference.
“I got a tattoo down in the city,” he finally confided with some seriousness, “and it’s a bit sorer than I thought it should be. I was hoping maybe you or your gran could give me some salve or something.”
Quinn nodded. “Okay. Let’s see it then.”
Shane removed his shirt. Quinn couldn’t help but draw in a breath at the exquisite artwork that now adorned his muscular upper back and shoulders. “Shane... it’s beautiful.” The design was one of ancient Celtic origin; she could feel the power of the symbols rippling back through her.
“You like it?” he asked.
“I love it,” she said sincerely. “And I have just the thing.”
She stepped away for a few moments, then returned with a small jar. She climbed up on the table behind him and began to gently trace the lines with her fingers, releasing a flow of healing energy as she did so.
“That feels amazing,” he moaned. “Can you keep doing that forever?”
Quinn smiled. “No, but I’ll give you a jar and you can have Angus apply it for you.”
“You’re much prettier than Angus.”
“Yes, but you’ll have a better chance with him than you do with me.”
Shane covered his heart with mock heartbreak. “You wound me, Quinn. You truly wound me.”
“Yeah, yeah. I saw you with Maggie O’Reilly on the shore of the lake the other night.”
Shane blinked, but didn’t miss a beat. “Saw that, did you? Makes you want to try some?” he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“Get out,” she said, laughing, pushing him toward the door, “and tell Maggie I said hi.”
“I will. Thanks, Quinn.” With a quick peck on the cheek, he was gone.
And so the afternoon went as she saw one “patient” after another. Her grandmother was just as busy, but with the exception of a few lonely widowers, most of Siobhan’s patients had legitimate complaints.
Quinn was just getting ready to wrap up things up for the day when her last visitor came through the door.
“Hello, Cupcake.”
Quinn froze at the sound of that rich, deep voice. She turned, certain that she had been mistaken; that her imagination had crafted the voice based on the fact that she’d been thinking about him all day.
“Seth?”
She expected to see the man she’d left at the rehab center. But instead of his closely shaved head, he had let his hair grow, and thick, wild strands of jet black now framed the harsh lines of his masculine face. Ice blue eyes trimmed in thick black lashes regarded her. But what shocked her more than anything else was the fact that he wasstanding. On his own.
“Seth!” she cried, forgetting herself and everything he thought of her, overcome by the sight of him standing unassisted. “You’re walking! Iknewyou could do it!” Without thinking, she flew across the room and wrapped her arms around him.
