Page 11 of Release
He signed in at the front desk and briefly had a seat in the small waiting area. A glimpse through a partition displayed the bustling therapy floor. Those sitting around him ran the gamut, from white haired elders to high school athletes. Set up much like a professional athlete’s gymnasium, exercise equipment whirred and clicked all around the space. He looked on as attendants worked with their patients.
Sebastian’s name was called, and he turned back to the desk to see…
What?
Crap.
What the hell is she doing here?
Dammit, I think I dated this woman last year. Or slept with her.
Christ, what’s her name again?
And where’s my regular therapist?
I’m so fucked today.
The woman walked up to him. “Good afternoon, Mr. Sullivan. My name is Kennedy Haden and I’ll be working with you today. Right this way.”
“Thanks, Kennedy,” he answered, curious as to whether she remembered him. God, he hoped not. He followed behind her at a distance. “Who else is on the floor today? I thought I was seeing Mike. He’s my usual guy.”
“We’re pretty backed up at the moment,” she said, whipping her hair around to add, “How have you been, Bash?”
This is fucked up.
Kennedy Haden is my physical therapist.
I don’t think I gave her the time of day after our one- or two-night stand.
If she even got to two dates.
“Um, good. You?”
“Doing great now,” she answered, raising her left hand to show him she was married now. Or maybe that was an engagement ring. Either way, that was a good thing.
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Congratulations. Glad to hear, Kennedy.”
Sebastian had been working with his regular guy since he started these physio sessions. They had built a friendly rapport. Now he wasn’t sure what to make of this switch. He just hoped this woman wouldn’t let the past influence his treatment today. He was sure that if she wanted to, she could make it feel like hell on earth.
She smiled back at him for his well wishes, her long red hair spread across her back in spirally curls. “I’ll try to get you out of here on time today. So, are you ready to get started? Just to warn you, today’s circuit of exercises is going to hurt a bit. I want to prepare you for it.”
Exactly what I was trying to avoid.
A physical therapist with a grudge.
Half groaning, he looked over at her. She was laughing. This did not look good.
“By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be running marathons, Bash. Just don’t hate the therapist…hate the therapy, all right?”
He nodded and had a seat where she instructed him to. She took away his crutch and placed a hand on his leg to position it so it lined up with the equipment. Sebastian jumped slightly. It might have been his imagination, but it sure felt like she was touching him more intimately than necessary. Her fingertips slid slightly up his thigh and he froze. Then again, maybe it wasn’t his imagination.
Thankfully it was over as soon as it began. “You’re all set to go, Bash,” she told him. Her green eyes meet his, and her lips parted slightly, but the rest of her body language maintained professionalism, despite her obvious game. Okay maybe it wasn’t that obvious, but Sebastian was sure he was on to something. He hoped it would be over soon.
Bracing himself, he got started with the painful yet necessary exercises. Every one of them was designed to strengthen the muscles supporting the tendons and cartilage in his knee. He needed to focus on each as though his life depended on it—because it did, where his career was concerned.
As he moved to do his round of cycling on a stationary bike, Kennedy drifted away in the direction of the whirlpool at the back. Sebastian wasn’t lucky enough to require water therapy like some of the others, but he passed it on his way to the larger change rooms at the back. In any case, she was gone for a few minutes, and Sebastian could focus on cycling, sweating and gritting his teeth as he worked through the pain.
“Whew! Gets a little easier every time, don’t it?” a chatty older man chuckled from his bench nearby. The man lifted a medicine ball over his head and slowly set it back down, repeating the exercise over and over. “Shoulder injury,” he added by way of explanation.
