“I wonder if you ever do anything impulsive.”
“You’re here,” she noted and he nodded.
“I guess that counts. Do you always have a checklist?”
“Yes. It’s like triage. It makes me feel ready for anything.”
“Isn’t triage for emergencies?”
“Sure, but it’s useful to prioritize even when the stakes aren’t life or death.” She exhaled. “I call it triage as a lifestyle.”
Damon bit back a smile. “That’s not all bad.”
“It’s how I think.”
The truth was that Damon often thought like that, too. He knew, though, that in his case, it was training. Assess. Prioritize. Act. Repeat.
He heard the pump and Haley rubbing lotion between her hands. It didn’t have a floral scent, which was also welcome. She placed her hands flat on his back between his shoulder blades and he was relieved that they were warm. He didn’t want to jump and spook her. She moved her hands together in a sweeping motion, driving the heels of her hands into his back and leaning into the gesture.
“Do you read books?” Damon asked after a few moments. He knew she did, because there was a Kindle on the end table.
“Yes. Why?”
“Because what you’re doing here is like jumping right into the middle of a book, instead of starting at the beginning and easing your way into the story.”
Her hands lifted away from his skin. “I don’t understand.”
“Well, first you need a plan. What’s yours?” He turned to look at her, bracing himself on one elbow.
Her gaze lingered on the tribal tattoo on his upper arm and she looked worried. “I guess to massage your shoulders and neck.”
“That’s a good general plan. Most people carry tension there. It feels like a knot when you’re massaging, but working it out of the muscle can be painful. So, you need to start slowly, warm the skin and relax the patient, then search for the tension spot and work it out.”
“Beginning, middle and end. That is like a book.”
“Also, gentle, firmer, then harder. Then you back it out to gentle again.”
“Okay. Let me try again.”
“Let’s start with effleurage.”
“Stroking,” she translated and he knew she had been studying.
“Yes. Your movements should be fluid and continuous.” He laid down again. “Start very lightly.”
She slid her fingertips across his back, just slipping them over his skin, and he nodded. It was like a caress, one that sent his mind straight to the gutter. He could imagine her touching him like this in a much more intimate location and knew it would drive him crazy. He was glad to be lying on his stomach.
Maybe Haley wouldn’t notice her effect upon him.
Damon kept talking, so he wouldn’t forget himself and just enjoy. “Now use the flats of your hands, still stroking.”
She did as he suggested, and he almost purred at the smooth feel of her hands on his skin.
“It’s spreading the lotion out really well.”
“Start at my waist, and sweep in to my spine, then up. Make those circles.”
“Should I let my fingertips touch you?”
“Let them curl around me. Your hands should shape to my body. Create as much contact as possible.”
Haley did as he suggested and he closed his eyes with pleasure.
“Make each circle about three times, and gradually work up to my shoulders.” She found the knot behind his shoulders and Damon exhaled with satisfaction as she pressed gently on it.
But he was supposed to be teaching, not enjoying. “What’s your posture like?” He turned to steal a glance at Haley. She was kneeling beside him, waiting for suggestions. “When you press harder, the weight should come from your body, not from the strength in your hands. Try it on one knee, lean into it and keep your arms fairly straight.”
“So I’ll repeat with more force?”
“Twice more, harder each time.” He smiled at her. “I’ll try not to melt away.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I don’t think you can.”
“No. Probably not.” She frowned a little, surveying him. “How much do you work out?”
“A lot.”
“Because you pose for ads for a fitness club?”
“Because I’m one of the partners who own Flatiron Five Fitness.”
“Really?” She must have been startled because she stopped for a moment before resuming her massage.
“Really.” He could feel more confidence in her hands when she continued and a growing ease between them. Massage was doing what it always did, relaxing both participants and building trust. Haley leaned into her strokes more and found her rhythm so well that Damon had a hard time keeping his thoughts on the lesson.
He wanted to feel her hands all over him.
He wanted to put his hands on her.
He forced himself to remember why he was there.
He was already wondering whether there was any chance of him coming back.
“I have a kink in my right shoulder. Can you find it? Keep the circles going as you search. Don’t hurry. The idea is to make it feel as if you have all the time in the world.”
Haley leaned over Damon as she put more weight upon him and eased her way up to his shoulder. She went over the knot, then returned to it again. “It feels like a walnut under your skin.”
“You’ve got it,” he murmured. “Lean on it. Rub those circles into it. Come at it again and again, always sweeping outward. Don’t rush.”
“Like that?”
“Exactly like that. Now put your energy into it.”
Her hands froze on his back, the sudden stop as disruptive as every manual said it would be. “What?”
Damon braced himself on his elbow and looked back at her. “Your energy.”
She shook her head so that her ponytail bounced. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“There’s a psychic connection between healer and patient. You’re going to have more success in giving relief if you give some of your own energy, if you put your own energy into the equation. That’s what makes the difference with my mom. That’s what my dad taught me to do.”
Haley sat back, looking so defeated that Damon wanted to gather her up in his arms. “I don’t know how to do that. Maybe I don’t even have energy to share.”
“Everyone does. We pass it around all the time. Think of when you talk to someone who’s down in the dumps. You let them vent. Afterward, they feel better and you feel worse. They’ve passed their negative energy on to you and taken some of your positive, which helps them.”
Haley frowned. “I don’t know how to do that on purpose.”
“I think you do and you don’t realize it.” He sat up. “You’re a natural at this, so let’s take it to the next step. Come here.”
“What?”
“Your turn. You’ve shown me what you know, and now I’ll teach you more.” He saw alarm flash in her eyes so spoke soothingly. “It’ll be easier if you take off your shirt, but if don’t want to, that’s fine. We’ll work with it.” He moved out of the way and patted the towels on the floor, acting as if he wasn’t aroused at all.