Bodywork (5 page)

The door closed behind her
,
and he breathed out a sigh of relief.
He could only imagine her shock had he turned over and showed her how much liked her work.
After a moment of silence, h
e
turned onto his back and stared
at the tent over his lap.
Definitely time to start dating again.

He
tried to
will away his erection and
dressed, concentrating on anything nonsexual. His mother, his brother
.
Denise
?
The
petite brunette with the sensual hands and large blue eyes
hadn’t done more than stir a smile from him upon
their
first meeting. She wasn’t
exactly
his type. Truth to tell, he ran more toward
taller women, like
the
feisty
Amazon he’d run into
earlier that m
orning. Denise had been
pleas
ant and professional. B
ut toward the end
,
something had changed.
He wondered if she’d felt any of what he had,
or if he was just pent up from going so long without sex.

How pathetic that the most action he’d had in months had been at the hands of a massage therapist who’d done nothing but her jo
b.
No doubt Mac
would
laugh his ass off when Shane told him what had happened. The shame of it actually helped calm him down. He
felt like a dumbass
, bu
t at least he no longer
worried about his cock.

He
could
too easily imagine his mother sitting nearby while a therapist took care of George’s leg.
Nothing sexual about that massage.
Now if Mac had recommended the place, Shane might have
expected
a masseuse who didn’t mind rubbing him
anywhere
he wanted
.

He shook his head and exited the room for
the front desk.
There, h
e took out his credit card and handed it to…

“You!”
H
e stare
d in astonishment at the golden-
eyed
fireball
who’d preyed on his mind for the
latter half of t
he day.
She stared back at him with a blan
k
look on her face
. H
e was probably the last person she’d expect to see.

Knowing he’d been in the wrong, he tried to apologize.
“About this morning, I
—
”

“Wi
ll that be cash or charge?” S
eeing the credit card, she plucked it from his hand and ran it through her machine.
When she glanced up at him, she gave him a bland if pleasant smile…as if she didn’t recognize him.
The incident from the morning
had been a quick bump, and he
now wore
a different shirt. But t
hat she might not
know him
bothered him
more than it should have.

“You’re not going to pay for my shirt, are you?”

She ignored him and stared at the machine.
Her jaw locked as she fiddled with his credit card
. Oh yeah, she knew him all right.
Apparently she had no intention of forgiving him.

“Don’t you remember me? Y
ou
s
pill
ed
hot coffee all over me
,
”
he reminded her
.

She
whipped her head up
.
“
You
ran into
me
, buddy.” It didn’t escape his notice that even annoyed the woman was damn hot.
Her voice turned sugary sweet.
“But i
f
you’d
like to apologize, I’m all ears.”

He
couldn’t stop himself from looking her over when she leaned closer to hand him his card. She had full breasts and a slim waist. The desk hid her legs from view, but he remembered them being long and slender. Just long enough to wrap around his waist while he—

She cleared her throat, and he realized he’d been staring at her breasts. And those tight, hard nipples.

With a grin he couldn’t help, he said,
“I’d say you’re more than just ears
.
”

“God hates me,” she muttered.

He laughed. She sounded so annoyed yet pitiful at the same time.

Their gazes met, and a smile curled her lips that she hastily smothered.

“
Y
ou’re beautiful.”

She flushed, and he continued before he alienated her once more.
“I admit the accident this morning might have been my fault.”

“No kidding.”

“But I’m willing to let bygones be bygones.”

She ripped the paper off the credit card machine and
pushed
it
and
a pen at him.
“Fine. Let’s just forget about this morning. Now would you please sign
here
?
”

“
Sure thing.” He signed it and handed it to her.
“Where’d Denise go?
I wanted to thank her.”

“Denise had something important she had to
take care of
.
”
The woman’s gaze
shift
ed
t
o the paperwork in front of her,
d
ismissing him.
“She said she was sorry to have to cut out but it couldn’t wait.”

Shane wondered
what it was about
this woman
that appealed to him.
He’
d never been into looks without the whole package. So far in their short acquaintance, she’d been shrewish, though not without good reason. She seemed as if she really didn’t like him, and for some odd
reason
,
that only added to her appeal.

But Denise with those hands…
He wasn’t a man to juggle two women at the same time.
Denise had
seemed to like him well enough
, so he’d
start with
her
and see where
their first date went. Just as soon as he asked her.
And if
it turned out
he’d just imagined th
eir
chemistry, he
wouldn’t be any worse off than he was now.

He continued to stare at the woman
now
glaring daggers at him, bemused at how much he liked looking at her.
Odd how her annoyance only made her sexier.

“
Do I even want to know what you’re thinking?
”
she asked slowly, as if each word in his presence pained her.

“I
doubt it. Have a great night, and maybe I’ll run into you again sometime.”

“Good
bye
.”

He grinned and
left the building.
George had dropped his car off at Harmon
&
Sons earlier
in the day, so Shane had his own transportation once more. Thank God. He loved Mac, but the man drove like
he owned a Formula One c
ar. Great when Shane was late, but Mac’s
jerky steering
played hell with his
stomach.

He
pulled out of the parking lot and headed home
, making plans to contact Denise tomorrow. Dinner, a movie maybe? Hell, it had been
eight
months since his last steady relationship.
He frowned.
Did he really want that again? Commitment? Cohabitation? Compromise?
He liked his life, well, except for
the
lack of sex. Maybe his buddy
was on to
something with his fast and loose attitude. Mac could be an ass, but he didn’t lie to women. He was straight up about not wanting forever, and he seemed to have no problem finding
companionship
. Shane could go for that.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn’t want a relationship right now, just raw, hot sex.

Instead of turning toward his house, he drove past Sunnyside
and headed for
Jameson’s Gym.
He hadn’t planned on ruining the therapeutic relief from his massage, but Denise hadn’t made it all that relaxing, at least, not for the lower half of his body.
He had
a
spare set of workout clothes in the trunk
.
After his rubdown that left him feeling frustrated,
a
run on the treadmill tonight
seemed in order.
Plus
he’d get a chance to
talk to Mac.

Mac
work
ed
for his uncle
, biding his time while his body recovered from a blown out knee.
Ian Jameson had been threatening to retire ever since Shane had joined the gym
two
year
s
ago
, but the man had yet to step down
.
Shane wondered if Mac would actually make the move and
assume complete control
, or if his hard-headed friend would find his own niche and start fresh. With Mac,
he
never knew.

Shane
arrived
at
the gym,
changed and stretched.
Then h
e hopped on the treadmill and ran for three miles
without breaking much of a sweat
.

“
Twenty
minutes,” a deep voice sounded to his right.
A glance showed his muscle-bound
buddy
studying the treadmill.
“Not bad for an old man.”

“Please.” Shane slowed the machine to a fast walk.
“First of all
,
I’m younger than you are
. Second,
I could kick your ass in a race
even before you tore your knee
.
Once you heal up, just name
the time and place.”

Mac snorted
.
“I’m an injured man.
Now if you want a real competition, let’s lift some weights
.
”
Shane knew it hadn’t been easy, but Mac had pretty much accepted his medical retirement from the Marine Corps.
The bigger man flexed
his impressive muscles
, and
a
small gaggle of women by the elliptical
machine
s
eye
d
him
like dessert
.

Mac
glanced over his shoulder, following
Shane’s gaze
, and grinned. He waved and received several waves back
. Then he turned back to Shane
.
“Come on
,
hotshot
. Y
ou’re done.
Let’s hit the office
.”

They
left the main
gym
and
walked
down the back hall into
a tidy room,
furnished sparsely and decorated with Marine Corps regalia.

“
Hey man, thanks for the
ride this morning
.
”
At Mac’s look, he held up his hands
.
“I know.
That makes f
our
times this month that you’ve saved my ass.
Thanks.”

Mac grunted. “
I don’t know how you made it
in
the Corps.
You’ll probably be late to your own funeral.”

“Probably
.
” Shane accepted the water bottle Mac threw at him
and gulped down the cool contents.
“I need some advice
.
”

Mac’s gaze sharpened.
“It’s that woman from this morning right?”

“No, but funny you should mention her.”
He explained the situation at the massage clinic.
“
She’s even better looking the second time. Th
at woman really gets to me.”

“Sounds like Denise got to you
. Call her up and see what shakes loose.”

“
Yeah, well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.
I get too involved when it comes to women
.
” Shane
wasn’t
surprised to see Mac’s nod.
“You on the other hand, are Mr. Love ‘em and Leave ‘em.
So what’s the best approach to take to get Denise into bed and then out of it as fast?”
Just saying that made him feel like a heel, but he intended to be up front about his needs. If Denise didn’t want the same, she’d be free to say no.

Mac leaned back in his chair
and laced his fingers behind his head
.
“Shane, my boy, you’ve come to the right place
for advice
.
The problem with women
is that you have to make them hate you to like you.”

“
What?”

“
F
or some stupid reason, women love a guy who’s a jerk.
If you’re too nice they ignore you.
Or dump you.” Mac paused to make his point, rubbing in the fact
Shane
’s ex had done just that, then continued, “
But if you pretend you don’t care,
act like a dick,
they’re on you
like a heat rash.”

“
That’s a great image.”

“Thanks, I try.” Mac grinned.

“So you’re saying I
should go
abuse some woman then ignore her, a
nd she’ll be all over me
?”
Even Mac couldn’t be this obtuse.

“No, no,” Mac disagreed.
“Obviously
roughing up
women, like you did this morning, only irritates them.
”

“That was an accident.” Shane scowled. “I don’t hurt women,
you
idiot.”

Mac
ignored him
. “
What you need to do is find
a girl
you like
. T
ake Denise for example.
You give her a little attention to show that you’re interested, then you back off and watch her flail around trying to get to you.
Once she’s hooked, you take her out, you both have fun,
and you’re
done. Easy.
”

Shane
didn’t think Mac’s process had as much to do with getting women as his biceps did. But the man had an impressive track record. Women came at him in droves, and they never seemed unhappy when they parted ways. It was eerie and a little worrisome. Shane had never been good at fucking and flying, as Mac liked to call it. He needed to like his partner to share more.

Mac warmed up to his topic.
“For example
, did you see t
hat redhead that was staring at us downstairs
?
Her name’s Meg
an
.
Not long after I
started working here,
she started making eyes at me.
She’s got a great
set of tits, a tight
ass and nice legs
,
so I figured, what the hell?”

“Jesus, Mac. I know we’re guys, but
shit
. She’s got a brain.” He just didn’t think he could
screw
a woman based on her measurements alone.

“As I was saying,
Nancy
, I
complimented her body, strictly from a t
rainer’s point of
view
, mind you. I was pleasant.
Then I ignored her for a few days.
That woman was a
ll over me like white on rice.”

“
This really works for you.”
Amazing.

Mac’s sly grin s
poke for him.
“Let’s just say that filly gave me one fine ride
. M
y point is that if I’d been complimenting her and taking her out to
coffee and dinner and movies,
I’d have ended up in some stupid relationship
that wouldn’t have worked
anyway
and messed up a perfectly good friendship.
Note she was just
waving at me downstairs.”