WalkingSin (13 page)

“You don’t charge for them?”

“No.”

“That’s very generous.”

“I believe in karma. Be good to people and
they’ll be good to you. I would never charge my family, of course, or Alaina
and Emma. Other people give me things to thank me, even though I don’t ask for
anything. Brad gave me Mavericks tickets after I worked on him a couple of
times. My last two oil changes have been free ‘cause I worked on my mechanic’s
back. I get lots of food, which I appreciate since I’m not the best cook.”

Kelcey chuckled.

“It isn’t funny. I’d starve if my mom
didn’t send over care packages.”

“Emma would never let you starve.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” He covered her left
leg, moved around the table and uncovered her right. “She and Alaina have
become like sisters to me.”

Kelcey noticed he didn’t include her in
that sister category. She couldn’t expect him to. Despite their sleeping
together last night, they didn’t know each other very well. Although the more
she learned about Dax, the more she liked him. The fact that he wanted to help
his friends and did not expect anything in return said a lot for his character.

He was so much more than the womanizer
she’d believed him to be.

She jerked when he pressed a sore spot in
her cheek. He immediately let up on the pressure. “You have a bad hip?”

“It hurts sometimes when I stand too long.”

“I can show you some stretches that will
help it.” He covered her leg with the sheet. “Tell me if you get cold and I’ll
add a blanket with the sheet.”

She didn’t see how she could possibly get
cold, not with Dax touching her.

He drew the sheet down her back and folded
it across the top of her thighs. His oil-slick hands glided across her
shoulders and down her back to just above her buttocks. He pressed a bit firmer
on his return journey to her shoulders. “I should have asked if you want a
towel for between your breasts.”

“Why would I want a towel?”

“Some women need a towel to keep from
smashing their breasts against the table.”

“I’m not Alaina. Mine aren’t big enough to
worry about that.”

His touch paused in the middle of her back.
“Your breasts are beautiful, Kelcey.”

The husky tone of his voice sent warmth
skittering through her body. She considered rolling over, drawing him down to
the table with her. The press of his thumbs on either side of her spine stopped
that thought. She had to remind herself again that this was medical, not
personal.

She couldn’t help wondering if any of his
massages on women turned personal. All that skin, shiny and slippery from the
oil, would be difficult for a man to resist, especially a man who’d had his
hands all over her body.

Too embarrassed to ask such a personal
question, Kelcey took a breath and blew it out slowly, ordering her body to
relax.

“That’s good,” he said. “Breathe nice and
even.”

The soothing glide of Dax’s hands helped
her relax. Sometimes he touched a sore spot, but he worked on it until it no
longer hurt. She’d had massages in the past, yet no one had taken as much care
as Dax to make sure he’d completely relaxed a muscle before he moved to the
next one.

Professional. That’s how she had to
describe him.

She had no idea how much time had passed
when he lifted the sheet off her body. “Roll over to your back.”

Kelcey looked at Dax, but he held the sheet
in front of his face so she couldn’t see him…or he see her. Following his
instruction, she carefully rolled to her back. “Okay.”

He let the sheet drift back over her body,
covering her from neck to feet. “Do you need a tissue or drink of water?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Blanket?”

Now that he asked, she realized she’d grown
cool during the massage. “Yes, please.”

He returned to the cabinet by her head and
removed a thermal blanket. After draping it over her, he knelt by the side of
the table. Kelcey heard a soft click.

“I’m turning on a heating pad. You should
feel it on your back in just a bit.”

“You turn on a heating pad, you’ll put me
to sleep.”

Dax stood and smiled at her. “If I put you
to sleep, that’s the best compliment you can give me.”

The warmth from the pad began to seep into
her back. Kelcey closed her eyes and sighed. She could get used to this kind of
treatment.

“I assume that pleased little smile means
you’re comfortable.”

She heard the teasing in his voice, but
decided she didn’t want to go to the effort of opening her eyes. “Very.”

He uncovered her left foot and leg, all the
way to her groin. She moaned when he began to massage her foot. “Can you do
that for about three hours?”

His chuckle sounded deep and a little bit
wicked. “Like the foot massage, huh?”

“It’s very nice.”

“If
this
relaxes you, you
will
go to sleep when I massage your scalp.”

“You do that too?”

“Full-body, remember? Well, except for the
good parts.”

Kelcey opened her eyes, lifted her head.
The silly grin on Dax’s lips made her laugh. She decided to play along with
him. “No touching the good parts?”

“Not unless I want to get hit.”

“Rye and Griff probably wouldn’t appreciate
your hands on any part of Alaina and Emma that isn’t neutral territory.”

“That’s for sure.” He bent her knee, pushed
it toward the center of her body. “I wouldn’t want to touch them anyway. I
mean, they’re both gorgeous and sexy, but I don’t feel any lust for them.”

“You did for Emma before she got involved
with Griff.”

“I flirted with her a little and she flirted
back, but it didn’t last long. She fell for Griff pretty fast.”

“That didn’t bother you?”

“Nah.” He covered her leg, moved to the
other side of the table and uncovered her right one. “I’m happy Emma and Griff
found each other. Griff really needed someone in his life after Jana died. Emma
makes him a better person. I think they were made for each other.”

“That sounds pretty romantic coming from a
guy who plans to be an eternal bachelor. That’s what Alaina told me.”

Dax shrugged. “Just because I don’t believe
in one woman for me doesn’t mean I can’t be happy for other couples.”

“Emma never believed in one man for her
until she met Griff.”

He looked at her, a frown wrinkling his
eyebrows. “Kelcey—”

“I’m not pushing you, Dax. I don’t expect
more from you than what we had last night. It was amazing and I loved it, but
I’m not holding my breath for it to happen again.”

His frown disappeared. A wicked grin turned
up one corner of his mouth and he bobbled his eyebrows. “It could happen again.
I wouldn’t mind.”

Kelcey struggled not to laugh. “You want to
be used like some sex toy?”

“I could live with that.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but no.”

“Damn it.”

He recovered her leg, walked to the head of
the table. A chair’s wheels squeaked as he rolled it into position behind her
head. Slipping his hands beneath her neck, he rubbed it gently with his
fingers. “Here comes the part where you can go to sleep. Close your eyes and
relax.”

She closed her eyes, breathed in and blew
out a deep breath. Even though the massage on her neck felt incredible, she
wouldn’t possibly fall asleep…

Chapter Eleven

Kelcey’s parted lips and even breaths
proved to Dax that she’d fallen asleep. He kept up the gentle massage on her
scalp for a few more moments to be sure she wouldn’t wake, then left the room,
quietly closing the door behind him.

Walker jumped up from the floor. Dax
shushed him before the dog could bark. “She’s asleep, Walker. Leave her alone.”

He whined, dropped back down on the floor
and stared at the door. Chuckling, Dax shook his head. His dog had definitely
fallen in love with Kelcey. Not that he could blame Walker. It wouldn’t be hard
for anyone to fall for Kelcey.

Dax wandered to the kitchen, thinking he
should find something to fix for supper. The thought of taking something out of
the freezer didn’t appeal to him, even though he loved his mother’s cooking. He
knew how to cook, but wished he could be better at it. He’d like to prepare
something special for Kelcey.

Maybe she wouldn’t want to stay for supper.
Maybe she’d want to leave as soon as she woke up. He hoped not. He wanted more
time with her.

That shocked him. He’d never cared about
spending time with a woman outside of a bedroom. While he’d teased with her
about him being a sex toy, last night hadn’t been all about sex. He’d truly
enjoyed their evening together. It had been fun to sit at his computer and
listen to Kelcey’s comments about his photographs. She’d been honest with him
about ones she liked and ones she didn’t. She had a great eye for color and
offered suggestions on how he might set up a shot differently should he take a
similar picture in the future. Every suggestion had been perfect.

So had the lovemaking.

She’d surprised him when she came into his
bedroom. Although he didn’t doubt for a moment that she wanted him, he could
feel the fine trembling of her body, see the trepidation in her eyes. She
hadn’t been intimate with a man since the asshole raped her, however long that
had been. He’d wanted so much to please her, to make her first time with a man
erase the memory of the pain she’d suffered. He hoped he’d done that.

His growling stomach turned his attention
back to supper. His cell phone rang as he crossed the floor to the
refrigerator. Slipping the phone out of his pants pocket, he saw Griff’s
picture on the display.

“Hey, bro.”

“Hey. You still working on Kelcey?”

“I finished a few minutes ago. She’s
asleep.”

“No, I’m not,” she said from behind him.

Dax turned to see Kelcey standing two feet
away, Walker by her side. Her hair was mussed, her skin flushed, her eyelids
slumbrous. She looked like a woman who had crawled from bed after hours of hot
sex.

His cock immediately responded to that
thought, quickly growing thicker and longer. Thankful he wore loose sweatpants
that would hide his condition, he smiled at her. “I thought you were asleep.”

“I was for a little bit. I woke up when you
shut the door.” She gestured toward his phone. “Go ahead and finish your
conversation.”

He opened the refrigerator and peered
inside for something to cook. “I lied. She isn’t asleep.”

“Good. Emma left work a little early today
so she could roast a pork loin. She wants to give some to you to thank you for
helping Kelcey.”

Since he now knew what to do for supper,
Dax shut the refrigerator. “I won’t ever turn down Emma’s cooking.”

“You’ll have to do your own vegetables,” he
heard Emma say in the background.

Dax chuckled. “Tell her I can do that.”

“Okay. We’ll be over in a few minutes.”

Dax slipped the phone back in his pocket
and faced Kelcey again. “Emma and Griff are bringing over roast pork loin.”

Her eyes widened and a smile lit up her
face. “Oh wow. Emma makes the
best
pork loin you’ll ever eat.”

“Does that mean you’ll stay for supper?”

“Well, yeah. I’m not giving up the chance
to eat Emma’s cooking.”

“Great.” He clapped his hands together.
“Now what to go with it? Baked potato?”

“Definitely.”

“I think I’m out of salad stuff, but I have
canned and frozen vegetables.”

“You pick out the vegetable and I’ll get
the potatoes ready for the microwave.”

Dax smiled. “Deal.”

* * * * *

Dax loved food. He never had any trouble
packing it away and enjoyed every bite. Eating with Kelcey made everything
taste better than usual. Even a baked potato seemed more fluffy with Kelcey
sitting across the kitchen table from him.

Emma and Griff had stayed only long enough
to drop off the food before they left. Dax invited them to stay for a glass of
tea or wine, but they’d refused his offer. Emma claimed she wanted to restock
the cookies at the B-and-B, so had a lot of baking to do tonight. They left
after being there barely ten minutes.

Dax couldn’t say he minded. It gave him
more alone time with Kelcey.

He pretended he didn’t see her sneak bites
of the meat to Walker, who hadn’t left her side since she came out of the
massage room. Walker rarely took to a person as quickly as he had Kelcey. Dax
still couldn’t understand why his dog seemed so protective of her. He didn’t
normally take to strangers, but he’d loved Kelcey right away.

Kelcey laid her fork on her empty plate. “I
am stuffed.”

“So is my dog.”