Chapter Twenty One

Lucy was confused.

And a little hurt.

She’d initially been a little apprehensive and nervous about her next training session with Spencer, after the walk on the beach the other day when they’d just talked and talked, and that stupid kiss she’d planted on his cheek…

She wasn’t sure what Spencer was going to say.

But she was sure he would say something, at least.

At least acknowledge the walk and the good time she thought they had both had.

Instead, he really hadn’t said much at all – he had been all business when she arrived, and once she started sweating on the equipment, she kind of lost the drive to talk to him anyway.

But still, it was a lot of mixed signals, and it was kind of confusing, she thought, watching him out of the corner of her eye as he surreptitiously rubbed the back of his right thigh.

“Are you okay?” Lucy finally asked, putting down her kettle bells, slapping her hands onto her hips and fixing Spencer with a stare. “You… you haven’t been yourself today, it seems to me.”

Spencer sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry,” he said, meaning it. He was distracted and injured today, and his clients deserved more.

But with Lucy… she did so well, he could just be on autopilot with her.

Until she busted him.

“Don’t be sorry,” Lucy said easily. “Be yourself. Want to tell me what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Spencer said, taking a drink of water. “I’m finally, Lucy, really.”

“Are you stressing out about your bills still?”

Spencer froze, not sure what she was talking about. “Pardon?”

“On our walk the other afternoon… you said you were having to sit down and do all your bills, and you were stressing the mortgage on this place. You said you had a lot of balls in the air, and needed to really concentrate on making them all stay there. It’ll all work out, Spencer, I’m sure of it.”

Spencer sighed inwardly, realizing she was referring to a conversation he’s never been a part of.

And why the hell was Sullivan stressing the warehouse mortgage? They’d agreed to keep it separate from each other… sure, he was falling behind in the payments a tiny bit, but he’d get caught up in a few weeks…

“No, I’m… it’s fine. It’s all working out,” Spencer said with a cheerful, completely fake smile on his face. “I’m all good.”

He winced slightly as he pivoted on his leg, putting his bottle down on the table nearby. “Are you hurt?” Lucy asked, watching him carefully.

Spencer shook his head no. “I just… I think I stressed a muscle or something the other day. Or maybe a nerve is all boogered in my leg. It’s giving me pain every once in a while… no big deal.”

Or more than once in a while, he mused, thinking of the zings of pain it had given him for the last couple of days, seriously cramping his workout style.

Lucy mopped her face with a towel, and then tossed it aside. “I can help, you know.”

“How?”

“I’m a massage therapist, remember?” Lucy said with a kind smile. “I can at least massage the muscle, or identify if it’s a nerve and try to release the muscle around it. I’ll even do it for free,” she said with a teasing grin. “Or you can give me an extra workout sometime.”

“I don’t know…” Spencer said warily. “I’ve never really done the whole massage thing before. Plus…”

“Plus?”

“Well, you’re a girl.”

Lucy laughed out loud. “You’re a guy, and you stretch my hammies and my back in all sorts of compromising positions and manhandle my body all the time when I’m working out. What’s the difference?”

“Will it… will it hurt?” Spencer asked, still unsure.

“It might,” Lucy said honestly. “But in a good way. C’mon, lie down.”

“Where?” Spencer asked, looking around.

“Well, since my massage table is at work, how about the mats there?” She said, gesturing to the blue mats by the mirrors. “Lay on your stomach.” He hesitated, and she narrowed her eyes. “Drop it, Jackson,” she said, her voice mock serious.

Spencer grinned at her order then lay down, as though bracing for an execution while Lucy arranged herself next to him. She put her hands on his back gently, and then chuckled. “Jeez, Spencer, try and relax. It’s not like I’m waxing your back or giving you a prostate exam. Massages are supposed to be relaxing and helpful.”

Spencer mentally relaxed, then his muscles followed suit, and Lucy began to work on his back, then transitioned to his legs, especially the one he was favoring. After a few minutes, she spoke softly. “It feels like a nerve that’s inflamed, not a muscle. I’ll work with it, but you have to let me know if it hurts too much. It will hurt a little to release it, but it shouldn’t be excruciating, okay?”

“Okay,” Spencer said, surprised at how much he was enjoying the feel of her hands on his weary muscles and aching leg.  She really was such a sweet, nurturing girl.

The perfect girl for Sullivan, he thought to himself. After Jewel – she of the nasty attitude and penchant for needing expensive gifts and lavish attention – Lucy would be just what Sullivan needed.

A warm, nurturing, Earth Mother kind of person.

Maybe this would work out after all, he thought, his eyes drifting closed and staying that way.

**

Lucy worked and worked with his leg, until she felt it release and could audibly hear Spencer breathe a sigh of relief.

This is exactly what she loved doing, she mused, still smoothing her hands over his body. Making someone feel better with a healing touch and a quiet moment of peace.

Plus, she thought with a naughty grin, getting to rub down the hottest body she’d ever had on her ‘massage table’ was nothing to sneeze it.

Most therapists took very little notice of body types, but with Spencer… well, it would be like trying to ignore the body of that guy who played Thor in those movies.

I mean, really?

She still didn’t understand why he was so different in the gym than away from it, but she was coming to accept it now. It was his work life, then his social life, and never the twin shall meet, or something.

She wondered if he liked being a part of her social life as much as she liked being a part of his.

God, now she was sounding like a giggly freshman girl with a crush on the star quarterback, she thought with a mental headshake. Get over it, she ordered herself. He’s just a friend, nothing more.

Spencer groaned with pleasure as she massaged his shoulders, and she grinned.

A friend, and hopefully, someday, maybe, more?

Once she lost this weight, she mused.

Until then, she was pretty sure she was persona non grata to her trainer.

But if she could get her body back, and could stay healthy the rest of her days…

Maybe?

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