something slightly more sincere, and he held his palms up in a gesture of submission. “If you’ll let me.”
She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she considered his offer. It might just be a ploy to put his hands on her, but getting a free massage from a hot handyman wasn’t the worst thing she could imagine. And what if he was right? What if he could help the pain in her neck?
She decided it was worth the risk. “Fine. No funny business though.”
“Excuse you, I’m a professional. Now turn around.” He twirled his index finger in a circle.
Mia did as he asked, tensing as Wyatt stepped close to her.
“Try to relax.” His breath tickled the back of her neck.
It was a struggle not to jump when he touched her. A trickle of sweat traveled down between her breasts as his callused hands moved experimentally over her neck, tracing the length of her cervical spine before he grasped both her shoulders.
She let out an involuntary groan as he began kneading the muscle, gently at first and then increasing the pressure.
“That’s better,” he said when her shoulders started to unclench. “Gotta let go of all that tension.” His thumbs dug in next to the rim of her shoulder blades, causing her to flinch at the sudden flare of pain. “There it is. That’s what I thought.”
His thumbs eased up, then dug back in mercilessly while his fingers held her shoulders to prevent her from edging away. “A lot of the time, what we think is neck pain actually originates in our shoulders and upper back.”
Already, Mia’s neck was feeling better. Wyatt moved down lower and dug into a new spot, releasing a fresh burst of discomfort.
“People spend so much time hunched over their computers and their phones and their car steering wheels,” he said. “You’ve got to get in there nice and deep and work out the kinks.” He moved lower still, digging his thumbs under her shoulder blades.
She let out a moan as the pain started to morph into something closer to pleasure. It still hurt, but it was the good kind of hurt. The kind that brought relief.
“It’s the right side that’s worst, isn’t it? I can feel the knot. Right. Here.” His thumb pressed harder and she let out a yelp. “Sorry. Let me just—” He let go of her and reached around so her collarbone lay against his left forearm with his hand gripping her right shoulder. Then he used the knuckles of his right hand to dig into her back, working at the knot in the muscle with his fist.
“That feels amazing.” Holding on to his forearm for support as his fist ground into her back, she let her head slump forward. Her neck pain was almost completely gone. “Where did you learn to do this?”
“Dated a physical therapist once.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “I learned a few tricks of the trade before we parted ways.”
“Wooooowww.” She exhaled a deep, contented sigh. “I apologize for doubting you. You really do have magic fingers.”
He laughed. “You don’t know the half of it.”
There was a tread on the steps outside, and Mia looked up as Josh walked into the apartment. His face froze when he saw them.
“Hey, man,” Wyatt said cheerfully. “Have you met Mia?”
Josh’s expression remained flat as he nodded. “Sorry if I’m interrupting.”
Mia slid out of Wyatt’s grasp. She felt like she’d been caught doing something wrong. And that made her annoyed at herself for feeling that way. Josh hadn’t shown any interest in her, so why shouldn’t she enjoy the fact that Wyatt had?
“I had a crick in my neck, and Wyatt was just helping me with it,” she explained, nevertheless. As if she owed Josh an explanation for some reason.
“I’ll bet he was.” Josh’s sharp tone caused Mia to bristle.
“You know what Birdie’s spare bed is like,” Wyatt said, giving him an odd look.
“What are you doing here?” Mia asked Josh. Her apartment had suddenly become hot guy central, and it wasn’t nearly as much fun as it ought to be.
Josh’s gaze landed coolly on Wyatt. “Wyatt asked me to help him get the old AC down and into his truck.”
“Are you two friends?” Mia looked from Josh to Wyatt, confused. They weren’t acting like friends. Well, Wyatt was. But Josh certainly wasn’t. If anything, he seemed angry at Wyatt for some reason.
Wyatt strode over to Josh and threw an arm around his shoulders, giving him a friendly