Just One Night Together (Flatiron Five Fitness #3) - Deborah Cooke Page 0,15
hands kept making circles and applying pressure, while the fingertips of his other hand pressed hard against the spot to one side of her spine. She felt them vibrate, buzzing against the muscle. The resonance seemed to go right through her, shaking the tension loose. “There are several percussion strokes,” he said. “Never use any of them against the bone. This is vibration. You’re liberating the tension, then smoothing it away with your other hand.”
“Yes,” Haley said, exhaling the word.
“There’s also cupping and hacking, which have similar effects.”
“Yes.” Haley hoped he’d use them all. Slowly. Repeatedly.
“I can pour my energy into you by making a connection with you,” he said, his voice low and soft. “That was my dad’s secret to healing with touch.”
“What kind of connection?”
“An emotional one.”
Haley blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Talk to me,” he invited. “Tell me something about Nurse Haley Slater.”
She stiffened despite herself. “There’s not much to tell.”
“Bull,” Damon said. “I can feel how you’re tensing up just because I asked. So, you’re a private person.” The pressure of his hands increased, working out the tension. “Tell me about knitting, then. What do you knit?”
“Baby sets.”
“Should I know what that means?”
She smiled, liking how low his voice was, how he drawled the question, how easily she could imagine the gleam of interest in his dark eyes and the corner of his mouth almost lifting in a smile. “Caps and booties and little mittens. Matching sets.”
“You have children?”
“No. Nieces and a nephew, but they’re too big for that.”
“Why knit baby sets then?”
“I knit for the neo-natal ward, for the preemies. It’s hard to keep them warm because they’re so tiny.”
“So, you knit for strangers.”
“Babies don’t have many social connections,” she said and he chuckled.
“I guess not beyond their parents.”
“Who are usually pretty busy when they have a baby in that ward.”
“Too busy to knit.”
“Exactly.”
“That sounds like a nice thing to do.” There was approval in his tone, a warmth that Haley liked a lot.
“It’s useful. It helps. I like that.”
“Because you like to take care of people.”
She felt herself blushing again.
He bent over her, his whisper so close that his lips must have been almost against her shoulder. “It’s how you share your energy,” he murmured. “I knew you understood how.”
“But I don’t...”
“Aren’t you tired at the end of your shift?”
“Yes, but...”
“It’s not just physical. When you take care of others, you give them some of your own energy.” His voice dropped lower. “The world needs people like you, Haley Slater.”
Haley did shiver with delight then. “You take care of your mom.”
“True, but she’s the only one. It sounds like you try to take care of everyone.”
“Not exactly.”
“Who takes care of you?”
Haley opened her mouth and closed it again. “I take care of myself.”
“Of course.” His tone was soothing but she guessed he wasn’t convinced.
“Who takes care of you?” she countered and he laughed again.
“Touché. Tell me about the nieces and nephew.”
“I have two brothers,” Haley admitted. It was ridiculously easy to talk to Damon. The words just flowed, without her thinking about it at all. It was almost a relief to confide in someone, even though she wasn’t admitting anything that was a secret. “The older one’s a firefighter and the younger just finished med school. The older one’s married with three kids.”
“And the doctor?”
“Not married. He signed up for a stint doing relief work with Doctors Without Borders.”
“Is he in the picture on your fridge?”
Haley nodded, a bit startled that he’d noticed. “That’s him and his group when they arrived last month.”
“In Afghanistan.”
“Yes.” There was no question in his voice. How had he guessed that? It wasn’t written on the picture...
Haley thought then of how Damon stood. Straight and tall, maybe not just because it was good posture. No. He stood at attention without realizing he did it. A habit, and one she almost hadn’t noticed because men like him were familiar to her.
The silence invited her to continue and she did. “And I have a sister. She’s a paramedic. Not married but she lives with her boyfriend.”
“Parents?”
“My mom’s a nurse. ER.”
“Sounds like a family devoted to service.”
“Because of my dad. He used to say that giving back was his religion.” Her throat tightened and she realized just how long it had been since she’d mentioned her dad to anyone. She thought about him all the time. She felt his presence beside her often, but she didn’t talk about him.
“He’s gone?” Damon invited when she didn’t continue.