Just One Night Together (Flatiron Five Fitness #3) - Deborah Cooke Page 0,4

of activity but at a distance. There had been a siren, so the patient was alive. They’d stopped the siren once the ambulance was on hospital grounds so he or she was stable. As ever, she said a little prayer for that stranger’s well-being.

It was an old habit, one her mom had taught her, and Haley didn’t even think about it anymore. She just did it. Her mom always said there couldn’t be too many prayers for anybody. Haley imagined them like little pairs of gold wings, flying from her lips to the ears of the divine.

She heard Damon murmuring to his mom and assumed the massage had been resumed. The beeping of the monitor slowed again and Haley smiled.

He really had a gift.

Was there any way she could learn to do the same? She’d studied and taken courses but it seemed to Haley that there was an emotional component to the success of Damon’s massage, or even a mystical one. It was more than just technique. What had he meant when he told her to push it out? Had he taken on his mom’s pain to give her relief? It was an intriguing idea, but she didn’t imagine he’d be in a hurry to share more of his secrets with her.

There was something familiar about him, something Haley hadn’t noticed until he looked directly at her. Did she know him? She was pretty sure she didn’t, but the sense was hard to shake. She couldn’t put her finger on the reason and stood thinking about it, listening to the heart monitor. Conversation in the room stopped. She guessed that Mrs. Perez had fallen asleep.

Where could she have seen Damon before?

How could she have seen him and not remembered?

Haley didn’t even hear his footsteps. She wasn’t aware that he’d left his mother’s side, until his fingertip landed on her shoulder. The unexpected touch made her jump and her heart skipped again when she found Damon right beside her, that dark gaze locked upon her. She shivered right down to her toes.

Then she simmered, just a little.

“Do you always listen to other people’s conversations?” he asked, his voice low so that he wouldn’t disturb his mom’s sleep.

Haley was sure she flushed from head to toe. “I was watching, actually.”

He lifted a brow and she knew that didn’t sound much better. At close proximity, Haley felt the full weight of his attention. He was taller than her and broader than her, seemingly all muscle...

And that was when she knew where she’d seen him before. He was the guy in the billboard for that downtown fitness club, Flatiron Five Fitness.

Get hard at F5F.

So, she knew what he looked like almost naked.

Haley’s mouth went dry. Of course, all of greater New York area knew what he looked like almost naked, because those ads were everywhere, but still, she felt like she was talking to a superstar.

A very hot superstar, whose attention was completely fixed upon her.

She stammered a bit, aware he was still waiting for her reply. “I was curious about your mom’s heart rate. It drops a lot on Friday nights and she sleeps much better. She even takes fewer painkillers. I heard from the other nurses that you gave your mom a massage each Friday, so I wanted to see.”

“Why?”

“I’m interested in alternative therapies for both routine care and palliative care. I particularly want to know about making a difference even when there can’t be a cure. The benefits of therapies like massage aren’t as well documented as would be ideal, but are more anecdotal. It wasn’t clear to me whether it was your presence or your massage at root, so I wanted to see.” Haley knew she was chattering, but she couldn’t stop. She nodded toward his mom’s room. “This looks like a perfect example of an improvement from massage.”

Damon’s expression became guarded then, and she realized he understood his mom’s situation. “So, you want to study her...” His opinion of that was clear.

“No. I want to learn.”

It was only when he glanced back toward his mom that his features softened. The sight of his love nearly broke Haley’s heart.

“I want to help.” She put her hand on his arm, compassion making her bold. She had an idea and she blurted it out before she could think better of it. “You probably have a job and a family and can’t be here all the time,” she said, her words spilling forth in a rush. “If you could teach me what you