Just One Night Together (Flatiron Five Fitness #3) - Deborah Cooke Page 0,5

do for your mom, I could give her a massage on other nights.”

He looked back at her with surprise. “You can do that?”

Haley thought about schedules and shifts. She’d do it on her own time just to learn more. “I can make it happen.”

His eyes narrowed. “You would do that?”

“Yes,” Haley said, feeling in this moment that she’d do pretty much anything to keep this man talking to her.

He straightened a little, his gaze brightening. “You were going to say something, when I told her not to go.”

Haley looked at the floor. It wasn’t her place to tell him, if he didn’t know.

He cleared his throat and his next words were husky. “Am I right to expect that you wouldn’t have to help out for long?”

Haley had that lump in her throat again. “I’m not your mom’s doctor.”

“But you know.”

She nodded.

He sighed. “I talked to the oncologist today,” he admitted quietly, defeat in his tone.

Haley lifted her head and met his gaze. “I’m sorry.”

“Me, too.”

Their gazes clung for a long moment, one in which Haley was afraid to take a breath and risk breaking the spell.

Then he shrugged. “But that doesn’t change anything. We’d better get started if you’re going to be able to help.”

“Good idea.” Haley didn’t start until the evening the next day, so maybe they could meet in the morning...

But Damon had other ideas. His tone filled with purpose. “When does your shift end?”

“At two.”

He nodded and Haley felt like he’d taken command of the situation, leaving her behind. “I’ll still be here. Your place or mine?”

“Excuse me?”

He smiled just a little, the corner of his mouth lifting in a way that made him look unpredictable—and very sexy. “How were you planning to learn massage?”

“Well, I’ve studied books and there are mannequins in the classroom...”

“No,” he said flatly. “Hands-on is the best way. You have to feel it. I massage you, then you massage me.”

If she’d been blushing before, now Haley’s skin was on fire. Her voice rose. “I’m not certain that would be professional.”

“But it would be effective.” His smile broadened, his eyes gleaming. He was amused by her, which didn’t stop Haley’s blush—in fact, that only made it worse. “I didn’t think nurses were afraid to touch people.”

He was teasing her, just like her brother Brad did, but it was a thousand times different—since he wasn’t her brother. Worse, she thought he was very attractive and he seemed to know it. Haley was redder than a beet, feeling like she’d been caught in more ways than one, and found herself almost completely inarticulate.

“No, no, of course not.” She closed her mouth, hating the sound of her own nervousness, and flicked a glance at him.

“Oh, then you’re all about theory instead of practice.”

He was so sure he understood her—and he was right—that Haley wanted to surprise him. “Maybe I have been,” she conceded. “Maybe it’s time to change.”

He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall beside her, his eyes so dark and his gaze so knowing that Haley couldn’t look away. “Your place or mine?” he asked again.

“My place,” she said with a confidence she didn’t feel. “We’ll go to my place, but only for massage lessons.”

“You’re on.” He offered his hand to shake on it, and Haley felt her hand swallowed by his strong, warm grip. His touch sent a thousand shivers over her skin and awakened a yearning that she hadn’t indulged in a very long time.

She pulled her hand from his and took a step back, trying to regain her composure. “I have to get back to work. I’ll see you at two.”

He inclined his head. “Meet you in the lobby.” Humor still glinted in his eyes and Haley wondered what she’d gotten herself into.

Damon was going to teach her about massage. That was it.

At her apartment.

The prospect put a little quiver in her belly that Haley doubted would disappear anytime soon.

Damon had been sure the prim little nurse would turn and run when he made his offer.

He was intrigued that she hadn’t.

Maybe he hadn’t read her that well after all.

She was cute, in an uptight kind of way. That in itself invited an intervention. She had her hair pulled back tightly and her uniform was crisp. The way she blushed made him want to shake her up a bit. He wanted to unfasten her ponytail and push his fingers through her hair. It was dark blonde and long, with enough of a wave in it that her ponytail