I drove to the address that Carter had given me. Alex was right, the house was a massive Victorian. It was gorgeous with a turret and a large porch. Somewhere deep inside, I yearned to be the mistress of this home. To have that family Alex said Carter wanted to have. I could already picture Tanner running around the massive lawn, or climbing in one of the old large trees.
I forced all that out of my head, and instead focused on what I was supposed to while I was here: physical therapy.
I walked up the front steps and across the porch to the front door, giving it a knock.
From inside, I heard Carter yell out, "It's open."
I pushed open the gorgeous wood door, and entered into a spectacular foyer. Even from here, I could see that the home was decorated with a variety of artwork and objects that Carter had obtained on his travels. It didn't look tacky or overwhelming. It was spectacular.
"I'm over here," Carter's voice came from a room to the right of me. I stepped into what appeared to be a library. Two walls were filled floor-to-ceiling with dark wood bookshelves filled with books. He sat on a well-worn leather couch with his foot up on a dark wood table, and an ice pack laying over his knee.
"Thanks for coming, Jess. I really do appreciate this."
Finding my voice, I said, "Of course.” I walked over to him, and normally I might have sat on the edge of the coffee table to face him, but I wasn't sure if it was antique or not, and didn't want to risk damaging it. So, I sat a few feet away on the couch, turning my body to face him. "So, what happened here?" I asked.
“I was coming down the stairs and I missed a step. I ended up coming down hard and landing on it the wrong way. I feel like a fool, because normally I'm pretty coordinated, large waves in the Mexican ocean notwithstanding," he said with a joking smile.
Carter’s sweet and amused grin put me at ease, and I moved a little closer to him. I knelt on the floor so I could get a better look at his knee. I took the pack off, and examined the injury. When I was able to get a closer look, I was a little surprised by what I saw, as there didn’t seem to be any swelling, the way you’d expect after a fall.
"My paperwork is there on the coffee table," he said.
I picked up and read through the various reports. "Did they suggest surgery at all?" I asked, because his paperwork indicated a serious tear.
"I don't want to do surgery. You know me I'm a physical man,"
A little thrill went through my body because I knew exactly how physical he was. I kept my head down because I knew he wasn't talking about sexual physical and I didn’t want him to know my mind had gone to an erotic place.
"I would much prefer to rehab it through physical exercises if possible. You did such a great job with my dad. I know that you will be able to help me."
I put the ice pack back on his knee and moved back to sit on the couch using the time to gather my thoughts.
"I know a really good sports physical therapist that I can refer you to," I said, not wanting to come out and tell him that I thought my working with him was a bad idea.
His jaw tightened, but he managed to smile. "I would've called a sports physical therapist if that's what I wanted. I called you, Jess. You were amazing with my dad. That's what I want for my knee."
I realized I was suspicious of him asking me here. In fact, if I hadn't seen the reports on his knee, I might've questioned whether he was really hurt or not as his knee didn’t have the usual signs of a meniscus injury. However, it would be unprofessional of me to turn him down since it was a legit injury.
"I'll pay you whatever it takes,” he said.
My hackles went up again, because it felt like when he was trying to give me a car or offer me a job. I didn't want his charity. Whatever I had, I wanted to earn it.
"I don't want to mess around with this. I want intensive therapy so I can get back on my feet doing the things I love. So, what would it take to hire you as my live-in physical therapist?"
My gaze shot up to his. "Live-in?"
"Yes, live in so I can rehab as quickly as possible. How about $100,000."
I swallowed. "What?" For some reason I was having a hard time keeping track of what he was saying.
"One-hundred thousand for the month."
For a moment, I could only stare at him dumbfounded, but eventually I found my voice. "I can't live-in, Carter."
"You’d have your own room and your own space. I even have a gym and a pool, so if my dad needed to come over for his therapy, we could do it together." He gave me a boyish grin. "It will be fun being in rehab with my dad."
"But I can't live-in. Your dad asked me to live in too, but I can’t do that."
He turned his head away, but not before I saw the way his eyes darkened. He turned back to me. "Tell me the real reason, Jess. Did I do something to offend you? I just offered you a hundred thousand dollars for your professional services. Why do I feel like if I could offer you world peace