I nodded with wide, innocent eyes.
“There’s only one problem...he wants to double date.”
Nick paused a moment, then burst out laughing. A tuxedo vest fell from his hands as he turned to me with a rueful smile. “You’re really subtle today, you know that?”
I shrugged my shoulders helplessly, eyes as wide as saucers.
“It’s true! So what am I supposed to do here, Nick?” My self-righteous act dropped for a moment as a muscle flared in the back of my neck. Served me right for falling asleep in a hard-backed chair. “Should I just break it off? Walk away from my future happiness?”
Another spasm of pain, and I rolled my head from side to side, trying to stretch it out.
“What are you doing?” Nick asked curiously.
“Or maybe there’s another way,” I continued, kneading the base of my skull with my fingers. “Maybe I can find another couple to come with us. People I know. People I trust. People who owe me for a little incident involving a lobster.”
“Okay, come here.” He laughed, dropping his clothes and pulling me towards him. “This ploy is getting you nowhere, and you look like you’re having a fit or something.” Before I could stop him, he spun me around and starting working on my neck with a set of skilled hands.
My body stiffened up and words failed me, as all of a sudden, we were a lot closer than we usually were. Ironic, I know. Seeing as he’d fallen asleep on my shoulder just a night before.
But somehow...this wasn’t really the same.
“You can try to relax, you know,” he teased softly, fingers rubbing in gentle circles over my skin. “It kind of defies the point when you tense up.”
My cheeks flushed, and I was suddenly relieved we weren’t facing so he couldn’t see.
“Sorry, it’s just...” I tried to squirm away. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Nonsense.” He caught me by the shoulders and pulled me back, slapping away my hand when I tried to intervene. “Now I’m serious—relax.”
I tried. It wasn’t the easiest thing.
“Relax,” he commanded again, using that same authoritative tone.
A moment later, I didn’t have a choice.
A warm tingling sensation radiated out from my neck, shivering down the rest of my skin. Like there were little magical lights coming out of his hands. His body—much warmer than mine, and still only wearing a towel from his shower—hovered just an inch or two behind my back. I could feel the heat from it on my bare shoulders as he leaned in to press harder.
“Oh my gosh,” a little moan escaped my lips as my head fell forward, “how the hell are you doing this? Did you take a class or something I don’t know about?”
His fingers laced up through my hair and I could practically hear the smile.
“Anya.”
Of course. His flawless, visa-less, statuesque ‘Pilates’ instructor. The one who’d showed up out of nowhere on his doorstep—hailing from somewhere in Eastern Ukraine. Her accent was so thick, that for the life of me, I couldn’t understand what she was saying. But she and Nick had always found a way to see...eye to eye. A minute after meeting her, he put her on the payroll.
“Ah yes, Anya.” A little smile snaked up my face as his hands continued working. “Is this one of those Pilates moves you two have been working on? Taking the hands-on approach?”
“Practice makes perfect. I intend to be a Pilates master one day.”
I snorted. “I’m sure you do.”
We didn’t talk for a while, simply stood there in silence as his skillful hands effectively erased all the tension from my fretful neck. An occasional shiver would rocket down my spine whenever he leaned in too close, but other than that, it was remarkably soothing.
But no matter how skilled his magical fingers might be...there was some tension they couldn’t coax away.
“Nick...we really do have to talk about what your dad said.”
Still standing behind me, I felt him sigh. His voice tightened with a hint of frustration, but his hands never lost their rhythm.