4. Change Course

4

CHANGE COURSE

I t was almost halfway through the session before Sloane realized who she was giving a massage to.

The doctor that the Fierces had mentioned to her.

She wondered if he was aware of that.

No way. He’d commented on knowing them well enough to keep his distance.

There was no reason to tell him what Carolyn and Diane said to her before.

Not that she would betray her clients either.

This was most likely just a coincidence since he said it was a gift from his mother.

Since she’d given close to a handful of massages to Chloe and they talked during those sessions, she knew that Chloe’s mother wasn’t fond of how Chloe met her husband.

This just sounded like a good deed and she was giving someone their first massage and trying to keep his mind off the fact she was touching him.

She knew most men worried they might get aroused.

The first moan that came out of Dane’s mouth had her pausing and wondering why her blood was pumping when it never had before.

The guy sure was tense and obviously needed this to relax.

The fact he’d never once mentioned a spouse or girlfriend told her that there was no one in his life like that. Why else would the Fierce women mention him and his mother give him a gift of a massage?

“You learn very quickly not to judge as a doctor.”

She let out a soft laugh. “I’m not sure all doctors feel the same way,” she said. “Or practice that way.”

She knew firsthand too. It was hard not to when she hadn’t seen a doctor until she was a teenager. Not for the first time.

There were all sorts of questions there before she could even start school.

She tried not to think of that time in her life. Not many would understand.

At times she struggled to understand it herself, but it wasn’t as if she’d had a lot of say in the matter.

It was a good thing her mother came to her senses.

Or more like was paranoid and got her and Sabrina out of there.

Not that she had any relationship with her mother or younger sister anymore. She hadn’t spoken to either of them in years and life was more settled that way.

It was all she wanted too.

To put the past where it belonged. Locked away in a secret hiding spot that only she knew where the key to the steel door was.

“You’re mostly right,” he said. “My biggest problem is a lot of my patients can’t speak for themselves or are scared. I can’t take the parents’ words all the time. I believe they always mean well, but the truth is they just don’t know it all.”

“I like that thinking,” she said. She moved past his left leg and back up to his head. Her hands were on his shoulders. His nice broad shoulders. He sure didn’t look like a doctor to her.

He had a lot more muscle on him than she would have thought if she’d met him on the street.

He was on the trim side, not thin, but in great shape. He obviously did some form of exercise, but she could tell he wasn’t someone to lift to get bulky.

She leaned forward on her palms and pressed into his traps down to his lats. He was knotted up pretty good when he came in, but he was loosening some.

He let out another groan and she grinned knowing he couldn’t see her.

“I can’t tell you how good this feels.”

“I’m glad,” she said. “Guess your mother knows you well. Or your kids.”

“They do,” he said. “Or they think they do. Tiffani is at this stage where she needs to tell me what to do. I think it’s more that she hears what others say and jumps on that bandwagon.”

“It’s got to be a hard age,” she said.

Sloane tried to remember what she had going on in her life as a young child, but most of it all blurred together of her mother trying to teach her but not doing a great job of things. There were other women around who could do the schooling, but her mother was more about working the land and doing what needed to be done.

She was no stranger to physical labor from an early age.

“It is,” he said. “The bopping around between two parents’ houses isn’t easy and she’s one to try to get her way any way she can.”

She was surprised he’d admitted that and wondered if her massage wasn’t just loosening up his muscles but also his tongue. She’d noticed that a lot with her clients and wouldn’t take advantage of it.

“But she’s got her sibling with her,” she said.

“They are two different kids,” he said. “Tyler, he likes being with me. He needs that man in his life and wants to be like his dad. I’ve got to say it feeds my ego, but he’s young yet.”

“That’s sweet,” she said. “I’m sure Tiffani wants to be with her dad too.”

“Oh,” he said, “she does. Then she gets jealous if Tyler gets more attention and wants to like what I do too.”

“I get it,” she said. “She liked coming here and then wanted you to like it too?”

She was leaning over him, her breasts almost touching his head as she reached forward but stopped herself enough so that she wasn’t.

There was silence there for a second and normally she wouldn’t notice it because she was trying to focus on her job.

“I didn’t think of it that way.”

“What way?” she asked, then moved to the work on his lower back.

“That she enjoyed coming here with my mother and sister and she wants me to have the same experience she did. Even if it’s a different service.”

“Again,” she said. “I think that’s very sweet and thoughtful of her. Mature in a way for a child.”

“Tiffani is mature on some levels. Maybe this was her idea and not my mother's. ”

“You didn’t think it was?” she asked.

“I wasn’t sure. But she did say how Chloe kept talking about her massage and how wonderful it felt.”

“Then maybe there is your answer,” she said. “Could be she wanted her father to feel as good as her aunt.”

“I think you might be right. I’ll find out tomorrow when I pick them up. I’ll see my mother too, as the kids will be there during the night since I’m on call.”

Which told her that there was a mother in the picture and they obviously weren’t together.

Maybe it was time to change the topic some. She didn’t want him to think she was prying.

“Did you always want to be a doctor?” she asked. She had her thumbs pressing into his upper glutes now. He wasn’t moaning as much, but he wasn’t tense either. Exactly what she wanted to get to.

“Not until I was in college,” he said. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do in high school other than I liked science.”

“I find it funny that at seventeen and eighteen someone has to figure out what they want to do with the rest of their life when they’ve only lived a tiny fraction of it. And as a pediatrician, you know those years are building. There isn’t a lot of knowledge or the ability to make informed decisions. Yet for some reason society tells us we have to decide at twenty what we are going to do career-wise for the next forty-plus years.”

“I agree one hundred percent,” he said. “Though I doubt it’s going to change much. I want my kids to try everything they can while they can until they can find what they enjoy. I also want them to know that life is about change and just because you decide on one thing doesn’t mean you have to still have that thought process years later. ”

Hmmm, made her wonder now which one of them ended the marriage.

Sounded to her that someone changed their mind.

She’d bet it wasn’t Dane. The guy seemed too good-natured and committed. She was positive he’d sacrifice everything for family.

Maybe be a martyr. Not sure how she felt about that and had to tell herself not to assume or judge.

Thinking thoughts in her head and not voicing them didn’t mean she judged.

She did that a lot with her clients. Tried to imagine what was going on in their lives, because the truth was, she had no clue and only knew what she was told.

“It’s a good thing to pass on,” she said. “I had no clue what I was going to do with my life after graduation. I just knew I needed a way to support myself. I sat down and looked at my options and realized that maybe this would be a good thing. I got my massage therapist license first. Then I moved on to nail technician and lastly an esthetician. I’ll never stop learning and getting certificates as long as I own this business.”

“Smart,” he said. “Giving yourself options. I’ve got to imagine massage all day long is hard on the body. You’re giving yourself a way to change course if need be.”

She smiled. “I’m good at changing courses. You’re right. It’s hard on the body. But I like to be able to cover the services I offer if I need to. I’m adaptable. I enjoy the massage now but keep my hand in everything else so I don’t get rusty.”

Massage was what she did the most, but she did make sure she had a few appointments a month for pedicures, maybe even a manicure, but not often there. She loved doing facials and other treatments but wouldn’t take away from her other staff. Those, she gave herself as fillers of time between massages if she could.

“I believe adaptability is the name of the game,” he said.

“Guess what?” she asked. “You made it through your first massage.”

“It’s over?” he asked. He almost sounded bummed. “That went by fast.”

“It normally does,” she said. “I’ll leave the room for you to get changed and be waiting in the hall when you’re ready. Just open the door.”

“Thanks,” he said.

She left the room and went to wash her hands and check her schedule like she always did.

He was dressed quicker than most even though he had to button up his shirt and put on dress shoes and socks. Not like most people with shorts, a T-shirt and sandals when they came here. Even men half the time.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I could sleep for hours. Thankfully my on call doesn’t start until tomorrow.”

“I’m glad,” she said. “Make sure you rehydrate well.”

She walked him to the front desk. Now that she’d touched most of his body she had time to look him over in a better light.

His hair was on the dark side, short and neat. His eyes were light, but she couldn’t tell if they were hazel or brown.

She was in front of him now so it’s not like she could look at much more.

“Can I make another appointment with you?” he asked when they got to the desk.

“You can,” she said.

“What do you recommend in terms of timeframe? It’s probably too much weekly, but man, that would be great. ”

She laughed. “I normally recommend every four weeks or so, but it’s your choice to come more frequently.”

“Four weeks is doable. I can figure that out in my head on my schedule too.”

“Sloane, a vendor is waiting for you. They said they didn’t have an appointment but had products you’d be interested in,” Vanessa said.

“They always say that,” she said. “Dane, you have a great weekend.”

“You too,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”

She left to take care of the vendor and all but rolled her eyes when she saw who it was.

“Hello, Jerry,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I know,” Jerry said. “But I’ve got some new exfoliating scrubs you might like to try.”

“Why don’t you leave me some samples and I’ll have the girls try them. You know it’s not what I do.”

“That’d be great,” Jerry said. “Are you done for the night?”

It was seven and they closed at eight. She was done with her clients, but she was closing and had work to do in her office.

“No,” she said. “I’ve got another hour of work.”

She never said whether it was with clients or not. “I was hoping we could get something to eat.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I won’t be out of here until after eight and then still have things to do. But I will take those samples.”

“Sure thing,” Jerry said. He had a grin on his face like he always did. She wasn’t surprised he’d come here to slip in a date. He’d been hinting toward it, but she wasn’t interested.

She walked him out a few minutes later.

“Sorry about that,” Vanessa said. “He’s been sitting there for thirty minutes. I told him you were busy, but he wouldn’t leave.”

“It’s fine,” she said.

“But your last client. Oh my, he was something to look at. I’m not sure how you do that.”

Vanessa always made jokes like that about the good-looking men. “It’s a job,” she said.

Vanessa handed over the envelope. “Here. He left this for you.”

She took the envelope and went back to her office. She never wanted clients to feel as if they had to tip in person so they could leave it at the desk or even put it on their credit card. Most did that now, but she’d always be someone who wanted cash on hand.

Sometimes it was hard to break a habit of trust. The banking institutions weren’t going to crash, but she’d lived so much of her life being fed stupid shit that in the back of her mind, she did like having cash stashed for that rainy day.

Once she was in her office, she opened the envelope and saw the hundred-dollar bill and her jaw dropped. That was a fifty percent tip.

Of course the massage had been a gift so maybe he felt as if he had to do that.

It was still nice and not expected in the least.

She went to her computer and pulled up her schedule. Just out of curiosity, she wanted to see if Dane scheduled another appointment.

Yep, four weeks away but on a Wednesday.

Now she just had to hope time went by quickly before she saw him again.

Sloane put her hand over her mouth. When had she ever thought of a client like that before?