Sparks of Love Read online

  Her eyes flared with frustration, but there was something else in her expression. She begrudgingly gave me her phone number on the back of one of her business cards, then walked me out of to the front lobby, quickly turned on her heel, and went back down the hallway without saying goodbye to me.

  But when she glanced back at me, I saw a smile on her face. Maybe I wasn’t going to have to do so much convincing after all.

  I headed out into the sunshine, annoyed I was benched and wouldn’t be playing the game tonight. I wanted to support my team, at the very least, but I wasn’t allowed at the stadium. It was going to be a beautiful night. Guess I would just have to figure out a way to distract myself.

  I pulled out my phone and entered Blaze’s number into my contacts, then quickly sent her a text to meet me at Weather the Storm around seven o’clock. The hours on the clinic said they were only open until five, which gave her two hours to decide if she was actually going to show up.

  5

  Blaze

  Allison was supposed to be on her honeymoon in a couple of hours. Instead, she was hiding out in her house. Not that I blamed her. I wouldn’t want to show my face either.

  I didn’t bother knocking, knowing she wouldn’t answer the door. I’d had a copy of her spare key for three years. The apartment was dark, all the windows covered in curtains, the only glow coming from the television in the living room. I made my way to the kitchen with the groceries I bought her.

  “It’s me.”

  “I figured as much unless the super is coming in here to see if I’m dead.” Allison’s voice sounded raw and exhausted. I’m sure she’d been crying non-stop since her wedding and her fiancé went up in smoke.

  I put the groceries away—nothing but junk food and stuff easy to cook in the microwave or oven. I grabbed the half-pint of her favorite chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and brought it out to the living room where she was huddled in a stack of blankets.

  “You know, it’s freaking cold in here. You could turn down the air conditioning. My nipples are hard enough to cut glass.” I flopped down next to her on the couch.

  “I wanted to be buried under blankets.”

  I handed her the ice cream and a spoon.

  She pulled the comfort food into her cocoon. “You are a savior.”

  “Alli, I’m worried about you.”

  She scooped a big spoonful of ice cream and ate it before she said anything.

  “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to eat my weight in junk food, watch Sex and the City and maybe True Blood. Then I’ll take a shower, go back to work, and start figuring out what the hell I do from here.”

  I patted her blanket-covered knee. “I’m here if you need me.”

  Allison put her hand on mine and squeezed. “I know. You’re the best friend anyone could ask for. I appreciate you bringing me stuff.”

  “I’ll make sure to check in on you. But, Alli, he doesn’t deserve you. Eventually, you’ll realize you’ll be better off.”

  Allison sniffled. “I certainly hope so.” She glanced over at me. “What’s going on with you?”

  “Nothing. I just got off work.”

  She pushed the Star Wars emperor blanket hood off her head and examined me. “You’re up to something.”

  “I’m not.”

  “What’s going on? Please, B, I need something more to think about than ‘he who shall not be named.’”

  “Voldemort?”

  “Well, he is a snake.”

  “I don’t know what’s going on.” I shrugged. “I told you about having to treat Calaveras.”

  “You sound so put upon.”

  “That’s just it. Right there. This is why it’s a bad idea if I date him. The amount of noise it’s going to make when people find out.”

  “Blaze, no one is going to think you’re a whore because you start dating someone.”

  “My dad’s friend, Larry, seems to think I’m a whore.”

  Allison made a face. “I hate that guy. His opinion doesn’t matter. Did Jason ask you out or something?”

  “Yeah, I’m supposed to meet him in like an hour.”

  “Seriously?!” Allison gasped. “Then what the hell are you doing here? You should be getting ready. Wear something hot. Don’t do your usual. I know it’s you, and I know he liked it, but you deserve to get dressed up and have some fun.”

  I sighed. “I’m not sure I can do this.”

  Allison set the ice cream aside. “You can totally do this. Mixing a little business with pleasure isn’t going to hurt anything or anyone. He clearly likes you, and he’s working really hard. I know how serious you take all of this. And tell him that if he hurts you, I’ll kill him.”

  I gave my friend a big hug.

  “Now. Go. Have fun. Have some hot and dirty sex.”

  I laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  I gave her another hug, then left her to wallow. I knew it was what she needed. You had to feel the pain of something to move on.

  I trotted down the stairs, heading for the door. Opening before I could get to it, I stopped in my tracks.

  “Theo?” Dean’s best friend stood in front of me. I looked up at him.

  “Oh, hey, Blaze. Is Allison home?” He had a deep voice that almost contradicted his boyish good looks. The sandy blond hair and athletic build didn’t help his boyish charm.

  “That depends.” I blocked him from entering the building. “What are you doing here?”

  Theo smirked down at me like I was some adorable kitten threatening him with little claws. “I’m here to make sure she’s okay.”

  “Theo, she just had her heart ripped out. Of course, she’s not okay. She probably hasn’t showered since the night of her bachelorette party. She’s eating junk food and binge-watching stuff. Do you really think she needs to see her ex-fiancé’s best friend?”

  “You’re a good friend, Blaze.”

  “I’m aware of that.”

  “Dean and I aren’t friends anymore.”

  I froze and looked at him. He looked wrung out—dark circles under his eyes, worry pressing around the edges of exhaustion.

  “I need to see her, Blaze. Please.”

  “She’s an adult. She’s allowed to ignore the door if she wants to. Good luck getting her to open up.” I stepped out of his way.

  Theo leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “If all of us had friends like you, we’d all be really lucky.”

  “You’re really not friends with Dean anymore?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not friends with assholes. At least, not anymore.”

  I gave him a small smile. “Take care, Theo.”

  I always did like Theo.

  I should’ve stayed with Allison. Watching Sex and the City seemed like a much better idea than staring at my closet, looking for a magical answer on what to wear on a date I shouldn’t even be going on. At the same time, I hoped he could convince me to date him. The way he left me feeling, even in our professional session today, I didn’t want to stop feeling that way. He’d been a perfect gentleman. Maybe I could date a client and keep it professional when it needed to be. People mixed business and pleasure all the time, why did my vocation make me any different?

  I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Ever since Coach called me and told me what was going on with Jason, I’d been a bundle of nerves. I was grateful my training and desire to help people heal kicked in as I started working on him. The last thing I wanted to be was a walking cliché and joke. It bothered me my profession was so easy to make a crack about and sexualize. People didn’t understand the healing nature of touch and were so eager to make it dirty and an elementary giggle fest.

  I thought I would be immune to him when I saw him again. I didn’t have any alcohol in my system, and we weren’t in a dimly lit room with loud music and plenty of people around us in heat. I didn’t think he would still want me when he saw me again. It would be easy to just be a therapist. For the most part, at least while I was wo
rking on him, it was completely professional. But before and after our session, my mind was in all sorts of dirty places with him putting his perfect mouth and million-dollar hands all over me. I bet he could give one helluva a massage.

  And then he was asking me out again.

  What was his deal? It didn’t make any sense. I still couldn’t reason out what Jason saw in me. There were prettier, skinnier, and flirtier women than me, probably smarter and more successful too.

  I made myself pick out a dress. I couldn’t help imagining his hands dipping under my dress in the bar. It made me hot all over, completely unlike me, but I liked the way it made me feel. While I made my living healing with touch, I was craving someone to touch me too. Not just sexual but in companionship. I’d isolated myself a lot lately. My family interactions always left me feeling emptier and emptier, and Allison had been busy with wedding plans and Dean. My job wasn’t feeling as fulfilling as it usually did. I didn’t know what was wrong with me.

  After a shower and make-up, I threw the dress on and found a pair of heels I didn’t wear often. I wanted to feel sexy for me, something I didn’t feel very often. Tonight, I wanted it, I craved it… I fucking deserved it.

  I was walking right back into the scene of the crime. I couldn’t tell him no in the middle of working my ass off being professional, what made me think I could tell him no in a bar? I knew as I walked through the door, I had no intention of telling him no.

  I walked in and found him in the back by the pool tables, bent over a table, making a shot. I admired his muscular ass in well-worn jeans. He didn’t notice me at first, which was nice. I got to take in the sight of him. Baseball shirts and Henleys were my favorite thing on a guy, and today he was wearing a baseball shirt, the material straining over his well-built back and bulging arms. I worried about his shoulder as he extended it to make a shot, but I wasn’t his therapist right now. I was here to let him down and get back to my regularly scheduled life. Or possibly, see just how good his hands felt on my body.

  I wouldn’t know until we started whatever we were starting.

  He glanced over, and when he saw me, he stood straight and pulled his shoulders back. He set the pool cue down and motioned for me to come to him. I weaved in and out of the tables and set my purse on the chair where he’d already claimed a table, a beer sitting there untouched. His eyes were pools of lava desire, and he was aiming them straight at me. His perfect mouth curved into a playful, smug smirk.

  “I see you wore a dress this time.”

  My cheeks flamed as I thought about him touching me at the bar, his hands sliding up my thigh, wishing I had a skirt on. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t worn it on purpose, but what he didn’t know…

  “It’s hot outside, I wanted to be comfortable.” I knew I couldn’t hide the blush, but I hoped my voice would stay even.

  He nodded at the table. “I got your drink.”

  Sure enough, there was a Jameson sitting behind his beer.

  “Thanks.” I grabbed it and knocked it back, wanting the tension and nerves to ease up.

  “I’ll rack, and you can shoot first.”

  He wasn’t going to make this easy, wouldn’t take an easy letdown. He wanted to get me having fun so I wouldn’t say no, couldn’t say no. I so badly wanted that too, but I had no idea how I was going to keep my composure at work if he seduced me—or worse, if I seduced him.

  I watched him move around the table, gathering the balls and setting them up in the triangle with precision and speed. He plucked a pool cue from the wall, twisted some blue chalk on the tip, and handed it to me.

  “You should know,”—I moved around the table and leaned over just enough to make sure my cleavage was threatening to pour out the top— “my best friend had a pool table in her basement growing up.”

  His dark brown eyes flickered over my body before his gaze met mine. “Are you saying you’re good?”

  I placed the cue ball, lined up my shot, bent over the table, sticking my ass out, pulled, and hit the white ball. It smacked into the triangle of balls, and they all scattered out like shrapnel, two solids going into the corner pockets.

  “Damn.” His voice was behind me. When the hell did he move?

  I stood up and could feel his body heat radiating off him against my backside. My body lit up like we’d been foreplaying for hours. My nipples tightened and felt heavy in my lace bra. My sex clenched, leaving my clit throbbing for attention. What the hell? I’d never reacted to someone like that.

  His deep voice in my ear made me shiver. “You are good. Maybe we should make a bet. Make it more fun?”

  “Isn’t playing fun?”

  Jason chuckled as he wrapped his fingers around my wrist that held the pool cue, pulling me around, so I was facing him. He was so close, his hand on my hip pinned me to the pool table.

  “I had every intention of taking things slow, getting to know you, but I think you’re trying to kill me with that dress.”

  I swallowed hard around the lump bobbing in my throat. “Jason…” It came out as more of a moan.

  “God, I love hearing you like that. I can’t wait to hear you screaming my name.” His breath was hot on my jaw and sent all kinds of shivers down my spine. “Was I not the model client? I didn’t even get hard while you had your hot little hands all over me.”

  The blush was fierce as it burned my cheeks and traveled from the middle of my chest out, and I looked away from him. He tucked his index finger under my chin and raised my gaze back to him.

  “I get wanting to not blur the lines of your profession and the pleasure outside of the office. I promise, we can keep those lines completely clear. If they blur at all, we’ll call it off until you’re done treating me.” His fingers pushed into the flesh of my hip.

  “Why are you working so hard for this? Surely, you’ve had a woman or two say no to you?” I wasn’t fooling anyone with the breathiness and trembling in my voice.

  “Not really, but that’s hardly the point. I’m not chasing you because you said ‘no.’”

  I found my footing again. “You sure about that? Guys don’t like to be turned down.”

  “No one likes to be turned down. Guys are just assholes about it most of the time. But that’s not why I’m here.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. The thing was, I did trust him to keep it professional when it needed to be. Maybe I was foolish. If someone found out I was treating him and dating him… It wasn’t like I hadn’t been asked for a happy ending or a date after a massage or even during a massage. I didn’t want it to get around town I had started dating clients. I would have to start all over again.

  “But I should be clear about something…” he started.

  I held up my hand. “Let me guess, something along the lines of…” I deepened my voice and tried to put on my best dude voice. “I’m a baseball player and could be called up to the Majors at any moment. You shouldn’t get attached. This is only for fun.” I pretended to spit.

  Jason grinned and put his hand against his chest. “But what if I fall in love with you?” His falsetto voice was hilarious.

  I shifted my hips, trying to take on a masculine stance. “Well, it wouldn’t be shocking, but I’ll send you a signed baseball.”

  He burst out laughing. “That’s horrible. I would never do that.”

  “You wouldn’t send me any swag?” I pouted. “That’s fine. You can just hook me up with one of your pals on the Coyotes to keep my bed warm once you’re gone.”

  Jason’s eyes darkened, and his lips downturned into a deep frown.

  “Are you okay with casual?”

  “Casual’s easy. It’s the falling in love part that sucks. That has been made more than clear to me after watching my best friend fall apart because the guy she loved betrayed her.”

  His frown didn’t budge. His eyes were fixated on me, heated with desire, but I couldn’t quite place his mood. What was going on in his head?

  “Wow. Tough crowd.” I cleared my
throat. “We’re going to have to keep any dating under wraps until I’m done treating you. If you even want to see me that long.”

  “Blaze, don’t think for one second, one night is going to be even close to enough time with you.” He was definitely in a mood. Why did he want to hang out with me?

  My lips curved. “Charming, self-deprecating, probably bad at pool, a helluva a baseball player… what’s not to like?”

  “Right? I’m awesome.” The tension in his shoulders eased a bit.

  “Don’t think I don’t realize you’re trying to distract me from my next shot.” I laughed. “It’s still my turn.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “How about a bet?”

  “You’re not going to let this go, I see. What kind of bet?”

  He leaned down and whispered against my ear, “A dirty bet.” His hand curled around my thigh, and he leaned into me, setting all sorts of nerve endings bursting with excitement and pleasure at the smallest of touches. “If I win, I get your panties.”

  Heat flared up my chest and into my cheeks. Licking my lips, I tried to pull myself together so I could counter. There was no way he was going to win, but I wanted to make it good.

  He pulled back so he could look at me. He had a shit-eating grin like he knew he was getting to me.

  “If I win, I get to come first.”

  His eyes flared with desire, and he moved into me more. I could feel he was reacting to me, and it made me a little dizzy with arousal and power.

  “Deal.” He stepped back so we could shake hands.

  I slid my hand into his, and he brought it up to his lips and kissed it. The buzz of arousal sent zings straight to my core from his lips on my skin.

  “All right, player, step back and let me finish my turn.” I needed the air conditioner turned up higher, or I was likely to start a fire.

  I moved to the other side of the table and tried not to look at Jason, which was nearly impossible since he stood at the other end, looking all tall, muscular, and hot. I lined up my shot and managed to sink another ball. I missed the next shot. It had nothing to do with Jason winking at me—at least, that was what I was telling myself.