“It’s a set of exercises.”
“Sounds more like a set of steak knives.”
Grabbing his hand, she pulled him to his feet. “Come on, mister. You asked for it, you got it. Come sit down cross-legged.”
“Like this?” He did as she’d ordered.
“You’re nice and limber, aren’t you? And athletic, I’ll bet.”
He muttered something. For no known reason, he was suddenly feeling a little self-conscious.
“Okay,” he said, settling down, hands on his knees. He was glad he’d worn fairly loose slacks. “What’s next?”
“This is the two-person routine. I’m going to sit down, too. We’ll be back to back.”
That seemed odd. “No kidding.”
“No kidding.” She stood before him and held her hands together in front of her stomach, looking like an Asian princess. “This is a way to center yourself and prepare for a more strenuous workout. It’s mind over matter. See if you can tune into the wavelength where I’m floating.”
Oh, brother. Psychobabble. Still, he’d better keep his caustic comments to himself if he didn’t want to get kicked out of her office.
“Okay,” he said gruffly. “What happens if I bump into you?”
She started to ask him what he meant, then stopped when she no doubt realized he was referring to the floating thing. She gave him a wry look instead and he had to give her points for getting it.
“Our spiritual selves don’t bump,” she said lightly as she began to lower herself behind him. “They melt right into each other.”
“Hmm.” For some reason that appealed to him.
She settled in against him. “See? Back to back.”
“‘And belly to belly,’” he muttered to himself.
“What?”
“Nothing. This just reminds me of an old folk song. About zombies.”
He could feel her stiffen.
“Listen, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but this clinic does not turn people into zombies. That’s a slander put out by another clinic in town that is being left in the dust as Dr. Richie takes off.”
He paused, a bit taken aback by her vehemence. “It was just a joke,” he said softly.
She changed immediately. “I’m sorry. I’m just a little touchy about it.”
She settled back against him. “This exercise works better when the two are more evenly matched in size, but you can get the general idea. Raise your arms. Now sway with me.”
He raised his arms and swayed.
“Calm your mind. Let your eyelids droop. Think of water lapping on the white sands of a tropical beach. Feel it lap. Feel the hot sun on your shoulders. Feel the gentle breeze ruffle your hair.”
Little by little, he was feeling more than he’d expected to. As she moved against him, he became aware of just where her rounded bottom was touching his. It was incredibly arousing. The more she swayed, the more he forgot about the beach and focused on her body.
Sensation shot through his system and he held back an urge to make an appreciative noise. This was unbelievable. He’d been turned on by a woman’s backside before, but not like this. This was overwhelming.
He was vaguely aware that she was still talking. He didn’t need talking. He’d found that floating thing she’d mentioned and he was up there, drifting on a sensual cloud.
“Okay, now I’m going to lean my head back on your shoulder and you lean your head on my shoulder.”
Whoa. He’d had sex that was less exciting than this. His heart was beating as though he’d just run a mile. Their heads were now side by side and the sense of her was flooding into his system. He turned his face toward her. He couldn’t help himself.
She was saying, “Arms at shoulder height and straight out. Now turn the palms up,” and he was breathing in her scent, filling his lungs with it and wondering what her mouth tasted like.
She glanced over, saw his face too close and hesitated. That was all he needed. He was going to kiss her. It was going to be a little odd, upside down and all, but he was going to do it. He made a move toward her and saw her eyes widen.
Whether they were widening with shock or interest he would never know. He would have liked to think the latter, but realistically, it wasn’t likely. At the moment of reckoning, the door opened and a voice interrupted everything.
“What’s going on here?”
Two
A bby was up and flying away from Daniel like a scalded cat. He would have looked twice, just to see how she could possibly have done that, but he was too busy taking the measure of the man in the doorway.
“Oh, Dr. Richie!” Abby was saying. “I’m just— We were just— Well, this is Daniel O’Callahan and he’s just—”
Daniel hadn’t really paid too much attention to the good doctor before, but now he looked him over and decided he didn’t much care for what he saw. Dr. Richie was a tall, good-looking man, but there was something a little too polished, a little too calculated in his manner. His dark hair was salon-perfect and streaked with silver the way an actor would have had it done in an attempt to give gravitas to his appearance. That was it. Somehow the man looked like a performer to him. Something just didn’t quite ring true.
And—let’s face it—he didn’t much like the way Abby was lapping him up with a spoon. Did she have to idolize the man?
Daniel rose slowly, just to make sure the doctor didn’t think he was as embarrassed at being caught in this vaguely compromising position as Abby was.
“I didn’t hire you to do this sort of training,” Richie was saying to Abby, turned as though he thought he could carry on a conversation in private if he just didn’t admit there was anyone else in the room. “We have counselors for that, Abby. I hired you to take charge of our public relations operation. You don’t have time for this sort of work.”
“I was just showing him. He was interested and I thought—”
Dr. Richie turned, acknowledging Daniel with a slight nod.
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you’ll have to come to one of our seminars if you want to get a good overview of what we have to offer,” he said, his attitude pleasant but distant. “And, Abby, I’ve called a senior staff meeting in the library. Please join us. The others are waiting.” Another curt nod and he was on his way down the hall.
Daniel turned to look at Abby. Her cheeks were bright red in a very attractive way, but he regretted that she was taking this so badly.
“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to get you into trouble with the big boss.”
She looked up at him but she didn’t smile. He could tell she’d had it with him, and she was ready to let him know that.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave,” she said shortly.
“Okay,” he said amiably. “But I’ll be back when—”
“Out.” Her dark eyes smoldered with anger and she pointed at the door. “And don’t come back here.”
With a shrug, he started toward the door. “I’ll see you at the seminar tomorrow,” he said, glancing back at her.
“Fine. But you won’t be talking to me.” She followed as though ready to shove him out into the hallway if he balked. “There is really no need for us to have any further