Devlin Murphy was trouble with a capital T. “Not interested, Mac.”
“You worked wonders for me, in ways that regular medication hasn’t for years. I just want you to do the same for my friend.”
“Friend?” Dev finally spoke up. “Wait a minute, you mean me?”
Tanya ignored him and turned to face her grandfather, still shocked by his suggestion. “You know I have plans to be in London for my advanced studies class in a couple of months. I don’t have time to do a full work-up based on whatever Devlin’s current physical therapy status might be.”
“I’m only suggesting you supplement the therapy Dev is already doing,” Mac pushed. “Lord knows, the man needs all the help he can get.”
Maybe so, but not from me.
“Yes, from you,” Mac continued as if he could read her mind. “No one else in this town does what you do.”
“So he can go to Laramie or Cheyenne.” Tanya spun away, looping the towel over her neck. Grabbing her mat, she quickly rolled it and shoved it into her bag. “There must be someone in either of those places who specializes in my field.”
“Yeah, right.” Mac jerked a thumb in Dev’s direction. “The guy blows off more PT sessions than he makes. There’s no way he’d go for any other type of treatment.”
“So why would you think he’d work with me?”
“Hey, can I get a word in here?” Devlin asked.
“No!”
Again with the simultaneous answer. Tanya shot Mac a dark look and headed across the room to retrieve the yoga bricks she’d thrown at Devlin.
Of all the nerve!
Here she thought she and Mac had become closer over the last couple of months. Growing up with her mother’s stories of her grandfather’s alcoholic outbursts contradicted the memories she’d had of a sweet man who baked cookies, watched old television shows with her and took her for long walks around the farm.
She’d hoped by coming back to Destiny she could recapture the special bond they’d had when she’d been a child. Instead, he wanted her to provide free care to his friends!
Finding out she’d been accepted into the prestigious International Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the United Kingdom had been a godsend after leaving the clinic where she’d worked for the last four years. Being told she either had to resign or she would be fired from a job she loved had been a very dark time in her life.
She’d lost more than employment that day, and she was finally seeing the light at the end of a long, gloomy tunnel. When Mac had suggested she spend her last two months in the States with him, she’d been overjoyed. Not that she didn’t love her mom, stepfather and stepsisters, but she’d always felt that she and Mac shared something special and it meant so much that he wanted her in Destiny.
Now she knew why.
Gathering her yoga bricks, she turned and came face to face with the one man in this town she never planned to get her hands on again.
“What exactly is it that you do?” Devlin’s softly spoken question and the sincerity in his gaze doused her indignation, compelling her to answer him.
“Like I already told you, I’m a licensed acupuncturist.” Tanya rattled off her credentials, knowing them by heart, having been asked that question many times before. “I’m also board-certified as a massage therapist—although lately I’ve been working mostly in aquatic therapy—and I’m a Chinese herbalist.”
“Wow. That’s pretty impressive.”
“Thanks. Mac obviously thinks so.” Filling her bag, she ducked around both men and headed for the hangar’s exit, having no idea what she was going to do now. Other than drown her sorrows in a hot shower and a tall glass of wine.
On second thought, scratch the wine. She’d settle for ice-cold lemonade instead.
“Tanya, wait. Please, let me finish,” Mac called out. “I’m sorry I blurted my idea out like that. Being tactful has never been my strong suit.”
Not knowing why, Tanya stopped along the side of the antique plane and turned to look at him. “Yeah, I’m learning that about you.”
“I swear I didn’t bring you here under false pretenses. Remember how we’d talked about you helping me during your stay to bump up your savings for your living expenses overseas?”
Tanya nodded and bit hard at her bottom lip. Damn, he got her right where it hurt the most. Her wallet. She’d finally paid off the last of her student loans a year ago, but losing her job had hurt her savings in more ways than she’d ever planned.
A satisfying kind of hurt, but painful nonetheless.
Even giving up her apartment and storing her stuff at her mom’s place meant things were going to be tight for the next six months.
“When I got the idea of you helping Dev, which honestly only came to me a few nights ago,” Mac went on, taking a few steps toward her, “I fully intended to pay for any work you do with him, in addition to my own treatments.”
Well, he had her there. The extra money would mean she could experience life outside of her schooling during her time in Europe. There were so many amazing places she’d only read about or researched online that she wanted to visit.
“Like hell you will.” Dev joined them, the hitch in his step visible to her trained eye. “I pay my own way.”
“This was my idea,” Mac protested. “I’ll pay.”
“Forget it, old man. If I end up going for any of that stuff, I’ll cough up the cash. Besides, she doesn’t sound too thrilled about taking on an extra patient.”
“What stuff?” Tanya challenged. Not that she had agreed to take him on. Yet. However, helping non-believers understand the benefits of her work was her favorite part of the job. “You practically keeled over when I said the word acupuncture.”
“Yeah, well, needles aren’t my thing.” He squared his shoulders, placing his weight mainly on his left leg. “And you can forget about any herbs, Chinese or otherwise.”
Oh, yes, this man was hurting all over. He was doing his best to hide that fact and he probably succeeded with those with an untrained eye, but she could almost feel the pain radiating from him.
The need to ease that hurt quickly outweighed any of the reasons why she should or shouldn’t do this. “You’re not leaving me with much to work with.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Dev said, his voice suddenly shifting into a more relaxed tone. Then came that familiar grin. “A massage is always welcomed.”
Hmm. The desire to show off her roundhouse kick came back to her from earlier. “Yeah, like that’s the first time I’ve ever heard that.”
Thankful for the shadows that hid the heated flush on her cheeks, Tanya cursed herself for blushing. She never had in the past when other men had been foolish enough to say the same thing to her.
She’d easily put professional athletes and ski-bum millionaires in their place when they’d tried to flirt their way through her sessions. Getting involved with a patient was a major no-no.
Not that Devlin would technically be her patient. Even if she did agree to this crazy idea...
She returned his stare, fighting the memories from the night they’d shared, a night that felt like it had happened a lifetime ago.
Because it had.
She had no idea how much Devlin had changed over the years. He could be married with three kids by now. But she was also far removed from the girl she’d been back then, too.
Could