Chapter 15

When she got home, Jessica paced her floors in agitation. The sex fog was gone, and she was left with nothing to do but confront her actions.

What the hell was I thinking?

She hadn’t been. That was the problem. Back in her apartment, in the stark kitchen light, reality hit her full force. She’d barely recovered from her encounter with Zach when she was locking lips with another ballplayer.

Gavin.

They hadn’t been on a date; hadn’t had a discussion about exclusivity, relationships, or anything like that. He was barely over his girlfriend, and now could be seeing a dozen women for all she knew. And she was the professional; it was her responsibility to keep the relationship on a patient/therapist level. And she had managed to do that until she was in his arms…

She couldn’t even blame him. Gavin had intended only to console her, and she had practically jumped him. Cringing, she remembered every second as if it was seared in her brain even as her heart pounded:

That kiss.

His mouth on her breast.

His hand between her legs as she begged him to fuck her…

Her face flamed in embarrassment.

And he wasn’t just a nameless stranger. He was Gavin. She couldn’t take consolation in the fact that she’d never have to see him again. Nope, Gavin would be there tomorrow and he’d already made it plain he wanted to put this on the table.

Of course he did.

Jessica swallowed hard and literally pulled the covers over her head. Wasn’t it just a couple of days ago that she had cockily assured him that she could resist him no matter what? And yet all it took was a kiss, and she was tearing her clothes off.

“Oh God,” she moaned, the blood rushing to her face in mortification. Padding to her kitchen, she opened the fridge and poured another glass of Pinot. When she got back to bed, she turned on the TV, hoping to find some old movie, preferably a murder mystery or gory thriller. But when she saw Cary Grant take Katharine Hepburn in his arms in The Philadelphia Story, she was done.

Sleep was long in coming.

—

“Phil, can I talk to you for a minute?” Jessica cornered him as soon as he came into the office the following morning.

She’d made up her mind. She was going to ask him to take over Gavin’s case. After what had happened between them the previous day, she didn’t think it was smart or fair to risk anything else.

It was bad enough that she couldn’t get him out of her head.

But the sex…

She wanted it again, wanted it with him. It was like a drug, addictive and dangerous. Their one time together had done nothing to dampen her need. If anything, now that she had an inkling of how good it could be, she only wanted more. And that was untenable given the situation.

Phil looked up from his desk, a harried expression on his face. “Looks like we are in for a busy week. Roger sprained his ankle yesterday after just recovering from the groin injury, Jimmy has a sore arm, and Derek hurt an elbow. We also have a couple of guys coming in from a brawl last night. Don’t know who the guilty parties are, but I hear the boys were having some fun at the local sports bar.”

“Wow.” Jessica exhaled. Phil didn’t have the bandwidth to take on any more, let alone Gavin’s case. She was just going to have to buck up and learn to keep her hands to herself.

As long as Gavin didn’t kiss her, she could probably stick to that.

“So is there something you wanted to talk to me about?” Phil looked in her direction.

“No. When you know exactly what needs to be done, let’s get together and split up the work.”

Preparing the coffeepot, she carefully measured the freshly ground beans and put them into the filter. She was just adding water when she felt him enter the room, his eyes on her.

Damn him. He looked incredibly good. At over six feet tall, he was a lot of man. Dressed in a tank top with a jersey tossed casually over it, she could see the muscles of his torso and his biceps clearly outlined by the thin cotton. Dimly she became aware of the smell of his cologne, light and fresh, and the heat emanating from his rock-hard body.

“Hi. Got a minute?”

He intended to make good on his promise, but she wasn’t ready for this, not when her insides were doing somersaults. She was about to respond when Jake walked into the room with a young Hispanic boy.

“Hey, Jess,” he said, putting his arm around the youth beside him. She noticed the boy was favoring one leg and seemed to study the floor rather than look at her. “This is Joaquin Menendez. My buddy here pulled a hamstring muscle playing ball yesterday. He has seen the doctor, but as you know there isn’t a whole lot they can do for this except anti-inflammatories. I was wondering if you could give him a few exercises that would help.”

“Sure.” Relieved at the interruption, she gave Gavin an apologetic shrug and stooped to make eye contact with the boy. “I’m Jessica. I work with ballplayers all the time, help them get better. So I understand your leg hurts. Can you walk across the floor for me?”

He shook her hand and appeared a little bewildered by the attention. But he nodded, and then limped to the opposite wall. She watched him walk tentatively, aware that every time his foot met the ground there was pain.

Jake took advantage of the moment to speak to her in a low voice. “He doesn’t have the money to pay for rehab, and there is no insurance. Let me know what it costs and I’ll take care of it.”

Suddenly she understood. She’d heard Jake was mentoring a young boy from a small town in South Jersey. He’d managed to move Joaquin and his mother to a better place, and had gotten him involved in baseball.

“On the house.” Her eyes met Jake’s. “Where does he live?”

“Marlton,” Jake replied as Joaquin returned, still hobbling.

“That’s a bit of a hike, but as it happens I just heard from an old college buddy who moved there a few years ago. I was intending to go see her sometime in the next few weeks. So maybe I could stop by, see how things are going. In the meantime,” she gave the boy a smile that was tentatively returned, “I’m going to give you some instructions and my email. I want you to do exactly as I tell you every day, and email or text me how you’re doing. Work for you?”

He nodded eagerly, and then looked at Jake with hero worship in his eyes. The shortstop ruffled the boy’s hair affectionately. “Okay, pal, I’ve got to get to work. I’ll pick you up later.”

“Okay.”

Jake looked at Jessica. “I can’t tell you how much this means—”

“Then don’t.” She winked, the freckles dancing across her face.

Jake smacked her shoulder the way he would do with another guy, and then left, while Gavin began his workout with her assistant. Jessica helped Joaquin onto a table and demonstrated some simple movements he could do at home to help with his injury. When he successfully completed the routine, she gave him a copy of the exercises to help him remember.

Joaquin provided a distraction she was grateful for, especially since she could feel Gavin’s eyes on her. She’d gotten a reprieve, at least for the time being.

But at some point, they’d have to talk and address what had happened between them. Like it or not.

—

He waited for her after his workout. He knew some of the delay was deliberate on her part; she didn’t want to have this conversation, didn’t want to acknowledge that things between them had spun out of control. He smiled at the thought. If there was one thing Jessica was all about, it was control, and losing it was not something she would want to deal with.