“The one who inspired you to say caboose?”
He grinned. “That’s the one. Her mother and father are friends of mine. And her mother does indeed have bright red hair and wear shoes identical to yours.”
“Oh.” She relaxed. “Good.”
He winked. “Thought I was a geek and a womanizer, did you?”
She laughed. “I don’t think anyone would mistake you for a geek, Aidan.”
“A womanizer either if they knew my past,” he said with a wry smile. “Your gift is far stronger than I thought it would be when I made my first appointment.”
She shifted, wishing she had pockets of her own. The formfitting black dress left her with no place to tuck her hands when she felt awkward. Like now. “Honestly, visions this strong are pretty rare for me. I don’t know why, but I seem to see things more clearly with you. It’s unusually”—what was the word she wanted?—“effortless.”
He tilted his head to one side. “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
Smiling, she shook her head. “I don’t know yet.”
“Well, let’s hope it is. And I appreciate your candor.”
She shrugged. “Since I’ll likely see more about you than you want me to, I figured honesty was only fair.” She motioned to the open doorway behind her. “Shall we begin your reading?”
“As you will.”
She reached past him and turned the lock on the front door, then led him to the earth-toned room.
“Should I remove my jacket and tie?” he asked.
“Yes, please.”
Why did it feel so intimate, watching him doff them?
Taking the clothes, she hung them on coat hooks tucked behind the door. When she turned around, she found him unbuttoning and removing his dress shirt.
She stared. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man wear a black T-shirt under a dress shirt before.” Usually they either wore a white T-shirt or nothing at all.
He offered her a sheepish smile. “I can never seem to keep my white shirts white.”
She grinned. “You and me both.” Taking the shirt, she hung it beside his jacket and tried to ignore the appealing scent it bore.
Aidan folded his large body onto her massage chair with a grimace. “I definitely heard it creak this time. If I keep coming here, I’m going to have to lose a few pounds.”
“Don’t you dare,” she admonished, then bit her lip.
He arched a brow, lips twitching.
A blush heated her cheeks as she laughed. “You have an uncanny way of making me say things I should only think.”
“I beg to differ,” he said with another wink. “They’d be far less entertaining if you didn’t speak them.”
Dana moved to stand behind him. “Any new injuries or health conditions I should know about?”
“Not a one.”
“Good.”
She began to stroke his broad, muscular back. Her pulse picked up, pleasure winding its way through her in a way it never did with her other clients. “No long, loud moan?” she teased.
He chuckled. “I thought I should contain myself.”
Dana smiled as she worked her way down either side of his spine, then up again. She had wondered if she would again have visions of the two of them in bed. But as the minutes passed, lust didn’t fill her. Concern did. “Something’s happened since I last saw you,” she murmured. “Something that’s troubling you deeply.”
He said nothing.
“You’re worried about losing someone.”
He swore faintly. “Your gift is strong. Did you see that or sense it?”
“Sensed it.”
He shook his head. “A friend of mine is ill. He’s struggling.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said softly. “It’s something brain related?” Her gift told her as much.
“Yes. We’re hoping the doctors will be able to save him, but time is growing short. And he’s losing hope.”
“But you’re helping him,” she murmured. “I don’t know how, but whatever you’re doing is helping him.” She frowned. “Will help him. It’s something you just started doing recently?”
Straightening, he looked over his shoulder at her. “You saw that?”
She shrugged. “More like felt it.”
He stared for a long moment, unspeaking. And she got the impression he wanted to ask her a question but feared the answer she might give. “Will it be enough?” he asked finally. “Will it keep him going until the doctors can find a way to heal him?”
Moving closer, Dana cupped Aidan’s face in both hands. His jaw was as smooth as it looked. His skin warm. His eyes tormented. Her pulse picked up at the contact, but she ignored it and focused her gift, searching for the answer he wanted.
A minute passed.
She sighed. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. It’s just not coming to me.”
He covered one of her hands with his and held it to his cheek. “Thank you for trying.”
The room around them fell away into darkness. Now Aidan stood before her, looking down at her while she cupped his face in her small hands.
His head dipped. His lips met hers, claimed hers in a kiss that stole her breath and sparked heat. He wrapped one arm around her waist and drew her up against his hard form, then slid his hand down her back and over her ass to press her hips into his and let her feel his arousal.
Gasping, Dana dropped her hands and broke contact.
The earth-toned walls of the room resurfaced. Aidan still sat on the massage chair.
While she gaped at him, her heart pounding, body tingling from the vision that had come upon her so unexpectedly, he reached up and rubbed closed eyes with the hand that had held hers, almost as though he had a headache.
“Everything okay?” he murmured, probably wondering why she had jerked her hands back.
She nodded, then realized he couldn’t see it with his eyes closed. “Yes.” Forcing a smile, she poured every ounce of normal into her voice that she could muster. “Is your head hurting?”
“No. My eyes were just…” He shook his head and smiled as he lowered his hand and met her gaze. “They’re fine now.”
“Okay. Would you like to skip ahead to the reading?”
He smiled. “Is your gift already warmed up then?”
Among other things. “Yes.”
He stood. “As you will.”
Body burning, Aidan watched Dana cross to the bookshelf and reach up to grab her tarot cards. He could not stop his gaze from following a path down her back to her narrow waist, full hips, and the bottom he had clutched in her vision.
Once more he felt the heat of her body as he had pressed her against him and ground his hips into hers. Damn, it had felt good. And it had felt so real that he had actually been surprised to find himself still sitting in her massage chair when she broke contact.
If you don’t stop thinking about it, your eyes will begin to glow again, he counseled himself as he reached over to the coat hooks and grabbed his dress shirt. Drawing it on, he fastened the buttons down the front and left the tail untucked to hide the arousal Dana wouldn’t miss if she glanced at his slacks.