Page 21 of Words of Love
She dug her palms into his shoulders and began massaging. Warmth flowed clear up her arms. He didn’t relax easily, not that she was surprised. She rubbed his shoulders, slipped her fingers into the thick hair at his nape, and eased the knots out of his neck.
A groan escaped him, the low, deep sound settling right into her core. Slowly his body began to loosen under her ministrations.
She’d never touched a man like him before, even in a way that was supposed to be clinical and helpful. He was rock-hard, warm, and pliable all at the same time, his muscles flexing and relaxing with every stroke of her hands. Tempted though she was to tell him to take off his shirt, she wasn’t about to deliberately face that kind of torture.
Pushing him forward a little, she pressed her thumbs along the ridges of his spine and kneaded the large muscles of his back before moving back up to his shoulders. She could only imagine him lying on his stomach, shirtless, as she straddled his thighs and smoothed her palms over his taut, bare skin before—
Heat coursed through her.
“Okie doke!” Forcing a bright note into her tone, she backed away from him. “That should loosen you up a little.”
He grunted, his elbows on his knees and his head lowered. “Where’d you learn how to do that?”
“Oh, I’ve taken all kind of classes. Reiki, massage, tai chi, aromatherapy.” Brooke rounded the coffee table and picked up a few romance novels. “Some of it was for article research, but mostly I’ve just done it for wellness. I saw that eye-roll.”
“I’m not judging.”
“You most certainly are.” She stacked the books in the crook of her arm.
He straightened and twisted his neck a few times. “If I spent my time judging the things I’ve seen and heard, I wouldn’t have time for anything else.”
Brooke’s curiosity spiked all over again. “What have you seen?”
He turned to the newspaper crossword puzzle. “I’ve spent a lot of years traveling. You visit enough places, you see all kinds of things.”
“Is that why you took over Title Wave? Because you were tired of traveling and wanted to settle down?”
“No.” He crossed his ankle over his thigh and studied the paper. “But not long after I moved to Bliss Cove, I heard Title Wave was going out of business. No one had offered to buy it, so I did. Every town should have a bookstore.”
“You kept Title Wave for the town?”
“I wasn’t being altruistic.” He marked a few squares on the crossword. “I just happened to be there at the right time. I like bookstores.”
“And books, I assume. So why won’t you staff a booth at the Bliss Cove Book Fair?”
“Because it’s a bookstore, not a booth.” He wrote another word on the puzzle.
“It wouldn’t kill you to get involved in a town event every now and then. And this year, the Book Fair is a fundraiser for The Reading Project. My friend Bee is in charge of it, and she’s been trying to raise money for a bookmobile to bring books into different communities. See what a great cause you could be supporting?”
“I see.”
“So?”
“No.”
“Lord, you’re like a wall.” Brooke sighed. “Do youlikeowning the bookstore?”
“I don’t necessarily like running a business, but Title Wave is easy enough.”
Brooke couldn’t help grinning. “Except for when you have to go up against Mayor Bowers about your strange hours.”
“Well, yeah.” A smile tugged at his mouth. “I’m hoping she’ll eventually see it as a colorful, small-town quirk.”
“I think most people already seeyouthat way.”
“Glad to do my part.”
She couldn’t help laughing. For all his scowling reclusiveness, it seemed Sam Donovan was rather…likeable. Sometimes, anyway.