Emma Darcy - The Ultimate Choice

All the same, she wouldn't mind him kissing her again. Although that was highly improbable, considering the present conflict between them.

Yet… why hadn't he done something about her taking Rasputin? Why had he let her get away with it? Or was he simply waiting until tomorrow, to see if she returned the prize stallion?

Undoubtedly that had to be what he was expecting!

Well, he'd be waiting a long time, Kelly vowed.

Kelly drove off to work particularly early the next morning. If there was going to be trouble with Justin St John, she didn't want her grandfather in the middle of it, getting over-excited and upset. He had only just recovered from the last lot of stress. She would handle this by herself…if that was possible.

As soon as she reached her office she telephoned the Moffats, reporting that nothing had happened to her as yet, and learning that Rasputin was in fine fettle and quite at home in his new stall. Kelly promised to keep Arlene abreast of any pertinent news and rang off.

So far, so good, she thought, but her nerves were definitely in a bad way. Although Kelly called her place of business an office it actually comprised four rooms-three for treating her patients and a small waiting-room with a reception desk. She fidgeted through all of them-tidying, dusting, straightening the pile of magazines-keeping herself busy while she waited for the first appointment at nine o'clock.

It was a relief to hear the front door opening just five minutes short of the hour. Kelly hurried into the waiting-room to greet her expected patient. She stopped dead when she saw who it was.

He leaned heavily on his walking-stick as he shut the door behind him. The grey eyes regarded Kelly with steely intensity. His face gave nothing away, not even the slightest flicker of the pain he had to be suffering with his leg.

The click of the door activated Kelly's defence mechanisms. Her mind shrieked that she would not be intimidated. She had right on her side. She would not back down from the action she had taken. Never. No matter what he threatened. But none of these brave resolutions seemed to work.

'You came?' The trite words trickled out of her mouth before she could stop them.

As much as Kelly would have liked to believe that Justin St John had ventured into her office for physiotherapy, it was hardly within the realms of possibility. It had to be over the horses. He was too determined on having his own way to let her get away with stealing Rasputin, particularly when he had gone through so much physical pain to stop her.

'I wanted to see you,' he said grimly, his lips barely moving.

Kelly remembered all too clearly how those lips felt moving over her own. They had certainly done some moving then. She felt the heat rising in her body. It was difficult to block out all the other things she had felt in his embrace, especially when he was standing right in front of her.

Kelly tried to wrench her mind on to something else. She didn't want to think about what Justin St John was doing to her. Under the circumstances, she didn't want to discuss the subject of horses and show-jumping with him either.

Which only left work. And whether he wanted it or not, Justin St John did need physiotherapy. And she had told him to come to her office for it.

'I'm glad you took my advice,' she said brightly. 'I've been waiting for you. I can fit you in straight away.'

Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't that. He could not conceal his surprise. It flashed across his face for an instant before he could control it. Then the muscles of his face tightened, and all expression was carefully blanked from his face.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at her assessingly. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time. Kelly didn't give him time to think about it. For some incomprehensible reason, she felt she held a momentary advantage over him. But it was one which could be quickly lost. It was necessary to act immediately.

She strode across the room to draw aside the curtain which lent privacy to one of the treatment cubicles. She motioned Justin St John forward. 'If you'll just come through here, and…er…get prepared…'

It had been on the tip of her tongue to ask him to take his trousers off-which was what she meant-but just the imagery and possible implications of the words sent another tide of heat washing right through her body. She quickly swung on her heel to lead the way for him. She hoped the hot flush would recede as fast as it had embarrassed her.

'You obviously got home safely!' The words were drawled in a low tone of voice and were sarcastic.

Kelly wheeled around. Justin St John had only followed her as far as the curtained doorway, and was propped against the frame, his eyes following her every movement.

'Yes,' Kelly said defensively. 'I know the country around here very well. I didn't have any trouble.'

'As yet,' he breathed.

Another knock on her door had her racing from the room, almost bumping into him. 'That's another of my patients,' she murmured, sidestepping past him in anxious haste, too shatteringly aware of him to meet his eyes. 'Please go ahead and get ready, and I'll be with you as soon as possible. Today I want to start with some tests.'

He didn't say a word, and Kelly didn't glance back at him. She hoped quite desperately that he was doing what she'd told him, but nothing was certain with Justin St John. She hadn't anticipated him turning up at her office.

In her mind she was already readjusting her appointment book, working out how she would cope with one extra patient. Others would have to wait a little longer and have a little bit less treatment than normal. She would make it up to them tomorrow.

All she needed was for Justin St John to give her a little leeway. Once having drawn him into her power, she was not going to let him get away from her. Not, at least, until she had given him the full treatment.

Kelly hid her nervous apprehension with bustling efficiency as she set her other patient up in the traction unit.

She hoped Justin St John was not going to be difficult. He needed physiotherapy. She wanted to give it to him. But what he wanted was another question altogether. She took several deep breaths before returning to the treatment room where she had left him.

The knots in her stomach loosened slightly when she found him stretched out on the table and stripped to his shirt and underwear. Kelly was grateful that he had kept the shirt on. It was difficult enough to view him with any kind of objectivity. She didn't need the distraction of having too much of his physique on full view. The memory of how his body had felt against hers last night was distraction enough.

She stared down at his bared legs for several moments before she plucked up the courage to touch him. 'I'm going to do extensions and rotations,' she said quickly. 'You must tell me when I hurt you. Otherwise I won't know what is causing the pain.'

She placed one hand on his hip, the other under the knee. The muscles of his stomach flinched. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you,' she said in alarm.

'You didn't hurt,' he grated.

Kelly closed her eyes. This was much harder to do than she had ever imagined. Yet, to Kelly, the pleasure and challenge of her profession was the diagnostic work involved.

She took Justin St John's leg through the range of movement that was allowable. In her mind's eye she imagined the muscles stretching and contracting around the joint until the pain became severe. She did not stop until she was certain she had an accurate picture of what was going on inside his body.

Because he had favoured the leg, there had been some muscle atrophy. A lot of work was needed to bring it back to what it should be. If only Justin St John would co-operate…

Kelly opened her eyes, fired with new zeal for the task of making him completely whole again. She found Justin St John's gaze fixed on her with unwavering intensity, and a self-conscious flush swept into her cheeks. She tried to think how to explain what she was doing, and gave up the attempt almost straight away.