Christyne Butler - Flirting with Destiny

“Telling you to stay away from my granddaughter would be like telling kids to keep out of the penny candy aisle at Packard’s Store,” Mac continued, his voice low. “But she’s had a rough time of it for the past few months. I don’t know the details, but she’s been pretty down since the holidays. Until she found out about being accepted for this advanced schooling thing.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“I don’t want anything—or anyone—to get in the way of her going to London.”

“Hey, all I said was I’m intrigued. You know, in learning more about her work. Spending time with an interesting lady. That’s it.”

“Don’t break her heart.”

Tanya’s heart was the least of her body parts that interested him. Not that he didn’t care about a lady’s feelings. He’d always made it clear to anyone he got involved with that he was a here-and-now kind of guy, and not someone to get serious with. “Me? I’m a confirmed bachelor. You know that.”

Mac sighed. “As long as you remember that, and the fact I’ll break you in two if you hurt her, we’re good.”

* * *

A confirmed bachelor?

Well, at least that answered the wife and kids question that had been running through her head the entire time she’d showered and changed.

She’d reached the front door in time to catch the end of Mac and Dev’s conversation. Hearing her grandfather’s warning made Tanya smile, but it was unnecessary.

There was no way Devlin would hurt her. After what she’d gone through over the holidays, no one could ever wound her that way again.

Especially since she had no one to blame but herself.

Tanya reached for the old brass knob, but then remembered her hair still hung loose around her shoulders. Ignoring the fact it was still damp, she combed it back into a ponytail and secured it with an elastic band from her wrist, finishing the same moment that Mac knocked.

Tugging the door open, she saw the guilty looks on both men’s faces but said nothing, not letting on that she’d overheard them. “Hey, I just finished dressing and was about to head over to the house to look for you two.”

“Well, here we are.” Mac offered a grin, reaching for the screen door. “Ready whenever you are.”

She stepped back and let them enter, watching Devlin’s face as he took in the cabin’s interior, from the curtains drawn against the afternoon sun to the soothing music and lit candles. The air carried a hint of sandalwood and vanilla, scents that Mac had said he liked the last time she’d worked on him.

Her portable massage table, draped in a white sheet and a light blanket, was set up in the middle of the room. The best place for it, seeing how the cabin was a wide-open space with a kitchen along the back wall, a distressed table and chairs separating the cooking area from the living room.

His gaze roamed the room, flinching a moment when he noticed the tools of her trade, a hand-carved wooden box, lid open and packaged needles in sight, on the dining table. Then he moved on, pausing for a long moment on the old iron bed in the far corner, half hidden by a set of folding screens.

“Wow, the old cabin sure looks different from the last time I was here.” Dev turned to face her. “I hardly recognize the place.”

“You’ve stayed here before?”

“A time or two over the years.” His mouth hitched into a half grin. “And you’re right about that mattress. It is a bit lumpy.”

Tanya’s cheeks heated for the second time today. A heat that raced the length of her despite the fact she was dressed in simple beige lounge pants, a white tank top and a matching lightweight knit cardigan.

Suddenly she wanted to wrap the sides of the sweater across her chest, but she settled for crossing her arms. “Yes, well, I’m sure I’ll get used to it.”

“You should’ve said something. We can replace it if you want,” Mac said.

“Don’t be silly.” She broke free of Dev’s gaze and walked to the dining table, reaching out to rearrange the supplies that were already in perfect order. “I’m only going to be here for a couple of months.”

“The old couch is pretty comfortable.” Dev headed for the piece of furniture and Tanya turned to watch him, noticing how he favored his right leg even more than before. “But it looks too clean to sit on now.”

“White is Tanya’s favorite color. Once I knew she was coming to visit, I gave the walls and the kitchen cabinets a fresh coat of white paint,” Mac said, walking over to join her. “Ursula helped with the decorating, everything from the white denim slip covers to the dishes.”

“Let me guess. You like vanilla ice cream best?”

She dropped her arms. “Actually, I prefer oatmeal cookie chunk. And fixing this place up for me was totally unnecessary, but much appreciated.”

“Not if you’d seen it in the before state.” Dev’s gaze wandered the length of her body. “Trust me, the after is a step up, even if it’s a bit...unexciting.”

“I prefer peaceful, tranquil.” Tanya pushed the words from her mouth, refusing to believe her sudden breathlessness had anything to do with the interest she saw in Devlin’s blue eyes.

Nerves, it was just nerves about working on Mac again.

She broke free from his gaze and dropped her hands, patting the table. “Mac, why don’t you hop up here and stretch out on your back? Dev, you can grab a seat where you are. Unless you’d like to get a closer view of my work?”

Dev sat stiffly on the edge of the couch, the smile now gone from his face. “This is close enough.”

Crossing to the kitchen sink, Tanya washed her hands again. When she got back to Mac, she found he’d already folded back the legs of his sweatpants before stretching out. Tucking the sheets and blanket around him, she left his lower legs and arms free.

“I’m going to talk as I go like the first time we did this, so Dev can understand what’s going on.” She offered Mac a smile, reaching for a needle packet from the box. “Ready to start?”

Mac flexed his fingers and then relaxed them across his stomach. “Ready.”

She looked up, centering her gaze on Dev. “I have no idea how much you know about acupuncture—”

His brows drew down into a sharp V. “You get stuck with lots of needles.”

“Well, not ‘lots,’ but let me back up a moment. Chinese medicine believes there are opposing forces, known as yin and yang, inside the body. When the forces are balanced, the body and the spirit are healthy. What helps to create this balance is an energy, a life force, called qi, which sounds like chee, but is spelled q-i. Qi flows through the body on a series of paths. When a path is obstructed, and in turn that force is blocked, illness can occur.”

“Is this where I start to call you Obi-Wan?”

Tanya smiled. “The point of acupuncture is that by using pressure on specific points within these paths, it will release any barriers that are hindering the flow of qi, which in turn will allow the body to heal. Make sense?”

He didn’t look convinced. “If you say so.”

“Yeah, I thought it was a bunch of hocus-pocus at first, too.” Mac turned his head and looked at Dev. “Now I’m a believer.”

Tanya saw the doubt in Dev’s eyes but continued, holding up the small packet in her hand. “Inside here is one needle. They are solid, hair thin and individually wrapped for sterilization. They are only used once and then tossed.”

Dev went visibly pale when she ripped open the sealed paper around the needle.

Dropping her hands to Mac’s lower leg, she held the needle between her index finger and thumb, out of Dev’s sight, while using her other hand to locate the first puncture location below his knee.