“Any time,” she replied. “I’ll let you know if Maverick’s heading out there soon.”
Ty tapped the screen to end the call, then sighed once more. “That was close,” she mumbled to herself while opening the back door once more. Perhaps Memphis had been looking forward to this massage. He might have even been waiting—biding his time—to ask her out afterward. What would he think when he found out his brother would get the appointment instead of him?
Memphis stepped into his slide-on Puma sandals and reached for the doorknob. He’d been waiting all week long for this chance to see Ty again. Of course, he couldn’t talk with her much during the massage, but at least it’d be lunch time afterward. He planned to ask her to join him for a bite to eat once the appointment was through.
“Sorry, you got the boot, sucker!” came Maverick as he shuffled toward the lodge’s front door.
Memphis pushed his still dripping wet hair from his face. “What do you mean?” His phone let out a buzz.
“What, did you miss the memo?I’mtaking your massage slot.”
Memphis stopped short and shot a heated glare in his direction. “You are not.” But then his phone buzzed again. He reached into the pocket of his sports shorts—something he’d thrown on after his shower—and pulled out the phone.
Andie:Sorry, Memphis. But Ty can’t massage you today after all. We’ll try again another time.
Irritation pushed through him as he glared back at his brother. “You couldn’t let me get in one freaking massage? What did you do? Say you had some sort of emergency?”
Maverick only chuckled. “Nope. Ty probably just wants to see me, that’s all. Andnotyou. I just got a call from Andie.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Unless she’s upset with me for some reason.” His brow furrowed as he considered that.
“You’re probably right,” Maverick said. “Andie said something about a conflict of interest, I think. If you hadn’t been bragging about your appointment all week, I wouldn’t have known who I was filling in for.”
“Filling in? Ouch,” Memphis muttered. A hot knot of rejection punched through his chest. Maybe Ty didn’t like him after all. Maybe she just wanted his playboy brother, Maverick, like so many other women. Memphis had hoped Ty was different. Turned out she wasn’t.
“Heh, heh,” Maverick chuckled as he reached for the doorknob, but suddenly he stopped short and turned an accusing look on him. “Wait,” he breathed, that lightbulb look flashing in his eyes. His shoulders fell flat. “Dude,” he spat. “Do you know what this means?”
Memphis only shook his head. “I seriously havenoidea.”
“I do.” Maverick groaned dramatically and flung an arm in the air. “She told me back in the very beginning that she couldn’t date someone she massaged. There’s like some…stupid code.”
“So…” Memphis urged, a sliver of hope breaking through.
Maverick’s eyes glazed over as he replayed more of the details, his expression reminding him of the time Dad said noabout getting a puppy. Or maybe it looked more like Dad’s expression when Maverick “ordered” the puppy anyway, convinced that Dad couldn’t say no once he saw it, and it still had to go. Dad was very anti-animals-in-the-house.
“I tried to get her to, you know,notmassage me right then so it wouldn’t be a problem,” Maverick said. “I said I’d be happy to give the massage up, but Ty talked me into accepting it anyway. She said I really needed it with all the physical therapy I’ve been through and everything.” His tone remained dismal, as if he were retelling some sort of tragic event. “Iflatteredmyself at the time, figuring she was still interested and just, you know, willing to make an exception for me.”
Maverick dropped his chin and flexed his pecs a few times before lifting an accusing expression on Memphis. “But shedoesn’tmake exceptions, does she? She just wasn’t interested in me. And sheisinterested in you.”
If happiness was a bomb, it had just exploded in Memphis’s chest. Big time. “You think?”
Maverick cursed under his breath and shook his head again. “Iknow.Man, I am seriously losing myfrickingtouch here.”
He mumbled some more, but Memphis hardly heard a word of it. Ty really did like him. Enough that she saw it as a conflict with her ethics code to give him a massage. She’d had to make a last-minute call to Andie over it. He was really revved up now. Heart racing. Mind racing too, back on their almost-kiss in the kitchen. How could he approach Ty before she left the spa that day? Perhaps he could still do lunch with her.
Maverick was moving like a deflated sloth, dragging his feet all the way to the door then lazily flinging it open with a floppy arm.
“How about I drive you over in the cart?” Memphis offered. “I’m going to ask Ty to lunch.”
“Oh, sure. Kick me while I’m down, why don’t you?”
Maverick continued to berate himself all the way to the spa. Memphis felt bad for so thoroughly enjoying the moment, but he couldn’t help himself. It was satisfying in more ways than one. Not that putting Maverick in his place was anything compared to having Ty like him. Ty might really, really like him. Enough to draw a line in the code of conduct sand and even tell Andie about it.
Dang, did that make him feel good.
Once parked in front of the spa, Memphis offered to help Maverick inside.
“No, I don’t want your help,” he snapped as he spun to climb off the cart. “You just want to go collect your prize.”
