He wanted her. Check that: He wanted to get to know her better.
Would she let him in?
The bike underneath him purred but had no advice.
“Forget the past. Start over. Every day,” Cam recited his personal motto, one that meant enough to him to permanently ink on his body.
It was time to live it.
CHAPTER
TEN
Sabrina finishedher last client of the day and stepped out of the room to let the older woman get dressed. She was a violinist in the Pittsburgh Symphony who had wrist and finger problems. Last week, the musician came to Sabrina to get her hands worked on. This week, she was back and had booked a regular time slot.
“I swear, you’ve made the biggest difference to my performances.” The woman wiggled the stylus on the signature pad and added a generous tip. “I’m so glad I found you.”
Sabrina smiled. “Thanks for that. See you next week?”
“For sure. Have a nice night!” she trilled as she walked out of the building.
This was the kind of client Sabrina enjoyed working with regularly—someone who needed her services and appreciated the help a good massage could bring. It almost made up for the two walk-ins Stephan had foisted on her earlier today. One was a woman who complained that her session was too rough, even after Sabrina had repeatedly asked her if the pressure was more than she wanted. The second was a man who let out a long “Ahh”as if climaxing every time she released a trigger point. He gotso loud, she was afraid the other people in the spa would think something besides the man’s back was getting a massage.
Sabrina’s smile dropped with an exhausted sigh. It was Cicely’s day off and Stephan had left early, leaving her to close up by herself. The days were getting dark earlier, and Sabrina didn’t like riding her bike at night if she could help it. Cars were bad enough about messing with motorcyclists during the day, but it was always just a little worse after the sun went down.
No matter. She really didn’t need to go anywhere, but sometimes it was nice to just ride. She and Ernie would do that after she got her first motorcycle. Rodrigo had his own bike but didn’t like to use it much. Why he kept one was a mystery. Jealousy, perhaps?
The weekends riding over to Lido Key and hanging on the beaches with her dad were some of her best memories. Those were the times when she’d questioned nothing about her life, who she belonged to, and where her future lay. Her plans were to work at Amelia’s place until she’d saved enough to open her own massage business.
When her world collapsed, she used a lot of her savings to purchase and outfit her van as a backup space until she got back on her feet. Pending that miracle, she still had to work and support herself, which brought her here to Pittsburgh to get some answers so she could restart her life.
For tonight, she could put all that aside and grab a quick shower. No other plans than snuggling up with Rugrat and Reptar, plus a good book. Food would be easy, as she had a stash of instant dinners she could grab from the break room freezer.
She locked the front door and walked down the hallway to the mudroom, where clients would get covered in a whole-body mud wrap for toning and cleansing. The tiled room had a handheld showerhead that hung over a central table. Cicely usually worked with those people, but Sabrina had helped a timeor two. It was a small price to pay in order to use the facility after hours.
She pulled out the long braid she wore during the day and shook out her hair, letting the locks fall in thick waves around her face. Her eyes landed on the table with speculation. Yes, a mud wrap sounded nice, and she wasn’t opposed to doing it on herself, but she was afraid she’d fall asleep and wake up in the morning to find herself in a crusty mess. Nope. Shower, then food, then book.
Her phone rang just as she gathered her bath items together from her locker. Rodrigo’s name popped up, and she pursed her lips. She wished she could just delete his number, but the connection was necessary, at least for now. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she pondered answering, then, against her better judgment, swiped up.
“What do you want?”
“Your fucking signature on these papers.”
The background noise told her there was a crowd at the house. Parties happened frequently after Rodrigo moved back into the family home, something Sabrina did not miss. The night one of her brother’s buddies put his hands on her was the night she started living full-time in the converted van.
“Then bring your ass up here and I’ll sign away.”
“I can’t just leave work.”
Sabrina rolled her eyes.Right, like no one else’s job matters but yours. “We’ve been through this already. Mail the damn things or send me a DocuSign email. I’ll give you my work and personal email addresses. Take your pick.”
“I don’t trust that shit. You need to come down here.”
Sabrina closed her locker door with a bang. “I don’t have to do a goddamn thing. You and Aunt Rosa started this crap. Y’all can finish it.”
“Why do you have to be such a bitch?”
She stopped in the hallway and let out a sarcastic laugh. “Bitch. Right. You threw me out of the family, andI’mthe bitch.”
