She started pulling various jars from her bag. “These will help with the swelling and the blistering. There might be some scarring, but hopefully these will take care of most of it.” She plopped down on Lex’s bed.

Her serious eyes, so different from any other time Lex had seen her, made her start to tear. “Why are you doing this?”

Mimi glanced at the leg, then back up to Lex. She shrugged. “You’ve always been aware of what you were good at – fitness and volleyball. When Venus called…” She twisted the bottle in her hand.

“This is what I’m good at. Plus…” Mimi pinned Lex with a more normal Mimi-like gaze. “Now you owe me.”

Lex had a hard time taking it all in – her view of her younger cousin seemed too set to be shaken, but she’d just had a minor quake. Still, the fact that Mimi had come – despite the Siren-act with Aiden – revealed something honest in her words.

“Thanks, Mimi.”

“Let’s get started.”

“I’m going to call Aiden.” Venus walked into the apartment and dumped the bags of groceries on the floor.

Lex looked up from Venus’s Cosmo. “Why?”

“I saw Ben lurking around outside. I think he’s still suspicious about Aiden being your boyfriend.”

“Gee, I wonder why, considering he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Well, unless you want Ben around, we have to convince him otherwise.”

“Just don’t answer the doorbell.”

“I read guys pretty well, especially when they’re in a predatory mode like that. I don’t trust him.” Venus punched in a number.

“Hey, how’d you get Aiden’s number?”

“Aiden? It’s Venus. Can you come over? That guy Ben is hanging around… Thanks.” She snapped the phone shut. “He gave it to me.”

Lex frowned. “He didn’t give it to me.”

Venus stared at Lex a long moment. Lex squirmed a bit under her strange, neutral gaze. Finally, Venus turned away to unpack the groceries. “He said to call if you needed anything.”

“Oh. That was nice of him.” Lex scratched her ear. “Do you think he still feels bad about tearing my ACL?”

Venus didn’t bother to answer, just stuck the fruit into the refrigerator.

Lex checked her email. She only had dial-up, which took ten times longer than the cable modem at her old home. She had several responses to a message she’d sent to friends about physical therapy recommendations.

“Why does that name sound familiar?”

“Hmm?” Venus didn’t even look up from her new Entertainment Weekly magazine.

“My insurance would only pay if I used one of two different physical therapy places, and all my friends say to go to Golden Creek Fitness and Physical Therapy.” Lex tried to bring up the website, but her dial-up dragged along. “I’ve heard that name before, but I can’t remember where.”

“I know where.”

“You do?”

Venus nodded and flipped a page.

“Well? You’re not going to tell me?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It’s more fun watching you rack your brains.”

The doorbell rang. Venus jumped up, grabbed the electric flyswatter racket, and then opened the door. “Oh, hi, Aiden. Thanks for coming.”

“No problem. Hi, Lex.”

“Hi.”

Aiden squeezed in between a few boxes so he could sit on the one filled with books. “I saw Ben on the way in, by the way.”

“Oh good.” Venus picked up her magazine and perched back on Lex’s bed. “Can you just hang out for a while?”

“Sure.”

Lex stared at her computer screen. Still loading. “Wait a minute… Aiden, you’re a physical therapist?”

“Yeah.”

A dreading suspicion crept over her. “Where do you work?”

“Golden Creek.”

Lex’s shoulders sagged. “You’re kidding.”

His face remained neutral, but somehow sharpened to all hard edges. “Hey, it’s a great facility.”

“No, I know that – ”

“And it’s nearby… Oh, I get it. That’s where your insurance wants to send you.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Somehow, having Aiden as her PT kind of weirded her out.

“I didn’t tear your ACL on purpose, you know.”

“No, I know that – ”

“It’s not like I’m going to tear the other one once I’ve got you on the table.”

“I… I guess.”

She’d never seen frustration on his face before, but he looked like he wanted to strangle her. “You’re acting like you don’t want to get better and play volleyball again.”

“No, it’s not that at all.”

“So what’s the problem? I’ve treated dozens of volleyball injuries, most of them ACL. All the ACL surgeries go to me.”

“All of them?”

“I’m good at what I do, Lex.” A dangerous glint appeared in his eye, making her backtrack with haste.

“I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t. I’m sorry.”

“I’m good at helping players get back into shape. And now that I’m playing, I understand the injuries better too.”

Didn’t she want someone like that, who knew her sport, knew her injury? Why the hesitation? She knew he wasn’t to blame for the injury, but a part of her didn’t want to spend more time with him -and she wasn’t sure why – while another part liked spending time with him too much.

What was her problem? She was such a basket case.

“Why don’t I drive you to PT at Golden Creek?”

“Thanks.” Venus answered before Lex could reply. “That’d be great.”

Lex frowned at her. “Excuse me, I don’t see the surgical holes in your knee.”

“Excuse me, I don’t see you needing to go to work right now.”

“Oh.” A flush rose from her neckline. “I’m sorry, Venus. You’re right.”

Venus turned to Aiden. “Are you sure it won’t be a problem for you?”

“Not at all.” He dug out his PDA. “Lex, I’ll arrange for you to have my first morning session – actually, I’ll give you my first two sessions – and then I’ll take you home right afterward.”

“Your boss isn’t going to be mad?”

“He’s my friend – we went to PT school together. It won’t be a problem.”

Aiden seemed confident, so Lex didn’t see a reason to doubt him.

“Thanks.”

“Next week will be two weeks since your surgery, right?”

“Yeah, about.”

“I’ll schedule you. Give me your doctor’s PT prescription.”

Lex handed it over, trying to ignore the twinge in her gut. “I appreciate it.” She really did. Why was she so afraid to have him as her therapist?

To spend more time with him. To get close to him.

That’s ridiculous. She was never frightened. She faced things head-on.

He didn’t scare her a bit.

TWENTY-SIX

No, he didn’t scare her. Because in a few minutes, she was going to kill him.

“Aiden! That really hurts!” Sitting up, Lex pushed against the PT table, trying to escape his fingers massaging – no, torturing the outside of her thigh.

His calm voice made her want to scream. “The IT band runs from your hip down your thigh to your knee joint. When it gets tight, injuries happen.” He kept kneading, but it felt more like slow kicks into her leg with combat boots.

Lex grabbed the edge of the table. “Haven’t I had enough pain? Surgery, blisters, no pain meds? Remember? Yow!”

With another patient on the next table, the other therapist gave a sympathetic yet amused look. Her patient had turned white in response to Lex’s screaming.

Lex didn’t care. She would start cussing in a minute.

Finally he stopped. “I think that’s enough for today.”

“Ya think?”

“Keep it up at home. It’ll get easier.”

“Why do I not believe you?” Lex rubbed the area, but it felt hot and sensitive. And she had thought getting used to Aiden touching her would be the hardest part of physical therapy.

“Okay, time for some exercises in the gym.”

Lex got down from the table. “Now exercises, I can do.”

Aiden led the way out of the patient area into the public gym area. “Expect a bit of muscle atrophy.”

“In the four weeks since I tore it? Come on. I was in the best shape of my life. That’s got to count for something.”