Heartbreakers: Treat Her Right / Mr November

“Wynn, I know you’re excited about your new house—”

“And my new neighbor? My new neighbor who likes to tease and lead women on, then pull away and act as if his finer sensibilities have been lacerated by my coarse and carnal behavior?”

Zack was again caught between wanting to shout with anger, and the urge to laugh. From the moment he’d met her, Wynn Lane had been too outspoken and honest for her, or his, own good. He rubbed his neck and concentrated on not smiling. “I didn’t mean to tease.”

“Oh? You call what you did—given the fact you pulled up short—fulfillment?” She shook her head. “You poor, poor man. You’re missing the best part.”

“Look, Wynn, it was a mistake for us to do—” he gestured at the ground “—this. I don’t know about you, but I’m not in the habit of indulging in one-night flings.”

She didn’t confirm or deny what her habits were, which only made him edgier. Little by little his neck and shoulder muscles tightened into a painful cramp. He’d strained something at work the night before, and arguing with Wynn only exacerbated things.

Her eyes narrowed and she strode toward him. “What’s the matter with you? Did I hurt you?”

His hand fell away from his neck. “Of course not.”

“Ha! You’re in pain, I can tell.”

He started to say she was the pain, but held it in. It was past time he listened to himself. They were neighbors, no refuting that fact. They needed to get along in some civil but distant and detached way.

With that decision made, he waited until she stopped directly in front of him, then explained, “I dealt with two pretty nasty emergencies last night. The first was a case of domestic violence.” His tone sounded raw even to his own ears, but the emotional devastation of the night still lingered. “I took a woman in with two broken ribs and multiple contusions. The bastard who’d worked her over had gone to a bar. Luckily the cops caught up to him there.”

Zack had to be grateful that the man had been gone when he got there. He wasn’t at all certain he could have contained himself otherwise.

Wynn, evidently sensing his turbulent emotions, reached out and smoothed her hand over his arm. It was a soothing touch, and it helped him to recall himself.

He shook off his lingering anger and reminded himself that the woman had pressed charges. That wasn’t always the case, but luckily this particular woman had had enough. He’d left her in the hands of the social services.

“Then there was a car wreck. We had to cut the door away to get to the woman inside. She was in shock, covered in blood from a head wound, and getting her out wasn’t easy, especially since she wasn’t exactly a small woman.”

“She was big like me?”

Zack’s temper jumped a notch. “I could handle you easily without straining a thing.”

She smirked.

“No, this woman was obese.” Wynn remained quiet and waiting so he continued. “The reach was awkward, and I strained something in my neck and shoulders when I lifted her out.”

“Hmmm. Sounds like you strained a trap. That happens a lot in clumsy lifts. Turn around.”

He stalled. “What?”

“Trapezius muscle,” she explained.

And Zack said, “I know what it is. I just didn’t...”

Grabbing his upper arm, she forcibly turned him—something he allowed—and then began pressing her fingers into his neck, his shoulders, his spine. Zack groaned. Her touch had an electrifying effect that both soothed and excited.

“Right there?” she asked, her thumbs now working some hidden muscle that reacted by going limp.

“Yeah.” And then, “You’re good at this.”

“I’m good at a lot of things.”

His eyes shot open.

“Have you been using any moist heat?”

God, everything she said sounded sexual to his beleaguered brain. Moist. Heat. He was such a goner. “No,” he croaked. “I haven’t had a chance.”

“Bull. You’re a paramedic, you know better than to ignore injuries. If need be, you make time. Maybe instead of hanging out with your friends you should have soaked in your hot tub.”

His brain took a leap from her suggestion, to a vivid fantasy of them both in the hot tub, steam rising and flesh wet... “I will later.”

“When is later?”

Her persistence annoyed him. “Maybe after work tomorrow.”

Her hands continued to massage and work his aching muscles. He felt like butter—like aroused butter.

“What hours do you work?”

That, at least, was a safe enough topic. “We’re all on a rotating schedule. Ten-hour days, four days a week. My hours are usually eight to six. The three days off vary and are almost never grouped together, but at least that way everyone gets a weekend now and then. And there’s always overtime, so my hours end up fifty or over more often than not.”

Leaning around to see his face, Wynn asked, “Who watches Dani while you work?”

“There’s a lady two blocks down, Eloise. She’s a real sweetheart, in her early seventies, on a fixed income. Dani adores her, and vice versa. Dani thinks of it as her second home.”

“Any friends her own age?”

He shrugged. “She goes to preschool two days a week, but Dani tells me most of the kids there are ‘babies.’”

Wynn chuckled. “Yeah, I can see her thinking that. She’s used to adult company, isn’t she?”

“Too much so. I thought the preschool would help, and she does enjoy it. One of her classmates lives in the neighborhood and she’s had Dani over for birthday parties and special outings and things like that.”

“Mmm. Sounds like fun for her.” Hands splayed wide, Wynn worked her way down Zack’s back, over his lats, then his obliques. It was all he could do to remain standing.

Zack didn’t mean to, but he felt so relaxed, so boneless from her massage, he heard himself confiding before he could censor himself. “She has a hard time fitting in with other girls.”

“Oh?”

Zack closed his eyes, but now he had no choice except to explain. “She’s...not into the same things as other little girls her age. The whole idea of playing dress-up revolts her, and she’s outraged by the idea of frilly dresses and tights.” He grinned, remembering the last time Dani had worn a dress. It had been for Mick and Del’s wedding, and she’d only agreed because Del had helped her pick it out, and Del wasn’t into lace and frills, either.

“I was the same when I was a little girl,” Wynn said.

Zack teased, “You mean you were little once?”

Her thumbs pressed deep enough to make him jerk in pain. “Hey, ouch! All right, I was just teasing.”