A Broken Man Read Online Free PDF Page A

she instinctively pushed into him. He scooped her up and rolled partway on top of her, then stopped. Without warning, he jerked away from her.
    His face was red and drawn up with anger. She laid a hand on his forearm, and he recoiled. Confusion muddied her thoughts. What had she done to piss him off? The impropriety of the situation suddenly became clear to her. She was his physical therapist, and she’d taken advantage of that relationship, of his fragile state. How could she have been so stupid? She should never have let this happen. Hell, she should never have come here. Embarrassment and shame settled over her, so thick she could hardly breathe.
    “I’m sorry. I—”
    He cut her off. “It’s not you.”
    Then what? She replayed the moment in her mind, and the realization hit her with such force she thought she’d fall over. Ethan had lifted her up so that he could roll on top of her, take control. Only…
    Only his legs remained just where they were. Lifeless. Inert. Caught up in the intensity of the moment, he must have forgotten about what he considered his “useless” lower half. And forgetting, even for the briefest of moments, forced him to grapple all over again with the heartbreaking realization that he was paralyzed. Rage colored the skin around his temples bright pink, and he clenched his jaw so hard Sarah heard his teeth click. She sat up awkwardly, unsure of what to do next.
    “Hey, don’t worry about it. It—“
    “Don’t. Please don’t.” The words came out in rapid, angry bursts. “Just go.”
    Sarah placed her hand on top of his, but he jerked it away.
    “No. Save your sympathy. I don’t need your pity-fuck.”
    Sarah winced at the words. Ethan softened for a moment, but the vitriol flared right back up again. He let out a sardonic laugh. “That’s not right either, is it? It couldn’t be a ‘fuck’ now could it? What would it be?”
    Without another word, Sarah stood and walked toward the door. Just as she was about to cross the threshold, he called out to her: “I’m sorry.”
    She looked back and saw his body doubled over. He looked pitiful and defeated.
    “I didn’t mean that.” He sighed. “I guess I hadn’t really considered the fact that I’m now utterly fucking useless to a woman. I don’t know why it never occurred to me before, but it didn’t.”
    Sarah turned back toward the door, meaning to leave, but paused with one hand on the knob. This had been a mistake, and she wanted to run out. But she couldn’t do that. He needed someone to reassure him and to make him stop feeling so damn sorry for himself.
    “Horseshit,” she said bluntly.
    Surprise registered on his face.
    “Your fingers still work, don’t they? Tongue still works, doesn’t it? That’s all you really need to please a woman. It’s guys that are all preoccupied with your dicks, not us.” She raised an eyebrow, daring him to challenge the assertion. “Now go the fuck to sleep. Pretend this was all a bad dream.”
    As she closed the door behind her and started toward the guest room, she was pretty sure that she heard him laugh.
     
    * * *
     
     
    Sarah slept like shit. When the sun rose, she gave up, flung off the twisted sheet, and sat up in bed. Her head and neck ached from some unholy combination of too much alcohol, not enough sleep, and the mortifying events of the night before. How could she have lost control like that?
    She’d never done anything so mind-bogglingly unprofessional in her entire career. He was a client, and she’d be fired if he said a word about what had gone down—if he even bothered to show his face in the clinic again.
    She tried to rationalize what had happened. At least it hadn’t gone any further than it did. Hell, maybe that was worse. She could still get fired, and she hadn’t even gotten laid. It had been so long, she had started thinking she didn’t need to anymore. She had been wrong.
    There was more to it than that, though, and she knew it. She’d felt