clenched, a little vein pulsing on the side of his forehead.
Then she noticed they had come to a complete stop, and there were no paramedics around.
“Hey, why are we stopped? Am I too heavy for you? See, this is what you get for picking up women at random. Put me down so you won’t strain anything.”
He just stood there, motionless, looking daggers down at her.
“Look, mister, I don’t mean any offense. So if you can just put me down, I will be on my way to find my friends, and you can go do whatever it is you were doing before you bumped into me.”
“I did not bump into you. It was the other way around.”
Wow, she didn’t think the vein on the side of his forehead could pop out any further, but it sure did. She reached out to massage his temples, but he flinched back; hurt, she quickly pulled back.
“Sorry, I just wanted to massage your temples. It’s not good to be all stressed out like that. I’m a massage therapist, you know. If you put me down I can totally get rid of your headache.”
“Listen, lady—”
“Rosie,” she interrupted.
“Rosie, I am in the middle of an investigation trying to figure out what started this fire, so I’m going to get you to the paramedics and then be on my way.”
“I don’t need to be seen by the paramedics, just put me down and I’ll get out of your way.”
“Harveston,” someone called out behind them. He stopped midstride to turn back at the voice calling out to him. She felt him tense up before he began to put her down.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes! But here, before you leave, give me a call if you ever need a massage,” she said as she handed him her business card. She always carried some in her pockets at the ready. And it would be an absolute treat to have her hands all over his muscular body.
Seeing him walk away, she let out a deep sigh. Well, at least he had taken the card and put it into his pocket, so there was a small chance he would call. Giving his butt one last glance, she turned around and went back to looking for her friends.
*****
William “Bill” Harveston was in serious need of some TLC. Rubbing his neck, he tried to relieve the tension that had built up all day long. Investigating a fire was hard enough. But investigating a high-profile one down on the Strip and dealing with crazy women was more than he could bear.
He thought back to the encounter with the massage therapist. Rosie was her name. He could totally go for a deep tissue massage right now. He had been walking back toward the other investigators when this ball of energy had plowed into him. He had immediately wrapped his arms around her so she wouldn’t fall back and hurt herself and then gone to pick her up when she seemed a little disoriented. She’d fit just right into his body when he’d cradled her against him. She was soft and giving in all the right places.
His hand went into his pants pocket in search of her card. He should call her to make sure she’d found her friends and was doing okay. He had been admonishing himself all day long for not staying and making sure she was checked out, but his boss had been calling him back. He should call her just to see how she was doing. And if she offered her services again, he would take her up on her offer.
Pulling out his cell phone, he quickly punched in the numbers. He was about to hang up after the fifth ring when she finally answered.
“Rosie speaking, how may I help you?”
“This is William Harveston. We bumped into each other earlier today,” he said diplomatically.
“For the last time, it was you bumping into me, okay? How is your headache? Do you need me after all?”
“My damn headache is fine.” He couldn’t help but be aggravated. He was six foot six and two hundred sixty-five pounds of pure muscle, yet she made him seem like he needed a wet nurse! First, telling