Teamwork Read Online Free PDF Page B

TV, anything for a few hours and then crash once it’s evening.”
    He had a point, and I was notoriously bad at coping with jet lag. “Is your shoulder sore?” I asked.
    “Nothing I can’t live with.”
    “Well, how about we do some of that hydrotherapy I talked about?”
    “Seriously?” He pulled his eyebrows low. “Now?”
    “I can see it’s stiffening up, and if you sleep all night without doing something with that joint, it will set you back a couple of days.”
    He twisted his mouth as if thinking about what I’d said. Then he sighed. “Okay, if that’s what you want to do.”
    “It’s what I’m being paid to do,” I said, dragging my case into my suite of rooms. “Give me five minutes and I’ll come find you.”
    His gaze roamed over me, from my head to my feet. He said nothing, then turned and walked away, his heavy footsteps fading as he went down the hallway.
    I glanced at a floor-to-ceiling mirror just inside the room. I looked a mess, my hair tatty, my makeup smudged and my clothes creased. Hardly the professional look I aimed for. No wonder he’d given me the once-over, probably wondering why I didn’t look like the glamorous air hostess who’d fussed sickeningly over him the entire flight and then had him sign not one, but three copies of Hockey Today and pose for a photograph.
    * * * * *
     
    My plain black swimsuit was neat and functional. It was what all physiotherapists wore for hydrotherapy. This wasn’t a jaunt on the beach or a lounge around a pool, it was work and so that required a uniform, of sorts.
    With my pale-pink robe pulled tight and my acupuncture box under my arm, I wandered back down the huge flight of stairs. I guessed the pool would be at the rear of the house, since Raven had said it was in his backyard.
    I came across a gigantic kitchen—black, white and minimalist with a colossal table in the middle. A massive window above the double sink looked out onto a screened area that did indeed surround a pool. A big, vibrant blue pool with a Jacuzzi at one end and an assortment of chairs and loungers set about.
    Patio doors had been slid wide open and a hint of chlorine wafted toward me. Each step I took toward them was an effort. My muscles were achingly tired, my bones weak and weary.
    Raven sat beneath a red umbrella. He wore black swim shorts and shiny black sunglasses. He’d taken his sling off and his arm rested on his thigh.
    “Hi,” I said. “Great pool.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Can I do the acupuncture first?”
    “As long as you’re not so tired you’re going to completely fuck me up.”
    “I can one hundred percent promise I will not fuck you up.” My lips tightened and I could feel a twitch hammering beneath my left eye, the calming effect of the rejuvenating, aromatherapy shower gel I’d just used evaporating in an instant.
    He looked up and cocked his head.
    I could have sworn I saw the hint of a smile, but of course I hadn’t, this was a man who didn’t smile.
    “Okay. Do your stuff,” he said.
    “Turn sideways on the lounger so I can stand behind you then.” I helped myself to a glass of water from a large, ice-packed jug on the table next to him. If he wasn’t going to be polite why should I be? Mum’s theory clearly wasn’t going to work in this case. He was too far gone.
    Drinking my water, I studied the animals interwoven on his tattoo as he moved. He’d pulled his hair into a band and his shiny ponytail hung low down his back in a slight “s” wave. “I’ll do some work on your shoulder today but tomorrow, when you’re rested, I’d like to work on your whole spine, rebalance the big nerves that feed your legs. I think it will help.”
    “Yep. Whatever.”
    I opened my box, tugged on my gloves and began to insert threadlike needles into the same points I had back in Cardiff. My eyes were blurred with tiredness, but I’d done this a thousand times so it was an autopilot task.
    “There,” I said, “a few minutes, then I’ll