One Hot Night with Dr. Cardoza by Tina Beckett

Author:Tina Beckett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-03-12T18:34:01+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

ROQUE HAD TENSED when she’d joked about him having a wheelchair in his apartment. He didn’t. Not anymore. What he did still have was a walker. It was hidden inside a closet in his spare bedroom. He could barely look at his old nemesis without myriad emotions clutching at his gut and threatening to rob the strength from his legs.

He’d gone from a young man who could dance his way through a clump of football players on his way to making one goal after another, to a man who could barely put one foot in front of the other—even with the help of that walker. A man who’d aged twenty years overnight.

He’d always meant to donate it, but he didn’t like looking at it, much less try to drag it down to his car.

His body had failed him once, and it looked like it was failing him again.

As much as he tried to suppress it, a hole of fear opened up inside him. What if, despite what he’d said, it wasn’t just his muscle? What if the fall onto his ass had knocked something loose, or torn a muscle that he couldn’t afford to lose?

His cat appeared from the kitchen and came over and hopped into his lap. He picked her up and set her beside him. “Sorry, girl. I’ll feed you as soon as I can get back up.”

Amy reappeared with a trash can and he tensed. “I’m not going to vomit, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Of course not. I took the liner out of it and it’s clean. I’m going to put some hot towels in there, but I need to know where your dryer is because I’m going to rotate moist heat with dry.” She stopped. “Aw...is that Rachel?”

“Yes.”

Amy came over and tickled the cat’s head, trailing her fingers over Rachel’s thick fur. “Hi, there. I’ve heard about you. Lucky girl, I don’t have allergies.” Her head suddenly came up and she glanced away from him. “Dryer?”

“I don’t have a dryer, but I do have a heating pad.”

“Where?”

He nodded toward his bedroom door. “In the closet in my spare bedroom on the top shelf.”

Moving toward where he’d indicated, she slid through the bedroom door, reappearing two minutes later. “Okay, so you do have something.”

When he looked up, he saw she was holding the heating pad in one hand, and the walker in the other.

“No. Put that away. Right now.”

His voice was forceful enough that Rachel hopped off the couch, giving him a baleful glance as she stalked away. But the last thing he wanted to see was a reminder of how weak he’d once been. How utterly helpless he’d felt. Especially when faced with a woman who’d had to help him walk to his own damned car.

Amy set the walker down with a frown. “It’s not for forever, it’s just to give your leg muscles a break tonight.”

“Not tonight. Not ever.”

She stared him down for several minutes before leaving the walker where it was and coming over with the heating pad.

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