Chapter Eight
Gretchen
I looked up as I heard the bells chime over the door, a greeting already on my lips even though my first appointment wouldn't be there for another twenty minutes or so. They wouldn't be the first clients to come in early. It was unfortunate on that particular morning since I was trying to get some of the shop paperwork finished, but I could do it later, I supposed.
My face melted into a smile when I saw that it was Mina there, though, and she had brought a bowl of fresh pineapple over with her. “Good morning, darling,” she said, coming in for a hug.
“Good morning!”
“I thought you could do with some pineapple in your life,” Mina said, holding out the bowl and a fork.
“I could always do with some pineapple in my life,” I said, grinning at her.
“I am sick of pineapple,” Mina announced. “In fact, I think I quit. I'm not going to work there today; I'm going to come work for you. You could use an assistant, right?”
I laughed. “Sure, I could! Especially if it was an assistant who I liked.”
Mina laughed as well. “Nah,” she said. “You know I love what I do. I love that I can make people happy and give them a little taste of this tropical paradise that we live in. But some days, I do wish we could work together so that I could see a little more of you.”
“That would be nice,” I agreed. “Actually, I’m thinking that it would be nice to have an assistant. I'm trying to fill out some of the shop's paperwork right now, and you know me. I don't have much of a head for business. I know enough to get by, but it's so painful trying to fill out these forms and pretend like I know what I'm doing.”
“You do know what you're doing,” Mina said encouragingly. “Or at least, you're the one I always turn to when I need to fill out shop paperwork!”
I laughed. “We're quite the pair, aren't we?”
“I guess I'd better get back to my shop, and let you get back to the paperwork!” Mina said. “I'm sure it'll all be done soon.”
“See you later,” I said.
Mina gave a little wave and left. Not two minutes later, the phone started ringing, and I groaned. The paperwork was never going to get done before my first appointment for the day. Still, I picked up the phone, giving a cheerful hello.
“Hi, Gretchen, this is Cindy from over at the Golden Palm Resort. We have a guest here who was looking to make an appointment for a massage this afternoon, and I was wondering if you have any availability in your schedule.”
“Hi, Cindy; that shouldn't be a problem. I have an opening for either a one- or two-hour massage from 1 to 3 p.m. or time for a one-hour massage after 4 p.m.; which would they prefer?”
“Let me ask,” Cindy said. I could hear her conferring in muffled tones with the customer. Then, she came back on the line. “He'd like to do a two-hour massage at one o'clock.”
“Great, I'll pencil him in. What's his full name?”
“Christian Wall.”
“Excellent. I'll be waiting for him. I'm assuming you can give him directions to find me?”
“Of course.” She lowered her voice. “But can I just say, you don't sound very excited.”
I frowned, wondering what she expected. Did she think I'd never given a massage to a guy before or something? “I assure you, Cindy, I'm excited about all of my customers, new and returning,” I said.
“All right,” Cindy said, not sounding convinced.
“My first client has just walked in the door, so you'll have to excuse me,” I said. “But you can tell Mr. Wall that I'm looking forward to seeing him this afternoon.”
That afternoon, I hurriedly finished up the paperwork just before Christian came into the shop. Finally, I thought. God, I hated paperwork.
I looked up as the bells chimed over the door, and my breath caught in my throat. Man, oh man, was he gorgeous. He had dark hair that he had styled into a swept back, messy do. He was muscular, and he had tattoos swirling down his right arm. And those hazel eyes… I swallowed hard.
But the thing of it was, he no doubt knew that he was gorgeous, and he probably had an ego the size of the planet. I couldn't stand guys with huge egos. Anyway, at the moment, he was just another customer.
“Hi, and welcome to Paradise Massage,” I said. “I'm Gretchen, and I'll be your masseuse today.”
The guy gave me a once-over, and I could practically see the gears turning in his head. Yeah, he probably thought I was just dying to drop my panties for him. He could think again.
“I don't do happy-ending massages,” I warned him before he could even get something like that in his mind.
He blinked at me for a moment and then burst out laughing. “Oh shit,” he said. “Sorry, I didn't mean to be that obvious about it. Just, you're pretty hot, and I've probably just got this whole thing off on the wrong foot.”
“Here's your robe,” I told him frostily, holding out the garment. “If you want to go change in the room there, I'll be in in a moment to get started.”
The man grimaced. “Do I have to wear these?” he asked. “I always find it's better to get a massage without clothes in the way.” I frowned at him, wondering just where he got off. But he held up both hands. “That's not a come-on, I just actually feel that way,” he said defensively. “And I have a lot of tension that needs to be worked out, so I want the best.”
I sighed and finally relented. It wasn't as though he was some old pervert asking if I'd give him a naked massage, after all. And I was kind of curious to see what those abs looked like without a shirt in the way. “Fine,” I said. “But don't tell anyone that I do this, okay? I keep a pretty upscale clientele, and I don't need anyone getting uncomfortable or thinking that I do more than I do, okay?”
“My lips are sealed,” Christian said. “I hope it goes without saying, but you won't tell anyone about this either, will you?”
“Who would I tell?” I asked, baffled. “Unless your girlfriend or someone is going to come in here tomorrow and ask about this, no, this goes no further than between us.”
Christian snorted. “I don't have a girlfriend,” he said.
“I don't have a boyfriend either,” I said. Then, I bit my lip. Jesus, why had I said that? He so didn't need to know that. And he didn't need another reason to hit on me.
“I'll just go strip down, then,” Christian said, nodding toward the other room. “Come in when you're ready.”
I closed my eyes and counted to ten, wondering how he had me this riled up already. I wasn't even sure if I was upset with him or lusting after him. It was a very strange, chaotic mix of feelings inside of me.
I entered the massage room, glad to find that he had laid down on his stomach first. It didn't mean that he wasn't going to roll over later in the massage and give me a full view of his manhood. But for now, maybe I could concentrate and get into the rhythm of the thing, remember that he was just another client.
“So, you're here in Hawaii on vacation, then?” I asked quietly, beginning to work my way up his body, feeling for the points that would need special attention. I paused when I reached his lower back, and it cracked in four places before I'd even really started adding pressure. “God, you're tight.”
“Aren't I supposed to be saying that?” he asked. But his voice sounded fuzzy and a bit blissed-out already. “Yeah, I'm just here on vacation. I live in New York. The city, not the state.”
“Oh. Nice. What do you do there?”
He let out a tight sigh. I wondered if maybe he was one of those people who didn't like to talk while having a massage. But then, he gave a little shrug of his shoulders. “I'm in real estate.”
“I didn't realize you were that old,” I said teasingly.
Christian laughed. “I'm 36. You?”
“29.”
“And you grew up here in Hawaii, or did you just move here?”
“Grew up here,” I told him. “Lived here my whole life, and will probably live here for the rest of my life. There's nowhere quite like this.”
“How so?”
“You probably wouldn't appreciate it much, coming from the Big City, but it's peaceful here. Life happens at a different pace on the island. You know, things happen when they happen, and no one gets too stressed when things happen late. Plus, I get to do everything that I love here. I have my own business, and I get to surf and swim and run and do whatever else I want to do in my spare time. Somehow, I live the best life imaginable.”
“That must be a nice feeling to have,” Christian said, sounding a bit envious.
I frowned at him. “If you don't feel like you're living the best life that you could be, maybe you need to make some changes,” I told him. “I know, I know, that's easier said than done. But there's no reason that you need to trap yourself in a life that you don't enjoy living.”
“I enjoy it,” Christian said, sounding a bit defensive. “I don't always enjoy every aspect of it, but overall, it's great. So, you're a surfer chick?” he asked, changing the subject.
I laughed. “Yeah, my parents like to joke that I was born in the water. I love it out there.”
“I've never been,” he said. “Maybe I'll try learning it while I'm down here.”
“You should,” I told him. “Catching that wave and letting it carry you is an amazing feeling.”
“So is this,” Christian said, groaning a little as I hit a particularly large knot in his shoulders.
“Mmm,” I said. “You must be stressed a lot. And you're not taking good care of yourself. You're wound up.”
“Yeah,” Christian sighed. “You're not the first person to point that out to me.” We were both silent for a moment. “So, tell me more about Oahu,” Christian finally said. “I'm not sure how long I'm going to be here for, but what are the things that I can't miss doing or seeing?”
Conversation flowed easily between us after that, and I slowly began to see past the initial impression that I'd had of him. Maybe he wasn't such a jerk after all. Maybe that was some sort of act that he was accustomed to putting on.
I couldn't help wondering what it would be like to sleep with him, though. When he turned over, his cock was half-hard from my ministrations, curving up toward his chiseled abs. I realized that despite what I'd said about not giving happy-ending massages, I did want to get a hand on him and just feel his weight. I wasn't going to do that, of course; he'd have to take me out on a couple of dates first if he wanted me to touch him. But all the same, I couldn't help wondering what it would be like to sleep with him.
“What's wrong?” Christian asked, lazily opening one eye to look up at me, and I realized that I had stopped what I was doing.
I blushed and went back to work massaging his massive thigh muscles. “Nothing!”
The man smirked a little, as though he knew exactly what I was thinking, and unfortunately, I had the feeling that he did. But he didn't comment on it. Instead, he went back to the story he'd been telling me about some ski trip that he'd taken the previous winter.
Finally, our two hours were up, and I reluctantly withdrew my hands from his body. “That's it; you're all set,” I told him gently. We hadn't spoken for the past little bit, and although I'd missed parts of our conversation, it had at least helped me concentrate a little better on what I was doing, and for that, I was grateful.
Christian sighed a little and blearily opened his eyes. “I think I was half asleep there,” he complained. “Your hands are like magic, woman.”
I laughed a little. “I've been at this for a while,” I told him. “I can give you a moment to rest if you want, but I do have another client coming in, so I need to go.”
“Nah, it's okay,” he said, swinging his legs over the edge of the table. He put his clothes back on as I tidied up the room, and I didn't miss the way he shuddered a little at the drag of fabric against his erection. “Thanks for that,” he said. “I'll be back.”
“I'll be ready when you are,” I told him, smiling as I ushered him out of the massage parlor.
I sighed as I watched him walk away. I honestly hoped that he would be back. It's always nice to have repeat business.
But no, it wasn't that. Not only was he super handsome, but we'd also just clicked well. He'd been an ass at the beginning with the whole sex thing, but after that, I'd just had a really good time with him.
I shook my head and turned back to the shop. My next client would be there in just a few minutes, and I needed to focus on that.