Crazy for You by Maddie James

to shake away the direction of his
thoughts.
    Tasha waited. She didn’t know what to
say.
    After a minute, he began again. “All right. I
agree I need to hash this out and if you’re willing to listen, then
I’m ready to spill my guts.”
    “I’m an awfully good listener.”
    He nodded. “It’s pretty simple. I’m a really
good salesman and always have had top-notch sales figures. In fact
that’s how I won this trip. There’s a promotion coming up for
someone in the firm soon, and I’m a very likely candidate. However,
Doug and Brett would both give their eye-teeth to get it, too. So,
what I figure is this. They planned this whole trip, telling me it
was a vacation spa, hoping that they’d get me in some compromising
position where they could blackmail me into resigning or get me
fired. Either one would probably work well with them.”
    “But how do you know this, Andrew? That’s a
pretty bizarre plan. To send you halfway across the world just
to—”
    “I wouldn’t put anything past them. They want
my job. They really want me out of the company.”
    Tasha thought for a minute. She could see the
strain spreading across Andrew’s face again. The stress was killing
him.
    “Is there anything else you want to say to
me?”
    He stared at her for a moment, then
relinquished. Tasha could tell he was struggling internally. “Yes.
I’m sorry I accused you of coming onto Doug. I guess... I was...a
bit—”
    “Yes?”
    “All right, dammit! I was jealous, okay?”
    Tasha felt a tingle well up inside her at his
admission. “Okay,” she repeated softly and grinned back. It had
been a long time since anyone had admitted being jealous because of
her and it felt kind of good. But now that that was out in the
open, she really wanted to get back to the most important thing at
hand, because she knew if Andrew didn’t come to terms with this
thing with Doug and Brett and his job, the week would go downhill
from now on.
    “Andrew, about your job. Is it that important
to you?”
    As in disbelief, he stared at her. “Yes,” he
answered bluntly.
    “Why don’t you quit that one? Find
another.”
    Andrew’s eyes widened in surprise. “What?
Quit? Why there’s too much at stake to quit.”
    “Like what?”
    Andrew shook his head in disbelief as if he
couldn’t comprehend what she had suggested. “Like my seniority. My
pension plans. The stocks I’ve bought in the company. The fringe
benefits.”
    “The stress.”
    Andrew stared at her. “I could never quit
that job.”
    “If you don’t, you’re going to have a heart
attack before you’re fifty.”
    He stood and shook his head. “No, I won’t. I
keep in good shape. I work out.” He paced three steps away.
    “The stress will kill you, Andrew. It doesn’t
matter if you’re in good shape. It’s the stress. Look at you right
now. I’ll bet your blood pressure is sky high. You’re anxious. Your
face is tense. You’re pacing.”
    Andrew stopped pacing and faced her.
    Tasha stepped closer and placed the palms of
her hands on his shoulders. “And your muscles are tied up on
knots.” She squeezed and watched Andrew’s eyes close with a small
grimace at the pressure she’d placed on his shoulders. “You can’t
live like this, Andrew,” she whispered. “No one can.”
    After a moment of massaging, she circled
around to his back and began massaging his neck, shoulder, and back
muscles. She led him back toward the bed. “Sit down. The least you
can let me do is massage the kinks out. You’ll feel a lot better in
a few minutes.”
    For a while, Tasha knelt beside him on the
bed, her fingers kneading. At first, Andrew sat stiff and erect,
but after a few minutes of her tender assault, he let his shoulders
drop and Tasha could feel him relax against her.
    ****
    For the life of him, Andrew couldn’t recall
anything feeling so damned good for quite a long time. Tasha’s
fingertips were warm as they glided across his shirt and rubbed
deep into his muscles.