Downshift Series, #1 Page 5

  “I'm not giving you anything. We can set up a proper contract. If you don't make the deadline of getting me on the bike and racing, then you can pay me back or something. I don't know. We can make the arrangement work. What do you have to lose?”

  Her eyes narrowed as she chewed her bottom lip. JT had never been so entranced. He couldn't breathe as he waited. His birthday was in less than three weeks. If he wasn't able to sign his sponsors then they would switch to Blake. As much as JT loved the guy, he couldn’t lose all his money to him.

  How much should he tell her about his dad? About his family? Would sympathy push her into taking the position? Regardless, he didn’t want to lose her respect.

  Clenching his jaw, he spoke, carefully enunciating his words. He wouldn’t say them again. He didn’t beg, even though he was close. “I'm on my own. I've always been on my own. I don't have anyone I can trust, but I think... I can trust you. I need to trust someone. I need to be pushed, challenged, and I think you can help me with that.”

  She teetered on the brink of capitulating. He gave in and pushed a little harder, like chasing down the lead ride at nationals. Closing in, he gunned his argument a little harder. “Look, you would really be doing me a favor. Come and help me. I’m getting released today. I’ve already had my therapy and the list of exercises is in my bag. You could quit your job here, or take a hiatus or something. By the time we’re done, you’ll have plenty of money to go wherever you want.”

  Except JT didn’t plan on her ever leaving and not in a creepy-serial-killer-kind of way, but more in a she’s-going-to-fall-in-love-with-me-and-never-want-to-leave way.

  Kelsey thought for a moment, dragging out his misery. There was nothing else he could say to make her understand just how badly he wanted her to work for him. He wanted her to push him. She'd make a terrific physical trainer. It didn't matter that her training was in nursing.

  After she was no longer in his employ, he’d seek out a different type of relationship with her.

  He had the moves. Not the romance moves, but the actual list of physical training moves the hospital therapist had given him. He could even go to therapy during the week. What he needed was someone who would make sure he did what he needed to do. Someone who wouldn’t listen to the limitations, but would find ways around the restrictions like getting scrubs when he was supposed to be in hospital garb.

  Kelsey would do that. Plus, the fact that he could get to know her better was more enticing than winning nationals.

  She studied the foot of the bed, as if she had any other options. After a long drawn out moment, she lifted her gaze. “Okay. I'll get your information and I'll meet you at your place tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow. In less than twenty-four hours, Kelsey would be around him more than just the sporadic check. JT wouldn’t have to share her with any other patients. The smile on his face spread far and wide, hurting his bruised cheeks and the split in his lip. But he didn't care.

  Kelsey was going to move in. With her by his side, how could anything go wrong?

  Chapter 8

  Kelsey

  Kelsey packed her meager belongings into the boot of the Volkswagen. She couldn't call it the trunk because it wasn't in the back and besides, her mother had refused to call it something as boring as “the trunk”.

  Mom had an English friend that said car compartments were called boots. So, Mom had claimed it. She’d also named her Bug, Lady. Kelsey carried the tradition on.

  After she checked everything out at JT's house and verified that it was indeed a safe place to bring her grandmother, she planned to pick her up. Her stomach hurt from taking such a large gamble. She took a month off work, hoping to have something to come back to in case things didn’t work out.

  How would she be able to ensure be able to ensure that she could do the things JT needed her to?

  With every turn her phone’s GPS told her to take, the knot tightened in her gut. Riverside and San Bernardino were south of her. Signs pointing toward Glen Helen Parkway marked the roadside amongst other green and yellow informational signs.

  Spring colors sharpened into the vibrant hues of early summer. Northern California didn’t have snow or weather that was cold enough to warrant winter jackets, which gave a longer growing season for the trees and plants. A cool breeze blew in off the coast.

  “Your destination is on the left.” The GPS voice smugly claimed to have delivered Kelsey to JT’s home, but that wasn’t possible.

  A sprawling farmhouse-style home lorded over a rectangular, fenced-in grassy ten acres. Trees cast shade over the track that disappeared behind the house sitting on a slight knoll. The dirt drive changed to a polished pebbled cobblestone halfway to the house with curving edges and ornate cement plant holders along the edges.

  Rock work lay like layered crackers for wainscoting on the home below a caramel brown vinyl siding. White trim, doors, and windows gave the older style home a more modern look. A large wraparound deck spread like a skirt under the extended covering.

  Kelsey rolled up the long driveway and double-checked the house number to the side of the oversized garage doors.

  3353.

  Yep. That was it. She’d reached his home. Dragging in a deep breath, she tried not to feel a little betrayed. JT should’ve given her a heads up that he lived in a veritable mansion. Maybe not in a technical one, but she bet there were easily six or seven bedrooms hiding behind the glamorous exterior.

  Only then did Kelsey allow the reality of her situation to set in. She leaned forward to see more fully through her windshield. “Holy cow.” She took another steadying breath as she stared up at the large home. What had she gotten herself into?

  Climbing from the car, she scanned the surrounding area inside the fence, looking for details about the man she was going to be living with, the man she had been hired to help. The man that owned his own amazing home that she had incorrectly assumed was anything like her ex-boyfriend, Brad, and his horrible money problems. Brad hadn’t even been able to hold an apartment because he didn’t have a solid dream or job worth nailing down.

  A racetrack the width of a car ran around the acreage. As far as she could see, whoops, tabletops, double jumps also called doubles, and triples dotted the perimeter. He had created his own dirt biking heaven.

  She closed the door to her bug and turned to stare at the intimidating home. Climbing the steps to the veranda was like running a marathon – cool in theory but almost impossible in reality.

  Decorative glass etching covered the oval windows to the double front doors. She rapped on the panel, looking around as she waited to be let in.

  JT probably wouldn't be able to get up. A yell from inside confirmed her suspicion. “Come on in!”

  Kelsey carefully opened the door and poked her head inside. “Hello? JT, are you there?”

  She stepped onto an oak hardwood floor with a large rug runner down the hallway. Ornate walnut frames ran the gamut of the hall filled with 11 inches x 14 inches and 11inches x 22 inches pictures of JT and other dirt bikers. The styles of the photos were breathtaking, their landscapes surreal while backdrops to superhuman feats by men on two-wheels.

  She closed the door and slipped her shoes off. A house that spotless didn’t deserve dirt to be dragged throughout. “JT?”

  “I'm in here. I can't get out of this couch. Apparently, I need more than one hand to get out of it.” The situation would sound serious except for his laughter dotting every other word.

  Kelsey followed his voice past a short wall and into a large theater-style living room. True to his word, JT had been sucked into the depths of a comfortable leather couch running the length of the space.

  “I'm just watching the races. Blake and Mac are doing good. I wish I was there.” He tried to cover his wistfulness with a grin and pointed at the 75-inch screen. The room didn’t scream bachelor like she expected it to. In fact, the whole of the house so far hadn’t been what she’d expected.

  She hadn’t brought her thin
gs in yet, so her empty handedness left her uneasy. Kelsey moved around the front of the couch, just to his side. “You'll forgive me if I don't watch. I'm not a huge fan. Can I help you get up?”

  JT floundered around with his good arm and good leg, the other limbs notably still on the dark leather cushions. He glared at his sling. “These injuries are really getting to me. I need to show you where your room is. I thought maybe you and your grandmother could share the suite downstairs, it has a slope to get down to the slider on the backside of the basement. If she can do stairs, then the front door leads down the hall and from there to the suite.” He glanced at her as he spoke, as if he didn’t want to scare her away.

  Moving around to the side, Kelsey grabbed his good arm and helped him evacuate the depth of the couch. By the time she had him standing with the crutch under his good arm, they were each breathing heavily. Kelsey wasn't just breathing from exertion. The awareness he brought out in her was more than exhausting.

  She hoped she would survive the next few weeks while she took the time to figure out what she was going to do. The most important thing in her survival plan was not losing her heart to a dirt biker, no matter how different he seemed from every other athlete out there. Her heart wasn’t smart.

  And sometimes neither was Kelsey.

  JT crutched down the hall in front of her, his broad shoulders enhanced by the dark lines in his shirt. He glanced over his shoulder at her, trying to see her while he talked. “I don't have to go upstairs for anything. My room is just past the door downstairs. I won't be able to go downstairs with you. Not quite ready for stairs yet.” He paused while walking to look more fully at her. His apologetic frown made her smile.

  “That's okay. I think I can find my way around. I don’t have any furniture.” She pushed at her sleeve as if something were there and avoided his gaze. “I forgot to ask you, if I needed anything.”

  “I ordered a hospital bed for your grandmother. The kind that goes up and down and stuff. Hopefully she'll be comfortable here. I’ll leave getting the nurse to you. If you need anything else, though, besides what’s down there, just let me know and we'll get it ordered.” He put his hand on Kelsey's arm and stopped her from disappearing downstairs.

  Kelsey swallowed and looked into his eyes. There was something there, something more than the playboy she kept expecting. There was something akin to understanding and more than just lust. He seemed interested in her as a person and that went a long way with her.

  JT side smiled. “Thank you again for helping me. I'm really excited to do this. And thank you for trusting me and for taking the time to rearrange your life. You have no idea how life-altering these next few weeks will be for me.”

  Kelsey swallowed. He had no idea how much he was helping her, but she couldn't voice it. Something held the words tight in her throat. She just nodded, but wanted to reach out and hug him before any tears fell. He was fast becoming a fixture in her life.

  AS FAST AS SHE COULD, Kelsey left the house. She didn’t even take the natural step to check out the downstairs. She sought to escape the emotional overload being around JT was proving to be.

  Due to pick up her grandmother in an hour, Kelsey opted to go early. The thirty-minute drive passed quickly while Kelsey pep-talked to herself. She could do the next few weeks. JT was just a patient. He was only a dirt biker who was paying her a disgusting amount of money to help him hit important goals.

  He was just a job.

  Except he wasn’t.

  She brushed the thought away. Kelsey had a job to do and daydreaming about JT wasn’t going to accomplish anything she had planned in her life. Nowhere in her plans did she have room for another athlete. Even one that looked like a cross between Scott Eastwood and Jeremy McGrath.

  Parking and entering the nursing facility blurred around her. She approached her grandma’s room with excitement and a little nervousness. Was she making the right choice? Honestly, it didn’t matter what her choice was at that point. Her decision was made for her with the sight of the packed bags on the end of her grandma’s bed.

  The sound of the door opening made Kelsey’s grandmother turn around. Her tight curls and slightly stooped posture didn’t dim the smile she flashed at her granddaughter. “Melissa! How was school, dear?”

  Getting her grandma out of there had to help with her recollection abilities. Kelsey smiled. “It was good. Are you ready to go for a little trip?” Melissa was Kelsey’s mother and she never had the strength to tell her grandma that she wasn’t Melissa.

  As long as Grandma saw Kelsey as Melissa, Kelsey’s mom was alive again. Kelsey needed that more than anything else sometimes.

  THE ALARM BUZZED LIKE a fire alarm at five am.

  After a quick shower and throwing her hair up into a ponytail, Kelsey dressed in relaxed scrubs. Scrubs were her clothing of choice. The ones she pulled from her drawers were black with white trim. She peeked in at her grandmother’s sleeping form and closed the door softly. The nurse would be there by six.

  Pulling on white tennis shoes, she didn’t want to wait to jog upstairs and get started in the kitchen. JT liked his coffee black, so she got the coffee maker working and went to his room to see if he was ready to wake up.

  His bedroom door was closed and she paused a moment to gather herself. It wasn’t like being at the hospital, which was going to make it hard for her to remember he was the patient. He’d made it difficult by allowing her to live with him, but the issues she was having were hers and she could push past them.

  She was helping him. He was a client. Not the inappropriate kind of client.

  Kelsey knocked softly on the door, no sound answering from inside. She knocked again harder. When no answer came, she softly turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

  Whispering at first, she peered into the dark. “JT, are you awake?” She edged into the room cautiously, light spilling inside from the kitchen and hall bulbs.

  A long, massive bed manned the wall opposite the door. The room was a huge square shape with the ornate dresser on one side and a bookshelf on the other.

  The bed was empty.

  How had he gotten out of there without her knowing? Where was he? She left his room and closed the door behind her. Standing quietly she listened for any movement. She wondered if he’d possibly made his way to the bathroom. The clinking of metal, however, pulled her down the hallway further from the kitchen.

  She followed the noise to a brightly lit room. Mirrors ran the length of one end, and weights and cardio equipment filled the large space. JT sat on the weight bench and used one leg to lift the seated bench press with light weights. His bad leg just rested to the side. His face was red and sweat ran down the side of his neck. He glanced up at Kelsey and grunted.

  Once he paused, he breathed heavy and said, “Glad to see you're here. I want to be able to do this with both legs again. What do I need to do?”

  Kelsey leaned against the doorjamb, crossing her arms. He was serious when he said he wanted to get better. She liked ambition and drive. She understood it. “First thing we need to do is look at your injuries. Then we’re going to do a light impact workout. In other words, not over-stimulate anything. After that, I’ll call your massage therapist and get your muscles loosened up after everything I put you through.” She threw the challenge on the ground with nonchalance.

  She could tell when he picked it up because he nodded and pushed himself up from the bench, stabilizing with the use of the tall dip machine beside him. “Tell me what to do. I even have a heated pool out back.”

  A pool? There were so many things she could do with that for him. “Hopefully you’re ready for this, because I'm going to push you. You're paying me to push you, so things are going to get really hard, really fast. I just want to make sure you’re aware of what we’re doing. It will not be easy.”

  JT set his jaw. He clenched the fingers of his good hand. “I want to get on the bike. I'll do whatever it takes to get there. Whatever it takes.” He narr
owed his gaze and tucked his chin. He would need that determination to push past the stress of his injuries, especially if he wanted to get on the dirt bike in just a few weeks.

  Kelsey could do whatever it took, but could he? She didn't want to hurt him.

  Pain was going to be his friend for the next three weeks.

  Chapter 9

  JT

  Four-thirty AM and JT's alarm dinged hard, but he slammed the snooze button and rolled over. He hurt. The pain was so real he couldn’t even moan.

  Two days of working with Kelsey and he could honestly say he’d never met a more demanding coach. Even his dad – when he’d deigned to coach JT – hadn’t been such a task master. Mike suddenly looked good in the coaching department.

  JT rubbed his eyes. His legs felt stronger, and while his sprained ankle wasn’t one-hundred percent, it wasn’t as unstable. He could move the fingers on the hand with the damaged wrist, which was saying a lot. His eyes drifted shut and, before he knew it, a knock on the door pulled him from his slumber.

  Jerking upright, JT stared blearily at the clock. Hadn’t he hit snooze? The dang thing should’ve only given him another fifteen minutes. Not thirty or forty. He glared at the clock, the red digits spelled out 5:30 AM. Wow, it gave him an hour. He must've turned it off on accident.

  The knock came again with a sharper edge to it.

  JT sighed. “Yeah, I'm coming.” He knew Kelsey was just trying to help him, but with his quads and back as sore as they were? His cranky side was showing.

  He pushed himself up with his good arm and swung his legs to the side. JT slept in boxer briefs and nothing else. His pants or socks would hinder him as he tried to move. When he stood, he grabbed the edge of the bed for support until he had his balance, making sure his ankle could tolerate a slight amount of pressure. Certain he wasn’t going to fall over, he stretched his arms up and yawned loudly. The muscles in his torso pulled, muscles he didn’t know he had.