Chapter 15 - Coffee talk

Dick almost called to cancel coffee with Kori. He could not believe his bad luck. He felt fine the day before and thought ironically that 'wild horses couldn't drag me away' from seeing her, but on the second day after unceremoniously being bucked off his young Dutch Warmblood, Dick was very, very sore.

So he iced his upper back, neck and right shoulder, then took a hot shower and some Advil. He felt like the Hunchback of Notre Dam and he carried himself very much as such.

Awkwardly Dick got ready for his date with Kori. But was it a date? Finally he was ready to leave, it seemed like it took him forever, but he wanted to be sure that he looked as good as possible especially under the circumstances. Dressed in jeans and a light blue oxford, he donned a beautifully tailored dark brown suede blazer and of course added sunglasses to complete his look. He got in his SUV and proceeded toward the hospital to the agreed upon meeting place.

TtTtTtTtTt

Kori had arrived early to the Starbucks to meet Dick. She settled in a table with a view outside so she could watch the world go by.

She had been very excited, but also very apprehensive. She wasn't sure that she would have even answered her phone two days ago had his name come up on caller i.d. rather than 'private caller.' She had been so certain initially when they had met that there was more than a passing attraction, but he was acting very much like the playboy she had heard about.

Mixed feelings was way to simple a term for what was going on.

But Kori did make sure she looked extremely good, just in case. Was there any harm in that? It was still a very cool April day and she wore a lavender cashmere sweater set and jeans that were (at least to her) a bit too tight but that that actually fit her perfectly. She left her hair completely down and curled the ends. She wore the lightest bit of lavender eyeshadow, some plum eyeliner and peach blush along with her standard mascara and lip gloss.

She sipped her tea quietly, waiting for him to arrive, looking very much forward to seeing his handsome face and wonderful blue eyes. Maybe now she'd get the chance to get to know him a little better.

TtTtTtTtTt

As Dick gingerly got out of his Escalade, he could see Kori in the front window of the Starbucks. She smiled and gave a wave, and he thought that it was a very good sign. He knew he had been acting really badly and in no way was showing Kori with any consistency that he cared about her, that he wanted to get to know her. But with what he perceived as hints so far, he couldn't figure out if she really wanted anything but friendship.

Kori considered him carefully as he walked toward her. Her expression changed to worry.

"You are damaged! How are you going to work?" she exclaimed as he got to the table, she stood up but suppressed the urge to hug him.

"I'm fine Kori, I'm fine." Dick said with a palms down, open hand gesture to settle her down.

"You insist you are fine when clearly you are not!" she replied.

"I'm fine, I'm just a little sore, that's all. I did switch off work with Victor though."

"You are not well enough to work but came to meet me anyway? What happened?"

"Its nothing, I just took a bit of a tumble..." Dick started to say with a blush, not wanting to admit he fell off his horse.

Kori took this as Dick not wanting to talk about the details.

"Richard, we can talk another time, you are clearly in pain. Let me walk you back your car" she said motioning him outside.

Dick flushed a bit, liking very much they way she called him Richard.

"Kori, I'm fine, I was hoping we could talk," he said insistently.

"We can talk later, Richard." Kori said stubbornly, "you can't be comfortable walking around like you are right now!"

He obediently walked back out of the Starbucks with her.

As they walked, she dropped back for a minute to analyze his movement. He kept going and suppressed a smirk. He was happy to have her so blatantly checking him out, he just wished it wasn't because of an injury.

She caught back up with him. "May I take a quick look?" she asked with a very serious face.

Dick stopped and looked at her and arched an eyebrow. Between calling him Richard and asking to 'take a quick look', no amount of pain could block some very pleasant thoughts.

"Okay, get in the back of the car, and let me get in the other side," Kori commanded when they got to the far edge of the parking lot where his car was.

A twinge of excitement hit Dick but he dispelled it as he ambled around to open the passenger side for Kori and then painfully walked around to let himself into the back seat after removing his suede jacket.

Once he was inside, Kori bounced onto her knees on the leather bench seat.

"Let me take a look," she said as she turned him toward her, feeling along his upper chest and shoulders. She knitted her brow and considered his physique. She was clinical but not completely detached when she was briefly examining him. He definitely had extremely well defined muscles. In spite of the way she was examining him and in spite of his discomfort, Dick was definitely getting aroused and considered that it might be a good time to start kissing her senseless.

"Okay, turn around," she instructed.

Guess it wasn't time for the kisses. So Dick complied, turning around. It was a bit of relief because he now was really blushing and his pants had gotten tight.

Kori did not seem to notice and again went over his muscles with her hands, this time in his neck, upper back, and shoulders. She instinctively found the area of the injury, all along the scapula and in complete spasm.

"Here we go," she said with certainty and began to work on the main part of the spasm in his right trapezius muscle.

"Wow, this is really bad," she said a short time later with compassion and sincerity.

She carefully dug her fingers into the center of the muscle spasm and worked in concentric circles, each time providing a strong pressure with the pads of her thumbs until the muscle fibers below it stopped their twitch.

Dick felt like he had died and gone to heaven. At each point where Kori was working it would be so painful but then with the deep pressure there would be a surge of relief bordering on pleasure when the spasm ended. He suppressed groans and continued to work very hard at not showing that he was enjoying her touch too much. He knew this was therapeutic, clinical laying of hands but he really wished it was more. And he could get completely used to it.

A couple times he started to say something, Kori shushed him in a kind tone, mumbling, "I have to concentrate." She worked for nearly a half hour.

Finally she felt no more spasm, and realized she was finished and smiled. "Better?"

Dick came out of his daze and croaked out, "Ah, much. Thanks," as he turned around to see her.

She smiled at him brightly. Now it was her turn not to blush.

"I welcome you." She was flustered enough to make a syntax error. "There are few problems Tamaranian acupressure will not solve," she added quickly.

The whole experience was odd. She had only meant it as a gesture of helping a friend, solving a clinical problem. Now, it completely dawned on her and Kori realized she was in the back seat of Dick's car, having been touching him for some time. Kori averted her gaze, checking her watch absently and eeped. It was nearly 3 PM.

"I have to run I am going to be late!"

"Kori, we didn't get a chance to talk - " Dick started.

"I know, I'm sorry, we will," Kori said, moving toward the car door. "I'm glad I can help though."

"Oh, you definitely helped. Thanks again." Dick said, smiling his best smile back.

"What are friends for? Now, go take a hot shower and no more ice. Take it easy and write yourself a script for a muscle relaxant if you absolutely have to."

"Thanks, Doctor," he teased as she jumped out of the car, not realizing that indeed she actually had an earned doctorate. It was then he realized that she used the dreaded 'f' word again. Was friendship really all she wanted? He really hoped not.

TtTtTtTtTt

I don't mean to go so slow, oh wait, maybe I do! At least I update pretty regularly. Next Chapter should be up within 24-48 hours.

Please review!