Treatment continued.

Jessica shifted carefully to give Spencer room to turn over, lifting her weight just enough that he could roll onto his back without disturbing the towel draped across his waist. It took him longer than it should have. Every movement reminded him just how badly he'd abused his shoulder during the day, and he couldn't suppress a grunt as he settled onto the mattress once more.

"There," Jessica said quietly, adjusting the towel to ensure it remained securely in place. "Comfortable?"

"As I'm going to be,” Spencer said truthfully.

Jessica couldn’t help but laugh at the whole situation.

“What?” he asked being unable to not start smiling either.

“Look at this?” Jessica holding her hands out to indicate the pair of them. “Bet you didn’t think I’m end up on your lap with no clothes on this evening?”

“That was not on my bingo card for today, you’re right.”

“Well at least I didn’t make you hard this time,” Jessica laughed again giving her hips a little wiggle.

“Stop that!” Spencer swore, his hands coming up quickly onto Jessica thigh to stop her moving.

“Sorry. I’ll keep it professional, Spencer. The Goddess in me tries to take over some times.”

Returning to her treatment once more, Jessica poured another generous squirm of massage oil out onto her hands from the bottle beside her and started to rub it onto Spencer’s broad chest. She didn’t bother removing his hands from her legs, in fact she liked how Spencer suddenly gripped her tighter as her oily fingers brushed over his nipples.

Spencer tried to think of all sorts of things other than the attractive PE teacher on top of him. It was inevitable after Jessica had wiggled her hips on top of him that his cock would start to rise. Blood flowing into the space between them and made his cock harden and start to stand up. The situation becoming worse when Jessica started to work on his shoulder from the front this time. She had to lean forward over Spencer so they were almost face to face, Jessica long black hair cascading down onto his face.

Spencer found his breathing starting to pick up. Jessica using her hips to push back onto Spencer’s crotch with harder and longer movements. It felt as if she was grinding herself straight onto his lap. It felt… incredible.

After one particularly forceful movement, Spencer couldn’t hold in a moan any longer. Hands shot up to Jessica’s hips and he pulled her tight to him as he thrust deliberatly and needfully.

Jessica for her part leaned back up and moved one hand behind her, rubbing on the sensitive flesh of Spencers inner thigh, just below the edge of the towel. She looked down at Spencer naked body underneath her and started to roll her hips consciously and seductive.

They stared up at each other, as if each was daring the other to be the one to pull the towel away from between them. For just a heartbeat, neither of them looked away.

Then—

Bzzz… Bzzz…

The sharp vibration of Spencer’s mobile phone on the floor in the pocket of his pants shattered the moment.

Both of them blinked. Unable to look at each other any further. Spencer glanced towards the location of the noise. Jessica looked anywhere but at Spencer. Still, she didn’t get off him.

An electronic voice called out Facetime from Danielle.

Neither of them spoke. The phone continued vibrating insistently. Jessica slowly leaned back, creating a little more space between them.

“You should probably get that,” she said quietly.

Easing himself from underneath her, Spencer got up and stretched himself out towards the edge of the bed putting his feet down. He bent down and found the still ringing phone in his discarded trousers. Spencer looked at the phone for another second.

As he’d done that, Jessica had rolled herself to the other side of the bed. She got up and silently started to tiptoe to the ensuite bathroom to give Spencer freedom to answer Dani’s called. He turned back and looked at teacher. Then, without taking his eyes off Jessica, he reached over and pressed the button that silenced the call.

The room fell quiet again. A second later the screen went dark. Jessica raised an eyebrow.

“You ignored your girlfriend.”

“It can wait.” The words were simple, but as soon as they were spoken, Spencer realised how they sounded.

Jessica noticed too. She studied him for a moment before giving a small, measured smile. “She’ll probably ring back.”

“Probably.”

Another silence settled between them. This one wasn’t as comfortable. Neither of them had crossed the line completely, yet, but they’d come perilously close.

“It wouldn’t have looked good,” Spencer said at last. “You’ve got no pants on.”

“You’re naked,” Jessica agreed. Starting to smile.

“I’ve an erection,” Spencer laughed.

“I’m… very wet.” Jessica admitted, laughed too.

The tension was broken thanks to their laughter.

“I’ll get dressed again,” Spencer said simply.

“Good idea. I’ll put my pants back on too.”

They both started to get dressed again, embarrassed that they’d come so close to a boundary they couldn’t cross back over once they’d broken it. Before Spencer put his shirt back on though, Jessica insisted that she strap his shoulder up with kinesiology tape to hold everything in place.

Jessica rested her hands lightly on either side of Spencer’s shoulder, studying the fresh tape she’d just applied.

“There,” she said with quiet satisfaction. “That should remind you every time you think about lifting something heavier than a coffee mug.”

Spencer looked down at the bright strips across his shoulder. “I’ll probably ignore it.”

“I know.”

“But you’ll be disappointed if I do.”

She met his eyes. “Yes.”

A soft knock interrupted the quiet.

“Dad?”

Jessica instinctively leaned back, her hands leaving Spencer’s shoulder as though she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’. Even though this time here was nothing improper about it.

“The door’s open,” Spencer called.

Amy pushed it open just enough to poke her head around the frame. Her eyes flicked from her father, sitting comfortably on the bed with fresh kinesiology tape across his shoulder, to Jessica sitting cross-legged near the foot of the mattress with her treatment bag open beside her.

“Everything okay?”

Spencer flexed his fingers experimentally before rolling his shoulder a fraction.

“Much better, actually.”

Jessica smiled. “He’ll still be sore tomorrow, but at least he’ll be able to move.”

Amy nodded approvingly. “I figured.” She hesitated for a moment before adding, “I was just coming to say goodnight.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Night, Dad.”

She looked towards Jessica.

“Goodnight, Miss Wolfe… and thanks for fixing him.”

Jessica laughed. “I’ve only repaired today’s damage. Tomorrow’s is entirely up to him.”

Amy rolled her eyes dramatically. “So… fifty-fifty, then?”

“Optimistic,” Jessica replied.

Spencer put a hand over his heart. “You two have very little faith in me.”

“Experience,” Amy answered with a grin.

Father and daughter exchanged identical smiles before Amy stepped back into the hallway.

“Night.”

“Love you,” Spencer said.

“Love you too.”

The bedroom door closed gently behind her. Neither of them spoke right away until there was a sound of Amy’s door closing over the other side of the house. The farmhouse settled into its familiar nighttime rhythm, the faint hum of the refrigerator from the kitchen, the distant chirping of crickets outside, and little else.

Jessica glanced towards the bedroom door. “We’re officially the last two people awake.”

Spencer smiled.

“It’s a peaceful house.”

“It wasn’t always.”

“No?”

He shook his head. “When Amy was little, silence usually meant she’d found something she shouldn’t.”

Jessica laughed. “That’s every child.”

“I once found her trying to wash our old dog with strawberry milk.”

Jessica blinked. “Why strawberry milk?”

“Apparently we’d run out of shampoo.”

She burst into laughter, the sound warm and genuine. “I don’t think they cover that in parenting books.”

“They leave out all the interesting chapters.”

Jessica found herself studying him for a moment.

“What?”

“You smile differently when you talk about Amy.”

He looked faintly surprised. “Do I?”

“It’s… softer.”

He considered that. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Jessica’s expression softened. “I can tell.

Jessica looked at him for another moment after he said it. There was no bravado in Spencer's voice. No attempt to impress her. It was simply a father talking about his daughter, and Jessica realised that was probably the thing that had always drawn people to him. Not the confidence. Not the money he had once earned in Washington. Not the stories about the powerful people he'd met. It was this. The way he spoke about Amy as if she was the centre of his entire world.

"You know," Jessica said quietly, "when I first met you, I never would have guessed this was the man hiding underneath."

Spencer smiled faintly. "What did you think?"

She considered her answer. "Honestly? I thought you were intimidating."

He laughed. "Me?"

"Absolutely." She smiled. "You walked into Carter Junior High wearing that expensive suit, barely spoke to anyone, always looked like you were thinking about something ten years away. Half the teachers thought you were some important government person who'd been sent there temporarily."

"I was a lobbyist."

"Exactly. Which meant nobody knew what to do with you."

Spencer looked down at his hands. "That version of me feels like someone else now."

Jessica studied him carefully. "Do you miss him?"

The question surprised him. For a while Spencer didn't answer. "I miss parts of him," he admitted. "I miss being good at what I did. I miss feeling like I was making a difference. But..." He glanced around the bedroom, then towards the window overlooking the lake. "I don't miss who I was becoming."

Jessica nodded slowly. "Kirstin?"

The mention of his late wife changed the atmosphere slightly. Not painfully, but noticeably.

"Yeah," Spencer said softly. "After she died, I think I spent years just surviving. Amy needed me. Work needed me. Everyone kept telling me how strong I was." He gave a small humourless laugh. "The truth was, I wasn't strong. I was just busy enough that I didn't have time to fall apart."

Jessica's expression softened. "And this place?"

"This place gave me somewhere to breathe."

She looked around the room again. "I think that's why people notice you're different now."

"People?"

Jessica smiled. "The mothers at school. The teachers. Even Amy's friends. They all talk about you."

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Hopefully good things."

"Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Well, you do have a reputation for being impossible to give advice to and are stubborn to all hell."

He laughed. "That sounds about right."

The silence, comfortable again, settled between them.

Jessica picked up her bag and walked towards the doorway, pausing before exiting. "Spencer?"

"Yeah?"

"Tonight… thank you."

"For what?"

"For trusting me."

Spencer chuckled. He didn’t feel quite that trustworthy after he’d come so close to throwing himself at Jessica. “You’re welcome.”

“See you Thursday evening for a ‘weekly’ check-up. No excuses.” Jessica pointed her finger at Spencer to show she meant business.

Jessica disappeared down the hallway a moment later, leaving Spencer alone in the quiet of his bedroom. For a long time, he simply stood there. The house had returned to normal. Amy was asleep. The fire outside was slowly dying. The lake beyond the window was still and dark. Everything was exactly as it had been an hour earlier.

Except it wasn't. Because now Spencer knew something he hadn't wanted to admit. Jessica Wolfe wasn't just attractive. She wasn't just someone who made him laugh or someone who challenged him when he needed it. She saw him. Not the former lobbyist. Not the man everyone expected him to be. Not even the father everyone praised him for being.

Just Spencer.

And somehow that felt far more dangerous than anything that had happened earlier that night.