Usha is intrigued

"I hear you are something of a massage prodigy." The look Usha gave him expressed a world of doubt. "Who did you train with?"

"Well... I sort of figured things out on my own."

"So basically you've been using your good looks to convince women you can massage with no actual ability at all?"

Whoa. Rick had thought Asian women were supposed to be submissive and respectful of males. Apparently Usha hadn't gotten that e-mail. "I don't think that's fair."

"Real masseurs undergo hundreds of hours of training."

"Right. Well, I missed those. So, if you were leaving, I'll lock the door after you."

She stepped closer to him and thumped him on the chest with a tiny fist. "Not so fast, Romeo. I want to see what you're pitching as massage. Because if you can't do the job, we need to find someone who can."

"I can do the job." Rick had let himself become invested in this job, just as he'd invested in bio-DNA. If he got fired from this as well, he really would hit rock bottom. He'd already come close to maxing out his credit card so he wouldn't even have the resources he'd started with, scanty as those were.

"Talk is cheap. Show me."

Well, he could do that. He showed her into his (or what he hoped would still be his) massage room. Kat and Usha had repainted the walls but left it bare of decoration. the massage table was still standing but covered with a drop cloth.

He yanked off the drop cloth, folded it, and turned to face Usha.