Beyond The Music (The Rock Gods Book 7) (7 page)

“Fuck you!” Lincoln yelled. “Try putting this on the other foot, asshole, and see how well you’d deal with this much change and disruption to your life!”

Spumoni sat down beside Lincoln on the couch. “Look, I know this sucks and I really wish your diagnosis had been different, but it wasn’t and all you can do is deal with the cards you’ve been dealt.”

Lincoln grabbed on to his head. “Jesus fucking Christ. I don’t know where to go from here.”

“Let Aaron do his job.” Spumoni’s voice was softer now. “Trust him and he’ll take you where you need to be.”

“Trust?” Lincoln scoffed. “That’s never been an easy thing for me.”

“I know,” Spumoni said. “You’ve hidden yourself away in this fortress for a few years now, but it’s time to let someone inside, Linc. I know that sounds like a cliché, but your shit just got about as real as it can possibly get and you need to deal with it.”

Aaron approached the living room couch. He held a small notepad in his hand. “I’ve made some notes for what I’ll need in order to work with you, Lincoln. I’ll get these changes made in a manner that will be as painless and unnoticeable as possible. I promise.”

“And no one will know?” Lincoln asked.

“Complete confidentiality. It goes with the territory,” Aaron added. “You have my word.”

Spumoni reached over and squeezed Lincoln’s shoulder before he stood up. “I’m going to leave you in Aaron’s capable hands,” he said. “And I’ll come back tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”

“That’s good,” Aaron said. “I want to do a physical assessment on Lincoln to see where our starting point is.”

And just like that Lincoln had himself a personal nurse? There had to be a catch in this somewhere that he was missing. Maybe Aaron wasn’t who he said he was and had no intention of really helping him, but draining out his bank accounts in the guise of helping. Then again, Spumoni said Alex had used Aaron, so he couldn’t be that bad. Could he? Lincoln eyed Aaron with suspicion as Aaron made a few more notes in his pad. If Lincoln was going to be spending a lot of time with this dude, it was time Lincoln got to know him better.

Aaron pushed the pad of paper into the back pocket of his loose fitting jeans and approached Lincoln. “I think I should properly introduce myself to you, Lincoln,” he said and extended his hand to Lincoln. “I’m Aaron Baylor and it is very nice to meet you. Spumoni speaks quite highly of you.”

This time Lincoln took his hand and noted the softness of the man’s palm and his long tapered fingers. He also liked the firm grip of Aaron’s handshake, too.

“I left my gear out in my car,” Aaron said. “Let me go get it and I’ll get the preliminary exam out of the way.”

Lincoln nodded and watched Aaron start to leave the room. Impressive shoulders led to a narrow waist and hips which fed into an ass that made Lincoln want to sigh out loud. He managed to stop himself before the sound left his throat. So, the guy was fucking gorgeous. It still didn’t mean Aaron would be able to help Lincoln. Far as Lincoln was concerned, Aaron had one day to leave his mark or he’d be kicked to the curb.

“Leaving his mark” probably wasn’t the best way to describe this situation because it brought to mind all the various ways Aaron might be able to leave his mark on Lincoln, some of which were sexual, and that could never happen. Still, it piqued Lincoln’s interest that he’d noticed Aaron in that way at all. How long had it been since the physical details of anyone had registered in Lincoln’s mind?

Aaron slipped out of sight around the corner on his way out to the pool area to collect his things. Lincoln used the time alone to search his memory for the last time he’d taken someone to bed. Jesus, it had been a long time since he’d gotten laid. Two years maybe? And then there were the failed attempts at sex that came after that which he wished he could forget all about but couldn’t. Humiliating would be putting it mildly. It had been a few months since he’d even had an interest in jerking off, but that wasn’t all his fault.

Thinking about it like that made Lincoln feel pretty fucking pathetic. How had his life become this fucked up and sad? Spumoni was right in the sense he really had locked himself inside the house and given up on being interactive in life outside of his band. And if he were to be honest about that, it felt like he was also going through the motions with the music, too. Somewhere along the way Lincoln had given up and admitting that to himself hurt like fuck.

Jesus, when did I stop being present in my own life?

A moment after the thought registered in Lincoln’s mind, Aaron returned carrying something that looked like a medical bag, a laptop case, and something else that reminded Lincoln of a folding table with a handle. Aaron set the medical bag onto the coffee table in front of Lincoln and leaned the table against one of the leather recliner chairs positioned beside the couch.

Lincoln’s eyes followed Aaron moving around his living room organizing his supplies. The short sleeves of the white polo shirt Aaron wore hugged his biceps nicely and stretched across his shoulders and chest. Again, Lincoln was noticing details about this man that he shouldn’t, but the fact Aaron was stirring things inside Lincoln that he thought were dead was intriguing. His eyes were staring at Aaron’s ass again when he realized Aaron was looking over his shoulder at him.

Lincoln cleared his throat. “Spumoni told me you worked with Alex Metcalf?” Lincoln asked. “How’d that go?”

Aaron turned around and completely faced Lincoln. “I’m sorry, but I’m not at liberty to disclose the names of my clients. However, if you need a list of references I can see about providing some names of clients that wouldn’t mind if you contact them.”

Lincoln’s lips turned up into a half grin. “Good answer,” he said. Confidentiality wasn’t all that far away from trust and Aaron seemed to be a small step closer to earning the one thing Lincoln had such difficulty giving to anyone: trust.

Aaron smiled, too. “Did I pass your first test?”

“So far so good,” Lincoln answered. “But I’ll keep you posted.”

Aaron tipped his head back with a laugh that exposed his throat and Lincoln felt that odd sensation again in the pit of his stomach. It made all the fine hairs on Lincoln’s skin stand up at attention.

“I can work with that,” Aaron said, the remnants of a grin still visible.

Lincoln nodded in return and did his best to curb the smile that wanted to light his entire face. The jury was still out on Aaron and Lincoln needed to keep reminding himself of that. Lincoln might be in a weakened physical state, but he wasn’t weak, and there was a big difference between the two.

Chapter Six

Aaron sat down on the couch beside Lincoln and reached inside his medical bag. He removed a stethoscope and draped it around his neck, then went back for a blood pressure cuff. “Are you okay with me touching you?” Aaron asked.

Lincoln shrugged with ambivalence and said, “Do whatever you gotta do.”

Aaron took Lincoln’s muscled arm, wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his bicep and began to pump up the pressure. “How do you feel about hiring a meal delivery service?” Aaron asked as he placed the two ear tips of the stethoscope into his ears and pressed the chest-piece to the underside of Lincoln’s forearm.

“Do you have a problem with me eating takeout or what’s already in my kitchen?” Lincoln asked.

“Meal delivery is sort of like takeout, except the food is healthier,” Aaron said. “And healthier is what we’re trying to achieve. I wouldn’t say what you currently have in your kitchen is in that category.”

Aaron’s voice wasn’t snide or demeaning, but Lincoln could still feel the tension beginning to seep into his muscles. He was doing his level best to roll with this, and he wasn’t stupid enough to think it would be a completely smooth ride, but Aaron was already starting to piss him off. Lincoln had never been the kind of guy that embraced change with great joy—he tolerated it as best as he could. Now Aaron was in his house initiating all sorts of changes that he knew were in his best interest if he wanted to stay working with his band, but Lincoln was having great difficulty accepting this. He was about to say something snarky to Aaron when Spumoni’s voice rang inside his head, telling Lincoln to open himself to what Aaron had to offer. Lincoln grit his teeth together and swallowed down the bitter taste Aaron was putting there.

Aaron wrote down the numbers from the blood pressure check and said, “Your BP is normal and your heart sounds good and the beats per minute are right on track, too.”

Aaron pressed against one of Lincoln’s shoulders and partially turned him to face Aaron. His hands settled on both sides of Lincoln’s neck and their eyes met. The warmth Lincoln felt from that simple touch made him flinch and look away.

“Relax for me.” Aaron’s voice was a smooth, velvety rumble. His fingers began to knead the muscles in the side of Lincoln’s neck, tipping his head from side to side before his fingers moved to his throat. “Swallow for me.”

Lincoln did what he was asked, but the closer proximity of Aaron couldn’t be ignored. Lincoln noticed the tiny flecks of gold and amber around Aaron’s irises and realized his eyes were a unique shade of hazel and not a honey colored brown as he originally thought. Jesus, between the gorgeous eye color framed with the dark brown eyelashes, Aaron truly was breathtaking to look at.

“Your thyroid feels good, and the glands are all normal,” Aaron said and jotted the new information onto a work sheet that would become Lincoln’s new medical file. When he finished, he set his pen down and looked back up at Lincoln. As soon as their eyes met again, Lincoln felt his face heat.

“So, how do you feel about the meal delivery?” Aaron asked again.

With their knees almost touching on the couch Lincoln was having trouble concentrating. “I suppose I could get meals delivered,” Lincoln stated. “I think Alex uses a service. I’ll ask him the name of the company and see if he has the phone number.”

“Actually, I work closely with a company that uses only organic products and caters specifically to the health needs of each of my clients,” Aaron said. “I can give them a call and get you started.” Aaron moved the chest-piece to the center of Lincoln’s chest to listen to his lungs.

Lincoln’s brows knit together. “Sounds like you’ve got quite the racket going for yourself,” Lincoln commented. “Do you get a kick-back for every new customer you bring to them?”

Aaron seemed to study Lincoln for a few seconds before he spoke. “Not only would that be morally wrong, it would also be unethical and that’s not how I work,” Aaron replied. “I’m more concerned with helping a client find a healthier way of living. Finding the right path and the correct balance in life is extremely important and you achieving that means success for both of us. Do you understand what I’m saying? Diet and exercise is only the physical side of this journey, Lincoln. What I’m going to give to you is much deeper than that.”

Lincoln narrowed his eyes cynically. Aaron was talking like a typical Californian gym-rat, whose sole purpose in life was keeping the purity in his body. Aaron wasn’t overly muscled and what he did have didn’t appear to be enhanced by steroid use, but the sermon spilling from Aaron’s mouth sounded all “health-nut preacher” to Lincoln. How much of that bullshit Aaron expected he’d be able to rub off on Lincoln was an entirely different story, but one Lincoln was curious to see how it played out. Lincoln was only willing to go to a certain point with this health crap. After that, all bets were off. Until then, it made sense to learn more about this man sitting inches away from him.

“How’d you get the scar?” Lincoln blurted before he could stop himself from asking.

“That was random,” Aaron replied with a smile.

“Sorry, sometimes I don’t have much of a filter,” Lincoln said.

Aaron’s fingers unconsciously rubbed at his cheek with the scar. “I got this from a bar fight back in my twenties,” he answered. “A guy caught my face with the broken end of a beer bottle because he thought I was hitting on his girlfriend.”

“Were you?” Lincoln questioned further.

“Hardly,” Aaron replied. “But you know how intense and volatile things can get when you’re young, dumb, and in your twenties.”

“How old are you now?” Lincoln prodded.

“That’s another random and not so subtle question,” Aaron joked.

“Well, you claimed to have almost two decades of experience,” Lincoln said. “I’m curious how old you could be to have that much experience so young.”

“I’m thirty-nine.” Aaron tipped his head a little to one side and he touched his lips as if trying to hide his smile. “That sounds like a fake age, like when women claim to be thirty-nine well into their sixties. But I really am thirty-nine.”

“You don’t look thirty-nine, but I suppose that comment sounds fake, too.” Lincoln grinned.

“I’ve been working as a nurse since I was twenty-one,” Aaron explained. “Then found my way into the private in-home nursing gig when I was thirty.”

Aaron stood up from the couch and lightly pressed on Lincoln’s chest. “I’m going to have you lie down so I can check your range of motion, and while I do that, I’m going to ask you some basic health questions. Anything you don’t feel comfortable answering, just tell me and I’ll move on.”