Healing His Heart Read Online Free Page A

full rights and privileges to practice right alongside of M.D.s. Actually, I think our training has the added advantage of what we learn to do with our hands. Which I'll show you if you're not too pigheaded."
    Indignation stiffened her shoulders and it occurred to Caleb that she'd offered her help freely. He stared at her a moment, his intuition warning him not to accept. Still, he found himself asking, "What are you going to do to me?"
    Rewarding his bravery with a smile, Julia said, "Let me show you. I need you to lie down here."
    Caleb complied slowly. This was a lousy idea. Any contact between himself and this particular woman had potential consequences for which he was unprepared. Just looking at her started a fire in him... and set his teeth on edge. He'd put a lot of effort into simplifying his life, and she was the embodiment of complications.
    Julia stood in front of him, waiting serenely, an expression of tolerant confidence on her face. She looked absurdly out of place in her soft lavender dress, and completely unaware of the fact. Caleb was struck with the thought that she'd suddenly found solid ground. If Julia was sure of anything, it was her skill as a physician.
    The afternoon sun blazed behind her, making a halo of her pale hair. Understanding clicked in Caleb's head. She loved what she did with a passion fueled by innocence. In her, he saw himself ten years before, eager to save the wounded.
    Tension coiled in his body. Julia Adams was an idealistic physician, and an osteopath, at that. Absolutely the last female he should let touch him.
    Caleb abruptly lowered himself to the planked floor.
    Ignoring prudence, he stretched out on the subflooring in front of her. His body felt like a furnace. Yes, she was a doctor, and yes, he needed complications like a hole in the head. Yet, just the thought of her touch sent a wave of pleasurable anticipation surging through him. Maybe it would be worth the risk.
    She stood over him, her shoulder-length hair fluffed wildly in the humid, airless afternoon. From his position on the subflooring, he could see the tender underside of her chin and the creamy skin of her throat. Caleb forced his gaze to the passionless blue sky above him and prayed.
    With the resurgence of the nightmares had come dreams of having Julia beneath him, hot, naked and willing. Mindless, ruthless dreams of losing himself in her warm, soft body. In his dreams, neither of them had lives beyond the bedroom door. No conflicts, no complications.
    They made him crazy, these dreams. Naturally, they had a rousing effect on his hormones, but there was more to it. Something that left him feeling strange the morning after-isolated and walled-off from the world.
    Julia placed the heels of her palms on his hips just below the waist of his jeans. "The first thing we do before we attempt any manipulation is check your pelvis to see if it's level."
    She was going to... manipulate him? Oh, God. Caleb determinedly ignored the sensation of her hands, warm against the worn denim of his jeans.
    "Well, looks pretty good here. Let's do some stretching and see what we get." She straightened. "Roll over on your side."
    He rolled over, bracing himself.
    With accustomed ease, she positioned his upper leg, knee bent over the lower. Easing his lower shoulder toward her, Julia arranged his body in a lengthwise pretzel twist.
    Bracing one hand on Caleb's bare shoulder, Julia grasped hold of his belt loop with her other hand and pulled down firmly. Her body leaned into him as his bent knee dropped over the edge of the subfloor.
    Caleb's body twisted with surprising ease, resulting in three small popping sounds, one after another.
    "What the heck!" He tensed, startled.
    "Feels funny the first time, doesn't it?" Julia smiled, rolling him back on the flooring before she stepped back.
    "Unnatural is more like it." He stretched experimentally.
    "It's pretty much the same phenomenon as knuckles popping. It sounds like something solid