“Yeah. The staff at the hospital told me what to do postsurgery.”
“Until you could get yourself into more expert hands?”
He flashed a grin. “You. Right.”
She might totally be his type if she wasn’t so thorny...and since she was related to him by marriage, a casual fling was out of the question. Still, there were layers there, and he enjoyed trying to peel them back.
Sera set aside his paperwork and approached him, her expression all business. “Okay, I’m going to unwrap your knee.”
For all her prickliness up to now, her touch was light as she removed his bandages. When the bandage was off, they both studied his knee.
“Good news.”
“Great.”
“No signs of infection and very little bleeding.” She pressed on his knee as he remained in a sitting position on the table but leaned back propped up by his arms.
“Am I hurting you?” she asked, not looking up.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Manly.”
“We hockey players are built tough.”
“We’ll see.” She continued to press and manipulate his knee.
“I’m your first. Otherwise you’d know.”
“I’ve never been curious about how tough hockey players are.”
“You’re mentally disciplined.”
“We physical therapists are built tough.”
Jordan smiled. “Built pretty, too.”
“Behave.”
“Right.”
Then she reached over to the counter for an instrument. “I’m going to take some baseline measurements so we know where you are.”
“Great.” He waited as she straightened his knee a little, measured, and then bent his leg and measured again.
After putting the measuring instrument aside, she said, “Okay, not a bad starting point considering your knee has been wrapped since surgery. Our goal today is to improve your quad function and the mobility of the patella, among other things.”
“What’s a patella?”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Your kneecap.”
“Of course.”
“Let me know if I’m causing you too much pain.”
Her tone was surprisingly solicitous, so he joked, “Isn’t that what you promised? Pain?”
“Only the intended and expected variety.”