Montana Sky

salon. You havefabulous skin, the coloring . . . but where did you get all these bruises?”
    “Pulling calves.”
    “Pulling . . . oh, you work on a ranch. That’s exciting, isn’t it? Is it a family operation?”
    Willa gave up, let the layers of skin be scraped away. “It is now.”
     
    T HE NEXT TIME WILLA SAW TESS , SHE , WILLA , WAS FLAT ON her back again, naked again, unless you counted the warm, thick brown mud that was being slowly smoothed all over her. Tess poked a head in the door, took one look, and burst into deep, bubbling laughter.
    “You’re going to pay for this, Hollywood.” Christ, the woman was painting hot mud on her tits. On her tits!
    “Correction, Mercy’s already paying. And you’ve never looked lovelier.”
    “I’m sorry, ma’am,” the new consultant said, “these are private rooms.”
    “It’s okay, we’re sisters.” Tess leaned against the doorjamb, looking right at home in her white terry-cloth robe and plastic slippers. “I’ve got a facial in five. Just thought I’d see how you were holding up.”
    “I’ve been lying down since I got here.”
    “You really want to try the steam room if you have time between treatments. What have you got on next?”
    “I have no idea.”
    “I believe Ms. Mercy is scheduled for a facial next as well. The one-hour Bio Treatment.”
    “Oh, that’s a honey,” Tess remembered. “Well, enjoy. Lily’s getting the full-body facial in the next room. She’s whimpering in pleasure right now. See you.”
    “You came with your sisters,” the consultant said when Tess closed the door.
    “So to speak.”
    The consultant smiled and painted mud on Willa’s face. “Isn’t that nice.”
    Willa gave up and closed her eyes. “So to speak.”
    • • •
    W ILLA GOT BACK TO THE SUITE AFTER SIX , ALL BUT crawling, as her legs were so limp and loose they didn’t seem willing to hold weight. She could have whimpered herself and hated to admit that it, too, would have been from pleasure. Her body felt so light, so pampered, so relaxed that her mind simply had no choice but to follow suit.
    Maybe the fifteen-minute steam bath with a bunch of other naked women after her full hour massage had been a bit of overkill. But she’d lost her head.
    “There you are.” Tess was just popping the cork on a bottle of champagne when Willa walked in. “Lily and I had just decided we wouldn’t wait for you.”
    “Oh, you look wonderful.” Still wrapped in her robe, Lily got up from the sofa and clasped her hands together. “You’re positively glowing.”
    “I don’t think I can move. That guy, that massage guy, Derrick, I think he did something to me.”
    “You had a man?” Eyes wide, Lily hurried over to lead Willa to the couch. “For a full-body massage?”
    “Wasn’t I supposed to?”
    “My massage therapist was a woman, I just assumed . . .” She trailed off as Tess handed her a flute.
    “I ordered a female for you, Lily. I thought you’d be more comfortable.” She passed another flute to Willa. “And I requested a male for Willa because I thought she should start getting used to what it feels like to have a man get his hands on her—even in perfectly professional surroundings.”
    “If I wasn’t afraid I’d melt if I tried to stand up again, I’d punch you for that.”
    “Honey, you should be thanking me.” With her own glass, Tess eased onto the arm of the sofa. “So was it great or what?”
    Willa sipped the wine. She’d downed enough water to sink a battleship and the change to bubbles with a kick was glorious. “Maybe.” She sipped again, let her head fall back. “He looked like Harrison Ford, and he rubbed my feet. God. And there was this place just above my shoulder blades.”She shuddered. “He used his thumbs. He had incredible thumbs.”
    “You know what they say about thumbs on a man.” Smirking, Tess lifted her glass, toasted when Willa bothered to open one eye. “I’ve noticed that Ben has very . . . large . . . thumbs.”
    “Isn’t noticing Nate enough for you?”
    “Sleeping with Nate’s enough for me. But I’m a writer. Writers notice details.”
    “Adam has wonderful thumbs.” The minute Lily heard herself say it, she choked and went beet-red. “I mean, he has good hands. That is, I mean, they’re very . . .” She snickered at herself, gave up. “Long. Could I have some more?”
    “You bet.” Tess bounced up, grabbed the bottle. “A couple more and maybe