“I’ll never forget the adorable pout in your voice when you talked about how your mom accidentally sold your lunchbox in the annual community yard sale,” Chaz said. “I think I loved the little air quotes you used even more.”
“Wow,” I replied, setting the lunchbox on the blanket. “No one has ever bought me a gift as thoughtful as this one. I love it so much.” Yeah, I dorkily ran my hand over the top of it and admired its pristine condition.
“It even has the matching thermos,” Chaz told me.
“Shut up!” I opened the lunchbox, and there it sat. Finding the old lunchboxes in good condition was hard enough, but seldom did you find one with the matching thermos too. “Thank you for this, Chaz.” I was overcome with ridiculous emotion and bit my lip before I embarrassed myself further. Comic books and cartoons had been my friends when I had none to speak of in real life. They were my safe place that was free of judgment. Chaz didn’t just give me a housewarming gift; he gave me back a piece of the happiest part of my childhood. I cleared my throat and said, “And all I was going to give you was an orgasm.”
Chaz snorted. “Is that all?” he asked sarcastically. “I happen to be a very big fan of orgasms with you.” He set my gift aside and crawled across the blanket to straddle my lap. Chaz whipped off his shirt and said, “Do me, Dr. Dimples.”
The hunger he ignited inside me burned hotter each time I got my hands on him. I especially loved it when Chaz took the lead like he did that night. He aggressively removed my shirt and pushed me to my back. Chaz took his time making love to my mouth before he trailed his lips down the rest of my body. The pace kicked up a notch, or two, once Chaz unsnapped my jeans and used his amazing mouth on my cock. A man only had so much restraint before he snapped.
I fisted Chaz’s hair and pulled him off my dick. “I want to come inside you.”
Chaz’s smoldering eyes told me how much he liked the idea. I helped him undress the rest of the way then pulled out the condoms and lube packets I stored in my back pocket. Chaz knocked my hand away when I moved to stretch him. Instead, he worked himself open hastily then straddled my erection. He knew what he wanted, and he was going to take it.
He moved slowly up and down my cock until his clench adjusted to my penetration then he rode me fast and hard. Chaz lost in the throes of passion and lust was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. He threw back his head and made guttural, primal noises as his erect cock bounced and slapped against his stomach. I tucked my hands beneath my head and let him do whatever he pleased with my body until I saw the signs that he was about to come.
Chaz loudly protested when I grabbed him by the hips and lifted him off my cock. “I want to feel you inside me.” It took a second for my words to penetrate Chaz’s lust-fogged brain, but he eagerly reached for a condom and lube packet once it did. I spread my legs apart and began working my puckered hole while he suited and slicked up.
He leaned over my body and captured my lips when he slowly pushed inside me. “I won’t last long,” Chaz whispered against my lips.
“Won’t take much,” I replied with a crooked smile. Chaz snapped his hips forward and tagged my prostate hard enough to make me yell in pleasure. “God yes!” I cried out as desire hummed throughout my body. Chaz pushed my legs up until my knees almost touched my chest and hammered in and out of me. “Chaz!” I yelled as my orgasm hit me like a ton of bricks and I came hard. “I never…” I couldn’t finish my sentence as the pleasure rolled over me. I’d never come from penetration alone before, and it was something I couldn’t wait to experience again.
“Kyle.” I loved the sound of my name on my man’s lips when he climaxed. He collapsed on top of me, not caring that he lay in my cum. I held Chaz tightly to me and smiled up at the ceiling when he practically purred against my chest. Once he caught his breath, he lifted up enough to look down at me and smiled before he licked the cum that splattered my chin. “Cum catcher,” he said after licking my chin dimple clean.
“I’m perfectly fine if you don’t blurt that nickname in public,” I told him. We shared a laugh about the times he overshared about my nickname and the way he felt about me. “You ready to tour my home? I have a surprise for you.”
“For me? This delicious dinner and dessert was special enough,” he replied.
“Okay, it’s more of a gift for myself, so I hope you’ll indulge me,” I said. Chaz rolled off me, sat up, and reached for his clothes. “You won’t need those. There are no neighbors to see us unless you count the woodland creatures.”
Chaz tossed his clothes back down on the blanket and rose to his feet. “I don’t care if they perv on us.”
I took Chaz by the hand and led him to the room upstairs I wanted him to see. I was nervous as hell when I opened the door and flipped on the light. “You can’t see it now because it’s dark, but this room has an amazing view of the pond. I thought you might find it inspirational.”
Chaz didn’t respond because he was too busy looking around the surprise I set up for him. “Kyle,” he said breathlessly as he stared at the desk and chair I picked up after my closing. Then his eyes shifted to the canvas print of his book covers I hung on the wall. “How did you have time to do all of this?”
“Careful planning, a pickup truck, and some tools can go a long way in life. Do you like it?” I asked.
“Wow,” Chaz said, running his finger over the wooden surface of the desk. “It makes my writing feel legitimate.” He smiled when he saw the notebook that I wrote Murder Book across the top. It was a last-minute idea inspired by a conversation we had about inspiration for the people who died in his books. I learned that he kept a running list in his head and suggested he should write it down in a notebook so he didn’t forget. “I even have my own coffee pot?”
“Your own bathroom next door also,” I said proudly.
“This is amazing, Kyle. I love it so much.”
“Good,” I told him. “You’re amazingly gifted and need to follow your dreams.”
Chaz cocked his head to the side and asked, “How is this a gift for you though?”
“Do you honestly need to ask that?” I questioned. Chaz nodded like he didn’t get it. “I like knowing that we share the same space, even if you’re locked away working your magic.”
“Damn, you’re good,” Chaz said in awe. Luckily for me, he knew I was sincere and not just throwing out some sappy lines to get laid.
“Are you gonna use that in your book?” I teased.
Chaz swallowed hard then shook his head slowly. “Some things are too beautiful and poignant to share.” Then he shook his head before he added, “Besides, there would be at least one person to write a review using shouty capitals to exclaim that men like you don’t really exist in the world.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “We better keep it to ourselves then.” I pulled him into my arms and dropped a tender kiss on his lips. “Ready to see the rest of the house?”
“Okay, but I want you to bring me back here and bend me over the desk,” Chaz said. He tilted his head to the side and said, “That’s a line they’d believe.”
I was all too happy to oblige him with a tour and “research” for his next book. I hated when we locked the house up and left to go to separate homes, but I knew it wasn’t right to make the big move yet. Hell, I let him drive off without telling him that I loved him. I didn’t tell him about brunch at my parents’ house either. “Fuck!” I yelled loudly in the cab of my truck. I was totally going to lose my Better Than a Book Boyfriend title.
“Are we ready for this?” Josh had asked before the salon opened the next day. We were interviewing potential stylists and receptionists in addition to a full day of providing services to our clients.
“I guess so,” Mere replied.
“We need someone with a certain sass and flare. This place is too damn dull now that Savage is no longer here,” I said, referring to Josh’s foul-mouthed blue macaw who was known to proposition clients for blowjobs or squawk random cu
ss words. Bringing Savage back and forth between the new home and the salon just wasn’t practical, so we needed someone else to liven the place up a bit.
“We need a Josh two-point-oh,” Meredith said.
“Yeah, before he got all sappy with love,” I amended, batting my eyelashes at Josh.
“I am not sappy,” Josh scoffed.
“Yeah you are,” Mere and I said at the same time. We laughed and fist-bumped each other.
“Like the two of you aren’t walking around with stars in your eyes,” he said. “I’m seriously nervous about this though. Curl Up and Dye has felt more like family than a business. We all get along so well, and I just worry that we’ll hire someone that doesn’t mesh. I don’t want our seamless interactions to turn into awkward moments where we’re just going through the motions of our day.”
“No one said we had to hire someone today,” I told Josh. “Let’s just interview the candidates today and see where it takes us. If we don’t connect with them right away, then we’ll pass them up. The other thing you can do is try them out on a probationary basis. Give them ninety days like every other company does and go from there.”
“That’s what I was thinking about doing regardless of who we hire. It’s pretty easy to pull one over on us during an interview,” Josh said. “We won’t know their true character until they start working here.”
“Good point,” Mere replied. “What times are the interviews?”
I gave them both a rundown of the interview times and names. Josh had gone back to his cosmetology school and talked with several of his instructors to get the names of their best stylists. Curl Up and Dye already had an excellent reputation before Josh started filming health and beauty segments for Channel Eleven in Cincinnati, so the potential stylists were eager for an opportunity to work at our salon.
“Should’ve turned this into a segment for your series,” I told Josh. “Hell, probably could’ve turned it into a reality show.” I modulated my voice to sound like I was doing the voice-over for television. “Fifteen highly trained and eager stylists duke it out for two positions at the area’s most elite salon. Each candidate will prove their worth through a series of competitions to test skill, temperament, and the ability to win over the difficult client.” Mere and Josh laughed at my antics then started making suggestions of their own.
“Make them do foils with one arm tied behind their backs,” Mere suggested.
“Hair salon triathlon!” Josh exclaimed. “They have to maneuver to various stations and perform tasks.”
“What about the receptionist candidates?” Mere asked. “We can’t let them off easy. It takes a lot more than a good personality to be effective around here.”
“Survivor: Curl Up and Dye,” I said. “Yeah, we starve them and pit them against one another to see who comes out on top. That candidate can surely handle booking the appointments coming in over the phone, web, and app while smiling at the client patiently waiting to pay at the counter, direct salon traffic, and answer questions about products at the same time.”
“Let’s not forget they’ll be working for a diva salon owner,” Mere said. Then she started reciting some of Kevin Bacon’s lines from the movie Beauty Shop. She did a damn good job of impersonating his fake accent and we were laughing riotously when the bell over the door dinged to let us know our first interviewee had arrived.
“Wow, I like this place already,” the young brunette guy said. “My name is Darren; I go by Dare. I’m here to interview for the receptionist job.”
“Oh!” Josh exclaimed, sounding perky. “I remember you from O’Dell’s Furniture. You’re their in-house designer. You were a fabulous help to me when we put the design together for my new house. You’re not working there any longer?”
“No, I am,” Dare replied, “but they’ve cut my hours, and I need to have a full-time income.”
“Can I get you coffee, honey?” Mere asked.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Dare replied then turned to me. “You left coffee making skills out of your challenge.” Then he smiled tentatively at me like he worried he had overstepped.
“Damn good suggestion,” I said.
The interview went extremely well, and we all liked Dare a lot. In fact, I thought he’d make a great salon manager if the day came when I stepped away from Curl Up and Dye permanently. I thought it could likely become a reality soon if my upcoming book release was as successful as I hoped. As much as I loved working for Josh, I loved writing more, and I wanted to have more time with Kyle. I never felt like I had enough time for him. The bell over the door chimed, and I looked up to see the object of my affections walking through the door.
“Oh dear God!” Dare exclaimed and covered his heart when he saw Kyle, sounding like he just came in his pants. I wasn’t a happy camper. “Who is that sexy beast?”
“Mine,” I growled out a warning.
“Well, isn’t that adorable,” I heard Mere say.
“He’s been hanging around Gabe too long,” Josh retorted. “I bet his knuckles are starting to get scuffed from dragging them about all the time.”
Kyle smiled as I approached then gave me a short, affectionate kiss on the lips once I arrived. “You just don’t let up, do you, Dr. Heart Snatcher?”
“Um, I meant to ask you something last night, and I got a little sidetracked.” He looked down at my mouth like he remembered the way it felt when I slid my lips up and down his cock.
“I’m sorry,” I said. I wasn’t sorry at all.
“No you’re not nor should you be,” Kyle replied. “Um, I hope you don’t have plans on Sunday morning because I sorta told my mom we’d be over for brunch so you could meet the family. I should never have told her we’d be there without talking to you first, but I didn’t want her barging in on us last night.”
“I would love to meet your family,” I said sincerely. I was freaking out a little on the inside, but I’d be damned before I let it show.
“Seriously? You’re not angry?” His obvious relief was so cute.
“Not at all.”
“Okay,” he said then kissed me once more. “I better get going. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay then.”
I smiled sappily as he walked out the door with a cute little wave. I turned my attention back to the interview that was supposed to be in progress, but Josh, Mere, and Dare were all watching me instead of talking. Mere batted her eyelashes adorably, Josh blew kissy faces, and Dare let out a sharp whistle. He was going to fit in great around here.
“Aw, you guys,” I said, skipping back to the trio. “How’s the interview going?”
“I think we’re about done unless you have questions for us,” Josh said.
“What?” Dare asked in alarm. “You didn’t ask me any questions or request to see my references. Did I screw up?”
“Honey,” Mere said. “You already made a good impression on Josh when he saw you in action.”
“And you already have the key component to fitting in around here,” I told Dare.
“Which is?” he asked hesitantly.
“Sass,” I told him. “It’s a must around here.”
“Dare, what they’re trying to tell you is that we’d like you to come work with us,” Josh said.
“Seriously?” he asked.
“Seriously,” we answered.
Mere’s client showed up a bit early, so Josh and I went over hours, wages, and job duties with him.
“I will start as soon as you need me,” Dare said excitedly.
“How about tomorrow?” I asked. I wanted to start training him as soon as possible.
“Perfect. I’ll be here at nine.” Dare stood up and looked uncertain whether he should hug us or shake our hands.
“We’re huggers,” Josh said, pulling him into an embrace. “Welcome to the team.”
“Well,” I said, turning to Josh once Dare left. “That one was easy. I hope that’s a sign of something good to come.”
We cont
inued to interview receptionist candidates for backup in case Dare didn’t work out. I had hoped that the stylist interviews would’ve gone as well, but we weren’t so lucky. The first three candidates were either flighty, arrogant, or had zero personality. We only had one left to interview, and he wasn’t due to arrive until almost closing time. Josh had lost a little bit of his sparkle from hiring Dare that morning, and I hoped the final interviewee would give it back to him. Josh wanted to make sure his first love would be in good hands when he took the time he needed to be with his growing family.
“What’s the guy’s name again?” I had asked thirty minutes before he was due to arrive.
“Wren, like the bird,” Josh replied. “Out of all the candidates, he’s the most skilled.”
“But?”
“He’s hard to read,” Josh said then shrugged. “Sort of mysterious.”
Wren arrived fifteen minutes early for his interview, which was already an improvement over the first three candidates. Curl Up and Dye ran on Josh time, which meant you showed up at least fifteen minutes early or you were considered late. “I’m Wren,” he said, but I would’ve known without the introduction because he came across as mysterious and hard to read. Wren wore a black leather jacket, jeans, and heavy biker boots. His hair was slicked back from his face and hung to his shoulders, and his beard was thicker than the usual designer scruff that men wore. Wren looked like he was headed for a meeting at his motorcycle club, not an interview as a hairstylist.
Mary Lou Johnson sure seemed to be captivated by him as she stood there blinking while her daughter skipped ahead. Becca lost her balance and started to fall, but Wren reached out and caught her before she could get hurt. I expected Becca to start crying since the strange man probably would’ve looked scary to her. Instead, she smiled brightly and thanked him.
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