It’s In His Song: Book 6

by Alexander, Shelly

  Hailey shook her head. “Not me. I’m happily single, especially since I’ve got help with Mel now. I’m in a good place in my life. I plan to keep it that way.” Sure, she’d dated, but as a young, single mother, she hadn’t exactly been a hot, successful dude magnet.

  The truth was she hadn’t met anyone she felt was good enough to be Mel’s step-father. Hailey wouldn’t allow her daughter to be disappointed or let down.

  “Can I come in?” Dylan’s voice streamed from the makeshift doorway in the wall.

  Hailey startled, and shot out of the chair.

  One of Brianna’s perfectly shaped brows arched.

  “Still no luck fixing the water,” Hailey hurried to explain. “They might have it back on by the end of the day. I’ll let you know. No need to keep interrupting your workday to pop in and check.” No need to be in her presence where she had to keep herself from sniffing his incredible cologne. Where she had to keep herself from running her fingers through his glorious long hair. Where she had to keep herself from sighing over his swoon-worthy dimples. And don’t even get her started on the pirate eyes.

  Obviously, she had an issue with self-control around him. One day, maybe she’d get a handle on it.

  He grinned.

  Unfortunately, today was not going to be that day because she sighed involuntarily.

  Both of Brianna’s brows went so far up they practically disappeared into her hairline.

  “Your plumber and contractor are checking in with me regularly, so I’m up to speed.” Dylan maneuvered through the hole in the wall, carrying two to-go boxes.

  “Then what are you doing here?” Hailey blurted.

  Brianna coughed behind her hand, and Hailey could swear she was trying to cover a laugh.

  “I brought both of you lunch.” Dylan held up the boxes.

  “Oh,” was all Hailey could think to say. Then she promptly started to chew on the inside of her cheek.

  “Thank you,” Brianna interjected, her gaze going from Hailey to Dylan, then back to Hailey.

  “I also wanted to let you know I told your plumber to bill me for half the work since it’s a problem Joe’s should’ve had fixed a long time ago.” He put the food on the station where Brianna was sitting. “Honestly, Uncle Joe doesn’t even remember the two spaces share water. He doesn’t have the memory he used to.” Dylan leaned against a support beam, crossed his arms, and proceeded to flash a panty-melting smile at her.

  When she didn’t respond, his gaze shifted to Brianna.

  “Thank you for the help with the plumber.” Brianna nodded to the food. “The meals are very thoughtful of you. What do we owe you?”

  He rubbed his jaw as though he were thinking about how to answer Brianna’s question. “How ‘bout a haircut?” But he wasn’t looking at Brianna. His dangerously sexy, black eyes landed on Hailey. He gave her a boyish grin. The one that had her pulse kicking through her veins and heat settling too far south of the border. “I usually go to Bill’s Barbershop over on River Street.” He nodded to the gigantic hole where he’d entered dozens of times the past few days to get updates on the construction. “But this is much more convenient for me.”

  “I’m booked,” Hailey blurted again.

  Good God.

  Brianna got up, went to the computer, and typed. “There.” She grabbed her food and reclaimed her chair. “I’ll handle your last client of the day, and you can take care of Dylan.”

  No. Just no.

  Because that was the freaking problem. Hailey could never show it, but she wanted to take care of Dylan, all right. Just not by cutting his hair. She wanted to run her fingers through it. Had fantasized about it. And now that she had no choice but to see him daily until the plumbing was fixed and the wall was replaced, her resistance was crumbling. Her ability to pretend he didn’t matter was faltering. Her attraction was skyrocketing.

  She narrowed her eyes at Brianna, who shrugged as if to say who, me?

  The food smelled divine, but Hailey wasn’t about to touch it. Instead, she leveled a stare at her cousin. “How about I move the last client back to my schedule, and you can cut Dy—”

  “Excellent.” He pushed off the beam. “I’ll be back later, Hailey.” Before she could protest, he disappeared through the hole in the wall.

  When he was gone, she turned a hard-ass stare on Brianna. “What the hell was that?”

  Brianna snickered. “I was going to ask you the same question. With all your tough talk about being happily single, you sure do seem uncomfortable around him.” Her voice turned sing-song. “And he’s attracted to you. I can tell.”

  Hailey’s jaw fell open. “He is not—” She couldn’t let anyone get too close to the truth. “I am not—"

  The timer for Brianna’s hair went off with a ding, ding, ding.

  Precisely what Hailey was afraid of. The clock was ticking on her resolve, too. And even if Dylan was attracted to her, his interest wouldn’t include a kid. Not even one who had his blood running through her veins.

  * * *

  Dylan stepped through the opening for his appointment. The situation with the plumbing and the wall was dire, but he had to admit, he was going to miss popping through the wall to check on the construction once it was fixed. It had given him an opportunity to see Hailey several times a day, and he liked it.

  Plus, Joe’s had been busier than ever with folks wanting to see what all the fuss was about. He was probably violating more than one health code because of the water situation, but with the songwriter’s festival looming, the business needed the buzz of excitement. So he wasn’t allowing dine-in and filled takeout orders only, which still had the phone ringing off the hook and people lined up at the bar to pick up their food where they could get a glimpse of the disaster.

  It was the talk of the town. As long as the problem was fixed before the musicians started filtering into town, he was good with the current arrangement and the avalanche of attention it was garnering for Joe’s.

  When Brianna saw him, she grabbed a fashionably slouchy purse and slung it over her shoulder.

  Hailey glanced in his direction, then back to her cousin. “Where are you going? What happened to the client you switched from my schedule to yours?” Her voice was gritty and tight.

  “Canceled at the last minute.” Brianna waved to Dylan as she hurried to the door. She slipped fingers across the new pink strip of hair. “Gotta go show Andy my new look. I hope he thinks it’s sexy. See you bright and early in the morning.”

  “Wait!” Hailey said. “I need help with…” She chewed one corner of her mouth as though she couldn’t remember what she needed help with.

  That mouth. Dylan’s gaze snagged on it. It was the best looking thing he’d seen in…well, in six long years.

  “Whatever it is, I’ll get to it in the morning.” Brianna blew a kiss at Hailey. “Ciao, Cuz.” Then she was gone.

  He could swear Hailey drew in a deep breath and held it.

  He pulled the band from his hair and let it fall free. “Thanks for doing this. I really need a haircut.” He so didn’t, but it was a great excuse to mend fences, especially since she’d been ignoring him for two days. If they were going to be business neighbors, there was no reason for them not to be friendly.

  She spun the salon chair toward him. “Have a seat.”

  He did as he was told and slid into the chair.

  She grabbed a folded cape from a cabinet that stood between his station and the next, shook it open with a snap, and secured it around his neck. “How do you want it cut?” she asked without making eye contact.

  He ran a set of fingers through his hair. “Shave it off.”

  Her head snapped back, and she gasped. “Absolutely not,” she said, obviously incensed.

  “Just kidding.” He held up both hands. “Just a trim.”

  She let out a sigh that sounded like relief.

  He smiled at her in the mirror. “I’ve got this songwriter’s gig coming up, and I need to look like I’
m still a rock star, so let’s keep it long for now. Someday, I’ll cut my hair. Maybe even take out the earrings so I look like a responsible, mature adult. But no need to go to such extremes yet when the only responsibility I have is to my business. Joe’s is my baby and my first priority for the foreseeable future.”

  Her stare locked with his in the mirror. A tidal wave of emotions played across her face like a silent film. She didn’t move. Not even a twitch. She just kept staring at him, until finally her lips parted, but she still didn’t speak.

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  That spurred her into action again. “Yes. Sure. I’m fine. Great, actually.”

  He tilted his head to the side, trying to get a read on her. What she was thinking. What she was feeling. Because he had no idea.

  “Come this way.” She led him to a black enamel sink.

  “I like the look of this place. It’s very swanky.” The modern design of chrome, white, and black gave it a chic look. “Doesn’t really fit Red River’s norm, but it seems to work.”

  “Kind of like your long hair. If you want the norm, you’ll have to see if Bill’s Barbershop has any openings.” Hailey had him lean back, and she turned on the water. It gurgled to life. She stood over him, holding the sprayer in one hand and testing the water temperature with the other. “The earrings aren’t the standard look around here either.” She finally looked him in the eye. “I only remember one earring when we…” She hesitated. “Before you left for L.A.”

  “The other earring was an addition once I moved to the West Coast. It was a thing there.”

  She stayed rooted in place and didn’t move again.

  “What?” He scrunched his brows.

  “I saw all the things happening for you as a new face in the music world. The tabloids went crazy over every move you made.” She focused on his hair, went to touch it, then froze. Her fingers lingered a fraction above his head.

  “You read about me?” He couldn’t help it. He really couldn’t. He had to ask. Had to know if she’d been thinking about him.

  “No.” Her gaze snapped to his.

  “Then why is your ringtone one of my old songs?”

  She blanched. “That’s one of your songs? I had no idea.”

  Bullshit, but whatever.

  “I saw the magazine covers while I was standing in the checkout line at the grocery store,” she said.

  “So, you read what those covers said about me?” Now he was just teasing her for fun. How could he not? Pink tinged her cheeks, and he wanted to brush his fingers across them to feel the warmth.

  “They were a little hard to miss. Every rag in the country put you on the cover for a while.”

  “Don’t believe everything you read.” The stupid shit that had been printed about him when he was still with the band, then after he left L.A. and headed back to Red River was so far from the truth that it had been too ridiculous to deserve a response. Which was exactly what he’d told any of the locals who’d been bold enough to ask.

  “Interesting that I never heard much about you. You’re one of the few people no one knew much about in this town.” He studied her expression.

  Something flashed in her eyes. She didn’t offer any information, so he left it alone.

  She pulled her top lip between white teeth. Still hadn’t started washing his hair.

  He let one side of his mouth quirk up into a sly smile. “It’s okay to touch it.” She left the door wide open for that one, and it was just too much fun to let it go.

  Her pretty eyes turned to saucers. “Wh…what?”

  “My hair. You look almost afraid to touch it, but it’ll be a little hard for you to cut it if you don’t.”

  The muscles in her slender throat moved as she swallowed. “Oh. Right.” Finally, she dove in, running fingers through his hair and wetting it with the sprayer.

  It felt spectacular. Stupendous. Shockingly sensual.

  Something stirred at his core, spiraling out to his fingers, through his legs, down his spine, and settled somewhere that could get really embarrassing if he wasn’t wearing a cape.

  Fuck Bill’s Barbershop, nice guy that Bill was. Hailey’s fingers running through Dylan’s hair was so amazing, how could Bill possibly compete?

  “The crap in the magazines was all a façade for publicity. Created by the band’s lead singer and our manager,” Dylan said.

  “Right.” She squeezed shampoo into her palm, rubbed her hands together, then feathered them through his hair, her nimble fingers curving around his skull to massage and stroke.

  Holy shit.

  That was…divine. Heavenly. Pure bliss. And pure torture at the same time.

  “Damn, woman.” It was like he no longer had control over his words, his mouth, his whole body. “Bill doesn’t do this.” Dylan’s eyes slid shut and he moaned. He fucking moaned before he could stop himself.

  Her hands slowed. “That’s why he charges $6.99 for a haircut.” She went back to giving him the best damn scalp massage he could’ve ever imagined. “We charge a lot more.”

  “How much more?” he asked.

  “Exponentially more because we’re worth it.” She rinsed out the shampoo and applied conditioner. More of the same rubbing and caressing ensued, only softer, as she smoothed the silky substance through his hair all the way to the ends.

  Fine by him.

  He’d never have guessed that getting his hair cut in a salon instead of a barbershop could be such a total turn-on, but some things were better left unsaid. “Who knew a shampoo could make me go limp as a dish rag?” Not all of him was limp, though. At least one body part was far from it. Hey, he was a single, straight guy, so yeah, his body was reacting to a gorgeous, single woman making herself at home with his hair. Just like she’d done six years ago.

  She leaned over him to reach the back of his head. And holy hell, her beautiful breasts bobbed and swayed under her silky shirt right over his face. Just like he remembered.

  Nice.

  She rinsed the conditioner, had him sit up, and wrapped a towel around his head. Not in the drape it over the head like a dude way, as Bill did at his barber shop. But more of a wrap it and twist it on top of the head like a woman being pampered at a spa way.

  When she led him back to the station, he almost blushed when he sat down and looked at the turban-like towel in the mirror.

  She peered over his shoulder with a satisfied smile. “Oh, if only the celebrity mags could see you now.” She went to the counter and picked up a cell phone. “In fact, I think I’ll take your picture.”

  He shot out of the chair and ripped the towel from his head. “Oh, no, you don’t.” He was on her before she could escape his grasp.

  She tried to hold the phone out of his reach, but his arms were much longer, and he wrapped them around her, pinning her against the counter. Then he pried the phone out of her hand and laid it next to the credit card machine, with his body flush against hers and her back against the counter.

  He didn’t move away.

  And neither did she.

  Instead, their gazes locked. Her breaths came faster, almost furious, feathering over his cheeks. His neck.

  “Eres aún más hermosa que hace seis años,” he whispered. His Spanish wasn’t fluent, but he’d learned enough from his mom to get by.

  Hailey’s eyes darkened with desire. “I always loved it when you spoke Spanish to me.”

  “I know.” That’s why he’d done it. She’d loved it years ago when they were getting intimate.

  “What does it mean?” she asked, all breathy.

  “You’re even more beautiful now than you were six years ago.” And she was. He took a lock of her silky hair between his fingers and smoothed his thumb over the strands.

  She reached up and did the same, spiraling strands of his wet hair around one of her fingers. “So are you.” Her eyes brushed over his face. “You should thank your mother for your bilingual skills and dark features. It makes you mysterious. Al
most dangerous, which is extremely sexy.” Hailey’s voice was a feathery whisper, and the tip of her pink tongue slipped through her lips to trace the seam of her mouth.

  Funny, his father had hated it when he and his mom conversed in Spanish. Not something a McCoy man did according to dear old dad.

  But this girl. She thought it was sexy.

  That fucking rocked.

  Before he could stop himself, his head dipped, and he covered her mouth with his. The kiss was soft and sensual at first. When she let a sexy little moan escape from the back of her throat, he deepened the kiss. His arms closed around her, and he wrapped her up in his warmth.

  She melted into him, her palms smoothing up his back.

  He shifted, moving her to the cabinet that housed the capes. He braced one hand against the cabinet next to her ear and slid the other over her ribs. His fingers lingered at the dip of her waist, then continued the journey south over the flair of her hips. When he reached the back of her thigh, his fingers flexed into her flesh, and he lifted her leg so that it curled around his.

  He ground his hips into hers, his granite shaft connecting with her center, the heat seeping through their clothes to make him even harder.

  Her head fell back, making the cabinet door rattle.

  “Good Lord, that’s good,” she rasped out, her eyes slamming shut. “Since the last time you and I were together, I haven’t—” Her eyes flew open as though she’d let out too much information. “I haven’t don’t much of this.”

  His heart soared. If she was saying what he thought she was saying—which was that since she and Dylan parted ways, there hadn’t been many men in her life besides her daughter’s biological father—she was long overdue for the touch of a man who found her extraordinarily attractive.

  He knew the feeling because he’d gone a long, long time without feeling a woman against him.

  He crushed his lips to hers in another needy kiss until she was sighing into his mouth. They were both lost in the moment, spiraling into a fog of want and need. Climbing to new heights of desire.

  She broke the kiss, and her glazed eyes looked deep into his. “I’ve done without…a lot while you had hordes of girls throwing their panties at you every night.”