“Okay,” she said. She reached forward and grabbed a People magazine from my station table and began rifling through it.
“I’m going to go mix up the color. I’ll be right back,” I said.
I walked off towards the back room to mix color, but before that I happened to glance outside the shop windows. There was a pickup truck parked in one of the spots, and I could see someone sitting in the driver’s side spot. My heart leaped up into my mouth as it pounded hard and fast. Instinctively, I ran to the backroom and hid.
“What’s wrong with you?” Tess asked as she walked to the back room after me. “Why are you acting so weird?”
I sighed, not wanting to get into it with her. I didn’t need another lecture. I knew I’d fucked up.
“You going to tell me or what?” she asked, as if I owed it to her to tell her what was bugging me. She was really getting on my nerves lately, but we were business partners and I refused to let drama ruin that.
“I thought I saw a mouse over by the shampoo bowls,” I lied, terribly.
“Seriously?” she asked as she shuddered. “That’s disgusting. Should we call an exterminator?”
“No,” I said. “If I see it again, I’ll call one. It could’ve been a dusty bunny or a clunk of someone’s hair.”
Tess laughed. “True.”
I mixed up a batch of color for my client, put on my apron, and wheeled my cart back to my station. Melody hadn’t moved an inch since I’d left. She was still sitting there paging through her magazine. She didn’t even look up at me when I returned.
I got started on her hi lights while sneaking glimpses outside every so often. The truck was still there, but after a half hour or so, he’d driven off. My station was too far in the back of the shop to catch a glimpse of who the driver really was, but I was just glad he didn’t come inside.
Tuesdays were my late night, which meant I was working until 8pm that night. Everyone else was done by six, so it was just me and the receptionist.
“Your 7:00 cancelled tonight,” she lamented as she walked up to me later that evening. “Said she was having car trouble or something.”
“Ugh,” I sighed. “There goes the hundred bucks I could’ve made. Did she reschedule?”
“No,” the receptionist said. “She’s going to call back.”
“Like they always do, right?” I laughed.
“So, what should we do?” she asked.
I knew the kind thing would’ve been to send her home. It wasn’t necessary to keep her there and on the clock when we had no clients, but I also didn’t want to be in the shop by myself. I also didn’t want to go home yet and be there by myself either. Working that day had been a good distraction from what had happened the night before, but now reality was setting in and the fact that I had to go home soon was gnawing away at me.
“Why don’t you straighten up the waiting area and tear foils. Maybe wash some towels?” I suggested. Selfishly I decided against sending her home.
I planted my butt in the seat of one of the chairs in the back room and pulled my phone out of my purse to keep me preoccupied. There was always the chance that we’d get a random walk in, but that rarely happened this time of night.
I watched the clock on the wall tick by, minute by minute, and waited until the eight o’clock hour truck. By seven thirty, I heard the chimes on the front door tinging and knew someone had walked in. Hopefully it was someone just wanting to buy products before we closed, but sometimes we’d get those late, last minute walk ins that wanted the full monty.
I heard the clicking of the receptionist’s heels on the laminate floors as she walked back to the back room.
“There’s a guy here who wants a haircut,” she said causally.
My heart sunk.
“What does he look like?” I asked.
She scrunched her face at my odd question. “Um, kind of longish brown hair. Scruffy face. Dark eyes.”
I knew it was Blaze. I knew it.
“Tell him no one’s here,” I said.
“Um, too late,” she replied. “I told him you were here and I’d see if you could squeeze him in before we close.”
I sighed, annoyed, and stood up. I wanted to walk out the back door, hop in my car, and drive way, but I couldn’t leave her there alone with him.
“I’m confused,” she said. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, no,” I assured her. “It’s got nothing to do with you.”
“Do you know that guy?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said as I walked out of the back room and towards the front area to greet him.
“Well, well, well,” he said as a smile spread across his face and he stood up to greet me. For the first time, he looked normal and not creepy. He seemed excited to see me. “Think you can fit me in for a cut?”
“You know I charge $60 for a cut, right?” I asked him. “You could go to a barber shop and get one a whole lot cheaper.”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’m good for it.”
“Okay,” I lamented. “Follow me.”
He followed me back to the shampoo bowl where I gave him a quick wash and hurried him over to my station. I pulled out my clippers and shears and got to work.
“I can’t help but feel like you’re rushing this experience,” he said. “Don’t I get pampered at all? I mean for sixty bucks and all.”
I sat my clippers and shears down and pulled out a bottle of hand lotion.
“Give me your hand,” I said.
He reached his right hand out as I gave it a quick massaged, followed by his other hand.
“Feel better now?” I asked.
I couldn’t help but notice the receptionist watching us from the corner of her eye. She could clearly tell this wasn’t an ordinary client-stylist interaction.
I finished his cut, ran some product through his hair, and dusted off his neck line.
“All good to go now,” I said. “You can check out at the front.”
I began to walk away, but he stood up quickly and grabbed me by the wrist. It was gentle, but it was still a grab nonetheless.
“Wait,” he said.
I spun around and saw his pleading eyes.
“I came all this way because I wanted to talk to you,” he said. In that moment, he almost seemed sweet and endearing.
“How the hell did you find out my name?” I asked. “Or that I worked here?”
I still didn’t want him knowing he’d found my correct home address, so I didn’t mention that.
“In this day and age, you can find anything about anyone,” he said. “It’s not hard. Besides, I’ve done some bounty hunting with my dad before. Trust me, I know how to find people.”
It was starting to make sense and seem a tiny bit less creepy, but it was still creepy.
“Look, I know this is really weird to you and maybe even scary,” he said. “Some random guy you hooked up with in Tulsa drives to you town to find you. I’d be weirded out too. But trust me, I’m just a nice guy who wants to get to know you better. You never gave me your number. And I wanted to see you in person.”
I had to admit, he was giving me a pretty compelling argument and making the situation seem a heck of a lot less crazy that I thought it was.
“Let me take you out for one drink tonight,” he said as he clasped my hand in his softly. “One drink. We can talk, and if you never want to see me again, I’ll let you go. You can go on your merry way, and you’ll never see me again.”
It was tempting. I looked down at the ground as I thought about it for a bit. It seemed insane to go anywhere with him, but on the other hand, I truly believed he was being genuine.
“Go pay,” I said as I nodded towards the front desk. “We can go to the Brass Monkey bar. I’ll drive separate and meet you there.”
Blaze’s face lit up and he flashed his megawatt, perfect smile. With his fresh haircut and charming face, he reminded me of the man I first met the weekend before. The man I was wildly attracted t
o. The man who touched me like no one had touched me before and who fucked my brains out.
CHAPTER 7
I slipped out the back of the shop, making sure the parking lot was still well lit, and headed for my car. In my head, I knew meeting up with him was crazy, but given his unpredictable nature, I knew I had no other choice. If I didn’t do what he wanted, he probably would’ve showed back up at my townhouse later that night. I knew he wasn’t leaving until he got what he wanted.
Growing up the daughter of a clinical psychologist mother, I learned very quickly how to figure people out. I learned how to read people, how to tell if they were dangerous, and how to read between the lines. I was still figuring Blaze out, but any man who could figure out who I was and where I lived in a matter of 24 hours was someone to watch out for.
My mother would kill me if she knew I was meeting up with him, but I had to trust my own instincts. I knew that if I showed him even an ounce of fear that he’d prey on that. People like him loved to scare people. It made them feel more in charge and in control. I didn’t want him to know I was afraid of him. I didn’t want him to know that I was wary of his motives. I hoped that if I treated him like I’d treat any other guy, he might see that I’m just a plain, old boring girl and lose interest.
I had a feeling Blaze was all about the chase. He was the epitome of a cat-and-mouse guy. If I gave him no chase, he’d hopefully move on.
I started my car and immediately locked the doors, checking my peripherals. I pulled out of the alley parking lot and proceeded down to the Brass Monkey bar. It was actually a nice little place despite its God-awful name. It was well lit and far from the seedy bar where I’d first met Blaze. It was in a good, safe part of town that I knew like the back of my hand, and I almost always saw people I knew there.
I figured if Blaze tried to pull anything funny that night, at least some acquaintances or even the bar tender would have a description on him. I sighed as I thought about how easily things could go wrong, but I didn’t want to think about it too much. I had to prove my point. I had to prove I wasn’t scared of him so he’d leave me the fuck alone and move on.
I parked my car in front of the bar, tucked my blonde hair behind my ears, and headed in. I honestly didn’t care that I probably looked like shit. I’d been on my feet since that morning with hardly a break between clients. If I were meeting any other guy, I’d have gotten all gussied up and at least slicked on a coat of red lipstick, but not for Blaze. He wasn’t getting any sort of special treatment.
The night he first met me, I had gotten dressed up to the nines. Tonight, I was probably more of an eight or maybe even a seven if I had to be honest. I’m sure I had bags under my eyes and my foundation had long worn off, but I didn’t care at all.
I walked in and immediately spotted him sitting in a booth in the corner sipping on a beer. He looked a little out of place at the Brass Monkey in his leather jacket with his neck tattoos sticking out from his shirt collar. If he wasn’t so fucking crazy, I’d have actually thought he was hot right then.
His broad shoulders were hunched over and his elbows rested on the table while he took sip after sip of his cool, amber beer. I took a deep breath and strolled over to him, flashing my biggest, fakest smile.
“Hey,” he said as he spotted me. His eyes widened and his face lit up. Despite looking halfway like a homeless person, he seemed happy to see me.
“I see you had no problem finding the place,” I said as I scooted into the booth. “I’m shocked you made it here before me.”
“GPS, baby,” he said as he sipped his beer. He hadn’t taken his eyes off me since I got there.
“So,” I said, trying to fill the awkward silence.
“Let’s order you a drink,” he said as he flagged down a server.
I thought about saying no, and telling him I didn’t plan to stay long, but that would’ve defeated the purpose of why I was there.
“What would you like?” he asked. “My treat.”
“Gin and tonic,” I said. I was dying for something blue and fruity, but I didn’t want to seem too girly-girl. I wanted a serious drink.
“My girl here will have a gin and tonic,” he said to the server. “Top shelf.”
My girl? I wondered. How on earth was I his girl? And top shelf? He must be trying something.
I was intrigued by his choice of words, but I still tried to stay on my guard. He was acting so nice. So normal. This wasn’t the guy who picked me up in a bar in Tulsa and within twenty minutes was fucking my brains out. This wasn’t the guy who pulled a surprise three way with me in my hotel. This wasn’t the guy who drove all the way to St. Louis to find me despite me never telling him my last name.
The drink came quickly, thank goodness, and I got busy working on it. I hadn’t eaten anything since one that day, so my stomach was pretty much empty. I knew it was only a matter of minutes before I’d start feeling the drink, which could either be really good or really bad. I suddenly felt nervous around him. He was throwing me off a bit with his nice and normal behavior. I didn’t know what to think.
“So,” he said as he stared at the table between us. “There’s a reason I had to find you.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked as I took a few sips.
“First off, I just wanted to apologize,” he said.
“For what?” I asked.
“I wanted to apologize for the way I treated you in Tulsa,” he said. His dark eyes looked up and met mine, and in that moment he seemed one-hundred percent sincere. “You’re a nice girl. You didn’t deserve to meet a jack ass like me, and I shouldn’t have included my friend. That was beyond disrespectful. I feel sick about it.”
I jerked my head back, taken aback by this tattooed, crazy, bad ass biker dude who is feeling remorse over the way he fucked some random woman. Who does that? Maybe I was wrong about him.
“I know it seems crazy that I found you here,” he said, his eyes shifting nervously. “But I had to. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t apologize.”
“You could’ve just called me,” I said. “If you can find out where I live, I’m sure you could find out my number.”
His face fell, and I instantly realized I was being a jerk in the middle of his apology.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Sure,” he said. “I could’ve called you. But the thing is, I can’t get you out of my head, Molly. I had to see you again. And I wanted you to know that I genuinely think you’re a kick ass person. You’re different from every other girl I’ve ever met. When I realized that, I couldn’t believe what I’d done.”
“I see,” I said. My face was beginning to turn numb, and I knew the drink was kicking in. I felt my guard slipping little by little. He was being so kind. I was starting to have my doubts about my first impression of him.
“More drinks?” the server said. She came out of absolutely nowhere.
Before I had a chance to object, Blaze nodded and held up two fingers.
“This night’s not over yet,” he said with a sexy wink. “At least hang out with me a bit longer? I came all this way.”
His sexy brown eyes pleaded with mine as he reached his hand across the table and covered mine. It was a sweet gesture, and I couldn’t say no. The drink had already been ordered.
“Thanks for coming all this way just to apologize,” I said. “I appreciate that. It’s a little extreme, I will admit. But it was a nice gesture.”
“Molly, are you seeing anyone?” he asked.
“Not anymore,” I said, instantly regretting those words. The smarter choice would’ve been to lie and say that yes, I did have a boyfriend and he’s waiting for me at home right now.
Shit, shit, shit, I thought to myself.
“Well, it’s complicated,” I said. “It’s on again, off again. We talk almost every day.”
I couldn’t tell if he bought it or not, but that damn fucking alcohol was like a truth serum. I needed to slow down on my secon
d drink that was for sure.
“I see,” he said as he tried to read my expression.
I almost asked him why he wanted to know, but I stopped myself. I knew the reason.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said. “A girl like you won’t stay on the market for much longer.”
“Thanks,” I said as I blushed. Growing up, my mom never allowed me to focus on my looks. She always emphasized inner beauty, which was why it was always so difficult for me to accept compliments about my looks. Imagine her horror when she found out I was going into the beauty industry.
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