Something to Dye For (Curl Up and Dye Mysteries, #2)

by Aimee Nicole Walker

  I dug my fingers in his hips in my attempt to get him to move, but I could tell he was in the mood to draw out my pleasure. It was a wonderful problem to have and I lay there and watched the beautiful, graceful way his hips moved as he rocked back and forth slowly. His movements were fluid and effortless; I knew that I’d lose my mind once I finally saw him on his pole.

  No matter how many times I was inside him, it still felt new and amazing to me. I mentally promised to make sure I paid him back with sexy surprises of my own rather than let him be the one to always surprise me. I let Josh have his fun teasing me until I couldn’t take it anymore then I rolled him onto his back and fucked him hard enough to scoot us both across the floor. I could feel the burn of the hardwood rubbing raw spots on my knees but didn’t care about anything but making him come so I could empty myself inside him.

  I made sure to peg his prostate in a way that guaranteed he’d happily blast his spunk all over his stomach and give up his little challenge to see who came first. There would be nights when he won, but that wasn’t one of them. My restraint wasn’t much to brag about because I unloaded inside the condom as soon as his greedy ass clamped down on my cock during his orgasm.

  I carefully pulled out of his ass and rolled over onto my back so I didn’t squish him on the hard floors with my weight. The floor was a lot less forgiving than a bed, as my knees could attest. I doubted the tender skin on his ass fared any better. I was just about to say something about the unlocked door when I became aware of a delicious smell wafting in from the kitchen. It short-circuited my brain and I could only think about one thing.

  “I smell baking apples,” I said.

  “Uh huh,” he replied.

  I looked over and smiled at the blissed-out expression on his face. “Are you baking a pie?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “It’s my favorite,” I told him.

  “Uh huh.”

  I reached over and lightly pinched his nipple to snap him out of his orgasmic coma. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at me. “I never told you that apple pie was my favorite dessert.”

  “Not with words,” Josh replied softly. He chuckled at the confused look on my face. “The first time I ever laid eyes on you was at Edson and Emma’s diner. I had stopped in to pick up my carryout order and you and Kyle were there eating. You bit into a piece of apple pie and this orgasmic look spread across your face.” He got quiet for a second and I thought he was finished with his story, but then he spoke again. “I had never been as envious as I was of that stupid piece of pie. I figured I would live my entire life and never incite that kind of passion from another person.” Josh reached over and laid his hand over my heart. “I was wrong.”

  I captured his hand and brought it to my lips for a kiss. “You were.” I don’t know what my pie-eating face looked like, but I was certain it paled in comparison to the one I made when I was with him–whether it involved sex or not. There was never going to be a piece of pie I enjoyed more than him.

  “Oh my God. I think I just came in my pants,” I said after I had my first bite of pie an hour later. “I might be a fool for telling you this because your arrogance when it comes to cooking is already off the charts, but this… It’s the best thing I’ve ever had.” I poked the crust with my fork and saw it flake up. “The crust is perfection and the pie has the right amount of sweetness without being too much. This ice cream is just ridiculous.”

  “Arrogance?” Josh asked. “It’s not arrogance when it’s the truth, babe.”

  I wasn’t about to get into a debate with him and risk my ice cream melting and making my pie soggy. I hated soggy pie crust. I’d take his word for it and save any argument I might have for a day that I didn’t have pie in front of me, or after I got to see his studio.

  “That’s what I thought,” he said when no argument was forthcoming from me.

  I listened to Josh tell me about the conversation with his insurance agent, Chaz and Meredith, Mama Richmond, and someone named Marabeth who makes soaps, oils, and bath stuff. As talkative as he was, I could tell there was something he wasn’t telling me.

  “Spill it,” I told him.

  “I ran into Deputy Small Dick at the grocery store.” He bit his lip and I couldn’t tell if he was worried that I would be upset that he ran into him or what was said. Turned out it was both.

  “He’s a dumb bastard who doesn’t know a damn thing about us,” I told Josh.

  “I know.”

  “Then why are you upset?” I asked. Then I realized he had used the R word when he rebutted what Deputy Small Dick said. “You said the R word.”

  “To him and not you,” Josh said quietly.

  My heart about melted when I realized what had him upset. It wasn’t that he saw Billy or the things he said, it was that Billy was the first to hear that Josh and I had a relationship and not just a something. “Josh, I’ve known for quite some time that what we have is way more than just something, it’s the thing.” I tugged his hand and pulled him closer. “Although it’s nice to hear that you know it too.”

  This kiss we shared was long and sweet. I was sure it was going to lead to something even longer and sweeter, but his cellphone rang and interrupted us. Josh looked down at his phone and groaned. “Someone must’ve called her.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “My mother.” He let out a long sigh and said, “You might as well get settled in for football. This won’t be a brief conversation.”

  He wasn’t kidding either. It took him until halftime to calm his mother down, but I couldn’t blame her. Listening to him reassure his mom made me feel guilty because I hadn’t told him about the photos yet and because I let me dick’s demands sidetrack me from the conversation we needed to have about leaving his door unlocked.

  “What’s with the scowl?” Josh asked when he got off the phone with his mom.

  I reached up and snagged his hand as he approached the couch and tugged him down to sit in my lap. “There’s been a recent development that I probably should’ve told you about the minute I came home.”

  “But I went and distracted you with my hot body, my amazing dinner, and then pie,” he said, running his hand through my hair.

  I hoped he was as forgiving when I told him what happened. “An envelope was dropped through our mail slot for me at the police station today. Inside were pictures of you that were taken this past week and early this morning when you discovered your tires had been slashed.”

  Josh’s skin paled and he blinked rapidly. “Like Nate,” he said.

  “Yes and no,” I replied, then told him about the differences.

  “So, it could be a copycat,” Josh said, narrowing his eyes.

  It wasn’t a working theory in my mind, but I would’ve been foolish not to consider everything. “It could be, but who here knows about Nate and his connection to me?” I asked.

  “Billy knows,” Josh said.

  “True.” I couldn’t dispute what he said.

  “I didn’t believe him when he said he just happened to be at the same places as me these past few days, nor do I believe his excuse for wanting to talk to me. Plus, he left the store without buying the diapers he said he was there to pick up.”

  I wished it could be as simple as Billy being a complete dickhead and taking advantage of circumstance to cause trouble for us, but I suspected it was a lot more complicated than what Josh said. Instead of voicing my fears, I said, “Maybe.”

  I kept going back to the email that Nate sent me, specifically the possible implication that the CPD could be involved. There was nothing worse in my book than a dirty cop. I wished that I could believe that they didn’t exist, but I had seen the truth with my own eyes in Miami.

  “Miami Vice,” Josh said, snapping his fingers to get my attention. My scowl hardly fazed him. “I need to know something very important from you and I need you to be completely honest with me.”

  “Okay.”

  “How’d I look in the pictures?�
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  “Josh,” I replied with extreme exasperation.

  “I’m serious, babe. Those pictures are going to end up in the hands of a jury of my peers and I need to be prepared to defend myself if necessary.”

  I thought I was fluent in Josh speak, but he stumped me. Jury? Defend himself? “What?”

  “The jury will consist of people in my community and they’ll all be judging me and my abilities as a stylist if I look unfortunate in the pictures they show in the courtroom.” He talked very slow, like he was talking to someone with an addled brain. “So, tell me. Was my hair a mess? Did my skin look blotchy?”

  I thought back to the photos I held in my hands earlier that morning. They represented my worst nightmare, which was the thought of losing him to the same person who killed Nate Turner. To him, they were equally as devastating, but for a completely different reason. He was serious as a heart attack about what he said. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the picture from last night, while not flattering to him, was completely adorable to me. His hair was standing up all over the place as if he’d ran his fingers all through it and his pink cheeks made it obvious he’d just been woken from sleep. None of those things would make him a bit happy, so I did what I had to do. “You looked amazing.” I hoped the pictures never made it into his hands because he’d surely call me a liar, but it was my truth.

  “Now, let’s talk about how I found your back door unlocked again.”

  Josh grimaced then said, “I’m sorry. I’ll do better.”

  “Promise me, Josh, because I can’t stand the thought of someone hurting you.”

  “I promise.”

  “That’s good because there are better ways to spend our time than arguing,” I told him.

  “Yeah?”

  I playfully pushed him off my lap and onto the couch cushion beside me before I jumped to my feet. “Yes, like eat more apple pie!”

  “I don’t know where you put it?” Josh remarked.

  “Yes, you do,” I said, waggling my brows obnoxiously.

  “Ew, Gabe. No.” Josh shook his head sadly. “We can snark all we want but we don’t do cheesy.”

  “Mmmm, cheddar cheese is great on pie.”

  “You’re hopeless,” Josh said.

  I was hopelessly in love with him and the beautiful smile that he gave only to me.

  “THAT’S YOUR RENTAL CAR?” Chaz asked the next morning when he arrived to work.

  “More like rental tank,” Meredith amended. “I bet Gabe approves of you being surrounded by all of that metal. Does it have airbags to cover every part of your body?”

  We were all staring at the gleaming red monstrosity in my driveway through the window in the kitchenette. I had been shocked the day before when the rental car agency pulled up. I saw the Big Red pull in followed by a sleek sedan. I perked up thinking I’d look mighty fine driving that sleek number so you can imagine my shock when they handed me the keys to the giant SUV that looked big enough to transport Blissville High’s soccer team. They informed me it was the only rental left when they presented the rental agreement to me.

  “Why can’t I drive that?” I asked, pointing to the sedan.

  “That’s my personal car, sir,” Car Guy 1 said. “I followed behind Jerry so I could give him a ride back to the office.” I referred to Jerry as Car Guy 2.

  “Hmmm,” I said looking down at the daily rate for rental. “You’re going to make sure you don’t charge my insurance company for the higher rental price or try to get me to pay the difference between a car and SUV rate though, right? It’s not our fault you had insufficient inventory to meet our needs.”

  “We wouldn’t dream of doing so, sir,” Car Guy 2 responded, but I noted he sounded more surprised I would know the difference than insulted I would suspect something like that.

  I was used to people thinking I was a “dumb blond” and it didn’t help them take me seriously when they found out that I worked at a salon. I more than worked there, I owned it. You can’t be a successful business owner and be gullible at the same time. “Then let’s mark out these rates and write in the correct ones, fellas.” I slashed through the figures like I meant serious business, and I did.

  “Of course,” Car Guy 1 said, but he was looking a bit nervous.

  I knew damn well that big giant monster wasn’t the only vehicle left to rent off their lot and I had half a mind to drive over there after we were done and prove it. Still, I had better things to do, like bake Gabe’s pie, and it turned out to be one of my favorite memories in our young relationship. So, I let them off the hook with a simple rate change and their initials on the form. Well, I did give a copy of the revised rates to my adjuster so he would know how much to pay them when they sent the bill. My days of playing the fool were over!

  “I didn’t read the owner’s manual,” I told Meredith. “I’m hoping like hell not to drive that big bastard.”

  “You and everyone else who lives in this town,” Chaz muttered.

  “Again with the damn driving remarks.” I threw my hands up in the air and walked away. “It was one parked car,” I said referencing the only accident I had, “and there was an inch of ice on the streets.”

  “Which is why you shouldn’t have been out,” Meredith said.

  I was saved by my first client of the day who just happened to be Gabe’s ex. “Good morning,” I said cheerily to Kyle. I got immense pleasure by overhearing Chaz choking on his own fucking saliva when Doctor Feel Me Good walked in the door.

  “Well, it is for some,” Kyle replied with a smirk. He walked over to my chair and had a seat. “Not all of us started off our morning the way you probably did.”

  I know it wasn’t deliberately said to remind me that not that long ago he was the one waking up beside Gabe and getting morning… I killed the thought before it went there. Regardless, that’s exactly where my brain went.

  “I didn’t mean that the way you’re taking it.” Kyle sounded extremely contrite and uncomfortable, which I felt was only fair since I was also ill at ease right then.

  I met his eyes in the mirror and I saw how sorry he really was by the grimace he wore on his face and the way he bit his lip. It was actually a great look on him; it made him appear more human. Kyle was the type who always came across as confident, as if nothing or no one bothered him. Having known Gabe, I could see where that would irritate him. Gabe wanted real and honest responses from me at all times, whether it be anger and annoyance or joy and happiness. Kyle was a person who was sometimes hard to read. His smiles and responses came across as generic, or at least in public they did. I had no way of knowing what he was like privately.

  “I know you didn’t,” I replied honestly. Kyle had told me on more than one occasion that I was good for Gabe. I wasn’t sure what he’d said to Gabe about me and I honestly didn’t care. What mattered was what Gabe thought about me and he really, really liked me. A lot. I could’ve teased Kyle about how silly that would’ve been since I was about to hold his hair in my hands, but I let it go. Instead, I wrapped the cape around his shoulders and asked, “Just a trim today?”

  “Yep.” Kyle entertained me with stories from veterinary school like he always did since he started coming to my salon when he moved back with Gabe. He’d never talk about his clients in Blissville because that would’ve been unprofessional and unethical and he was an upstanding guy–one Chaz would give his left testicle to be pinned beneath on the closest firm surface. I tried my best not to let my overactive mind wander there. That didn’t stop me from smirking when Kyle greeted Chaz when he walked by on his way to his post at the front door. “How’s Harry doing?” Kyle was referring to the hairless cat that Chaz owned.

  Chaz’s eye bugged out of his head and he choked on his own saliva again, as if Kyle was talking about his cock and not his cat. “Um, he’s doing good,” Chaz finally squeaked out.

  “You feeling okay?” Kyle asked, completely unaware of the effect he had on my best friend. I had never seen two more cl
ueless people than them. If Chaz had been paying any bit of attention, he would’ve noticed how Kyle sat a little straighter in his chair–as if he needed any more height–and how his eyes brightened.

  “You need to sit still,” I admonished Kyle with a light whack of my comb on his beefy shoulder. “You’ll end up with a crooked cut or much shorter hair than you’d prefer. People will either think I’ve lost my touch or that you started going back to Burt’s Butcher, um… Barber Shop.”

  “Neither of those things will do,” Kyle replied good-naturedly. “Speaking of Burt’s, when do you suppose Gabe will trust you to cut his hair?”

  “That’s a good question,” I replied. “He’s due for one.” I decided I would suggest a trim that night and see where it got me. The worst he could say was no and it would only hurt my feelings, but no big deal. I could take it. Maybe.

  I was glad my day started with an easy client like Kyle because it allowed me to ease into my day rather than be thrust into chaos right out of the chute. It turned out that Kyle was definitely the calm before the storm.

  Hair emergency–a catastrophic event at levels so high they could permanently scar a person for life if not immediately remedied. The occurrences could be self-induced or the result of a freak accident. Also referred to as “you ain’t getting lunch today” among hair professionals.

  There were weeks I went without a single hair emergency walking into my salon and then there were days when several of them came rushing inside almost at once. I promised myself I would write a book after I retired because I was certain it would be a best seller and land me on Ellen’s show. Chaz pointed out that Ellen would be retired long before me when I mentioned my book idea to him. I told him to shut the fuck up because I couldn’t imagine a world without Ellen smiling, dancing, and doing amazing things every weekday.

  That day, I had three hair emergencies run through my doors with their eyes bugging out of their heads and a forlorn expression on their faces. They looked at me with so much hope in their eyes, as if I was the Jesus of hair disaster fixes, that I couldn’t turn them away. It would mean working through lunch, but I didn’t have the heart to say no.