“Shit,” I whisper. “Don’t think about last night.”
“Hop on,” he yells over the sound of the bike, while pulling me to him and sliding the helmet on me. His eyes meet mine, but he quickly clenches his jaw and turns away, leaving my heart sinking.
Feeling anxious from his cold shoulder, I jump on behind him, but grab onto the bike instead of him.
“Arms around me,” he demands. “And hold on tight.”
He leans his head back and stiffens a bit when my arms wrap around his waist, before finally taking off in a hurry.
When we reach my car, I quickly jump off and hand him his helmet. I really just want to get away from him right now. He’s so damn hard to read and hard to deal with this early in the morning. “Thanks for letting me crash in your bed, Royal.”
He nods his head and slides his helmet on, looking me over. “Better my bed than Colton’s,” he says stiffly.
I’m not really sure what to say to that, so I just pull out my keys and walk over to my car, trying my best not to glance back at him as I hop inside and start the engine. He waits for me to pull out and take off before I notice him following behind me.
He’s behind me for a few minutes, following closely, before he finally turns off in the direction of the bar, allowing me to breathe for what feels like the first time since dinner last night.
“Holy shit.” I breathe out. He’s so damn intense. I’ve never met a man so powerful and heart-stopping in my life.
I grip the steering wheel and take a deep breath when I pull up at a stoplight. I’m supposed to work in less than two hours and I have a feeling that it’s going to be extremely hard to concentrate now.
There’s so much running through my head right now that it’s giving me a headache. The thing eating at me the most is that I need to meet up with Colton and break things off completely. If I don’t do it as soon as possible, it’s only going to get harder, and then I’m going to explode with anxiety.
My plan was to go home, but instead, I find myself parked outside of Colton’s home. The first thing I notice is the red BMW in the driveway that isn’t his.
This is supposed to be when I feel some kind of jealousy or anger or something, right? That feeling that you would get if you were in love with someone . . . but all I feel is relief. I knew when he introduced me to his business partner that there had to be more there. The problem was I just didn’t care to question him on it.
I want to do this, but I want to do it right and say it to his face. I know that’s most likely not going to happen before work, so I send him a quick text, ignoring the handful of ones that he sent me last night.
Avalon: We need to talk in person. Are you available to meet up?
Setting my phone in the passenger seat, I drive back home and park, before checking for his response.
Colton: I can’t. I’m already at the office. We need to talk about yesterday, Marie. I am not happy with you or the little stunt that my brother pulled. Meet me for dinner tomorrow?
Avalon: Yes, we do need to talk about yesterday. Dinner tomorrow will work.
Colton: Good . . . I miss you. I miss us . . .
I know he’s probably waiting for me to respond with I miss you too, but that’s not happening. I just can’t lie and pretend anymore. The truth is, I stopped missing him months ago.
I WATCH FROM THE CORNER of my eye as Claudette walks around examining each of our stations. She always does this when she stops in for her three-hour inspection every Thursday and it drives us all crazy.
Madison bumps my shoulder, stopping me from sweeping. “Where were you last night? Please tell me you weren’t with Colton.”
I flash a fake smile when Claudette looks my way. “No,” I whisper. “I’ll tell you when Claudette leaves.”
“You suck,” she hisses.
“Madison,” Claudette calls out. “Now would be a nice time to clean your station. Is it not?”
Madison huffs in my ear and backs away to her station. “On it.”
The salon is pretty much uneventful for the next hour; everyone working like good little robots until Claudette finally walks out the door for the day.
“Oh thank God!” Madison screams, while plopping down in her chair. “I haven’t had a client in thirty minutes and she expects me to just stand here like a damn stiff with a smile plastered on my face. How does her husband deal with her? She must give some damn good head.”
A few of the other girls laugh and a couple of clients actually join in on the chuckling as well. It’s no secret that no one here can stand Claudette. Even the regulars seem to steer clear when they know she’ll be dropping in for her weekly inspection. I don’t blame them, because I wish I could too, but unfortunately, being the manager doesn’t allow me that pleasure.
Of course, as soon as I finish with my three o’clock appointment Madison jumps into my chair, waiting to hear my story about not coming home last night.
“I was at Royal’s,” I admit. “We had a few too many beers and I fell asleep outside by the pool. There. Happy?”
“I thought you went to Colton’s parents’ house for dinner last night? How the hell did you end up with Royal?”
I find myself smiling at the reminder; just thinking back to the way my heart skipped a beat when he walked through that door. “He showed up there and I left with him.”
Madison’s eyes widen in excitement. “Are you serious? That’s hot.” She rubs her hands together. “You showed up there with one brother and left with the other. The hotter brother might I add. My old Avalon is coming out to play.”
I let out a frustrated breath and push her out of my chair. “Yeah, well maybe she never left. Maybe she was just trying her best to be good.”
I’m so lost in talking to Madison that I don’t even notice my uncle until Madison is undressing him with her eyes.
“Hey, Uncle Mark.”
Leaning in, he kisses me on the side of the head, before taking a seat in my chair.
“Hope you have time for a quick cut. I’ve got a good five minutes or so before I get a call.” He smiles at me, and then turns to Madison as she growls at him. “Nice to see you too, Madi.”
“It’s always a pleasure, Mr. Knight. You sure you don’t want to take a seat in my chair?”
Rolling my eyes, I reach for the comb. “Stop flirting with my damn uncle. Didn’t Claudette ask you to clean the merchandise before your shift ends?”
“And I will. The end of my shift isn’t coming anytime soon, sweets.”
Used to Madison ogling him, my uncle just laughs it off and looks at me through the mirror. “You staying out of trouble, Ava?” He asks as I start trimming the ends of his longish, brown hair.
“Yes. I’m a little too busy to rebel against the law these days, or have any kind of fun, actually.”
“You sure about that, Ava?” Madison asks with a smirk. “You’re definitely not too busy to ride on the back of that sexy man’s motorcycle or fall asleep at his house.”
My uncle looks up at me through the mirror with a surprised look. “No shit,” he says with a crooked smile. “You and Colton break up?”
I glare over at Madison and point the scissors at her. “You . . . shut up. I’m not afraid to use these.” I look at my uncle through the mirror. “And yes. Well sort of. We’re on a break, but I’m telling his ass tomorrow at dinner, and yes, I’m fine with it. It’s been coming for a while.”
I get ready to talk again, but Madison’s big mouth interrupts me. “You’re looking exceptionally well in that uniform today, Officer. Have you been working out in the nude or anything? I promise not to picture it.” She winks.