“Are you sure? I don’t want to put you in a bind.”
“Honey, if they run out of chairs, you can sit on my lap,” Miss Faye offers.
Missy turns to Miss Faye. “Don’t make me call Mister Ralph on you!”
Faye waves her threat away. “Oh, please. He’d love for someone else to put up with me for a while. I wore him out years ago!”
I try to mask my laughter with a cough before walking over to Miss Faye and introducing myself. “Nice to meet you, Miss Faye, I’m Vali Erickson. I appreciate your offer but, hopefully, we’ll all get to keep our seats today. If we run out, though, I promise, we can share.”
When I give her a wink, she flutters her lashes, totally eating it up.
“Oh, I like you, Vali Erickson. You’re just what this place needed today.” Faye reaches out and pats my hand.
“What do you mean by that?” Missy questions Faye with her hands on her hips.
“Nothing, dear. It’s just after coming here every Saturday morning all these years, it’s nice to have a change in scenery, if you know what I mean. Especially one as good-looking as Vali.”
Missy mumbles “good Lord” before turning toward me. “Let’s find you a cape and we’ll get started. Miss Faye, you don’t mind waiting a few minutes while I wash Vali’s hair, do you?”
“Not at all, dear. I still have the rest of my People magazine to read.”
Chuckling, I follow her to the back of the salon, where she hands me a black cape to put over my clothes, before sitting at one of two sinks. Missy begins washing my hair and I close my eyes, allowing the feel of her fingers gently scratching my scalp to lull me into deep relaxation.
This is exactly what I needed.
When she’s finished with my thorough shampoo—I’m talking world-class, moan-inducing action—she moves on to the deep-conditioning treatment. While that’s working its magic, she works magic on my face.
Just as she starts with the purifying mask, a familiar voice grabs my attention, pulling me out of my state of deep relaxation. Peeking out of one eye, I see Maggie O’Neal talking to Miss Faye at Missy’s station. Immediately, my dick twitches and I force myself to close my eyes.
Out of sight, out of mind, right?
However, my dick doesn’t need any visual reminder—his imagination is stellar. Being the only guy at a salon, sporting a chubby, is not how I planned to spend my Saturday morning.
“Vali, is that you?”
I crack my eyes back open and turn in the direction of Maggie’s voice. There she is, standing closer than she was before. Fresh-faced with her hair pulled back by a headband, she’s breathtakingly beautiful. My dreams pale in comparison to the real deal.
“Oh, hey, Mags. You stalking me?” I ask. I’m joking, of course, but the way she flinches at my words makes me wonder if I haven’t hit a nerve. This is a small town, I’m sure our meeting here is purely coincidental.
Maggie huffs out a laugh while brushing back an invisible strand of hair off her face. “No, of course not. I—I would never do that.”
“Maggie, I’m kidding. I don’t really think you’re stalking me. But, on the other hand, if you are, I think I’d be okay with it.” The wink comes naturally and I hope it puts her at ease. “Are you here for an appointment?”
Again, she fusses with her hair and it seems as though I’ve made her self-conscious. Man, I can’t win here. Things felt so natural between us last night but are awkward now. I don’t like it.
“No,” she answers. “I’m here to deliver some feed to Tammy, the nail tech.”
“I didn’t realize the local feed store made deliveries.”
“Well, we don’t do it often but I had some errands to run anyway, so I told Tammy I’d bring her order. The better question is, what’s going on over here?” she asks, pointing to me. “Do your brothers know you’re here getting prettied up?”
My face mask cracks a bit when I bark out a laugh. “No, they do not, but they wouldn’t be surprised to find out. I’ve wasted many years trying to convince them of the benefits of this kind of self-care. They’re lost causes, I’m afraid.” This time, it’s Maggie’s turn to laugh loudly and it’s music to my ears.
I watch her as she slowly stops laughing, her eyes traveling over me from my head to my toes. It’s only now I realize just how ridiculous I must look but, really, I don’t care. I may have my secrets but I’m willing to be open for Maggie. At least, I think I am… to an extent. Besides, maybe seeing me like this will stop her from being so nervous around me. I’m not opposed to dancing with her again, if that’ll help, as well.
No, I’d like that very much.
“I should go,” Maggie says, pointing toward the door. “It was, uh, good seeing you, Vali.”
“You too, Mags.”
I swear I hear her mumble, “Please don’t cut your hair,” before she quickly walks out of the salon.
Once my face and hair are clean and I’m seated in Missy’s chair, I see that Miss Faye is sitting nearby.
“Looking good, Miss Faye. Is your husband taking you out on a date later?”
Faye lets out a cackle before rolling her chair close to me. “Heavens, no. This is just my weekly upkeep. I have a reputation to uphold, you know.”
“Is that so? And what kind of rep is that? Wait, let me guess… heartbreaker?”
“Ha! You’re a flatterer, Vali, and I love it. No, my reputation is what I like to think most Southern ladies aim for: sweet and feisty. Sweet to most but feisty to those who know better. I’m definitely not as sweet as that precious young girl you were speaking with earlier. She’s a precious little lamb and, from what I hear, as innocent as one too.” Faye quirks an eyebrow, causing me to chuckle.
It also causes me to pause because if what Faye just said about Maggie is true, then I should definitely stay away. If she’s a lamb, then I’m a fucking wolf and she deserves better than that.
Chapter 10
Maggie
Hey, Ever!
I ran into Vali at the hair salon today. He was getting a facial.
You don’t think he’s gay, do you? I feel like my gaydar is usually spot on but maybe I missed the signal with him because he’s SO FREAKING HOT.
Wow. That would be about right. The one guy that’s really got my attention and made me feel things and he’s gay. Batting for the other team. Not just out of my league, but out of my whole freaking sport.
How much do you charge for your fancy matchmaking services again?
You might be my only hope.
Maggie
P.S. We’re on a nickname basis now. He called me Mags.
Chapter 11
Vali
Tonight is Tempest’s self-defense class and I’ve been waiting all week for it—not so much for the class, but to see Maggie. After our run-in at the hair salon last Saturday, I expected to see her around town but, unfortunately, our paths haven’t crossed.
Not on my morning runs.