Del rattled off a bunch of information she thought sounded right.
“Danke,Del. And I forgive you for being so selfish as to hog Lou all the time.”
“Selfish, you—”
“Ja,selfish,” he rumbled.
She sucked in a breath. “Come here.” He hurried to her side, and she placed his large hand on her tummy. “Say something.”
He just looked at her.
“Do it.”
“Ah, well…” He said something in German that made the little girl under his hand squirm something fierce. Del loved feeling that life inside her.
“How cool is that?” she asked Axel, softening when she saw the look of wonder on his face.
Okay, she approved. A dude who could crush Fletcher and his guys yet still have a soft side for babies and her cousin, well, as she’d said, her cousin had certainly done worse.
“Very cool, Del.” He stood and looked around. Then he whispered, “You will make a wonderful mother. And you are not a bad mechanic either.” Then he glared down at her. “And stop stealing my people to work for your gutter of a shop.”
He turned and left before she could stutter a response. But when the gang rushed to her office to know what she’d done to set Axel off, she figured she owed him one. “He had the nerve to demand I give him Lou back. Lou,” she barked, “you’re only going to Heller’s for three days this week. Not a minute longer!”
Lou sighed. “Yes, Boss.”
A tough chick, she had her reputation to consider. She yelled through the door as they all went back to work, “Good. And you tell Heller I said he can kiss my ass if he thinks I’m letting you go a second longer.”
“Yeah, right.” Lou was no fool. “I’ll leave that to you.”
“Fine. I’ll do that.” She’d tell Axel over the phone much later, where she could be heard sounding tough, not sniffing or wiping her eyes.You will make a wonderful mother. And you’re not a bad mechanic either,he’d said. High praise from the normally taciturn Axel.
She blew her nose. Hell, these stupid tears weren’t helping her street cred any.
* * *
Rena had been jumpy all day, waiting for the clock to strike four.
“Yo,chica, chill.” Stella Cortez Hernando popped her chewing gum and swept up the mess of hair from under her chair. One of four stylists in the shop, not including Rena, Stella did great work and had already brought in her share of customers. Stella preferred to work with nails and facials, but she occasionally did hair as well.
Nicky was out today, but Tommie “Call Me Thomasina and I’ll Kill You” had been busy all day with back-to-back appointments. She was currently snipping and gossiping with a client they all secretly referred to as “Man-Eater.” Cara Fuentes thought it her shining duty to sleep with (and brag about) as many men as possible. Be they single or attached, Cara didn’t care. With her lustrous black hair, curvy figure, and amazing looks, she’d turned more than one man away from his significant other.
Rena caught Stella’s gaze and saw the girl roll her eyes in Cara’s direction. Cara kept talking about Johnny and how the guy had the hots for her despite acting like he loved Lara.
Tommie let her talk.
Rena, however, had a moment’s pause. At five minutes to four, she had little time to mentally prepare for Axel…or Cara’s reaction to Axel.
Her non-talky Viking would certainly attract Cara’s notice.
Hmm. Might be a good way to see how he reacts when a woman with Cara’s looks is around.
Sure, Rena had known Axel for a long time, and she’d seen him interact with women at Ray’s. But he hadn’t been serious about her then. Though, come to think about it, she’d never seen him flirt with anyone. He always seemed so serious unless giving her a smile.
The door beeped, and there he was, larger than life and needing a haircut. All talk in the salon ceased.
Tommie stood frozen with her scissors poised to cut Cara’s brittle ends. Cara gaped at Axel via the mirror. The two women waiting for manicures stopped reading their magazines and gossiping and looked up, and up, at Axel.
He paused. “Four o’clock you said, yes?”
