She glanced around. “Really?”
He blushed, as he’d been doing tonight. She loved making the big man a little uncomfortable. It put her on even footing; she’d been off her game since she’d met him.
“I like my house neutral because I do much relaxing here. When I think, in my office downstairs or at work, there is more color.”
“Do you draw?” she asked, not having considered there might be an artistic side to Axel.
“Not like J.T. or Lou.” He shrugged. “I’m not bad. But I am better at knowing what works than creating it from scratch. And there is an art to bodywork, to fixing what is broken.”
“I agree.” She drank the rest of her root beer, not having expected him to fetch her another right away. “Um, thanks. Were you ever a waiter?”
“I am good with personal service.” He winked.
Her face felt super hot, and he must have noticed because he chuckled.
“I’m like you in that way,” she said, not sure why he looked so happy about the fact.
“We have much in common.”
“Well, I don’t know about much, but—”
“Ja.We both like Italian food. We love your haircuts. We like to read.”
“About that—”
“And we love art. You are artistic with your hair salon, me with my shop.”
“Oh, well, yes, then I guess we do have a lot in common.” She pushed aside her plate, too full to eat the rest. “What kind of movies or TV do you like? Do you even like movies?”
“I have found I like dramas. Your movie the other night. It wasgut.”
She frowned. “What movie? Wait. Do you mean you watched Lifetime?”
He shrugged. “It was entertaining. Why are you laughing at me?”
She tried not to but found the thought of big, strong Axel enjoying a channel usually watched by women amusing. “Um, well, it’s usually a channel women watch.”
“That makes sense. I didn’t actually understand all the kissing at the end of the kidnapping, but it wasn’t so bad.”
She laughed. “You’re a funny guy. It’s surprising because you look all tough, but you’re a softie at heart, aren’t you?”
The look he shot her made her girl parts stand up and take notice.
“Not always so soft,” he muttered.
Her mind went straight to the gutter.
“I was hard on Rylan, one of my new guys. He’s not a bad man, but he’s been screwing up a lot lately.”
Of course he meant “not always so soft” in reference to work, not his dick, Rena!
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
“What about you? How are the ladies who work for you?”
“They’re good. I’m sure we’ll have issues at some point. But I really like our dynamic. And they’re all good at different things, from color to nails to updos, so we have specialties that overlap.”
He nodded. “You are busy at work, yes?”
