He nodded, more playful than she’d ever seen him. “I did. Your curls are the envy of women everywhere. You need a great man like myself to remind you that you are human and not the goddess you appear.”
“Oh my God, just stop before I have an eargasm. That voice, those words. Ack!” She leaned over to give him a peck on the lips before hopping out, too fast for him to stop her.
“Rena,” he said before she closed the door on him.
She hurried to her house and unlocked the door. “Bye!” she yelled before slamming it closed. She leaned back against it, wondering if she’d dreamt up the whole thing.
Axel couldn’t possibly be that amazing, could he?
Nine
Apparently, Friday night had been a fluke.
When Rena learned Axel had joined Del’s betting pool to see if and when they’d have sex and/or become a couple, she’d grown livid. “That horse’s ass!”
Tommie paused in the art of snipping her client, a big biker who liked to gossip more than Rena did. “Hey, George, gimme a sec.”
He flipped through aPeoplemagazine. “Go ahead. Sounds like issues with my old lady can wait. What flipped Rena’s switch?”
Rena swore under her breath and sequestered herself in the nails room, currently empty of people until Stella’s next client arrived for her appointment.
“Yo, Rena. What’s up?” Tommie asked.
“Shut the door,” she snarled.
Tommie’s eyes, highlighted today in neon purple, widened. She shut the door.
“Did you know about a betting pool going on, about me and Heller hooking up?” She only ever called him Axel. But today, he was a Heller. A hell of an asshole, a hell of a dickhead, a hell of an ex-almost-lover.
“Sure. We all put money down.”
“What?”
Tommie took a step back. “You didn’t know? Rena, Del’s the one who organized it. Yell at her, not me.” Tommie darted out of the room and closed the door behind her.
Yell at Del? What a grand idea. Rena planned to do it in person.
She dialed Mike’s cell and, before he could answer, asked, “Is your wife at home or at work?”
“Um, on her way home. Why?”
Rena hung up and left the office. “Sorry I yelled, Tommie. Nicky’s in charge. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
Tommie gave a salute. George, her client, snickered. “Give ’em hell, Rena.”
Nicky and her client waved.
Rena drove to Del’s home in Queen Anne, a cute Craftsman with loads of charm. Del and Mike had a little boy, a baby on the way, and a big goofy dog named Jekyll to round out their family. That was if Rena didn’t make Mike a widower.
Gah. It was lucky Del was pregnant.
Rena screeched to a halt at the curb outside Del’s place just as Del pulled into the driveway in her ’69 GTO. Rena left her car and raced to Del, who pulled herself out of the car with effort.
The front door opened, and Colin started to step outside, but Mike yanked him back in.
“No, Son. We do not want to see this.”
“But Aunt Rena is going to pound Mom.”
