“Take my advice,” he continued. “Be your own boss in life. Once you get rid of people dictating how you should live, the world is your oyster.”
Claude returned and began soaking up the ends of my hair with a towel.
“I’ve changed my mind,” I said.
He gazed at me through the mirror, a smile hovering on his lips. “Too late.”
“I’m serious. I just want a trim.”
He leaned over my shoulder, eyes still centered on mine. “We agreed on highlights.”
I lowered my eyes, thinking about my plans to see my father. It wasn’t as if a few highlights would alter my appearance entirely, but I wanted to look the way he remembered me.
“Claude, I know you can do amazing things with your hands, but I’m not ready for amazing just yet. Snip off the split ends and let’s call it a day.”
He shook his head, but his nostrils were twitching. Claude was trying to figure out my emotional scent, and probably the only thing he could pick up was my resolve. “Female, I wouldn’t do anything but enhance the beauty that’s already there.”
“You gave me some layers last month. That’s progress.”
Claude folded his arms. “I fixed a catastrophe involving duct tape.”
“Don’t give me that look,” I said, lacing my fingers together. “I’m not going to be guilted into something I’ll regret. I’ve already got too many oddities going on; maybe I need something plain in my life.”
Claude growled and reluctantly grabbed the comb off the counter. I should have felt guilty for wasting his time, but I kind of liked seeing him all flustered.
When I looked to my right, the customer beside me was gone.
Claude combed out my hair and sectioned off a piece. “You’re going to have to do a lot of things you don’t necessarily like, but that’s our job.”
I glanced around.
He bent down next to my ear. “No one can hear us. I usually don’t allow Vampires in my shop.”
“Maybe you should. Christian could use a trim.”
“What Christian needs is a lawn mower from the neck up.”
“I wish Viktor had chosen someone else. How am I supposed to carry on a conversation with Shepherd? The man barely grunts at me when passing in the hall.”
“He grows on you.” Claude snipped another section and resumed combing. “If you run out of things to talk about during dinner, rich people like to discuss travel and politics. Given you’ll probably say something offensive on the latter, you might stick to asking him about Paris.”
“What makes you think he’s been there?”
Claude pushed my head down. “They’veallbeen to Paris. Some of those European countries have a long Breed history. Most of them have old friends they like to visit.”
I peeked through my hair at his reflection in the mirror. “What exactly does Patrick do?”
“He serves on the panel. The higher authority has officials in every major city, and they take turns rotating who’s going to sit in on trials. They know more about what’s going on in their district than anyone.”
I yawned noisily. “And I have to chat with this guy for how long?”
“If Shepherd has more than four drinks, it’s time to go home. Maybe if you bring up something innocuous like lager or stogies, it’ll give them a topic to discuss. Shepherd isn’t the most talkative male, but careful not to pick the wrong topic or he’ll get on his soapbox.”
“Lovely.”
After a few more snips, Claude circled in front of me where I could see him. The other employees wore black button-up shirts, but not Claude. He had on a black tank top with the store logo RAZOR SHARP on the front, a pair of scissors snipping off the bottom of theP. His tank top showed off his amazing shoulders—the kind a man is born with and doesn’t need to sculpt. Claude could ascend our rock-climbing wall faster than anyone in the group… and using only his hands.
“How are you getting along with Poe? Feeling better about Viktor’s decision to pair you up?”
