“How soon?” I asked, referring to the remark that Chaz made to the man about seeing him soon.
Chaz’s shoulders hunched up and he cringed before answering. “Next week.”
“How?” I demanded. I was always booked up for nearly two months in advance.
“Mrs. Melanski had to reschedule because she’s having a procedure on her bunions,” Chaz answered.
“Dude! Don’t say the word bunion while I’m eating,” Meredith told our friend.
“You just said it,” Chaz replied saucily.
“No, I just repeated it and only after I held off the urge to throw up in my mouth,” she retorted.
“Kids, can we please focus here?” I asked, raising my voice so they could hear me over their bickering.
“Ohhh, I love it when Jazz goes alldaddyon us,” Chaz said excitedly to Meredith.
“Me too. I notice he’s getting better at it now that Gabe’s in his life. I bet they role play,” Meredith mock-whispered to Chaz behind her hand.
“I think you’re onto something, doll. Notice how that bird screams ‘Big Daddy’ all the time now. Jazz blames that on Gabe, and we thought it was because he was teaching him new words. Oh, Gabe was, alright, but not in the way we first thought.” Meredith leaned forward, propped her elbow on the table, and rested her chin in her palm. “Come on, sugar; you can tell us the truth. You’re the ‘Big Daddy,’ aren’t you?”
Chaz and Meredith burst into laughter as if that was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. Had I been in a better mood, I might’ve laughed along with them. The private joke was on them anyway because I had tapped that sexy ass and owned it the previous night. I felt damn proud of myself that I could please my man the way I did. They, however, would never know that because it wasn’t something I’d share with them. What Gabe and I had was too special to blab about like some lame-ass locker room story swap. Their laughter faded and the smiles slid off their faces when they realized I wasn’t joining in. I could see the concern that they’d offended me written on their faces.
“I’m not upset,” I told them. “Not with you, anyway. It’s that new guy, Fabio.” That got them laughing again.
“That’s a good one,” Meredith replied. She started mimicking the model’s lines from his famous butter commercials.
“Emory has similar looks to Fabio but his hair is darker, and he’d need to gain about thirty or forty pounds of muscle to reach Fabio’s bulk,” Chaz added with a snort.
“Emory? Is that his name?” I asked
“Emory Jackson,” Chaz answered. “You know, he has this weird way of looking at you like he sees inside your mind.”
“Yes!” I exclaimed. “That’s what I felt when he caught me being nosey when he moved in yesterday. It felt like he was looking into my soul from so far away.”
“Just how long were you creeping on the guy?” Meredith asked. I could only shrug because I wasn’t sure how long I stood there trying to guess who was moving in. “Is it possible you gave him the wrong idea with the amount of attention you bestowed upon him?”
“I don’t think so,” I replied, but I guessed it was possible.
“You’ll just have to set him straight if he gets out of line,” Meredith said sternly.
Chaz snorted and added, “Or let Detective Big Guns do it.” I pinned Chaz with a look that said only I got to call Gabe cutesy names.
Break time ended and we went back to the main salon area. For the first time in months, I felt like my life was spiraling out of control. I took stock of all the amazing things I had in my life and told myself I was absolutely ridiculous to fret.What kind of trouble could Emory Jackson possibly cause for us?A delivery man came through the salon door before I could answer myself, and I had to admit it was a welcome distraction from my thoughts, but not because the guy had any interest in me. Nope! He only wanted to give his package to Meredith.
My heart felt lighter when his big blue eyes locked on Meredith, who tried her damnedest to act like she didn’t know he was there. Usually, Chaz handled all the deliveries for us, but this guy walked right past him and headed straight for Mere. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as Meredith carried on with styling her client’s hair like she didn’t know he was standing a foot away from her with his heart in his hands.
“Excuse me, miss,” he said softly. Thank God, the poor guy got past his stuttering whenever he was near her.
Meredith let out a resigned sigh and turned to face the guy. She pointed her comb in Chaz’s direction and said, “He signs for our deliveries.” She’d told him that every time he delivered to our salon.
“Yes, but this package is just for you,” he told her. He set the package on her counter but made no attempt to leave afterward.
I’m not proud of the snort that slipped out until I saw the irritation on Meredith’s face when she glared at me. I wasn’t the only one intrigued by the interaction between Meredith and Delivery Dude. Her client watched the byplay raptly with shrewd speculation glistening in her dark, intelligent eyes. It was too bad for Meredith that her client happened to be her mother when Dewey Eyes showed up.
Mama Richmond turned her salon chair around and looked the guy up and down. “Who’s your friend, darling girl?”
“He’s not my friend, Mama,” Meredith said between gritted teeth.
