“And you don’t have to be…” East paused and admired the visual once more. “…so you,yet here you are. I guess we’re both inconvenienced right now.”
Joi clamped her mouth shut and looked around the shop. If the man standing before her wasn’t about a foot taller than her with muscles bulging from his arms and chest, she would have considered slapping the rudeness out of him. Joi was scrappy but not stupid.
“Is the manager here? I would like to speak to them.”
East chuckled and looked down at her. “Ay, Chuck. Call the manager. Shorty right here wants to speak to ’em.”
Chuck, who was at the station behind East, paused the cut he was in the middle of, grinned, and checked her out while he reached behind him to get his phone from his station. It was a rule that none of the barbers were allowed to be on their phones during business hours. East followed his own rules when cutting because he learned it was best to lead by example. Today, he was cutting, so he didn’t have his phone on him. The shop was one of the best in the city. There was a waitlist with at least ten names on it right now of barbers eager to cut there, so everyone followed the rules, knowing East could replace them on any given day and never miss a beat.
Once Chuck had his phone in hand, he dialed themanager,who was also the owner of the shop. The second he lifted hisphone to his ear, East’s vibrated behind him. Lifting it from his station with a smug grin, East answered the call on speaker with his eyes on Joi.
“Ay, East, some chick in here wants to speak to you.”
Her cheeks flushed with heat when she realized what was happening. “I’m guessingyou’rethe manager?”
“Owner, CEO, manager, whatever you want to title me. This is my shit, pretty,” East stated proudly before motioning to the wall across from them with his head. His name was printed in bold letters that one of his tattoo artists from the shop he owned next door had crafted for him.
“Well, you need to do better business. You shouldn’t talk to customers the way you talked to me.”
“I’m a hood, pretty. I’m very capable of handling business in a professional manner, but what I’m not gon’ do is let anybody talk to me like they feel entitled. That includes you. The pretty girl shit might get you a pass at other times, but not in here, in my shit. What you put out in the world is what you get back, especially in a place I own. I address customers how they address me. As for business, the shop is packed. Look around, I’m not hurting for clients. My barbers and I are the best in the city. You’re in the presence of greatness. Hood Royalty, if you will. Now, if you’ll move, I can show you better than I can tell you.”
East flashed Joi his panty-dropper smile before he turned his back to her and began a conversation with Nick like she no longer existed. She stood there for a moment longer but eventually eased away and refilled the only empty chair in the building. That further infuriated Joi because he was right.
The shop was packed to the point that clients were ducked in corners and leaning against the walls, patiently waiting their turn. She was annoyed, embarrassed, but turned on at the same time. Why did the man have to be so damn sexy? When mendismissed her, she needed them to be inadequate, not worthy of her caring, so she didn’t feel slighted, butthis manwas none of the above. So it struck a nerve that he had put her in her place, even if her attitude was the reason why. The craziest part was that they were in a shop full of people, but she only noticed him. Everything about this man overpowered anyone else in the building with no effort on his part. He simply just… was.
For the next forty minutes, Joy watched as East interacted with Nick, taking his time while creating a masterpiece. The way he moved was sexy and she found herself lusting over how the muscles in his arms and chest rippled with the slightest movement. Not to mention, at certain angles, she had a great visual of the print nicely positioned nicely in his perfectly fitted jeans.
Something as simple as a haircut had Joi entranced or maybe it was just the man giving the haircut. She wasn’t sure, but part of the attraction came from the ease and care East showed with Nick. It had Joi smiling unintentionally until she caught herself wondering if he was so good with Nick because he had kids of his own. A man like this definitely hadkidsor at leasta kid. If she had to guess, he was dropping his seed around the city like hoes dropped panties for men like him. East had free love tendencies without a doubt.
Joi’s inspection of East started at his square jaw covered by a silky, black beard. It was just the right length, extending about an inch from his face. His hooded eyes were sexy and narrowed into slits when he focused because of their natural sleepy state, which exposed the long eyelashes curled above them. Their appearance had Joi feeling a tinge of jealousy because she had to pay for hers just like the clients who visited her monthly because she was quickly becoming the best in the city with her lash work. Not to mention, those damn lips. Her body tingled every timeshe focused on them due to the thoughts of what they would feel like on hers and on her…
“Joi, look. You like it? I look fly.”
East smirked as he stared across the room at who he now knew as Joi, thanks to his lil partner, Nick.
She had been so deep in her thoughts about East that she hadn’t noticed he was done with Nick’s haircut until she heard Nick’s very animated voice. East didn’t miss the fact that she was staring at him, seemingly in a daze.
“I do. Your mommy is gonna love it too. Thank God he didn’t mess it up,” Joi mumbled as she made her way over to the two of them and further inspected the Caesar cut Nick was sporting.
The design that moved from his left ear to the back of his head was an added touch, but the precision of his lineup was what killed it.
“He didn’t cut me. Can I come back here again?” Nick’s excitement and admiration for his new barber had Joi smiling.
“You have to ask your mom. I was just filling in today because she couldn’t get away.”
“Damn, so no round two for us then?” East interjected, causing Joi to give her attention to him.
“Huh?”
“You said you were just filling in. That means I won’t get to see you next time. I’m a little disappointed… unless his mom is as fine as you are.” He smirked and Joi offered him an evil stare.
Her mouth dropped open, hanging momentarily before she clamped it shut. At the same time, she narrowed her eyes, ready to hand him his ass for being so disrespectful,again. He did say she was fine, but in the same sentence showed he had no decorum.
East sensed he had struck a nerve, which was his goal. To not further torture Miss Hateful, he switched things up. “Chill, it was a joke. I can see you’re ready to put your hands up.”
Joi just stared, trying to decide if it was truly a joke. When she didn’t respond, he laughed, shaking his head.Damn, even his laugh is sexy.
“I see now you’re not one to fuck with. Real shit, though, I was just messing with you. I don’t get down with disrespecting women, pretty.”
