“I’m not rushing you. You doing this for me is a hell of a lot better than my usual barber.” God, how could a voice be so attractive? “I might have to start coming in every two weeks if you’re gonna be rubbing the back of my neck like that, Buttercup.”
I smiled, but it was off and my stomach was fluttering, and I’m sure my face was turning pink.
“Why you blushing?” he asked in that croon that sang straight to my ovaries.
“Because.” I laughed again, awkward and stupid, and why the hell was I doing this to myself?You know better, Diana.“You reminded me of something I heard. That’s all,” I said, rubbing my hand on my pants before moving around him.
He hummed. “You can tell me. I can keep a secret,” he said. “I don’t share.”
“Me neither,” I kind of mumbled before shuffling over to stand behind him, trading one tool for the other to catch a couple of super fine hairs right by his ears that I hadn’t been able to get. “It’s stupid. I’ll tell you another day.”
I spotted his Adam’s apple moving. I wouldn’t be surprised if he could hear my heart racing inside my chest. It only took a couple of minutes to finish up, to make sure the lines and edges along the nape of his neck were clean and straight. After brushing his bare skin off, I pulled the cape off him. I slowly shook it out as he got to his feet, avoiding the small pools of rich brown hair on the floor.
“How much do I owe you?” he asked.
I gestured toward the front desk area with my head, conscious that Sean and Ginny were nosey as fuck and still not done with their clients. “How about ten bucks?”
He touched the back of my hand again with his, and I knew without a single doubt, for one split second, his pinky finger hooked around mine before letting it go. “That’s how much I pay my old guy to cut me behind the ears and shove his sweaty armpit in my face. How much?”
He sounded just like Miss Pearl.
I kept myself from coughing and from glancing down at his hands, and somehow even rolled my eyes, trying to keep this light and playful even though it felt like something more. “Ten bucks. That took me fifteen minutes, tops, Dallas. It’s a friend discount, and don’t think about tipping me. I’ll sneak the money back in your bag during practice.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. You help me all the time. I can avoid shoving a stinky pit in your face and make sure I leave you without any cuts.”
“You sure? I know you charge like a hundred bucks for a haircut.”
I’d do it for free at my house if he wanted, but in that moment, that seemed like a dangerous idea. “I don’t charge a hundred dollars for a haircut. It’s like eighty, and it takes me over an hour to do that usually. Ten bucks. Cough ‘em up, Captain.”
That slow smile crossed his harsh features, lighting up my gut. “As you wish.”
I started grinning before I stopped. What did he just say?
Before I could ask myself if he’d really just said what I thought he said, Dallas added, “And it’s Senior Chief, Peach. Not Captain.”
Was I having hot flashes? Was I imagining things? I tugged at the collar of my shirt with my good hand and replied, “You got it, Senior Chief.”
He snickered and shook his head. As he handed over a ten-dollar bill from a scuffed leather wallet, he asked, “You putting me down for two weeks from now?”
I blinked and even my hands stopped moving. “You’re serious?”
He was dead serious. I could tell from the expression on his face. I’d seen it before. And he confirmed it. “I’m serious. Put me down.”
“Why don’t you just come over to my house and have me cut your hair there?” I offered, whispering. I could do it. I could keep my hands to myself.
“I like having an excuse to come see you,” he replied in a low voice that went straight to my chest.
I eyed him and nodded, slipping the cash into the register before reaching over to take the computer off sleep mode. “Is Monday fine?” I managed not to croak.
“Sure, baby.”
I was not going to make a big deal about the “B” word. And I didn’t. Words were just words sometimes, with no special meaning at all, and Dallas and I had been through some stuff together. Trip called me “honey” all the time too. Maybe Dallas was just practicing terms of endearment on me? Yuck. “All right.”
“You got me down?” he asked before I’d even saved the date.
“I’m about to.”
