Falling for the Enemy (Private Pleasures 3)

addy to do the right thing. Didn’t turn his back or look the other way. If that’s not loyalty to this town and the law, I don’t know what is. People respect him for how he handled the mess, and we’re not the kind to punish the son for the sins of the father. He made the tough call, and he followed through. He served our country with honor, and graduated with flying colors from the academy in Rochester earlier this year. What more could we want?”

She folded her hands and propped her chin on them. “I agree, and I… I think he’d do a great job. He’s got the right background. I trust his instincts and his judgment, but Grady, I don’t know what his plans are. I don’t even know if he’s returning to Bluelick.”

“He’s back. Got in last night and was on the job at Longfoot’s site first thing this morning.”

“Oh.” She swallowed that bit of news and tried to hide her disappointment. He hadn’t called. Hadn’t come by. “Does he plan to…stay?”

“We’re thinking you might be able to shape his plans, if you speak to him about the job. Sell him on it. Make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

“Me?”

“You’re the mayor.” Grady grinned and hefted himself out of her guest chair just as Dilly Hill bounced in to get her roots touched up, and Mrs. Hill followed.

“OMG. Ginny Boca, you’re the freaking mayor,” Dilly gushed, and wrapped her in a hug.

“Yeah,” Ginny replied, and hugged her back. “OMG.”

Forty-five minutes later Dilly danced out behind her mom, eighty dollars lighter a shade blonder than her daddy was likely to appreciate, but happy. Ginny waved at them, flipped her sign from open to closed, and started lowering the blind over her front window.

A figure standing at the curb drew her eye. Shaun, hands tucked into the front pockets of his jeans, staring at her.

She hurried to the door, never taking her eyes off him, but when she opened her mouth to speak, the chaos of words rushing to be freed clogged her throat. How are you? I missed you. Why are you back? What are your plans? I’m in love with you. Where should she start? “You could use a trim.”

Nice.

His lips tightened into a faint smile. “You’re the expert.”

She tipped her head toward the shop. “Just so happens I have an opening in my schedule right now.”

He glanced at her closed sign and then back at her.

In answer, she stepped aside, held the door open, and inhaled deeply as he brushed past. His scent, the heat of his body, his proximity—the combination triggered longing so strong it almost made her dizzy. Everything inside her ached to hold onto him, but he’d rebuilt his wall of inscrutability since he’d been gone, and she couldn’t tell how he’d react. “Have a seat.”

He went to the chair in front of her workstation and sat. She lingered in the waiting area for a moment, thought about lowering the blinds, but left them alone. Secrets weren’t her style—never had been. If somebody walked by and caught an eyeful of Shaun Buchanan getting a trim from his father’s successor, so be it. Let them speculate.

She approached the chair, while memories of everything they’d done at this very workstation the first time she’d given him a haircut blew through her mind. Her hands were less than steady as she shook out a clean cape, draped it over him, and secured the Velcro at the back of his neck. Trembling hands…not the kind of trait a smart man looked for in a person about to wield scissors around his head. She inhaled slowly, and waited for calm before she leaned past him and dug a clean comb and scissors from her drawer. Her arm brushed his shoulder as she straightened, and the heat from the small contact zinged through her, leaving no molecule unscathed.

She spritzed the back of his head with water and began working the comb through. “How have you been?”

“I’m surviving. The Feds are done with me, for the time being, so that’s good.”

“You look good.” God, did she sound like she was hitting on him? “I mean…you know…well rested.”

“I am, strangely enough. I’m sleeping again.” His eyes found hers in the mirror. “I have you to thank for that.”

“Not really. All I did was ask a few questions and listen.”

“Listening is one of your gifts, sweet Virginia. One of many.”

The sound of her name on his lips caused a spike in her pulse. She didn’t know how to respond to his observation, so she offered him a quick smile and concentrated on trimming a tidy line across the back of his neck.

“Guess I should call you mayor now?”

Was he teasing her? “Virginia is fine.” She snipped around his ear.

“Congratulations.” This time his voice held no hint of a tease.

“Thank you.” God, he might as well have been a polite stranger, instead of the man with whom she’d shared more physical and emotional intimacies than she’d ever dreamed possible. She moved around to the front of the chair and focused on his bangs. After a minute, the inside of his knee brushed her thigh. Her eyes dropped to his, but those bottomless brown depths gave nothing away.