But damn…
Maybe Fallon would decline the offer because she might think meeting his mother meant—
“I’d love that. I can’t wait to meet her.”
For fuck’s sake.
“Since I’m stopping at the store, ask her if she wants me to bring anything.”
He would not be doing that. If he did, his mom would be up his ass all day asking five thousand questions, wanting to know every damn detail about Fallon.
Yeah, no. Wasn’t going to happen.
He’d already fucked up once. And once was more than enough, fuck you very much.
Chapter Sixteen
“Sooo, girlfriend, you said one of those hunky leather-clad gorillas sent you my way?”
Fallon settled into the chair and was quickly spun around to face the large mirror at the hair station. Teddy, owner of Manes on Main, fluffed up her hair with his fingers and eyed it critically with one perfectly-plucked eyebrow pulled high.
Why did she suddenly feel like she had sat in an interrogation chair? “Yes. You came highly recommended. Which is great, since, as you see, I’m overdue.”
“Oooo. Who was it so I can thank him with a big fat kiss next time I see him?”
She laughed, wondering if Whip would mind receiving a kiss from a man. “Whip. He’s working on my Agnes.”
Teddy’s fingers froze in her hair. “He’s working on your Agnes? I know I’ve been off the market for a while now, but am I that out of touch with hoo-hah terms? Not that I was ever in that particular market.”
“Agnes is my Indian.”
Teddy frowned into the mirror over her head and shook his own. “Still confused.”
“My motorcycle.”
Teddy’s confusion quickly cleared. “Oh! Oh, yes, that cutie-pie is very good with his hands.”
“Yes, he is.”
“Oooh,” Teddy purred and began fluffing her hair again, still giving it a critical eye. “You like them young, then?”
“Not normally.”
“But I detect a bit of interest in your tone. You can tell little ol’ me if there is.”
She lifted and dropped one shoulder, not hiding her grin. “Maybe.”
“No maybes about it. He’s super-duper adorbs.”
She gave him an over-exaggerated scowl and shook a finger at him in a teasing manner. “He’s made it very clear that he doesn’t like being called cute. He’d probably hate being called ‘adorbs.’”
Teddy released a little squeak, threw up his palms in surrender and laughed. “So, what can I do you for?”
“I need my highlights touched up and a trim.”
“You came to the right person.” He tilted his head and made eye contact with her in the mirror. “I’ve never seen you around here before and I know evvvvverybody. Did you just move to town? And if you did, what the hell were you thinking?”
“You don’t like it here?”
“Oh, I love it because my family is here, but some people around here don’t love me. I’m too open, I’m too loud, I’m too,” he sighed, “extra. Whatever. But I will never step back into that closet again. They can kiss my sweet ass.” He made a kissing sound, popped a hip to the side and smacked his own ass sharply.
She hated hearing stories like that. “I’m sorry you have to deal with people being closed-minded. But, actually, I’m only passing through. Or I was when Agnes got damaged.”
“It’s fab that you call your,” he dropped his voice a couple octaves and growled, “sled,” then returned his voice to normal, “Agnes.”
“Well, she’s my travel partner so she deserved a name.”
His hands paused again and his head tilted. “You’re traveling alone?”
“I am.”
His perfectly-shaped eyebrows rose again. “Interesting.”
“It has been so far.” This unexpected stop along the way had been the most interesting one on her trip so far. “Just so you know, the Fury ladies also sang your praises.”
He took a step back from the chair, wiggled his ass and snapped his fingers on both hands, quickly following all that with a single clap. “Love those ladies. I swear they are my best clients. They’re all very lucky to land those sexy hunks of man-meat. Who doesn’t like all that alpha growly deliciousness?” He clawed the air with his fingers. “Rawr!”
“I’d have to agree, most of them are pretty damn sexy.”
“Mmm hmm. It makes my day whenever I can get their tushes in my chair and clean them up a bit.” He made a snipping motion with his fingers. “Okay, so… Do you want the same color highlights?”
“Yes, or something close.” She wasn’t going to be picky about it.
The whole time he mixed the color, applied it to her hair with the foils and while they waited for the timer to ding, he chatted non-stop. Not only was Fallon having a hard time keeping up, most of the stuff he rattled on about—in his very animated, entertaining way—she had no idea what he was talking about. Especially when it came to the local gossip.
But no matter what he was rambling about, his antics made Fallon smile and laugh so much that her cheeks were beginning to ache. If she lived in this town, she would definitely be sitting in his salon chair on a regular basis simply for the entertainment factor alone.