“Tell me about this Beautiful You program,” he asked, genuinely interested.
“It’s my pet project and baby,” she said, her voice filled with pride. “The program is something I started about a year ago. I wanted to find a way to give back to the community, and I had a new client come in who worked at the local women’s shelter. By the time I was done with her hair, after hearing all the horrors of what those women went through, I knew I wanted to do something special for them, which led to creating the Beautiful You program.”
He watched more of his hair fall to the floor as she continued lifting the strands with a comb and snipping. “How does the program work?”
“Like I told you earlier today, it’s the last Monday of the month. So during that month, I’m in contact with the women’s shelter to set up appointments for whoever they feel needs a day of pampering, and Scarlett and Jessica and I make sure we accept new women every month to spread the love, so to speak.” She smiled as she talked and trimmed around his ears and neck, clearly able to multitask. “We don’t charge for any of the services, and everyone leaves with a gift bag filled with beauty products, because most of them don’t have much at all. My goal when I first started the program was to make sure that every woman who came into our shop on the Beautiful You day walked out feeling confident and beautiful and knowing that they deserve to be treated like a queen.”
He was truly in awe of her selfless, altruistic nature, as well as how passionate she was about the cause. “That’s really incredible.”
“I really do love doing it every month because it’s so rewarding.” Done with the cutting part of his hair, she set her comb and scissors aside and reached into a cupboard for a blow-dryer. “The program has been so successful that it caught the attention of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, and I found out last month that I’ve been nominated for this year’s Humanitarian Award. They’ll be presenting me with the award in a few weeks, but what I’m so grateful for is that it puts a spotlight on the issue of domestic violence.”
“The award is well deserved,” he said, meaning it.
“Thanks,” she murmured, a bit shy with compliments.
She turned on the blow-dryer, which made conversation difficult. Five minutes later, she shut it off and he had a great haircut in a fashionably mussed style.
“Looks great,” he said as she took off the cape and shook it out. “Thank you.”
She smiled at him. “You’re welcome.”
He got up from the chair, and she picked up a nearby broom and started sweeping up the hair she’d cut. “What do I owe you?” He reached toward his back pocket for his wallet.
She shook her head. “It’s no charge.”
“Evie, you’ve spent the entire day cutting people’s hair without getting paid. Let me at least pay for mine.”
She gave him a direct look. “I’m not taking your money,” she insisted as she swept the pile of hair into a dustpan and dumped it into the trash. “Consider it part of me hiring you for next weekend, and speaking of which, we need to discuss your fee.”
A loud knock sounded on the glass door, an interruption that Eric was grateful for because he didn’t intend to let her pay him a dime for doing something he wanted to do. “Ahhh, dinner’s here,” he said, and walked to the door with her following.
“This conversation isn’t over,” she said firmly.
He grinned at her. “It is for now, because we’re both starving, and getting food in our stomachs is a priority.”
“Fair enough,” she replied agreeably, clearly favoring pizza over monetary talk.
Since Eric had paid for their dinner and tipped the delivery guy through the app, he accepted the medium-sized pizza box and the extra item he’d also ordered, and Evie relocked the door, then led the way back to the storage room, where there was an area set up with a table and chairs for employee breaks, he assumed.
She grabbed two bottles of water from a small refrigerator. “What’s in the bag?” she asked curiously as she joined him at the table.
“Dessert.”
Her eyes lit up with delight, and he loved that she was so unabashed about enjoying sweets. “What kind of dessert?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.” He set the treat aside and opened the pizza box, and they both inhaled the savory scent of pepperoni, mushrooms, and red sauce and tons of cheese.
They both dug in, using the paper plates and napkins the delivery driver had included. Her first bite in and she was moaning, her eyes rolling back in ecstasy.
He raised a brow in amusement, even while his dirty mind wondered if she’d make those same sounds and that same look during sex. “That good, huh?”