“I know, Wren. You don’t have to tell me again about how ‘it’s not me; it’s you.’ I’ve replayed the whole ‘you deserve better’ spiel. We don’t have to do it again. You’re doing me a really big favor, and I don’t want to repay that by making you feel uncomfortable.”
Fuck! I could resist overtly sexual Dare, but not vulnerable Dare. I just wanted to tuck him up against my chest and protect him from the ugliness in the world, but I’d tried that before with horrific results. I couldn’t let Dare get sucked into the vortex of fuckery that followed me everywhere. I’d much rather have him hate me than become another one of my casualties. I resisted the urge to cup his chin and rub my thumb over his pouty bottom lip.
“It’s the best for both of us.” Believe it or not, Go-Go.
Dare gave me a friendly smile, but the devilish twinkle was gone from his eyes. He turned back around and walked up the remaining steps until he reached the little landing in front of the door.
“Prepare yourself,” Dare warned while unlocking the door.
“You’re so dramatic,” I said, moving around him to open the door. I reached inside the door and flipped the light switch. “Holy fuck!”
“I know,” Dare said, fidgeting beside me. “Oh my God. I can’t let you do this, Wren. It’s too much to ask of anyone.”
I looked around at the shaggy green carpet that matched the avocado-green appliances but clashed poorly with the orange Formica countertop. The walls were covered in fake wood paneling the same color as the kitchen cabinets, making it look dark and dingy. “Bedroom? Bathroom?” I asked.
“Through that door,” Dare said, pointing his finger.
He didn’t follow me, which was a good thing, because I didn’t want him to see my reaction to the hideous bathroom. The entire space was covered in white tile with big orange flowers and green leaves stamped in the center of each one. The water turned on and heated fast, quicker than my current apartment in Cincinnati. The bedroom was more of the same paneling and shaggy green carpet, but it was a decent size that could easily fit my bed and dresser.
Dare didn’t meet my gaze when I returned to the living room. I checked the thermostat and heard the heat rattle on. The apartment was the ugliest thing I ever saw, but it was air tight, warm, and had good water.
“I’ll take it.”
That ugly room became the most beautiful space when Dare turned that megawatt smile on me. If I didn’t watch it, I’d be the one creeping across the yard to get to him. Hopefully his grandpa had a shotgun and could keep us both in check.
I was never so happy to give a two-week notice as I was to Betty O’Dell the night after Wren gave me his first month’s rent. Betty wasn’t my problem, neither was her husband or daughter, Aaron and Claire. The three of them had always been good to me, but her two sons, David and Ethan, were not my biggest fans. Then again, I started to believe that one, or maybe both, were bigger fans than they would like to be. It was my experience that the more homophobic someone was, the more likely they were a closet case. I would not be sticking around to urge either of them out into the light of day. They could stay nestled in the safety of their alphabet family. Get it? Aaron, Betty, Claire, David, and Ethan. Yes, they did it on purpose.
Betty was kind when I gave her the news and even seemed sad that I was leaving them. Aaron and Claire were mostly indifferent, but it made David and Ethan feel bolder about humiliating me in front of customers or the other employees. I told myself that I could buck it up long enough to work out my notice so that I didn’t give them another reason to belittle me, but I was ready to commit murder just a few days into the two-week notice.
“He’s light in the loafers but a good designer,” Ethan had told a customer the previous night. Light in the loafers? Um, the fifties are calling, and they want their homophobic phrases back. He didn’t even bother to lower his voice so that I wouldn’t hear him like he’d done the other times. When I turned to face him, he and the male client were giving me the once-over. I recognized what I saw in their eyes, and it wasn’t disgust. Of course, later they’d be disgusted that they weren’t disgusted, if you know what I mean. That wasn’t the only occasion that David or Ethan insulted me. They tried to find any opportunity to work the words fairy or fruit into a conversation. They disgusted me.
I was too stunned to say anything after the latest insult, but I stewed over it all night long, tossing and turning while I thought about what to do. It was clear that I would need to rescind my notice and quit on the spot, but I worried about how to handle it. While I thought Aaron and Betty would be horrified over their sons’ actions, I knew that blood was thicker than water. Still, they were setting themselves up for a civil lawsuit if they didn’t get their sons under control. I suspected that they said inappropriate things to the female designers too, but they never admitted as much to me. It was just a feeling I would get when I saw how uncomfortable the ladies were around them sometimes.
I didn’t fall asleep until almost dawn, so I was looking haggard as fuck when I showed up at the salon for my shift. Wren did a double take and intercepted me before I could reach my desk.
“Hey, is everything okay?” His worried voice warmed the chill that had permeated my bones that not even Grandpa’s sauna-like temperatures could chase away.
I briefly closed my eyes and released a long, shaky breath. I had vowed to stop flirting with him since he was helping me out and assured myself that my little crush would fade with time. If he kept it up, I’d fall head over heels in love with the man. It was obvious that he didn’t want to want me, so I needed to cling to my resolve. “Don’t do that, Wren.”
“Do what? Be kind?” He looked truly confused.
Make me love you. I dug deep for a sassy comeback, but I was just too damned tired, and the truth would freak him out and send him running. I shook my head and smiled crookedly at him. “Ignore me. I’m just tired.”
Wren scowled at me through narrowed eyes. “Are you sure? Is your grandpa okay?”
Do not fall in love with him. Do not fall in love with him.
“He’s doing great. He was eating the oatmeal I made him and watching one of those shopping networks. Hopefully, Maren will arrive before he can buy another kitchen gadget that I’ll never use.” The thought made me smile and some of my sadness dissipated.
“If it’s okay with you, I’d like to start moving some of my stuff tonight. I can do the bigger pieces this weekend, but I’d like to get a jumpstart so I can have a lazy day on Sunday.” I always felt an undercurrent of energy radiating from Wren and doubted he knew the meaning of lazy.
“You can move in anytime,” I assured him. “Can I help you with anything?” A few days ago, I would’ve offered to help set up his bed, or mess it up. I would’ve batted my eyelashes and pushed my lips out suggestively to make it clear that I was offering to release the pressure in his balls. This was a new year, and dare I say, a new me. Ugh!
The changes didn’t go unnoticed by Wren either. “Are you sick?”
“No,” I snorted. I could tell he wanted to know more, but he didn’t push. I offered another smile before continuing to my desk.
Of course, it was too much to ask for a smooth day at the salon after a short night of sleep. It started off with massive cancellations due to a flu outbreak, but those empty slots were quickly filled by people with DIY hair disasters. I mean, I thought I’d seen it all, but I was so wrong.
By late afternoon, things seemed to calm down enough for me to grab a cup of coffee and a few minutes of quiet. Earlier, I’d taken a whopping five-minute lunch break to eat the pizza Josh had delivered for us.
“Was there a full moon last night?” Meredith asked when she joined me in the kitchenette. Meredith, Josh, and Wren each had two disasters to fix, while the rest of the stylists had one. Mere shook her head as she stirred a bit of honey into her chamomile tea. “I don’t get it.”
“I think it’s all those videos people are watching on social media,” I replied. “I’
ve seen everything from people dying their hair with Nutella to cutting it with fire and knives. I think people are seeing these videos and thinking they can do it too.”
“What they don’t see is the years of experience it takes to pull it off, or the trial and error until the stylist can perfect the color technique,” Meredith said. “Wait, did you say fire and knives?”
“Swords, really.”
“What? Show me?”
“I don’t know, Mere,” I teased. “I don’t think Josh will want you trying this out on salon clients.”
“Oh, baby doll, I’d try it on Harley first,” she said. I loved the look of joy on her face at just the mention of her husband’s name.
I pulled up my history on YouTube and showed Meredith the video of the guy setting people’s hair on fire before he sliced through it with a short sword. It was horrifying and fascinating at the same time.
“People are crazy,” Mere said. “One false move and you’re burned at best.”
“Dead at worst,” I added.
Heather poked her head into the kitchenette. “We got another walk-in disaster. Do you have time to fix it?”
“Yeah,” Meredith said. “I’ll be right there.” She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and headed back into the wild.
I was too anxious to sit there and drink my coffee so I went into the supply room, which was little more than a large closet, to double-check the inventory of shampoos, conditioners, and styling products. I hadn’t been in there long when I felt his presence. I closed my eyes and inhaled shallow breaths through my nose. Resist, Dare.
“Wanting to try this room on for size too?” I asked. Damn! That one just slipped out before I could stop it.
A low chuckle rumbled from Wren’s chest. “That’s a little better.”
My heart raced when I looked at him over my shoulder and caught him checking out my ass. Maybe we could fuck this out of our system and move on. I was just about to suggest it when I recalled everything I had on the line. “Did you need something, Wren?” I started to reach for the shampoo and conditioner he preferred to use on his clients.
“I’m not here for supplies,” he said.
I turned slowly to face him. “Then why did you come?” I swallowed hard when his nostrils flared. Neither of us had come yet—well, not together anyway. “I mean, um, what do you need?” That wasn’t much better.
“I need to know who, or what, dimmed your sparkle today?” Wren stepped further inside the room and shut the door behind him. “I’m not leaving here until I get the truth out of you.”
“What techniques will you use to make me talk?” I couldn’t help myself. I was bad, so very bad.
Wren didn’t stop moving forward until I was sandwiched between the shelves and his hard body. I could see, and feel, how much Wren liked my flirting, so why the fuck did he fight it so strongly? “You’re going to tell me because you’ll feel better afterward. Maybe I can help you.”
“I’m not helpless, Wren.” I tipped my chin up defiantly. “There’s no need for you to ride up on your steed to save me.” It seemed I couldn’t stop my fairy-tale references.
“I never said you were helpless or needed saving, Dare.”
A million sassy replies flooded my brain, but I repressed them. “You’ve helped me enough already.” I lowered my head because the concern and tenderness in his amber eyes weakened me and made me crave things I would never have with him.
Wren gently placed his hands on both sides of my neck and tipped my chin up with his thumbs. “Tell me.”
For the second time that week, I unleashed my emotions on Wren. I didn’t cry this time, because those assholes were not worth my tears. He stiffened when I told him about Ethan’s remark. “I’m going to go in there tonight to rescind my notice. I don’t even care about the money or the fact that they could trash my reputation to potential employers.”
“That little fucker needs to be put in his place,” Wren snarled. His body had gone completely rigid, and I found myself wanting to comfort him. I knew what would happen if I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and leaned into him, and it wouldn’t matter to me that there was a salon full of people.
I patted his chest instead, not allowing my hands to linger and explore his hard pectoral muscles. “I’ll tell Betty and Aaron tonight about it and walk out of there with my head held high.” Wren wasn’t appeased, so I tried a different tactic. “Thanks to you, I can come home and have a nice evening with my grandpa and turn in early to make up for the lack of sleep last night. Thank you, Wren.”
Wren stared at my mouth like he was thinking of other ways I could show my appreciation, but he said, “You can stop thanking me.”
“Not all saviors ride horses. Sometimes they ride on Harley motorcycles or drive pickup trucks,” I said softly, running my hands over the bristles of his beard. It was so soft; I wanted to feel it everywhere on my body.
Wren jerked away from my touch and took a few steps back. Was it my actions or words that ruined the beautiful moment? One minute, Wren was ready to kiss me, and the next, he looked like someone dumped a bucket of ice water on his head.
“I, uh, need to get back out there,” Wren said gruffly. “Maybe I’ll see you tonight.”
I swallowed down my disappointment and said, “Okay.” What else could I say?
I replayed the conversation over in my head for the rest of the afternoon. He was fine until I referred to him as a savior, but I couldn’t understand why it upset him so much. I wanted to ask him, or apologize, but instead I used it as a reminder to leave the man alone. If that wasn’t enough to get the point through my thick skull, Wren leaving after his final appointment without so much as a wave or goodbye was enough to do the trick.
It was my late night to work at the salon, so it was nearly eight o’clock by the time I arrived at O’Dell’s to rescind my notice. I figured at least Betty or Aaron would be there, but I was surprised to find them both in the office they shared in the back of the warehouse. They both sat rigid with tension, like they anticipated the conversation, but how? I hadn’t discussed the situation with any of the sales staff yesterday. In fact, I’d told no one except… No way.
“Please have a seat,” Betty said, motioning to an empty chair.
“It’s come to our attention that you were subjected to a very unpleasant encounter last night,” Aaron said. “Betty and I would like to apologize on behalf of Ethan.”
“We made it very clear to him that we won’t accept that kind of talk around here, not even from our son,” Betty said.
“Sons, Betty,” I corrected. “They both do it, and I don’t think they treat your female employees any better.” Her mouth fell open in shock then she turned to look at her husband who seemed just as appalled. When they faced me again, they both seemed to age right before my eyes. I hated to hurt them, but I should’ve stood up for myself and the ladies sooner.
“I’m truly sorry, Dare. You’ve been a true asset to our company and we’ll miss you.” She slid an envelope across the desk. “After last night, I’m sure you’d prefer not to work out the rest of your notice, so we cut you a check for the hours you were scheduled to work. We’re not trying to buy your silence or anything, we’re just trying to do what’s right.”
“Wow,” I said. “I have to admit I wasn’t expecting this. Can I ask who told you about the incident?”
“That’s not important, honey,” Betty said. “It only matters that we make this right with you and make sure it never happens again.”
“We wish you the best of luck, Dare,” Aaron said. “Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you ever need a referral.”
“Um, thank you.” I was still too stunned to say anything else, so I took my check and left.
I had to walk through the warehouse and the showroom to exit the building. I was hoping like hell to get out of there without running into Ethan or David, but luck wasn’t on my side. Ethan stepped out from behind a display of bookshelves used in the home of
fice display I set up.
“If you had a problem with something that I said then you should’ve told me yourself instead of sending your big boyfriend in here to fight your battles for you,” Ethan said.
“I didn’t send anyone in here to fight my battles for me, Ethan. Why the hell are you lurking around behind bookshelves? Closet getting too cramped?”
“W-w-what the fuck did you just say?” he stuttered. “Are you implying that I’m gay?”
“I’m not implying anything,” I said. “I give it a year before you’re arrested for soliciting a blow job in the men’s bathroom at an airport just like all the other self-hating gays. Now kindly step away before I knee you in the balls.”
Ethan’s mouth fell open in shock, but he stepped away as I requested. I wanted to celebrate my little victory, but I was too fucking busy seething. Who the fuck did Wren Davison think he was? And why did he do it? He made no damn sense, which was probably the most infuriating part. We weren’t friends. We weren’t lovers. He made it clear to me that he didn’t want any type of relationship with me. He pitied me and wanted to help. That was all.
I was so damn mad that I would’ve called him and ripped him a new one if I had his number. A wicked smile spread across my face when I saw his truck parked in the driveway in front of the garage and the lights on in the apartment windows above it.
“Even better.”
I didn’t stop to check on Grandpa first, I tromped across the driveway and up the stairs to find Wren before I could talk myself out of being mad at him.
The flash of headlights through the window alerted me that Dare had returned home. Hell, I’d only brought over a few boxes of stuff and should’ve been long gone, but I couldn’t leave. Not until I knew that he was okay. I don’t know what possessed me to stop at O’Dell’s and demand to speak to the owners when I drove by the furniture store on my way to grab a few things from my downtown apartment. I hadn’t even planned to stop; I just did it.
Nobody's Prince Charming (Road to Blissville, #3) Page 3
