Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
Demi scoffed, the thin layer of scorn catching me off guard as she scrubbed my scalp. “Yeah, I’ll pass, but thanks.”
I frowned at her dry tone. “I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?”
“No. No, no. Sorry, it’s nothing you said. It’s just there’s some…history between me and one of the Kings that I’m not looking to revisit.”
My belly sank as I wondered if she meant Rowdy. “Really?” I tried to keep my tone casual as I added, “Which one? If you don’t mind me asking.”
She paused for a heartbeat before she sighed loudly and grumbled, “Roc.”
“Oh.” I blinked my astonishment. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
There was a short pause before we both started laughing. “No offense.” I chortled. “But I just don’t see it.” Demi seemed way too sophisticated and sweet for immature-ass Roc.
“Yeah, well, that just means you’re a lot smarter than me.” She shut off the water and wrapped my faux locs in a towel to soak up the extra water.
“I’m not so sure about that,” I murmured as I thought about Rowdy. He’d been all over me this morning, and I hadn’t tried all that hard to stop him.
As if we’d conjured him up, a shadow suddenly darkened her door, and I recognized Roc immediately.
He was holding a little girl in his arms.
Roc pushed inside the salon with an irritated frown on his handsome mug as he listened to the caller on the other end of the phone plastered to his ear.
The little girl, who I assumed was the daughter Rowdy had mentioned, was babbling animatedly, oblivious to the fact that her father wasn’t listening.
Suddenly, she quieted and began looking around before catching sight of Demi and squirming to get down. Roc set her on her feet but only after a cautious sweep of the shop with his eyes, and she immediately ran in our direction as fast as her little legs would take her.
“Demi,” she squealed.
“Halo!” Demi swept Roc’s daughter off her feet as soon as she reached her. “How’s my best friend?”
“Goooood.” Halo giggled, making her warm light brown complexion glow. “I asked my Daddy to buy me a Gucci purse, and um, he, um, he said he would.”
“Miss thang, what do you know about Gucci?”
“A lot.”
“Oh really?” Demi tickled her tiny tummy, making her giggle. “Well, make sure you get me one too.”
“Okay!” Demi set her down, and then Halo’s focus shifted to me. “Hi,” she greeted shyly.
“Hello.” I returned her wave with a smile. Halo was definitely a beautiful brown girl, but this close, I was able to detect the bisection of European features, too, making me wonder who her mother might be.
Feeling bolder, she asked, “What’s your name?”
“Atlas. What’s yours?” I inquired, even though I’d heard Demi shout it already. It seemed rude not to, and I didn’t want to make her feel unwelcome.
“Halo.”
“That’s an awfully pretty name for an awfully pretty girl.”
“Thank you! You know my daddy?”
“I sure do. I work for him.”
“Oh. I like your hair. Is it yours?”
I snorted because this little girl was too grown. “No, it’s not mine. Is this your hair?” I reached out and tugged one of her lopsided pigtails.
“Uh-huh! I grew it all by myself.”
“Wow.”
“My Daddy does it for me.” Halo stepped a little closer to me and whispered—but not really—behind her hand, “He’s really bad at it.”
“But you know what?” I whispered back.
“What?”
“I bet no one will notice because you’re so cool.”
“Kacy doesn’t think so,” Halo told me with a deep frown. “She tells everyone at school I smell.”
“Kacy sounds like a hater.”
Halo nodded enthusiastically. “Uh-huh. She really is. And she’s the one that smells. Not me.”
“I bet.”
Roc ended his phone call and sauntered over. “What’s good, ladies?”
Demi wasted no time answering his question with one of her own. “Not your hearing, apparently. I thought I told you not to step foot in my shop again?”
Roc dismissed her question with a wave of his hand. “I’m not trying to hear that, Demetria. I came looking for Golden.”
“Well, as you can see, he’s not here, so bye.”
“Anyway.” Roc’s gaze traveled to me sitting at the sink bowl with the towel still wrapped around my head, my hair forgotten. “What’s up, Atlas? Fuck did you do to my boy last night?”
“Nothing he didn’t deserve,” I shot back. “But did he also tell you he tied me up and locked me in his trunk?”
Roc’s brows shot to his hairline, telling me all I needed to know. Rowdy had conveniently left that part out.
“Stop playing games with that man, and maybe he won’t have to act so crazy.”
I shook my head at his ignorance. “Roc, you and I both know Owen was crazy before he met me. I am not responsible for his complete lack of respect for human decency.”
“Oh, Owen, huh?” Roc said, completely ignoring everything else I’d said. “Yeah, okay. Sounds to me like he’s not the only one playing crazy.” He dismissed me and regarded Demi. “Did Golden say where he was going? He’s not answering his phone.”