Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Maybe he did.
How would she know?
“You know,” Gracen said, loud enough for her other companions in the salon to hear, “I didn’t even ask him what he did for a job.”
That earned her a curious what from Delaney and an equally impressed whistle from Margot. The woman closest to Gracen only shrugged her shoulders like she wasn’t apologetic in the least for her reaction.
“He is really cute,” Margot said, turning on the heels of her Nike runners and clapping Gracen on her shoulder as she passed her by to finish her work. “Not bad, girlie.”
God.
His looks had little to do with it.
Right?
Gracen eyed a grinning Delaney as Margot disappeared into the backrooms. “I blame you for this—I told you basically everything.”
“Somebody in this place needs to get something exciting going on in their damned life,” Delaney returned, spinning her swivel chair around to face Gracen after she fell, unbothered, into the seat. “Right now, that just happens to be you.”
“Your life isn’t boring.”
“Men and sex wise? Oh yeah, it is.”
“How’s that my problem, though?”
“Don’t play dumb. Margot makes things slightly more interesting because at least she swings for both teams, and commitment scares the hell out of me, so we know I’m not doing anything in the romance department—”
“You’re aware you don’t need a relationship to have sex, or a little bit of fun, right?” Gracen interjected.
Delaney made a face. “I know. I just ... can’t follow through.”
Different strokes for different folks.
Gracen sighed and swung toward the windows with her arms crossed to proverbially—but not literally, yet—face the problem still waiting outside. Patiently, too. It was only her second good glimpse of Malachi that she noticed the plastic to-go cup he held in his hands. A small, iced coffee from the café up the hill.
“A little late,” she muttered under her breath.
“What?” Delaney asked, clearly not realizing their conversation was over.
“Nothing,” Gracen replied as she pulled off her black apron to discard it over the back of her station’s chair. “You good to finish up?”
“We’re perfect here, have fun,” Margot called across the salon’s floor when she came out from the backrooms once more.
Gracen gave Delaney one last glance as she stopped at the front desk to grab the mini backpack she’d been using all week for her bag. “Anything you want to say before I go?”
“Yeah, this time let me know if you’re not coming home.”
Fair was fair. The two women had enough to worry about without adding each other on top of the pile, as well.
“Got it,” Gracen agreed.
“And be safe,” Delaney sudden shouted—definitely loud enough for the man outside to probably hear—as Gracen pushed open the salon’s front doors. “Love you!”
Gracen grinned while the door shut behind her, but not before she’d given Delaney a quick middle finger as her own I love you. Her best friend would understand and respect the gesture.
“I was going to come earlier, but I figured you’d be less annoyed when you didn’t have clients if I dropped in to say hello,” Malachi said when Gracen finally stood outside with him.
Using the bike’s double-leg kickstand to keep it steady while he treated the machine as a leaning post, Malachi extended the plastic cup in his hands to Gracen with a careful expression.
“What’s in it?” she asked first, knowing good and well what it was.
“Not poison.” He glanced sideways at the cup. “You can see the fucking logo—”
“No, what did you get me?”
At that, his expression turned a little more serious. Even if he also kept a playful glint to his gaze.
“It was a bit like playing a game,” he told her.
“Ordering coffee is a game?”
“Let’s start there,” Malachi said as if he agreed with a suggestion she hadn’t even made. “First, I had to figure out if you were even the type to drink coffee. Or maybe tea? And then I remembered what you’d been drinking the day you gave me your number, and I got a good laugh at myself for overthinking something silly like getting you a drink. Especially when it was only supposed to be a buffer for me to apologize. I did mean to check-in the past week. Shit just came up.”
Gracen smiled. “Iced coffee is perfect.”
Malachi pushed off the bike to step close enough for Gracen to take the chilly treat. He didn’t retake his previous, lazy position while she took her first sip using the straw poking out of the cup’s concaved cover. The ice rattled inside the plastic when she shook it up to get a bit more of the vanilla flavor on her next sip.
“You asked for something extra,” she said. “I can taste it.”
“I like caramel better,” Malachi noted.
Gracen nodded. “Vanilla is a safe bet, though.”
“Hey, you said it. Not me.”
Other than the occasional vehicle passing the salon, the parking lot and the two people standing next to their respective vehicles remained silent. Gracen didn’t mind the stillness. She took a minute to enjoy the cold, sweet coffee while the sun started to set somewhere behind the salon. It painted the sky with pretty pinks and reds while the river glittered with the reflection, only broken occasionally by a random boat cutting across the surface.