Raw: The Ultimate Mc Collection (88 page)

Ease settled over me as the sky outside my window turned a dusky orange. I cleaned up from the busy day, and the events of the last few weeks trailed through my head. I was thankful to be on the other side of the mess with River. I had decided to just chalk it up to an experience to remember forever, but not to be relived. Sure, it might take me a while to get over him. It might take a little effort to come to terms with the fact that I would never see my reflection in his mirror again.

But I knew I'd get there.

In the meantime, I had a promising business to attend to.

I sighed with relief, enjoying the feeling of accomplishment. Finally, I might have some financial stability. All I had to do was keep my shit together and not get distracted by the hunky man across the street.

The front door opened with the jingle of the bells I had placed on the doorknob. I turned and came face to face with Colby.

“Hi, there.” I said, giving him my best business-like polite smile.

“Hey, Dix.” He stood awkwardly just inside the door, his head turning as he took in the place. “Nice couches.”

“Thank you. Are you here for a cut?” I was surprised to see him but I would be even more surprised if he told me he wanted to cut off those fantastic black curls.

“Huh? No, no way, ma'am. Have you seen these locks?” His eyes twinkled mischievously as he gave me his most charming smile.

“But you know what? I will take a shave. Am I too late? Are you closing up?”

“I am. But I think I have time for one more. If you're sure I can't give you a trim...” I winked at him, and taking note of my newly found confidence around him, I loved the fact that I hadn't stuttered once.

“Well, alright. Sounds good.”

“Come with me.” I walked into the back of the store, leading him into one of two of the black leather barber chairs I had splurged on at the last minute. He sat down, his large frame making the small chair look tiny.

I had to admit he was exceptionally handsome. As rugged and rough around the edges he might be, the lines and scars on his face illuminated his street smarts and one look in his dark eyes told you he had seen some things in his life.

I tore my eyes away from his, and turned to fetch my supplies.

“Okay. So a full shave or partial? Goat-tee?”

“Shave it all off. That's what I usually do, I just haven't done it in a few weeks. The ladies like it when I'm smooth shaven.”

“All off it is. First, we exfoliate. Here, let's put this on.” Putting the linen bib over his vest, I smiled when my fingers caressed the smooth leather. Flashes of him thrusting inside me tore through my head and I shook my head to clear the images. This would be challenging.

“Okay, here we go.” I went about the business of preparing his beard. Exfoliating, applying a bit of oil before I lathered him up with a fluffy, minty, soapy concoction that all my clients had loved today, but happened to be outrageously expensive. My heart began racing during the moments that it took to do all this and awkward silence settled in. Colby couldn't really talk, since I was basically attacking his face, and I suddenly couldn't think of a word to say to break the ice.

“So how's River?” I bit my tongue as I tried to stop the words from escaping from my brain and out of my stupid, stupid mouth. Why even go there? Who cared how River was?

“River?”

“Um...yeah...um R-River....” Oh, here we go. There's the ridiculous stuttering bumbling idiot. One mention of River and I reverted to a fool. And I was the one who mentioned him!

“River is....” Colby paused for a long moment, before continuing. “Well, honestly Dixie, that's kind of why I stopped by.”

“Huh?” I stopped mid-stroke, the soapy brush suspended in mid-air.

“Well, we have some....club business....and we need an experienced person to help us out with a problem we are having.”

“Oh? That's too bad.” I finished applying the soap, and turned to retrieve a long, thin blade from the table in front of us.

“Yes. It is. We think we're being watched. We think someone is coming in to our member's houses and may be planting things that shouldn't be there. So we need someone to help us. Someone who can blend in to the background, and can watch our place for any unusual activity, anything that might look suspicious. But we need someone we can trust. And someone who has experience at that sort of thing.”

My stomach dropped when it dawned on me what he was asking.

“We need you, Dixie. You're perfect.”

“You can't be serious.”

“But I am. We are. Me and River. We need you. And we think it would be a good creative outlet for you.” His smirk was driving me crazy.

“Need me? Seriously? After the way he treated me?” My heart was already racing, but now I could feel it thumping against my chest as anger and confusion washed over me. My hands fluttered around excitedly as I spoke, the blade swinging through the air. “He acted like I was some whore! I thought he hated me. I swear, Colby, he is so hot and cold. Not you. You're just the same all the time, but that man drives me crazy. What am I supposed to think now that he sends you over to ask for help? Why can't he ask the Barbie dolls for help?”

“Barbie dolls?” He looked at me genuinely confused, his voice gentle and low. “I don't know what you're talking about, darlin'. Listen, Dixie, River's not your regular guy. You can't expect him to bring you flowers the next morning, and take you out for sushi. He's got a lot on his mind, and he is extremely busy all of the time. I don't think he ever meant to hurt you. He's not that kind of guy either. But I can tell you this: there've been a lot of chicks in and out of his life, but I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you, and that is saying a lot.”

“I don't know about all that...” My voice trailed off as I tried to digest his words. They were so spot on and so at odds with my perspective all at the same time. I didn't know what to think at this point.

“Well, um...hey, while you think about it, maybe you could either finish the shave or put that blade down while we talk? You're scaring me a little.”

I burst out laughing at his words. He was right, I had been flailing the blade around carelessly and I needed to return to the task at hand.

“I'm sorry, Colby. Let's finish this.”

“Deal.”

I began sliding the blade across his jaw, the blade audibly scraping across his skin with ease as it removed his week old stubble. The stubble was sexy, I thought, which made it almost painful to remove. But there was something deeply satisfying after I finished shaving him, and I applied a moisturizer and a lightly scented aftershave. His face was clean, smooth, and he smelled incredible.

I handed him a mirror and watched as he looked at his reflection.

“Not bad, not bad,” he said, as he turned his head back and forth, inspecting my work. “I mean, I've seen better things in the reflection of a mirror recently,” he looked over at me and winked, “but this is pretty good.”

A deep blush crept across my face as the memories came flooding back once more. Would I ever be able to banish them? I certainly needed to, but deep down inside, I knew that I didn't really want to.

“I'm glad you like it, Colby.”

“Yeah. So. You think about what I said.” He removed the bib, laid the mirror down, and after reaching inside his pocket, threw a waded up hundred dollar bill on my counter.

“Keep the change, Dix. We'll be in touch.” He reached down, kissed me on the cheek, and walked out of my shop, my eyes glued to his tight ass as he disappeared from view.

I looked down at the crumpled bill on the counter. What was it with these boys tossing around money and leaving?

CHAPTER TWENTY

Tossing and turning all night, my head was filled with confusion and my heart was filled with possibilities, while I stayed up and tried to decide what to do.

It certainly was intriguing. Especially to me. And I was assuming it might be dangerous, whatever it was they wanted me to do. But even that turned me on.

But what turned me on the most was finding a way to redeem myself in River's eyes. Not that I had done anything wrong really. I was the one mad at him, but I'm sure he wasn't thinking as highly of me as he could have, considering the consequences under which we met. Maybe we could start over entirely if I helped him? Maybe things would turn out a whole lot better this time?

And maybe, just maybe, he wasn't a jerk after all? Or, maybe he was. I remembered the Barbie bimbo's I had seen him with and my hopes disappeared. I just didn't know what to think of the whole situation.

One thing I was certain of, though. I wasn't going to go looking for trouble, and if Colby said they would be in touch, then they would.

I spent the next few days catching up at work. My days were full of appointments and I was exhausted by the time the day was over. Three days went by and I didn't hear a word from River or Colby. I had almost thought they had forgotten about me, but when I walked out to my car late on that third night, I was shocked and surprised to see River leaning against my car.

The slow smile spread across his face and all my built up resolve melted away. I knew then I would do anything he asked of me, but I tried to keep my defenses up.

“You look so much better with your natural hair.” He continued to lean against the car as he gazed at me. The heat coming off him was breathtaking and the chemistry between us slammed me into submission. “And without those silly shoes.”

“Thank you.” I was determined not to stutter.

“How's business?”

“It's great. Now.”

“I like the changes you've made with the place. Maybe I'll come over and let you cut my hair.”

“Don't you dare!” I said, smiling, unable to help myself in his presence.

He laughed at me, lifting himself off my car and walking over to me. His fingers reached out, grabbing a loose curl from my shoulders and twirling it around his fingers.

“It's good to see you again, Dixie.”

God. That smell. Leather, a faint whiff of whiskey and pure masculinity. As mad as I was at him, I was standing here smiling at him, sniffing him like a dog, and wishing he would bend me over my car and show me just how skillful he was one more time. So much for my anger.

“Is it? I'm surprised.”

“Surprised? Really? I thought we had a nice time last time we saw each other, Dixie. I've been very busy, and it looks like you have too.” He nodded toward the salon, and turned back to me, peering at me seriously. “I need your help, Dixie. Colby told me he talked to you. What do you think?”

“I don't have any idea how I could help you, River.”

“I do. I know exactly what you can do for me.” He grinned at me mischievously, sliding his arm around my waist and pulling me into him. “Let's go inside and talk?”

“I...um...sure.” His heat was intoxicating. With every touch and whiff I got of him, I wanted more. I had never craved being so close to someone in my life. I turned to walk back inside the salon, and as I stopped to unlock the door, the searing warmth of his hand on the small of my back and the anticipation of being alone in the salon with him was overwhelming and my hands began shaking. I dropped the keys and River and I both leaned down to pick them up at the same time, our heads slamming together hard.

“Fuck!” he growled, grabbing his head and standing up, keys in hand.

Stabbing pain shot through my head as I stumbled back onto my ass on the sidewalk. Holding my head with both hands, dizzy, my vision blurred, I tried to look up at River, but there were three of him and he was spinning around in circles.

“Oh, man...” I groaned and whimpered, and if I wasn't in so much pain, I would have been mortified by the fact that this was the third charming time I had injured myself in front of River.

“Damn, Dixie. Are you okay, darlin'?” River leaned down, grasping my elbow and helping me to my feet.

“I-I think so. Fuck.”

River unlocked the door and helped me walk inside and sat me on the couch. I laid my head back, closing my eyes until the spinning stopped and the pain subsided.

“You are unbelievable.” River said, as he sat down next to me.

“Me? Oh, yeah, unbelievable is a great word for me.” I said sarcastically.

“Well, you are some other things, as well. But maybe we can talk about that later.” His hand fell to my knee as he leaned in close to me in the dark.