When an Alpha Purrs (3 page)

“Good morning, mouse.”

The husky words just about had her wetting her pants. Leaving the key in the barbershop lock, Kira whirled around, so fast her coffee cup sloshed. Hot liquid splashed over her hand, and she yelped.

“Ouch!” She used the excuse of her burn to keep her attention focused on her hand instead of her unexpected visitor. A very tall visitor who’d obviously lain in wait for her.

Not good.
Especially since, at this early hour, the sidewalks were still pretty bare.

Masculine fingers plucked the cup from her hand and tossed it at a nearby garbage bin. Before she could react, her injured appendage was raised, and he pressed his lips against her burning skin.

At the touch, her hand wasn’t the only thing heating up.

Oh my god.
She wanted to blame fear at the way her heartrate sped up, and for the slight tremor of her limbs, but she was old enough and experienced enough to recognize attraction.

“What are you doing?”

“Kissing it better.” Except, he didn’t stop at a simple kiss.

Kira tossed Arik a startled glance as he let the tip of his tongue lap at her coffee-burned skin, the touch raspier than expected. Nice. Too nice. She couldn’t help but imagine that frictioning stroke against a more sensitive part of her body.

What the hell is wrong with me?
Sanity reasserted itself, and she yanked her hand free.

“I don’t need you making it better, especially since you’re the reason I burned myself in the first place.”

“Did I startle you, mouse?”

Her expression clearly said,
duh, what do you think.
He didn’t seem repentant at all, judging by the smile curving his lips.

Ack. Look away.
He was much too cute when he did that—and distracting. She tried to veer things back onto a less alluring footing. “What are you doing here?” As she asked, she cast a glance around for eye witnesses, anyone who might come to her aid should he decide to murder her for her faux pas of the day before.

Then again, perhaps she overreacted. He didn’t seem angry today. On the contrary, his eyes smoldered with something, but if she wasn’t mistaken, it was more like flirtation than ire.

Given his extreme reaction, and her recollection of his arrogance, she didn’t trust it.

“It occurred to me after our little mishap yesterday that perhaps I might have come off too strong.”

“You mean you behaved like an ass.” She deliberately insulted him, more to regain her sense of equilibrium than anything.

“I admit some of my words might have been ill chosen. I apologize for that.”

He did what? She could feel her eyes widen at his unexpected apology. “Um, thanks. I guess I should probably say sorry for massacring your hair.”

He couldn’t quite hide his wince at the reminder, and it was then that she took note of the fedora he wore. It matched the dove gray of his tailored suit, but still… She bit her lip lest she snicker. While a nice looking hat, it just didn’t suit him.

“About my hair. It occurs to me that I owe you a second chance. A real chance to cut my hair. Albeit, probably shorter than I initially intended, given our misunderstanding.”

“Excuse me? Did I just hear you say you want me to cut it? Now I know you’re screwing with me.”

“No tricks. Once I calmed down yesterday, I had a chance to reflect on what happened. I never truly gave you a chance. I let chauvinism cloud my judgment. But in my defense, my only other haircuts by women were done by my mother and aunts, whose idea of a trim involved a bowl and kitchen scissors.”

Kira’s turn to wince. “Ouch.”

“Indeed. Perhaps that might help you to understand my hesitation. I should also admit I later spoke to your uncle at the barber shop. Initially, I’d planned to return to see him to have the damage blended. However, he assures me you are the best they have after Dominic.”

She couldn’t help but swell with pride at the praise. “I’m in pretty high demand.” Or had been until her old shop got burned down under suspicious circumstances.

“What do you say we start over? Hi, my name is Arik.” He stuck his hand out, and she stared at it.

Was he screwing with her? She shot him a wary glance but saw nothing in his face but sincerity, or a really good fake of it.

Given he was one of her granddad’s clients, and only a bitch would throw his apology in his face, especially after what she’d done, she slipped her fingers into his massive grip.

An electrical tingle of awareness slid through her. Whatever his faults, she certainly couldn’t deny her attraction to him.

“I’m Kira.”

“Kira.” The way he rolled the syllables of her name sent a tingle through her. Good thing he didn’t host late night radio. There’d be a lot of tired women in the morning. “Well, Kira, now that we’ve been properly introduced, would you cut my hair?
Please.
”

Oh dear god, the way he said it. She almost leaned against the door for support. Her attraction to him was truly insane. But it wasn’t his fault. She obviously had a problem.

I wonder if there’s a pill I can take to prevent attraction to the wrong kind of guys.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“But I need you to do it.” Purred softly. He inched closer, and all her attention was taken by him, the towering height and breadth of him, a big man just the way she liked. His eyes were focused on her, intent, not afraid to meet her gaze, which was ridiculously sexy.

She wanted to press herself against him and soften the hard line of his lips, taste the teasing smile lurking at its corners.

How could she hope to cut his hair when all she wanted to do was run her hands over him?

She needed chaperones to keep her in line. “If you come back in about an hour when we open, I’ll get you all fixed up.”

“An hour? I don’t suppose you could fit me in earlier somehow. I’ve got a business meeting this morning, and I’d really rather not go looking like this.”

Amber eyes begged her. She hesitated. Those eyes were way too seductive. She wished she could look away. Not give in.

But…

Technically, she could cut his hair now. She had the key to the shop. The only problem was no one else had arrived yet.

Did she dare let him in and cut his hair, alone? In other words, did she trust herself with him?

Am I seriously being such a coward?
She really needed to take back some control over her hormones. She wasn’t some giddy teenager who fawned over a boy. She was a woman, who knew how to handle herself with the opposite sex. She was also very well acquainted with the word ‘no’.

She could resist his charm, and besides, it wouldn’t be as if she would be alone with the big guy for long. Her uncle would meander in shortly, not to mention there were wide plate glass windows and people passing on the sidewalk.

Witnesses in case her hands thought to betray her again.

But what of her safety? Perhaps the flirting was a ruse. Perhaps his whole apology was to get her to lay down her guard.

While they spoke, the sidewalks had begun to fill up as people started their day.

If the big guy meant her ill, there would be witnesses.

However, glancing at his expression, which bore smoldering interest but none of the fury she recalled, she didn’t get the impression he wanted to hurt her. At least not in painful ways. On the contrary, the hand that held hers, which he hadn’t yet relinquished, stroked a thumb over her skin.

Do it.

Don’t do it
.

Her mind was split, but there was really only one choice. Kira wasn’t one to usually pussy out. The man had swallowed his pride and apologized. The least she could do was help him out.

“Come in and I’ll see what I can do.” And by that, she meant do his hair, not do him.

Why did her spirits deflate at the thought?

He finally relinquished her hand, only to rub his thumb across her cheek. “Thank you. I appreciate this.”

Ack. No, not the dimple
. If she’d not caved before, she would have now as he unleashed the most devilish smile of thanks.

She forced herself to turn away. With shaking hands, she used the key and let them into the shop.

As she bustled around flicking on the lights, turning the sign to open, and pulling her hair items from the sanitized bag they were placed in by the cleaners, she tried to ignore him.

Not easy. He just seemed to consume the space of the room. No matter where he moved, she was intensely aware of him.

He hung up his outer jacket, revealing even more of his upper body. The dress shirt, made of a silk she could never hope to afford, molded to his chest and thickly muscled arms. He loosened his tie as he moved with a slow swagger to the barber chair.

He seated himself without prompting and proceeded to watch her in the mirror.

I should have made him wait.
Too late now. She’d have to cut his hair.

A smile lurked at the corner of his lips as she fumbled the protective vinyl cape around him.

“I make you nervous,” he stated.

Yes!
“No. If you’re talking about the clumsy hands, I’m still waiting for my caffeine to kick in,” she lied.

For distraction, she plucked the hat from his head and winced as the shorn spot glared at her. She threaded her fingers through his silky locks, trying to see a way she could camouflage whilst keeping his preferred style. Alas, she’d trimmed a little too much. A part of her dreaded giving him the only option he had to fix it. She doubted he’d like her answer. “If I’m going to blend it, then we’re going to have to cut it pretty much all off.”

To his credit, he didn’t erupt, although his face tightened, and she might have imagined a mournful meow, which made no sense since the shop didn’t have a cat. Lazy, hairy things.

“Do what you must to my hair. I trust you.”

The words shouldn’t have sent a shiver—the erotic kind—down her spine, and yet they did, every word he uttered so sinfully sexy with his low baritone.

She resolved to cut only what she had to, and while he wouldn’t sport a long, golden surfer mane by the time she was done, he’d look good. Better than good.

Way too delicious for words.

Seriously. As the hair flittered to the floor in a silky shower, his appearance changed. Grew more rugged. More masculine.

With every snip, she enhanced the craggy lines of his face, the strong squareness of his jaw, and the fact he had a perfectly shaped head.

When she was done, she took a step back and bit her lower lip as she surveyed the result.

My god he’s attractive.

Or so she thought, but her opinion wasn’t really the one that mattered.

“What do you think?” she asked as she held the hand mirror at an angle behind him so as to give him a peek.

For a moment, he didn’t say anything, just stared at his reflection in the mirror. “You know,” he said slowly, “I’ve been sporting the same haircut for years. It was my look. My thing. So this is pretty drastic to me.”

She could hear a ‘but’ coming, and she braced herself.

“But I think I wish I’d met you years ago. This is a really good haircut.” He sounded surprised.

The tension in her frame eased. “So you like it?” She couldn’t help but ask as she unsnapped the protective cover and removed it from him.

“Very much so. How much do I owe you?”

She lifted her hands and fluttered them. “Nothing. This one’s on me.”

He rose from the chair and towered over her. How petite he made her feel. “Nonsense. I insist.”

“Consider it my apology for what happened.” She would have taken a step away from his virile presence. However, the vanity with its rack of power hair tools blocked her path.

“You have to let me give you
something.
”

The husky lowering of his voice sent a shiver through her.

“Refer your friends to the shop.” She busied her hands with her tools, wiping them down and placing them on her tray.

He grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth, placing a soft kiss on the top of it. “I already do refer this shop and have for years.” He hummed the words against her skin.

She yanked her hand away. “Um, you know what, I should go and do something. Like fold towels.” Or change her panties. Or…

She blinked as he said, “You and me. Dinner. Six p.m. I’ll return to pick you up.”

Before she could refuse, he left, broad shoulders barely fitting through the shop door. She could only stare at him as he hit the sidewalk. He paused and shot a glance at her through the window. He shot her his deadly dimple and winked.

She might have stood there staring dumbly for a while if her uncle hadn’t come in and startled her. He’d used the alley entrance to access the hair shop.

“Kira, you’re here early.”

She whirled to face him, hoping nothing strange showed in her expression. “Yup, I’m here early because I need to leave early. Can you take my five o’clock?” Because she needed to be gone from here before Arik arrived and she did something foolish, like hope he kissed another part of her body. Forget her hands, he should embrace another part, a more appreciate part, like her lips.