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“It won’t be all that bad. I promise.” A bell tinkled as she pushed the door open. “Come on in, be brave.”
Rex didn’t miss the humor in her voice. “It’s not courage I lack but desire.”
A woman with short, spiked green hair tipped in red looked away from the client she was working on and said to Tiffani, “Hey, girl, I’m almost done here. I’ll be right with you.”
Rex gave Tiffani a speculative look. She shrugged in response. What had he gotten himself into? This place looked nothing like his barbershop. Instead of a group of balding men sitting in the back, talking and playing checkers, there was a rock station blaring on the sound system and an over-the-head hair dryer going.
The only place to sit in the tiny place was a wicker settee with floral printed cushions.
Tiffani settled on it. Unsure if the wicker was strong enough to hold them both or if he wanted to sit so close to her, he chose to stand.
“She’ll be done in a sec, I’m sure,” Tiffani offered. “Estell’s the best in town.”
Rex nodded, but really didn’t care. He just hoped one of his male colleagues didn’t see him leave the place. The jokes would never end. Had Tiffani been polite enough to ask, he’d have preferred to have gone to his regular guy. Rex’s urge to leave grew. Too much of his day off had already been wasted.
Soon the customer was gushing over her new look and leaving.
“I’m ready,” Estell called.
He approached her with a tentative smile.
“Well, hello, handsome. What can I do for you today?” Estell purred, low and throaty.
Rex chuckled, liking the “out there” woman. It surprised him that Tiffani used her as her hairdresser. Estell seemed too eccentric to appeal. Tiffani acted so closed off and all business. Was there another side of her he’d not seen?
While he pondered her, Tiffani said, “Estell, I was thinking cut it above the ears. A little longer on the top—”
“I can handle this,” Rex stated in his “surgeon-in-OR” voice that tolerated no argument. “Why don’t you go get us some drinks? We’re good, aren’t we, Estell?”
Grinning, she nodded. “Yeah, Tiffani, we’re good.”
“I need him to look professional, clean cut.” Tiffani looked concerned, almost as if she was unsure they could be trusted to be left alone.
“Will do,” Estell said, and returned to her cutting chair.
Rex pulled from his pocket a few bills and handed them to Tiffani. “I’d like a soda. Get yourself one too. How about you, Estell?”
She grinned. “Sure.”
“Make that three,” he added.
Tiffani stood immobile, looking rather bewildered.
He winked. “Take your time. Estell and I might be busy a while.”
Estell snickered. Tiffani’s eyes narrowed. She muttered as she left, “I don’t know about this.”
Estell had just finished with his hair when Tiffani returned. With the turn of the chair he faced her as she crossed the threshold. She stopped short, gaping. Heat simmered through Rex. He knew well the pleasure of a woman’s admiration, but he’d never experienced one devouring him with her eyes. He shifted uncomfortably as hot blood-hardened parts made themselves known.
“So, what do you think?” Estell asked from behind him.
Tiffani blinked, appearing to struggle back to the here and now. “Uh, I wanted it...much shorter.”
“I didn’t,” Rex announced, his gaze still locked with hers as he slipped out of the chair.
A long second later she fluttered her eyelids. “Okay.”
He took the plastic bag she held. Checking its contents, he pulled out a soda and tossed it to Estell, who caught it neatly. He handed Tiffani one before withdrawing and opening his.
As if coming out of a daze, Tiffani straightened her back and glared at him. “You had me go buy these to get rid of me.”
Shrugging his shoulders Rex set his drink down and pulled his wallet out. He paid Estell, giving her a generous tip along with a kiss on her cheek. With a wink, he said in a confidential tone Tiffani could hear, “You know what’s said at the beauty parlor stays at the beauty parlor.”
Tiffani snorted behind him.
Estell giggled and replied, grinning, “I had fun too. Nice to meet you, Rex.”
“I’ll wait for you outside,” he told Tiffani as he stepped around her.
* * *
Tiffani wasn’t sure what had just happened. She rarely ogled men, especially not one who was her client. Or one she considered egotistically self-absorbed, not to mention argumentative. Yet she’d been literally unable to take her eyes off Rex when she’d reentered the beauty shop. He was gorgeous. All virile male at ease in a den of feminine décor. Confidence oozed from him. To make matters worse, like an idiot she hadn’t been able to put two words together.
Estell had taken a few inches off his hair and tamed it around his face so that it complemented his rugged features. It looked healthy and free, just like he was. Tiffani had never been a big fan of men with long hair, but Rex was a definite exception. Her first instinct had been to touch it, to caress his scalp and let the strands flow through her fingers. A totally inappropriate impulse for a professional such as herself.
The worst thing about those first agonizing moments had been his obvious relish of the effect he was having on her. Enjoying it. She mustn’t allow that to happen again. She had to remain in control of the situation, and herself, at all times around him. That was the plan.
“Honey.” Estell shook her head as if thinking, Yum, yum, yum. “You’ve got a real man on your hands. I hope you can handle him.”
“He’s not my man. We’re business associates.” Tiffani almost snapped, wincing at the edge of defiance she heard in her voice. She wasn’t interested in a relationship. And certainly not with someone like Rex Maxwell. Her breakup with Lou had guaranteed she’d think long and hard about allowing herself to become intimately involved with another man. Besides which she didn’t need one. Heartache was all the opposite sex offered.
“Well, if it was me, I’d sure figure out a way to make him mine,” Estell said as she opened her drink.
Rex was standing by a light pole when Tiffani joined him outside. Virtually every female walking by gave him a second look. Obviously, Tiffani’s reaction to the new Rex wasn’t unique. His image on the billboards would certainly captivate most women. An ambassador who was a handsome surgeon with sex appeal practically assured a positive rise in the hospital’s reputation. She was tickled. The campaign was fast becoming far more effective than she’d first hoped. The only thing that might ruin it was Rex inexplicably fighting her every step of the way.
He shifted impatiently from one foot to another. “Is there a café or something around here?”
“Yes, there’s one just around the corner.” She pointed up the sidewalk.
“Would you like to join me?” Rex asked.
“I guess so.” Tiffani didn’t make a habit of socializing with clients but she couldn’t think of a good excuse not to. She was hungry and had time for a quick meal before she had to leave to see her father. Plus, she had one more thing she needed to discuss with Rex. He’d be more receptive to it if he heard her proposal with a full stomach.
He fell into step beside her. “The women I dine with usually sound more eager to share my company.”
“This isn’t a date,” Tiffani retorted, a little more stiffly than intended. “And I only have time for something quick.” She felt his dark eyes on her.
“You have a problem with dating?”
“No,” she said slowly. “And you are my client.”
He stopped. She did too and looked back at him. People walked around them. He said, as if choosing his words carefully, “And if I wasn’t your client? How would you feel?”
“I don’t do business and pleasure in the same place.” She’d more than learned her lesson there.
“That was a loaded statement. Care to elaborate?”
