I squirted a large dollop of shaving cream into my hand. “Here we go.”
He peaked open one eye. “Wait, wait. What are you doing?”
“You need a shave and a haircut.” I leaned in and looked at his ears and eyebrows. “And a heavy pluck.”
“No. No.”
He struggled to sit up, but I sat on his lap. He stilled, gripping the chair.
“Sit still or you’re going to get hurt.”
I put the shaving cream on his neck where his beard had grown wild. I carefully rubbed it in, creating a thick lather. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“You’re fine,” I whispered. “I’m not shaving it all off. Just a trim.”
“Okay good. I look like a baby when I shave.”
I laughed.
“I’m serious. My students would never take me seriously.”
“Don't worry.” I made quick work of cleaning up the parts of his neck where scraggly hairs ruled and used an electric razor to start cutting back his beard.
“You need to sit like that?”
"No,” I said wiggling back and forth on his lap. "But I like making you uncomfortable."
I smiled. He frowned.
“I’m comfortable,” his voice cracked.
“Okay.” I leaned toward the counter behind his chair and purposely brushed my breasts along his chest. It had the unwanted effect of making my nipples hard but was worth it to hear him clear his throat and feel him shift under me. “This part might sting.”
It took a hell of a lot longer to get through the plucking. His eyebrows were a mess and his ears were unspeakable. “God, you need a woman around to take care of you.”
“Women are cumbersome. And I resent the outdated notion.”
“You and Jack sure you’re not planning a spring wedding?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“I should be so lucky.” He said it so dryly I couldn’t help the cackle of laughter that broke out of me.
When I stopped laughing, he watched me closely.
My heart started pounding. I was on his lap. I’d done much more crude things, been far more undressed. And yet I’d never felt more exposed to him.
“I just need to trim your hair.” I ran my fingers through the length pulling it out to examine where I should trim.
He cleared his throat. “You’ve done this before?”
"Cut my dad's hair all the time." It was way cheaper than taking him somewhere. Though it had been a long time since he needed to keep it neat. He stopped going on interviews years ago.
"Okay.”
I slipped off his lap and moved behind him. Thankfully the scissors I'd found were sharp. I only trimmed the ends, leaving it a bit long. My goal was to take him from nutty professor to just a bit wild. I ran my hands through his locks to see if I’d missed anything, feeling the warmth of his skin. I swept my hands up his neck, weaving my fingers upward. I felt myself sway forward.
"I think we're done." My voice sounded a little off. I walked in front of him, pulling the last strands to make sure everything was even. "Looks good."
He enclosed my wrist. “Thank you.”
