Page 25 of Her Defiant Warrior

“It’s not too hot or too cold, is it?”

He heard the concern in her voice. It tugged at a part of him he didn’t know was there. It felt good.

“It’s perfect, Bonnie.”

“That’s good.” He heard the smile in her voice.

She turned off the water and actually found another warm towel to dry his hair. Talk about being pampered.

“Okay, Big Guy, let’s get you back to my chair and see if I can live up to your expectations.”

As he sat up, he looked over his shoulder at her. “Trust me, Bonnie. You have surpassed all of my expectations here in the salon. I can’t imagine what it will be like when we go out to dinner.”

She was so fair skinned; he could see her blush as it started on her upper chest and crept up her neck, then settled on her cheeks.

“Who said we’re having dinner?”

“Farah did. You can’t back out on me. If you do, then not only will I catch hell, so will Malik. Do you really want to do that to us?”

“I’ll make her understand it was my decision.”

Jase raised his eyebrow. “Do you really think that’s going to work?”

Bonnie’s shoulders slumped. “No. I don’t.”

“What’s the harm in the two of us going to dinner? And in retribution, we arm Lachlan with a cherry pie and Amber with a vat of chocolate pudding when we drop them off with Farah to babysit.”

He grinned when she burst out with a giggle.

“You’re right, that could be fun,” she said while still giggling.

“All’s fair.”

She had a mischievous grin on her face when she sat him down in her salon chair. He liked it. She’d shown her sense of humor a few times at his brother’s house, but she’d quickly hidden it when she was trying to be the grown-up in front of her children. Or when she felt like he was interested in her. But now, she was just being herself, and she was just too cute for words.

“What are you thinking?” Bonnie asked as she got out her comb and shears.

“Nothing.”

“That’s a pretty broad smile, for nothing.”

Jase’s smile got even bigger. “I’m trying to think of where to take you for dinner. And for our second date, I’m trying to think about where Amber and Lachlan might like to go. That isn’t the big mouse pizza place, is it?” Jase shuddered.

“Don’t make me laugh when I have shears in my hand,” she admonished.

He watched as she concentrated. But she wasn’t concentrating hard. He could tell she was in the zone, but still taking in the world around her. She was aware of his expressions in the mirror, who was coming onto the main floor and what Shannon was saying beside her. She’d make an excellent operator.

She made three more decisive cuts, then shook her head and looked him dead in the eye. “What is going through your head, Mr. Drakos?”

“Nothing, I swear.”

“You shouldn’t swear when you say nothing. You should only say, ‘I swear’, when it’s actually true, otherwise you’ll run out of your get out of jail free cards. So, fess up. What are you thinking so hard about?”

“You.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes heavenward, then rested one of her hands on each shoulder, one with the comb, the other with the shears.

“Jase, Jase, Jase. There are so many other women who would be ecstatic to have you thinking about them.”