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Tahlia groaned. “God, Bobby, can you give it a rest? I’m so freaking sick of hearing you ogling every damn man you meet,” she snapped.
Bobby scowled at her. “You’re just annoyed because you haven’t had any cock in months,” he snapped back.
I raised my hands in a placating gesture. “Okay, you two, enough.”
They both scowled at me and went back to getting ready for the day. When the first client arrived a moment later, Bobby walked past me to the front counter and gave me another filthy look. I sighed. Today was going to be a long day.
* * *
Four hours later we were knee deep in haircuts, colours and beauty treatments with Madison, Harlow and Layla. I was engrossed in a conversation with Layla about her ex-business partner when the pop of a champagne bottle caught my attention. I spun around to find Roxie holding the bottle up with a questioning look on her face. “You want some?”
“Champagne on a work day?” I asked.
A smile spread across her face. “Yeah, it’s Christmas week and all the girls are here. We definitely need champagne to celebrate.”
I smiled and nodded as I took the glass of champagne off her. “Thanks, but only one because I have to drive home later.”
The smile on her face grew. “I may have organised for Nash to come and pick you up from work so you can have a drink.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
I took a long sip of my drink. “Well, after our argument this morning he might change his mind,” I muttered.
Madison joined in the conversation. “It must be the day for arguments. J and I went a round this morning, too.” She took the orange juice that Roxie passed her. After a sip she exclaimed, “Men!”
Harlow raised the glass of champagne Roxie had just given her. “To men who can be pushy and bossy,” she said and promptly drank almost the entire glass.
My brows pulled together. “You okay, Harlow?”
“Yeah.” She sighed and then continued, “I’m just a little over Scott always trying to get me to talk about my miscarriage. He doesn’t seem to get that I don’t want to talk about it.”
Madison looked at her with concern. “Honey, I think he’s just worried about you.”
Harlow drank the rest of her drink. “He needs to stop worrying about me. I’ll get through this but it’s gonna take some time.”
I watched her closely. Harlow wasn’t coping at all well with the loss of her baby but she didn’t seem to realise this. Or else she was blocking it out and not facing it. I couldn’t blame her. Hell, I’d been where she was, so I understood what she was going through, but I had to give it to Scott for his patience. For a man not known for patience, he had proven otherwise where Harlow was concerned.
As we stood in silence, none of us sure of what to say, Bobby saved the day when he interrupted. “Ya’ll need to be thankful you have a man to complain about. You have no idea what I’d give to have steady cock in my life.”
Harlow laughed and said, “I’ll send mine your way if you’d like. It’s not like he’s getting any off me anyway.”
“What? You’re still not having sex?” Roxie asked, clearly stunned. Harlow had told us a few weeks ago they weren’t having sex and Roxie had been surprised then, too.
Harlow shook her head. “No.”
“Why?” Roxie asked. She was always the one to ask the questions no one else did.
Harlow motioned for Roxie to pour her another drink before quietly admitting, “I don’t know.”
The pain in Harlow’s voice was clear and I had the urge to wrap her in my arms. Madison moved first, though, and put her arms around Harlow in a hug. Harlow didn’t return the hug but rather placed her head on Madison’s shoulder and began crying.
Harlow’s grief dredged up my own grief over my miscarriages. Shit, I didn’t want to be thinking about this today. I nodded at Roxie for another glass of champagne. When she passed it to me, I promptly drained most of the glass in one go.
“You okay?” Roxie asked softly while Madison continued to console Harlow, and Layla spoke with Bobby.
Her concerned eyes were focused completely on me. We’d grown close while working together and I now counted her as one of my closest friends but we hadn’t really spoken about this. I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. “Yeah.” My voice cracked slightly as I said this.
