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This time, I could see his pulse beating in his neck, and the vein in his forehead was doing something scary.
Holding his arm out, he waved it around under my nose. “Check my pulse. Check it. Is this what a stroke feels like?”
Putting my fingers over where his pulse was, I rubbed his back with my other hand. “This is a good thing. It means we get to show Ryanne the routine from start to finish, so you can choose the products that are best for her skin.”
Rockie took a deep breath in and then blew it out again. “You’re right. Of course, you’re absolutely right. When are we doing it? The thought of this beautiful canvas enduring another night of…” he gulped, “hand soap just doesn’t bear thinking about.”
“I’ve got to go and collect Wick in a minute, but I can shuffle my work around for whenever suits you guys first,” Cyn offered, and when I looked at her, she was eyeing Rockie with her hand over her cup. Seeing my confused look, she smiled sheepishly. “I thought his head was going to explode, and I didn’t want it to ruin my cup of tea.”
By the time we left, we’d all swapped numbers and had the makeover planned for two days’ time.
Reid grabbed my arm gently as we got to our vehicles and pulled me in for a hug. “You’re fucking awesome, Jacinda. Thank you so much.”
I swear the Kleins were making me soft because I had to blink away the tears before they all caught me sobbing like a pussy.
I genuinely couldn’t wait to get my hands on her gorgeous hair, but as we drove back to the salon, a thought hit me.
“Holy shit, if she uses hand soap on her face, what the hell does she use on her hair?”
Rockie whimpered, and as we pulled up in front of the salon, he lunged across the space between us, and pulled me into a fierce hug. “Hold me.”
CHAPTER 14
Canon
There were different levels of pissed, and I was almost positive I was at the top level.
Jacinda likely had no clue about what I’d just found out, so I was making my way to the salon, doing everything I could not to lose my shit.
That bitch Kortni, her ex-roommate, had sold her story to another chat show. The first one hadn’t been interested in airing the follow-up after Jacinda said no, and the new one was now playing on her refusal.
I’d just watched the crocodile tears and heard the narcissistic bullshit come spewing out of Kortni’s mouth as the presenter consoled her, and it blew my mind that they were playing on someone being violated.
Jacinda had told me the full story about what had happened with Tony, leaving out nothing, a couple of weeks ago. I’d felt sick, I’d felt rage, and I’d felt absolutely devastated for her. How someone could go through what she had—the mental, emotional, and physical abuse—and still be a functioning member of society? I had no clue how she did it, but it made me love her even more.
My girl was a survivor. No one should ever have to be a survivor of domestic violence and abuse, though, and the fact so many people were… it gutted me.
Pulling up in front of the salon, I cracked my neck, hoping it would relieve some of the tension in my shoulders before I went in there. I’d noticed Jacinda reacted to my body language a lot of the time, and me going into Delicious Divas looking as wound up as I was would only make her the same way.
Smart words, Canon. She’s going to be tense and wound up after she hears this bullshit, anyway.
I was just getting out my truck when I heard tapping on the glass and looked up to see an excited Rockie waving at me with Tony beside him.
Making my way to the door, I smiled at everyone, scanning the place for my woman.
“She’s just in the back getting some water,” Tony told me as he walked over to where I was. “She ne— Dude, what the hell is the matter with you? You look like you’d rip the head off a grizzly and still have the energy to take down the Terminator.”
“I’m just going to go see my girl. I’ll catch up with y’all after it, okay?” I said it as gently as I could, my focus on Jacinda but keeping a mind to their feelings, too.
As I got to the entrance to the kitchen, Jacinda appeared in it with a bottle of water at her mouth. Seeing me, she choked on the mouthful she’d been swallowing and wheezed on what she’d inhaled, reminding me of that moment not so long ago. Jesus, had it only been a matter of months? It felt like we’d been together for years already.
