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Chapter Twenty-Two
Lena
The next day Jackson had his friend, Leslie, from the Hair Affair, come by the house to change my hair color. He’d explained a little about my situation but only gave the necessary details. When he told her I needed some clothes, she’d offered to get some. He had me talk to her on the phone first to give her my sizes, and she arrived with a pair of jeans, a black pullover top, and some underwear. From what I could tell, they were all brand new, especially since they still had the tags on them. She explained that her shop was located right next door to a women’s boutique downtown. After she changed my hair color and gave me a trim, I changed into the clothes she brought, then sat back down for the final touches she wanted to make with my hair. As she brushed and blew the new light strands dry, I stared at the girl in the mirror, hardly recognizing her.
Leslie bleached my dark auburn hair to a pretty shade of light gold that I thought made my skin look pale.
When I walked out of the kitchen, where Leslie had performed her magic transformation, Jackson was sitting on the sofa playing his guitar. He looked up from his chords, did a double-take, and smiled.
“Hey, I thought you were beautiful as a redhead, but now you’re a golden-haired angel.”
“You like?”
He leaned the guitar against the side of the sofa and approached me. Standing very close to me, he let his knuckles graze my cheeks as he pulled several strands through his long fingers. I swallowed the stone forming in my throat. With his face mere inches from mine, his eyes roamed my face, and then he nodded slowly. My stomach knotted for a moment before he spoke.
“Yeah. Did you have light hair when you were a kid?” Was that admiration in his eyes? I quickly glanced at the floor, not wanting him to know that his expression confused me, and took a step backward.
“Yeah, I guess. Maybe more of a strawberry color. It turned dark red when I was still very young, though.
“I like.” Jackson wiggled his eyebrows. I couldn’t help laughing when I remembered that this man standing here before me was not Troy. And I had to keep reminding myself that this man was nothing like Troy.
“Here.” He handed me a package. “I bought you something.” I reached in the bag and pulled out a pair of thick-rimmed black glasses with fake diamond studs on the sides.” He stood back, studied me. “Even if that slime does hunt you down, he won’t be looking for a blonde-haired vixen with glasses. Now you can come out to the pub with me.” He kept his eyes on me as he said, “Leslie, you did an awesome job.”
“Thanks, Jackson. That’ll be forty dollars.”
“Only forty? What about the clothes?” he asked.
“The forty is for the clothes. The hair is on me.”
“Thanks, Leslie.” He handed her a hundred-dollar bill and said, “Keep the change. Remember, you never did this, and you never met Lana before. Right?”
My eyes flicked to his, and I smiled at his use of the fake name.
“Your secret’s safe with me.” She turned to me. “Honey, I don’t know who or what you’re running from, but I know you’ll be safe here with Jackson. His uncle used to come to see me once a month for a haircut. The man couldn’t keep from bragging enough about his nephews. Brodie and Jackson are the two best guys you’ll ever meet.”
“Thank you very much. I’m beginning to believe that.”
“Well, you keep on believing it, honey, because it’s the truth. You take care, and don’t forget; you’ll need a touch-up in about six weeks if you want to keep that pretty, golden color looking natural. If you play and sing as well as Jack says, I’m sure I’ll be seeing you in the pub sooner than that, though.”
