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My vision hazes with red, and all I can stare at is the palm he’s laying flat on the curve of her spine. Before I know what I’m doing, I’m knocking his arm away and using my shoulder to wedge myself between the two of them.
“Sebastian!” Georgia admonishes. “Stop that.”
Desmond puffs his chest out, a little smile curling his lips. “You heard her.”
My hands curl into fists. Desmond widens his stance.
Then, a bark.
Jarred out of my haze, I glance behind me to see two furry little paws on the open windowsill of my driver’s side door. A pink tongue lolls out while my new puppy pants, staring at me, seeming to ask why the heck I left her out of the action. She tilts her head, the tip of her tail thumping rhythmically against the steering wheel with every wag.
My shoulders sag. “Quiet, girl. I’m busy.”
She yips again, straining to look out the window.
“Did you get a dog?” Georgia asks, frowning.
“Uh,” I answer, glancing from Georgia to the pup. “Sorta. More like the dog got me.”
Georgia takes one step closer to the pup, then seems to reconsider. She shakes her head and gives me a tight smile. “Well, enjoy. Goodbye, Sebastian. Nice to meet you, Des.”
Oh, so they’re using nicknames. Fuckin’ fantastic.
Desclears his throat, but before he can say anything, I cut in. “Can I speak to you, Georgia? Alone.”
She pauses, half-turned away from both of us, and glances over her shoulder.
She’s going to refuse. It makes me sick, but I know she’s going to say no and walk away from me. Again. Always walking away from me. Desperate, I haul my puppy out through the window and hold her in the crook of my arm. “Bella needs a walk. We could use some company. And I…I’ve got some things to apologize to you for.” I lift my gaze in time to see Georgia’s eyes soften.
Yes, I’m using my cute new puppy to bribe this woman into talking to me. No, I’m not ashamed. It seems to be working a heck of a lot better than threatening to punch Desmond’s face in.
Des the Dick clears his throat. “Georgia. Everything okay?”
She smiles at him, which makes me want to scream. “It’s fine. Thank you for checking.” Then her smile fades and she meets my gaze, giving me a curt nod. “Fine. You get five minutes, and only because your puppy is really, really cute.”
“Call me if you need anything,” the hero in the suit tells her, obviously not wanting to walk away. Which is exactly what he should do if he doesn’t want me to introduce my fist to his face.
Bella’s tail thumps against my bicep. I close my eyes for a moment and try to regain control over myself.
This isnotthe state of mind I should be in when I’m trying to beg for Georgia’s forgiveness. I’m going to make a fool of myself. I’ll show her all the reasons she was right to walk away from me. I never was good enough for her, not even when we were two teens with stars in our eyes.
The dog in my arm wiggles, crawling up to my shoulder to lick my ear. I grunt, pulling my head away, and a reluctant laugh falls from my lips. “Dang it, Bella.” A man can’t be brooding and intimidating and angry when a dog’s giving him a wet willy.
But when I look up, Georgia’s got a smile on her face again, and she’s looking atme. And that makes everything okay.
“Let me grab her leash,” I say.
Desmond gives me one more lingering look, then turns to the door of the barbershop, disappearing behind it.
10
MIA
I feelthe first stirrings of hatred about ten seconds after the stranger enters my barbershop.
He’s a big beast of a man. Built with gargantuan proportions, huge hands, and proud, mean eyes set above an arrogant nose, he strides through the door and briefly blocks every bit of light that tries to sneak past his mile-wide shoulders.
He has a nice haircut. I’ll give him that. And his body—although massive—is remarkably well-proportioned.
