Forever Together by Leeanna Morgan

into the salon. He had two choices; get his hair
cut or make up a phony excuse about why he had to leave. The truth
won out, but only because he couldn’t think straight with Kate
smiling at him.
    “You can cut my hair, but don’t go crazy. I
like my hair the way it is.”
    He didn’t understand why every female in the
room sighed, or why Loretta grinned at him like he’d rescued a
kitten out of a tree. “And no hair spray, or gel, or whatever else
you think I need.”
    Kate glanced at her watch. “Anna’s picking me
up in forty-five minutes so we’d better get a move on.” She pulled
him across to a sink, pushed him into a chair, and wrapped a towel
around his neck. Before he could ask what she was doing, she had the black cape around his
shoulders and the faucet gushing water. A firm hand connected with
his chest, pushing him backward.
    “I don’t need…”
    “Of course you do,” Kate said as she soaked
his head with water. He felt her hands running through his wet hair
and decided he might as well enjoy the experience.
    He relaxed against the plastic headrest and
smelled the fresh scent of the shampoo. Kate’s hands worked through
his hair. He closed his eyes and concentrated on nothing except how
good her fingers felt against his scalp.
    Her body nudged his as she worked. Within seconds he started thinking of
other things that had nothing to do with a beauty salon and
everything to do with Kate.
    She rinsed, added more shampoo, rinsed again,
then massaged in the conditioner. He nearly groaned. Her fingers
dug into his scalp, released knots of tension that he didn’t know
were there.
    “You’re not going to sleep are you?” The
gentleness in Kate’s voice nearly undid him.
    “You’ve got great hands.” He opened his eyes
and wished he hadn’t. Her blue eyes were filled with laughter. His
heart rate kicked up a notch. Before he could move, she rinsed the
conditioner away, slapped a towel over his hair and rubbed some
common sense into his head.
    “I was born with great hands. Come over to my
station.”
    He stumbled after her, almost giving Loretta
something else to think about.
    “So, no short back and sides, but something
stylish that makes the most of the curl in your hair.”
    Dan felt his face flame. No one but his mom
ever mentioned the kink in his hair. Up until two years ago he’d
kept it so short that no one had seen a curl in years. If you
listened to his sister, you’d
swear he’d planned the whole thing. Anna’s hair was as straight as
an arrow and the bane of her life.
    As soon as Kate’s fingers connected with his head he forgot all about his
sister. She moved his fringe to the left, then the right. She was
standing so close that he could see her heart beating at the base of her neck, almost taste the
flowery perfume she was wearing.
    “Are you ready?”
    He blinked, then stared at her reflection in
the mirror. It was safer than the chest he could see out of the
corner of his eyes.
    “Your hair, Dan. Are you ready to be
transformed?”
    “I thought you were giving me a trim?”
    Kate picked up her comb and scissors. “You
won’t recognize yourself by the time I’ve finished. Are you sure
you don’t want a few foils?”
    “You’re lucky I’m even sitting in this
chair,” he growled. “If any hair dye gets near me I’m making a run
for it.”
    Kate gave him one last grin before snipping
away eighteen months of his life. “I was joking. Apart from
checking up on me, what brought you into The Beauty Box?”
    Shit. Another blush smacked him in the
face.
    “You came all the way across town to see me?”
    He didn’t know whether she was horrified or
resigned to the fact that he wasn’t letting her out of his sight.
“I went to the hospital. To see Kaylee.” It wasn’t a lie exactly,
just a roundabout way of avoiding the truth.
    “How is she?”
    “Looking forward to seeing you and Anna.” It
was all Kaylee ever talked about. Kate had made herself an
important part