I look out the window and don’t see anyone, so I stay in place. His finger glides up my inner thigh and runs over the silk of my panties, where I was already soaked even before his stroking.
He groans. “That was probably a bad idea.” I turn around with a comb and scissors to see him adjusting himself. “But I don’t regret it. What color?”
I situate myself behind him, combing his wet hair. “My panties?”
He nods.
I lean in close to his ear and meet his gaze in the mirror. “Red.”
He pushes up out of the chair. “Sorry, we need to clear this up right now.”
I direct him back down into the chair. “Just hold on and let me cut your hair. Remember the other time you distracted me when I had scissors in my hand?”
He chuckles. “Not so sure that was an accident.”
I shake my head, not responding to his accusation. “How is the election? What did you do about Erwin and the Rubik’s Cube?”
He appears defeated. “I’d rather debate with you for five hours than talk to him about it. I don’t want to rat Midge out. I mean… it could be hers.” I eye him through the mirror, and he lets out a big exhale. “Yeah, I know. He walks around so depressed; I’m just going to buy him one. Even if it won’t be his lucky one, maybe it’ll do.”
I place my hands on his shoulders. “You really like Erwin, don’t you?”
He shrugs. “He’s different, but he’s a good guy.”
I cut his hair again. I love having his hair in my fingers and the feel of it makes it hard to concentrate.
“Let’s go back to talking about us. I want to take you on a date.”
I cough and the scissors almost slip out of my grasp. “Um. No.”
“Why not? We can be discreet. Even if I want everyone to know you’re mine.”
I meet his gaze in the mirror. “Just give me a chance to tell my mom. Besides, the election isn’t far away.”
He wants to move this along really fast. I’m scared that I might be appealing right now, but once he has me all to himself, he won’t want me.
“Then I guess all we have to discuss is your panties and how I want to take them off.”
I smack his shoulder. “If you keep this up, I’m going to think you only want me for sex.”
He grabs my hips and pulls me onto his lap. Nuzzling his face into my neck, he nibbles on my earlobe. “Baby, I’ll fuck you every minute of every day, but if you need me to prove where my loyalty to you is, I will. It’s not with my dick, it’s with my heart.”
His words fill me with both hope and terror. If it’s worth having, it’s gonna be hard losing.
I’m off his lap as though I was never there to begin with. “You are something.”
“You’re everything.”
I place the scissors and comb down. “Where’s the Gavin Price who first came to this town?”
“He’s right here. This is Gavin when he wants something.”
“And if he doesn’t want it after he gets too much of it?” The question leaves my lips in a joking tone, but when I see his face when it soaks in, it’s clear I just told him my biggest fear.
The flirtatious vibe rushes out of the salon like a mouse who spotted a cat.
“Is this because I’m an addict or because of your own insecurities?” he asks.
I go back behind him, but our eyes meet in the mirror. He won’t let this go.
“A little of both.”
He takes off his cape, the snaps making a pop, pop, pop sound, and he grabs my hand, tugging me down the hall. Before we get too far, he releases me and walks back over to the door. I hold my breath until he flicks the lock and puts up the closed sign. Then he’s back to me, taking my hand and dragging me to the office.
Once we’re inside, he picks me up by my waist and places me on the desk. “I want to make something clear, okay?”
I nod.
His hands rest on either side of my hips and he leans forward. “I’ve been clean for two years. I haven’t had a drop, a snort, a pill. Nothing. I’m fully aware that I have an addictive personality. I can never get enough of a good thing. But you have to know something.”
He paces in the small space. My stomach sours with the thought of him having another secret to reveal. He has a kid. He has an ex-wife. He’s really only here to prepare for a role for a movie set in a small town.
He returns to me, his hands on either side of my hips again, his face right in front of mine. “I’ve wanted you for a long time, Posey. At the barbecue, I was gonna ask you out, but then I found out I ran you off the road, so I felt like an idiot. That and I wanted to make sure that I was all in here before getting involved with you. You aren’t the type of girl I’d ever want just for sex. I like the way we started out. You disliking me. It gave me a chance to get to know you better. You didn’t hold anything back.”
“But—”
“I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to doubt me because you think I’m a sex addict or something. I just want you, that’s all. Any way I can get you.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer. “Then give me time. I don’t want my mom to feel betrayed, and I can’t help but feel like I’m being disloyal to her.”
He picks me up and I wrap my arms around his neck. Pushing me against the wall, he slides his fingers over my panties. “You’ve got it, but we have to learn the art of sneaking around then.”
His lips descend on mine and I immediately wonder why I fought this so hard, because the man can kiss like no other. His tongue does magical things in my mouth that I feel down to my core. He lowers my feet to the floor, then falls to his knees.
“I’ve been dying to taste you again all week.” His hands venture up my dress. “Guess it’s my lucky day since you wore a dress.”
He hooks his fingers on either side of my panties and drags them down my legs. My breath hitches when the air hits my clit, making it harden. Hooking one leg over his shoulder, he buries his face under the skirt of my dress.
My head falls to the wall with a thump at his breath blowing on my swollen lips. His finger trails back and forth and I know I’m soaked, anticipating the first swipe of his tongue.
I reach down to pull at his wet hair, anything I can grab, but all I get is my dress. I look down and the sight hits me like a lightning bolt, every nerve in my body standing on end. Somehow, it’s almost more erotic that I can’t see him, I can only feel what he’s doing under my dress.
His tongue slides up my slit and rests on my clit, then he sucks it into his mouth. My eyes close and I grind along his face, needing more. He groans, one hand wrapping around me and squeezing my ass, pushing me into him harder.
“God, Gavin. I need more.”
He must hear me because his free hand joins in, thrusting inside me. I raise up the wall, clenching around his finger, on my tiptoes each time he pushes his finger inside me, but he doesn’t relent, adding another finger.
“Take it, baby. Whatever you need. Take it.”
I ride his fingers as though they’re his cock and he arches them to hit my G-spot, making me almost come on the spot, but I hold on, never wanting this feeling to stop. He twirls his tongue around my nub, eating me out as I grind against his face. The noises coming from his throat are enough to push me over the edge. My hands splay on either side of the wall, and it takes everything in me not to fall to the floor.