Page 68 of Unlikely to Stay
Chapter 16
CC and Brant had settled into an easy, familiar rhythm since he first offered his services a month before.Once he had removed the stitches from her finger, she reopened the salon and would work there during the day.Instead of staying open until seven like she normally did, though, she would close at five and meet Brant at the gym around five-thirty.He would usually bring food from Griff’s or Sadie’s and they would eat before working a few hours on the gym.
The more she got to know the real Brant and not the one she had imagined in her head, the more she realized how much she liked him.He was the most down-to-earth, kind-hearted person she’d ever met.
“Why did you decide you wanted to go into the medical field?You told me why a nurse instead of a doctor, but you never told me thewhy,” she said.They had finally gotten all the walls built and were now starting on the flooring.The baseboards were cut and painted but they weren’t going to install them until after the floors were finished.
“I just wanted to help people,” he told her, cutting another tile with Wyatt’s tile saw.CC had originally thought about installing the peel and stick tile because it was cheap.However, since the auction had raised so much money she was able to afford the really nice tile that looked just like dark wood.It was beautiful.“I didn’t want to be a lawyer.I was too impatient to be a teacher.I couldn’t go into social work because of what I saw as a kid.But the medical field…I could really help people who truly needed it.I always wanted to be part of Doctors Without Borders.”
“Why don’t you?”
“I need to pay off student loans and put some money in savings before I can even think of doing anything like that,” he said, handing her a tile.She swiped mortar on the back of it before placing it on the floor.“Besides, I don’t want to do anything like that with my mom being her age.I don’t think I’d ever forgive myself if something happened to her while I was in another country.Maybe when she’s gone.”
CC could understand that.After all his mom did for him, he would have to feel a sense of loyalty, of wanting to protect her when she’d protected him for so long.
“You told me you went to cosmetology school right out of high school and you told me you bought the shop from your mom.But what made youwantto do hair?”
“I remember as a little girl sitting in the empty chair, watching my mom cut and color all the ladies’ hair who came in the shop.They always left so pretty.That was one thing my mom was always good at.She might have been crappy at taking care of me, but she could always make a woman look like a totally different person when she left.It was like magic.Does that make sense?”
Brant nodded.
“I guess I just wanted to make a little magic for people.I bought the manicure table, pedicure chair, and tanning beds to supplement my income since I had to make more money to pay for the shop.I paid everything off last year, which is why I’m able to let all the old ladies and men in town use my prices from two years ago.”CC laughed.“Marty Samson still only gives me seven dollars for a haircut.”
“Does everyone do that?”he asked, a bemused smile on his face.
“Oh, no.All the people in town under the age of sixty, some even older, pay me my normal rates.I just don’t have the heart, or the bravery, really, to tell the more difficult ones about my price increases.Besides, they’re posted on my door, on the wall and on my website.If they aren’t getting the hint bythose, I’m not going to push it.”
Brant laughed.“Fair enough.Freckles, can I ask you one more thing?”
“Sure.”
“It’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you since our first date.”
“Okay.”
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I first started helping you work on this gym.”
Heat began churning in her belly at the look on Brant’s face.She had a feeling his question wasn’t going to be about why she became a hairdresser or what they were going to work on after they tiled the floor.“What were you going to ask?”she breathed.
“I was going to ask if you minded if I kissed you.”
“Why do you want to kiss me, Brant Billings?”
“Because I can’t seem to get you out of my head, Colleen Chandler.Your fiery red hair, your gorgeous sapphire blue eyes, your smile, your freckles.You’ve consumed my thoughts ever since I dropped you in that creek.”
“So youdoadmit you—”
CC’s words were interrupted when Brant placed his lips on hers.All thoughts in her head vanished.The gym.The paint.What the community was saying about Brant helping her.She was immediately consumed by the feeling of his fingers running through her hair as he held her head in both his hands.The taste of peppermint on his tongue as he opened his mouth and explored hers.The sound of him whispering his nickname for her against her lips.Fervent.Overwhelming.Heavenly.She was on fire.
CC heard herself moan as she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer.She wanted his body touching hers.His kisses turned more passionate at the sound.He pressed her against the pillar and leaned into her, his body making contact with hers in all the right places.
“Uhm hmmm,” CC vaguely realized the creaking sound was the door of the building opening, a voice coming from the entrance.
Startled, CC pushed Brant away from her and tried to focus on the voice.It sounded awfully familiar.CC wanted to cry when she turned and saw the voice connected to the face.Why did the universe hate her?
Kelda Vanderburgh was standing in the doorway, hands on her hips and a twinkle in her eye.“Imagine my surprise to see all the lights on in this place when I was walking by to join my Burty at Sadie’s for dinner.He loves her chicken fried steak.Figured I’d come in and see what the town’s money was going toward.I didn’t know I was going to be present for a peep show.”
CC could feel her face turning red.“I thought you couldn’t drive anymore, Kelda.”