Page 33 of Badd Daddy
“You too, Remington.”
He shot me another of those grins. “Hey, any friend of my dad’s is a friend of mine. Especially such a pretty friend.” He winked at me. “Call me Rem.”
“Turn the charm off, Rem. Don’t be a hound dog,” Lucas growled.
I just laughed. “Charm is harmless, Lucas.”
Lucas chortled with wry amusement. “Not with my boys it ain’t.”
I laughed and waved at Remington as he left, and then set to work with the clippers, blending the sides and back of Lucas’s hair before clipping his beard down and reshaping it into a neat oval.
Finished, I brushed the excess hair off his shoulders and stepped back, nodding. “Not bad for kitchen scissors,” I said. “Next time, I’ll use my actual grooming set and it’ll look even better.”
He lumbered to his feet and headed for the bathroom—I noticed his limp was more obvious. He peered at his reflection, turning his head this way and that.
“Damn, girl. I ain’t had a haircut this good in my whole damn life!” He stroked his beard, ran his hands through his hair. “Don’t look like a bear just coming out of hibernation.”
“You look at least ten years younger,” I said. “And easily twice as handsome.”
He glanced at me in the mirror. “Twice as handsome, huh?” He grinned.
I blushed, dusting the hair off of my forearms and hands. “You may want to rinse off, now, or you’ll be itchy.”
He turned to face me—I was standing just inside the doorway, leaning against the frame. “Thank you, Olivia. I was making a damn mess of it.”
I shrugged. “You’re very welcome. I’m glad to help.” I couldn’t help meeting his eyes. “Do you have plans for the rest of today?”
He took a towel from the ring and used it to dust his shoulders off, and then shook his head. “Nah. I did my hours at the hardware store this mornin’.”
I hesitated. “I, um. I was headed up to the Deer Mountain trail. It’s a beautiful day out, and I wondered if you’d like to…you know, come with me.”
Lucas huffed, rubbing the back of his neck with his palm. “A hike, huh?”
I resisted the urge to overexplain. “Yes. Not a long or difficult one. Just a nice walk in the woods.”
He let out a long breath. “I dunno. I did some work with Roman yesterday, tryin’ to get this bum leg of mine back up to normal.”
I nodded. “Okay, that’s fine.”
He eyed me, his expression unreadable. “It’s not that I don’t want to.”
I shrugged, lifted a palm. “I know. Strengthening your leg after an injury is important.”
He growled. “It should be back to normal already, though, dammit. The wreck was a fuckin’ year ago.”
I frowned. “Oh. It must have been a pretty bad wreck, then.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty. Messed up the leg pretty bad. Didn’t need any hardware in there, but it was a touch and go thing. Doc wanted to put screws in, but I was hopeful it’d heal.” He leaned a palm on the counter, letting out a harsh breath. “Problem is, I ain’t been workin’ it like I should. Babyin’ it, limpin’ around with the damn cane like a man twenty years older than I really am.”
I had a million questions. “What really happened, Lucas?”
He shook his head. “Old news and a bad story. Nothin’ you need to darken your life with.”
“So…is that a no, then? For the hike?” I asked, hating how let down I felt.
“I just dunno, Liv. I really like spending time with you. I just don’t know that I’m ready for a hike in the woods.”
I nodded, ignoring the hollow, cold pit in my stomach. “Sure. I understand. Maybe another time.” I pushed away from the doorframe. “You really do look much younger and very handsome, now that you’re cleaned up.”