Page 68 of Beneath Your Beautiful

“How does this groveling thing work?”

“You apologize profusely. But it needs to be heartfelt and genuine.”

Heartfelt and genuine. “I’m sorry I walked away.”

She gestured with her hand for me to keep going.

“I’m sorry I shot you down when you were just trying to help. And I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”

Her face lit up with a smile. “Not bad for a rookie.”

In my life, I rarely apologized for anything, even though there had been hundreds of times when I should have. I understood now, how a woman could bring a man to his knees. If I had to, I’d crawl to her, groveling, just to put that smile on her face. How had she infiltrated every facet of my life so quickly?

“Just for the record, before you met me…you had lousy taste in women.”

“I could say the same about your taste in men,” I countered.

She grabbed my index finger, guided it to her mouth and bit down hard. I laughed. “She-devil.”

“Tell me I’m the best you’ve ever had.”

“You’re the best I’ve ever had.” It wasn’t a lie. She was the best, in every way.

“Will we ever be able to talk about this again?”

I knew what she was referring to—Johnny, my guilt, her quest to help me find a new passion in my life. “Someday. But not today.”

Her eyes searched my face and then she smiled. “Okay. Someday sounds good.”

The fact that I’d even used the word someday implied we had a future. And in three days I’d be meeting her dad. Jesus. Be brave, warrior.

That evening, I had a surprise for her. Judging by the look on her face when she walked into the office, it wasn’t a good one. “You cut your hair,” she cried. I thought she was going to burst into tears. “You look like…a GQ model now.”

“She hates it,” Ava said, stopping in the doorway. She offered Eden a Twizzler to ease her pain.

“I’m going to need more than one strip of licorice to get over this,” Eden muttered, ripping the licorice with her teeth, and chewing furiously, her eyes still glued to my short hair.

Ava tossed her the whole pack, and Eden caught it one hand, without taking her eyes off me. Skills. “O-kay,” Ava said, backing away. “I think I’m needed in the courtyard.”

I scrubbed my hand over my hair. It hadn’t been this short since my MMA days, which meant I looked more like I used to when I was a fighter. Not sure that would work in my favor. The idea was to make myself look more respectable. I had no idea how conservative her dad was, but he was a state trooper and they lived in a small town. Not much I could do about the scar or tattoos. I probably still looked like a thug who grew up on the wrong side of good. “Are you gonna leave my ass in Brooklyn, baby?” She was still staring at me, speechless.

“No. Your ass comes with me. But I want you to grow your hair back.”

I chuckled and leaned back in the swivel chair. “You’re so shallow. Had I known you were just with me for my hair…”

“Shut up.” She came to stand between my legs. “I’m not just with you for your looks or your body although…well, they’re a nice bonus. You’re still beautiful. It’s just…you look so different.”

I captured her hands in mine and tugged her closer. “Did you call me beautiful? I’m not a girl. I’m a man. Have a seat on my lap. I’ll show you I’m still the man I was before I got a haircut.”

She rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide the smile. “I need to get to work.” She put her hands on my shoulders and kissed me. “My boss will get angry if I slack off on the job.”

“Your boss might give you a spanking,” I murmured against her lips.

Her tentative fingers sifted through my hair. “Not much to hang onto.”

“I’ve got plenty of things to hang onto. You’re welcome to all of them.” I guided her hand to my crotch where, as usual, I was hard for her. “This is for you. All. The. Time.”

“Sounds like a problem. You should get that checked out.”