Page 29 of Take My Love

“No. Don’t touch your hair. It’s fine.”

He slides a palm through it, shaking it out a bit. “You think so?”

I shoot him a glare at fishing for a compliment. “I just said it was fine.”

“I love it!” the girl behind the register blurts. “It’s a smidge long on the sides, but I could clean it up for you. I work at a hair salon on the weekends.”

“Really? That’d be great since the one I used is my ex-fiancée’s best friend and I’m pretty sure she’d shave it all off if I went to her.”

She reaches over, threading her fingers through his strands. “Oh yeah, it’d be super easy. And your hair is so soft and shiny.”

“That’s called sweat,” I say dryly, then nod toward the counter. “We have groceries in the truck if you wouldn’t mind hurryin’?”

“Oh, for sure!” She reaches in her back pocket,then hands Silas a business card. “Call or text to make an appointment. I’llsqueezeyou in any time you need me.”

When she winks, I roll my eyes.

“Will do, thanks?—”

“Michelle!” She grins wide. “Yours?”

“Silas. And this is my roommate, Posey.”

“Oh, that’s an adorable name,” she gushes but it sounds like the way you’d tell a child their art project is a masterpiece when it’s just smudges of different colored paint.

“I haven’t seen you before. Did you move here recently?” I ask.

“About six months ago,” she responds, folding his jeans and flannels into a large bag. “Everyone’s beensonice here.”

“I bet,” I mutter, glancing down to her revealing lowcut top.

As a petite girl with B cups, I’d flaunt mine too if I had bigger ones like hers.

“Thank you, Michelle. I’ll text you to make an appointment soon,” Silas says, carrying the two bags of clothes while I reluctantly carry his boots.

“Sounds great! Have a great night.”

“She seems nice,” he says, loading his bags in the truck before taking the boots from my grip.

“Yeah, a real annoyin’ ball of sunshine.”

He snickers, opening my door, then closes it once I’m settled into the passenger seat.

“Am I okay to use the washer tonight or do you have plans to do laundry?” he asks when we’re almost home.

“As long as I can use the dryer for fifteen minutes before bed, then go for it.”

“Whaddya use the dryer for?”

“My comforter. I like it freshly warm.”

“Every night?”

I snap my gaze to his judgy expression. “I get cold. Plus, it feels nice.”

“Huh. I never thought to do that. Now I wanna try it.”

“You’re a brick wall of muscle. You probably radiate heat just fine.”