Chapter 6
Haze
W e leave the restaurant, each lost in our own thoughts. I’m not so dense that I didn’t see that flash of sadness cross her face when she mentioned sailing. She’d told me a bit about her parents, or more specifically her father and how he changed when he got remarried. I didn’t like to pry too much, because she’d shut down, and I sensed there were things that she didn’t want to share with me. I hope that eventually she’ll open up. After that I tried to ensure our conversation stayed off of heavy subjects and keep things light and fun.
Somehow, in the few short weeks I’ve known Anna, she’s slipped through the walls I’ve built to protect myself from women getting too close. Before I met her, I’d been intent on staying single for many long years. In order for that to happen, I had to shore up my defenses. Women are soft, pretty, and delicate. They pull at man’s protective instincts and lure us in without even meaning to. I suppose with Anna, my heart secretly wanted to let her in. That’s the only possible explanation for why I haven’t been able to leave her side, why I find myself opening up to her in a way I’ve never done with a woman before. I find myself considering the idea of a relationship, and I find that it’s not such a bad thing after all. My club brothers always joke that men who say they’ll never settle down, always fall the hardest. I don’t know about falling, but I’m finding that Anna is in my thoughts more often than not.
After lunch, I drive us back to Las Salinas and take Anna to our local mall, she’s gazing at the windows, but I gently steer her towards a salon.
Anna immediately comes to a staggering stop just inside the doorway. She whispers, “Wait. What are we doing? I thought I was here to buy a couple of outfits.”
“Nope. We’re here to spoil you with all the things women need to feel good about themselves. You’ve had a rough couple of months. You deserve someone to lift you up and I want that person to be me.”
She glances around before replying in a low tone. “I appreciate it but since I’m paying you back, I don’t know if I can afford all this.”
My hand comes up under her chin, and I tilt her head back to look into her eyes. “Today is my treat. I won’t take no for an answer or expect anything in return. I just want to do something nice for you.”
When she opens her mouth to object, I tell it to her straight. “I might look like a broke ass biker, but I promise you that I’m not. My brother and I have just made a habit of living below our means.”
She seems to get that I’m not going to give up because she eventually nods. “Alight. If you’re sure this is what you want. I guess I probably look like I need freshening up.”
I shake my head, “Darlin’ you look a million dollars. This isn’t about what I want, it’s about what’s gonna make you feel good.”
Her cheeks go pink, and I feel something tighten inside me, she looks like she’s about to tear up, “Thank you Haze, I can’t remember the last time anyone did anything like this for me.”
“You deserve it, now go spend my money like a there’s no tomorrow!”
She snorts a laugh, pulling her head away. “If you’ve got money to burn, then fine. I’ll pay you back what I can, when I can.”
I give her a stern look. “You’re not listening to the words coming out of my mouth. I said it’s my treat. Now get your pretty ass in there and get your hair and nails done.”
A hint of a smile ghosts across her face. “Fine. Prepare to be dazzled and amazed by my unrelenting beauty once I’m done.”
My smile is back in full force as she saunters away to the front desk. It takes everything I have not to playfully smack her on that cute ass of hers when she turns to walk away. Instead, I grab an empty chair with a good view of the chair they took her to. It might sound corny and get me teased by my club brothers, but I absolutely love watching Anna explaining to the staff what she wants done and then seeing her vision slowly come to life.
She gets layers cut in her thick hair and then they begin adding highlights. I might not have realized that’s what she was doing but two women waiting their turn are engaged in a conversation about whether redheads really need highlights and if so, what colors would work best with her particular shade of red. I’m amused by how vested they seem in a stranger’s choices.
It takes close to an hour and half just to finish her hair, and it’s nothing short of breathtaking when they’re done. The stylist has parted it on the side, but Anna’s careful to pull the longer side down until it’s almost impairing her vision. Shock roils through my gut when I realize she’s trying to cover the scar on her forehead. It starts about an inch above her right eyebrow and cuts back into her hairline. Maybe because I’ve got a few scars of my own, and some of my club brothers have genuine battle scars, I never notice things like that. But if it’s making Anna feel bad about herself, then after they’ve finished with her hair, I’ll see if she wants to get her makeup done too. Not that she needs it, but if it’s gonna make her feel more confident, then it’s an idea.
When she sits down to have her nails done, I’m pleasantly surprised when she gestures to me to come over. I rush to her side, excited to see what she needs. She pats the stool next to her as the nail technician starts to glove up and line up her supplies.
Anna runs her fingers through her hair and asks, “What do you think?”
“You’re so far beyond beautiful that I don’t have words to describe it.”
She chuckles and jokes, “Yeah, I’m the whole package, but I was referring to the hair in particular.”
Glancing up at her stunning new style, I respond mildly, “It’s gorgeous. The highlights really make your natural color pop.”
She narrows her eyes at me. I know she’s gotta be wondering how I became an expert on women’s hair color, so I quickly explain. “The two women sitting next to me had a lot to say about your highlights. The general consensus seems to be that blonde highlights bring out the red coloring. They were delighted with the results.” Leaning forward, I add, “I happen to agree with them.”
I glance over at the two older ladies who are in the process of paying their bills. Anna follows the direction my eyes went and sighs. “I knew you had to have gotten that from somewhere.”
Pausing for a moment, she picks the shape she wants her new nails to be and then turns back to me. “I thought it might be fun if you picked the nail color.”
I can see a huge rack of nail polish hanging on the wall beside us. Slowly, I come to my feet and stand in front of the rack. There are dozens of colors, all different. Some are metallic and others have flecks of glitter floating around inside. One in particular catches my eye. It’s the same color as her hair before she got the highlights, a deep red, almost burgundy. I pluck it free and hold it up with one hand.
“What do you think?”
Her eyes light up. “I love it!”
I slide back down onto the stool and watch her get her nails done. I have to admit that whatever they’re using doesn’t smell all that great. Neither does the coloring they put on her hair. My best guess is that it will fade in a few hours. If someone had told me two months ago that I’d willingly spend an afternoon in a beauty parlor watching a woman getting the full works, then I’d tell them they were on something. Okay, old me might have peered in the window, because often you found hot babes in places like this. But truth be told, I only had eyes for one woman today, and she was glowing with happiness right now.
When we walk out of the salon, my new obsession is standing tall and proud. I’m pleased that my idea of gifting her with a glow up to lift her spirits seems to be working so well. When we pass a cosmetics shop, I pull her inside. This time, she just gets down to business with no balking. Since it’s the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, they’ve got time to give her a makeover. I sit this one out and just leave her to it, as I watch from afar.
I love how she takes time to try on several samples of lipstick to find the perfect shade. I should not be enjoying such purely feminine pursuits, but I’m not really into the actual activity so much as watching the woman I’m growing ever fonder of enjoy being pampered. We finish by picking out a new perfume and buying all the makeup she used during the makeover. I was astonished at the price of all the cosmetics. Who knew that shit was so expensive?
We sit down to take a breather and while I’m getting us a cold drink, her phone rings. When I come back to her, Anna’s voice is filled with worry.
“Mom, are you okay? You sound like something is bothering you.”
I drop down on the bench beside her and can hear a timid voice answer. “I’m… okay. Just stay where you’re at.”
Then there’s the sound of a loud crash, like someone turned over a table or a cart and multiple items clamored to the floor.
Anna jumps to her feet. “Mom, what’s going on? Talk to me.”
“It’s nothing. One of the nurses flipped over a lunch cart.” The older woman’s voice sounds a bit more certain than before, but I can tell that Anna is struggling to believe her.
“Are you alone. Who’s there with you right now?”
“It’s just me and the nurse cleaning up the mess. Like I said, don’t worry about me. You have enough on your plate right now with your own recovery.”
“Alright, if you’re sure.” The reluctance in her voice tears at my heart. Having both Anna and her mother recovering from medical problems at the same time, must be really difficult for them to properly support each other.
The woman’s voice stammers, “Your stepbrother wanted me to tell you, it’s time to come home. He said that your fiancé misses you.”
“What is going on? Is Greg there with you right now? Why is he there? Tell the nurses to make him leave if he’s being a nuisance,” Anna says, looking distraught.
“He’s gone now. I told him that I would tell you. We both know what the plan is. Stick to the plan.”
There are some muffled voices and her mother states, “The doctor is here to see me. I’ve got to go, sweetheart. Take care of yourself.”
“I will, Mom. If you need anything at all just let me know.”
The line went dead, making Anna frown.
“Do you think something untoward is going on with your mother? We can go and check it out if you like.”
“I’m sure she’s fine. My stepbrother is a complete ass but even he can’t do anything to her while she’s in rehab. There are cameras in her room so the nurses can monitor her at all times and too many eyewitnesses. He’s probably just being an annoying prick, like always. Ever since my father died, my stepbrother thinks he’s in charge of everything related to my family, even though my mom is nothing to do with him.”
I give her the drink I got for her and accept her words at face value. She would know her own family dynamics better than me. “He sounds like a bit of a nightmare.”
“He is,” she agrees. “But we’re used to dealing with him.”
I pull her into a brief hug before asking, “Are you okay? I know that you’re probably still upset about your father’s death in addition to being worried about your mom.”
She nods, clinging to me tighter before pulling back. “Yeah, I’m probably just being oversensitive.” Taking a sip of her drink, she asks, “You ready to give it up for the day? I know this little outing can’t be all that interesting for you.”
I glance up at her lovely new hairstyle and give her a lopsided smile. “I don’t know about that. Today has made me realize that watching a beautiful woman make herself even more beautiful might be my new favorite hobby.”
She flashes me the prettiest grin ever, and my heart beats a little faster. Everything about Anna draws me in, makes me want to make her mine. Rather than angsting about that, I ask, “Are you ready to grab some new clothes?”
She nods, seemingly content with my company and this outing designed to get her back to feeling like her old self once more. Now that she’s given into my gentle pressure, she’s not questioning every move we make. Truth be told, I not only like having a woman depend on me, I love that it’s Anna in particular.
We go in three different stores. I can’t decide if they’re actual boutiques or not because I’m unclear on what that entails, to me a clothes store is a clothes store, but what do I know? I do pay attention to the sizes she picks though, because I might want to buy her something nice one day as a surprise. No sooner does that thought pop into my head than I start daydreaming about doing exactly that. Maybe planning a romantic evening for us—because somewhere during today’s outing I have decided that I want to be with her. I’m pretty sure she likes me back, but whether we are on the same page romantically remains to be seen.
Eventually, we leave the mall with so many bags, that I feel like a baggage clerk carrying them all. Anna is happier than I’ve ever seen her. She’s practically floating as we walk towards the parking lot. Pride surges in my chest that I’ve done this, made the woman I’m enamored with happy, lifted her burdens for the day and made sure she has the things every woman needs to be happy. I think briefly about stopping at a jewelry store to buy her some earrings, but I somehow manage to stop myself, because I don’t want to spoil our perfect day by going overboard. Anna has been a good sport about accepting my kindness, and I don’t want to mess that up.
On the way home, she talks about how great her hair turned out and how much she likes her new clothing. And she thanks me profusely for making today happen for her. I would do it a thousand times over, every week if she’d let me. I know she won’t though, because my Anna is an independent woman who clearly likes to work and provide for herself. Something about that makes me sad. This sweet, beautiful woman deserves to be coddled, protected, and spoiled. She hasn’t said much about her ex-fiancé, but what she has said, makes me fume. Thinking about that man not treating her right, makes me want to beat his sorry ass. Damn it, even the thought of her being with someone else is setting me off! Yeah, that’s me, getting possessive again. Damn, I need to rein that shit in.