Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
After sweeping up her area and putting her tools away, Freya hustled to the employee breakroom to retrieve her belongings.
She had to admit that Xander’s haircut had gone better than she’d thought.
She’d been worried their conversation would be awkward and stifled, but it hadn’t been.
He was a genuinely nice guy who was easy to talk to.
He had a flirty, sarcastic humor that she found endearing.
She frowned. Endearing? Nah, the man wasn’t a sweet great-grandpa telling stories of days past. Endearing wasn’t the right word at all.
She found the man attractive. Beyond his stunning good looks, she found him attractive—personality, humor, and all.
Professionally speaking, he also had a great head of hair.
Dark brown and slightly wavy with natural caramel highlights.
Women paid good money for hair like his.
She’d know because she’d done countless extensions that achieved that type of thickness.
Unprofessionally speaking, the man was ridiculously hot. Had she run her fingers through his hair a teeny tiny bit more than necessary?
One hundred percent.
But by the heated looks he’d given her, the man hadn’t seemed to mind. So neither did she.
Freya wasn’t one to flirt with her clients. Ever. With the few men who’d sat in her chair, she’d kept things completely professional. With Xander? Well, he wasn’t technically a client. Not really. Besides, he made flirting easy. Which wasn’t something she usually did.
She was an introvert who’d never made the first move with a guy. She’d never asked a guy out. Had never been bold and flirty. Her actions today proved that she still wasn’t. Yes, she’d excessively run her hands through his hair, but not in an obvious obvious way.
But what had her timidness gotten her?
A string of cheating boyfriends. Guys who’d made her feel like crap about herself.
Who’d gaslighted her into believing she was the cause of their relationship issues.
If she’d paid more attention to them, if she’d worked less, if she’d put more effort into going out with their friends, they wouldn’t have had to cheat. Rinse and repeat.
Four serious boyfriends in her twenty-nine years, and not one had remained faithful.
What was that saying about insanity? Doing the same thing and expecting different results? Yeah.
Maybe she needed to mix things up. Throw caution and her self-imposed dating rules out the window and just go with it.
She wasn’t sure she wanted a relationship, since those never seemed to work out for her, and she sure as hell had no clue what Xander wanted.
If he wanted to do casual, she’d be cool with something like that.
Granted, she’d never had a casual affair, but there was a first time for everything, right?
Catching her reflection in the employee lounge mirror, she paused and studied herself.
Her long black hair still held a wave, though she wished she had time to refresh some of the curls.
Leaning closer to the mirror, she grimaced.
Swiping a finger under her right eye and then the left, she removed the mascara smudges. Raccoon eyes. Excellent.
She grabbed her purse from her employee locker, pulled out her compact, and powdered her nose.
She reapplied her lip gloss, tossed it back into her purse, and grabbed her jacket.
That was as good as it was going to get.
Besides, Xander had just spent the last hour with her—raccoon eyes and all—and he still wanted to go to dinner.
She took a deep breath in, hoping it would bolster her confidence, and headed back to the waiting area.
She slowed at the front desk and took a moment to just look.
Xander sat in one of their oversized chairs.
His large body and broad shoulders dwarfed the plush chair.
He had his phone to his ear and was smiling and shaking his head at whoever was on the other line while running his free hand through his freshly cut hair.
“You going out with Hottie McHotterson tonight?” Audrey asked with a dreamy wispiness in her voice.
Freya glanced at the spa’s receptionist and grinned. “Yeah, that’s the plan. Have a good night.”
“You lucky bitch,” Audrey whispered with a dramatic sigh. “You better have a really good night. One I want to hear all about tomorrow.”
“Not gonna happen.” Freya shot her coworker a wink. “See ya!”
With Audrey muttering about helping a girl out, Freya chuckled and walked toward the salon’s waiting area.
When Xander saw her, he murmured into his phone and quickly ended his call.
“Hey,” she said. “Sorry I took longer than expected.”
“You’re good.” He rose and gestured for her to precede him. “Ready?”
“Yeah.” She waved at Audrey as they passed and then glanced up at him. “I assume you’re parked in the main lot?”
“I am,” he replied.
He held the door open for her, and the cool, crisp November air sent a shiver down her spine.
She zipped up her jacket and gestured in the opposite direction of the main building. “I’m parked in the employee lot, but I can drive around and meet you up front. Then I can follow you downtown. Or if it’s easier, I can just meet you at Monty’s.”
“How about I walk you to your car, then you drive me to mine in the main lot?” He shrugged. “Not to state the obvious, but it’s dark. I don’t want you walking to your car alone.”
Her insides melted the tiniest bit. A gentleman to boot.
“That works.” Smiling, she fell into step beside him. “You should know that security installed some temporary lights in the parking lot yesterday. It’s not pitch-black anymore, so me and the rest of the late-shift staff really appreciate whatever you said to Mr. Ortiz.”
“Temporary lights?”
She nodded. “Mr. Ortiz sent an email out saying they’d be putting in new permanent light fixtures over the next week or so. Security cameras too.”
“Good. I’m glad they’ve started implementing some of the security measures.”
Entering the employee lot, she swept her hand in front of her in a ta-da motion. Along the perimeter were portable lamp posts every fifty feet or so. “You know, I don’t think I realized just how dark it was back here until the new lights were put up. I mean, you can actually see all the cars now.”
She led him to the back row, along the forest’s edge, to where she’d parked.
She noticed that as they walked, Xander scanned their surroundings.
With her attention on the man beside her, she stumbled on the uneven gravel.
She quickly righted herself, and heat washed over her face. Graceful. Real graceful.
“You okay?” he asked, placing his hand around her waist.
She didn’t want to think too hard about how his casual touch had butterflies taking flight in her stomach.
“You should still have security walk you out at night. Even with lights and cameras, it would be safest to have an escort, especially if you’re by yourself.”
She also didn’t want to think too hard about how Xander’s attentiveness made her heart race and also enveloped her in a feeling of safety.
The man had her thoughts and emotions in a whirl. She cleared her throat. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’d hate to inconvenience them . . .”
Freya’s words died on her lips, and she came to an abrupt halt. She couldn’t make out what she was seeing. Her trusty Kia was about fifty feet away, parked two spots down from one of the new light posts. However, something was off. Something wasn’t right. But she couldn’t figure out what.
Despite the confusion swirling her mind, she was aware enough to notice Xander had tensed beside her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, taking her elbow.
His tone changed. Became serious. What she imagined was his “work” voice. Whatever it was, the two words he’d uttered calmed her, tempered the unease brewing in her gut. She was grateful he was beside her.
“I don’t know,” she murmured.
She stood rooted to the ground and continued to stare at the back end of her Kia. The car was reflecting the light wrong, but she couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing.
Until she did.
She sucked in a breath. “My windshield is smashed.”
Through the back window of her sedan, she could see to the front.
There was a large circular hole on the passenger side, the glass sprouting like webs from it.
The glass disappeared completely in the middle, its jagged pieces reflecting the light like a rainbow.
The glass that was supposed to be in front of the driver’s side was gone.
It was completely shattered with only bits remaining in the frame, as if something had hollowed out the glass on that side of the windshield.
She took a step toward her car, but a strong hand clamped down on her arm.
Startled, she glanced at Xander.
Shaking his head, he kept his firm grip on her arm.
His eyes scanned the parking lot as he moved her behind him.
“Don’t move. Not yet.” With his free hand, he pulled his phone from his pocket, tapped the display, brought it to his ear, and after a moment, said in that assertive work-Xander tone, “Get Kwon on the phone. I need resort security to the employee parking lot immediately.”
She pointed at her car. “But what about—”
“We’ll take a look once backup arrives.” He pocketed his phone, and with her still tucked behind him and his head on a constant swivel, he quickly crouched down. When he stood a couple seconds later, he had a wicked-looking knife clutched in his right hand.
Freya’s eyes widened. Where had that come from?
“Just a precaution,” he said, taking her hand with his free hand and pulling her back a few steps.