Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
He’s a spoiled little shit. Seriously, this is what happens when parents don’t say no to their kids. You end up with Sammie Russo Junior—the guy does not want to take no from me. Either that or he’s delusional and living in Sammie Land where everything is how he wants it to be all the time.
“You are impossible,” I groan.
“But you like me anyway.” He shrugs.
“Your ego is also heavily inflated. I’m guessing your mother tells you that you’re perfect too?”
“She does actually, and she’d be right. Are you really going to stand there and tell me your parents never told you that you’re perfect? Because I think you’re pretty fucking perfect, Poppy.”
I blink. The topic of my parents isn’t one I want to discuss. “I need to lock up, and then we can go, but be warned: dinner with my cousins isn’t fun.”
“You’ll be there, which means it will be fun,” Sammie retorts.
“Whatever. Wait here.” I turn around and walk back into my treatment room. Of course, Sammie doesn’t wait. Nope, he follows me.
“You have a lot of male clients?” he asks, leaning against the door.
“Yes.”
“What do they come in for?”
“Eyebrows mostly. I started shaping Jaxson’s when I was practicing, and then all of his friends noticed and wanted manicured eyebrows,” I explain. “You should try it. Your eyebrows could use some maintenance. You’re not as perfect as you think you are, you know.”
Sammie pushes off the doorframe. “Okay, fix them then,” he says, lying himself down on my treatment bed.
“You want me to fix your eyebrows?”
“Well, you see, there’s this girl I like, and I don’t want her to have any reason to think I’m not perfect. So, yes, fix them.”
I can’t help the smile that comes over my face. Damn him. I don’t want to like him, but sometimes he makes it really hard to hate him. “Fine, but you should know… I’ve been rumored to wax entire brows off.”
“They’ll grow back,” he says.
I stare down at his already perfectly sculpted brows. “Who does this for you? Because I know this is not natural.”
“I told you I go to the spa with my sister.”
“Cute. You must be a good brother.”
“She’s my only sibling. I’m not going to miss out on experiences with her just because she’s a girl.”
And there he goes, making me like him just that little bit more again. “I used to want siblings.”
“Did your parents not want other kids?”
“I don’t know. My mother worked a lot and my father was always tending to something on the ranch.” I shrug. “What else do you do with your sister?” I ask, changing the subject as I spread some wax around the arch of his brow, even though it doesn’t need waxing.
“I take her to dinner once a week. It’s how I keep up to date on everything going on in her life. She’s here too.”
“Here? What do you mean?”
“She was on the jet when I got there. She and a couple of our cousins were planning on going out to a property a few hours from here. I convinced her to spend the weekend with me instead.”
“Where is she?” I rip the wax off, and Sammie doesn’t even flinch.
Asshole, he’s used to this. I was hoping it would hurt a little.
“I rented a house for the weekend.”
“You should go get her, bring her to dinner. You can’t leave your sister in a house by herself in some foreign town while you come to dinner with my cousins.”
“If you wanted to meet my sister, Poppy, you could just say so. We don’t have to invite her to dinner.”
“You really gonna leave her to fend for herself?”
“Imogen ain’t no damsel. She’s more than capable of fending for herself.” He laughs when I yank at another piece of wax.
“Still, we’re bringing her. Now your eyebrows are better,” I tell him, stepping to the side of the bed.
Before I can move away, Sammie has his hands around my waist and is hauling me onto him. My legs automatically straddle his waist.
“You know, I think from now on, when you give me any kind of treatments, you should do it from this angle.” His fingers dig into my hips.
“You can’t afford to pay me for this level of service, Sammie.” I smile and then curse myself that I’m falling into his trap again.
I’m barely even putting up much of a fight. I know this is going to end up being disastrous. Nothing good comes from falling in love. And with the way the butterflies flutter when he looks at me like he’s looking at me right now, I’m at risk of falling hard for this man.
“First, I don’t pay for those kinds of services. And second, I respect you way too much to even insinuate that you’re a whore, Poppy. This is more… a benefit of dating the beautician kind of service,” he says.
“Mmmm.” Leaning forward, I press my lips against his. “It’s cute that you think we’re dating.”
“Remember the part about me being spoiled? If I want something, I won’t stop until I get it.
Right now, the thing I want most in the world is you, Poppy.
So whatever hangups you have, I’ll figure them out and I’ll bulldoze those walls of yours to the ground, then climb over the rubble to get to you. ”
“Good luck. I was out in the paddocks putting up fences when I was five. I got real good at it.” I climb down and start tidying up the room so I can get out of here. I also need something to do with my hands to stop myself from undressing the man and having my filthy way with him.
“You know, when we first met, I never would have picked you for a country girl,” Sammie says.
“I’m not. I just grew up in this small town. It’s kind of a family legacy to stay here. But I get out and go to the city as much as I can,” I tell him.
“You like the city better? Why not move there?”
“My business is here. My friends and family are here.”
“What if there was something in the city for you? Would you move?” Sammie asks.
“Possibly, but that thing would have to be one hell of a reason to move.” I smirk.
I really don’t like this line of questioning.
We’ve had two nights together. Why is he asking if I’d move to the city?
“You ready? I’m actually excited to meet your sister.
It will be good to not be the only female at the dinner table for once. ”
I’m lying. I’m nervous as hell to meet his sister. I can tell by the way he talks about her that she’s really important to him and they’re close. If she doesn’t like me, she’s going to tell him and then I’m never going to see him again.
Wait… isn’t that what I want? No. And yes. I hate my brain right now. I hate that I’m so fucked up from my parents that I can’t just live in the moment and enjoy whatever ride this is.
“You look like you’re stressed the fuck out, Poppy. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m fine. Let’s get out of here before I change my mind and send you packing,” I tell him.
“If you send me packing, you’re going to miss out on those orgasms I was planning on giving you later tonight.” He smirks as his eyes travel up and down my body. And damn it, my thighs squeeze together on their own. My pussy tingles at the memory of how good he works it.
“Fine. But just so you know, I’m only keeping you around for those orgasms. Nothing else.” I open the door to my treatment room and storm into my office with Sammie laughing behind me.
“I’ll take it,” he says, standing at the doorway again.
I pick up my bag and keys. “You want to follow me?”
“I’m coming with you,” he says.
“You don’t have a car and a driver waiting outside for you?” I raise a brow at him.
“Nope.” He shakes his head.
“Cool. And just so you know, I’m driving. You’re not driving my car.”
“Okay?” he questions.
“You don’t care that a woman is going to drive?”
“You got a license?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then why would I care if you drove?”
“Most men would.” I shrug.
“I think the guys you’re hanging around are fucking insecure assholes, Poppy. You really should reevaluate your taste in men.”
“Yeah, I probably should.” I tap a hand to his chest as I walk past him. He follows close behind me. “But not tonight. Tonight, I want those orgasms,” I call out over a shoulder.