44. Sienna
SIENNA
Iwake up the next morning wrapped in a set of strong arms, his chest pressed against my back, and our legs intertwined.
It’s the best morning I’ve had in a very long time.
I didn’t mean to ask him to stay last night.
I panicked because I wasn’t ready to let him go.
But Calvin seemed genuinely excited to spend the night in my bed, even if we weren’t having sex.
Although I’ve got to be honest, as the days go on, I’m getting braver.
The thought alone makes my stomach explode with butterflies.
But I trust him to be gentle, to take it slow, and to prove to me that it can be different from how I’ve experienced it before.
“Good morning, darlin’.”
I close my eyes as his deep, sleepy rasp rolls through me. Goose bumps prick my skin, and those butterflies return tenfold.
“Morning,” I whisper, still half asleep.
“I like waking up with you,” he confesses, his lips against my shoulder.
“Hmm…it’s quite nice.”
“Quite?” he teases.
“Did I snore badly?”
“Not as far as I’m aware.”
Relief rattles through me.
“You were the perfect sleeping buddy.”
He shifts slightly, and the press of his erection against my ass is unmistakable.
We didn’t do anything other than make out last night. He was ready for me, and so was I. But he didn’t make a move to do anything but kiss. It was nice, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t fall asleep with my blood simmering, and I’ve woken up the same.
“Someone is happy this morning,” I tease, wiggling my ass against him.
“Of course. Your hot little ass is nestled against my dick.”
My breathing picks up as his hand slides up my stomach and to my ribs.
Higher. Go higher.
“Calvin,” I whisper.
“You know the rules, darlin’. You want something, you have to ask.”
I roll my lips between my teeth. “Touch me.”
His lips press against my shoulder before he rasps, “I thought you’d never ask.” His hand continues higher until he’s cupping my breast and pinching my nipple.
“What time do you have to be at work?”
“Eleven,” I breathe.
“Plenty of time. You’re not getting out of this bed until you can’t feel your legs.”
“Sienna? Earth to Sienna." Suddenly, something smacks my ass, and I jump upright from where I was daydreaming against the salon reception desk.
“What? What’s wrong?” I ask, trying to catch my breath.
“You’re doing it again,” Bea teases.
“She’s dickmatized,” Savvy calls helpfully.
“That is definitely the issue,” Lessy agrees.
Thankfully, we’ve got a quiet few minutes. Rachel is the only one with a client right now, and she’s in the other room doing an intimate waxing.
“So, who is he?” Savvy asks, coming over to join us.
I glance at Bea, and she raises a brow in a “time to own up” way.
“Maybe it isn’t a man,” I reason.
“I’m sorry, no one gets that lost fantasizing about anything but a magical dick,” Lessy points out.
“Maybe I just really want cake.”
All three of them roll their eyes, not buying a single second of it.
“Okay, fine. Maybe it is a dick,” I confess. I refrain from admitting that I don’t yet know just how magical it is.
“Oh my god. It’s been so long since those words have left Sienna’s lips. Wait…have they ever left her lips?”
“Nope,” Bea supplies.
“Come on, we’re dying here. What’s his name? Is he hot?”
“Of course he’s hot. Did you not see that look on her face a moment ago?” Lessy teases.
I roll my eyes. “His name is Calvin, and…yeah. Things are…good.”
“Good?” Lessy asks with a frown.
“Fine. Amazing. But it’s early days.”
Savvy claps her hands together like an excited child.
“I’m so happy for you,” she shrieks.
“Are you going to tell them his surname?” Bea asks.
Honestly, I have felt a little guilty about not telling them before now. We might be colleagues, but we’re also friends. Not much goes unsaid in this place.
“Ohh… is it someone we know?” Lessy asks.
“You could say that,” I mumble.
“Go on then,” Savvy encourages.
“Keller,” I mutter under my breath.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
“Did you just say Keller?” Lessy practically shouts.
“Maybe.” My face is on fire.
“Wait, wait, wait…” Savvy says. “You, Sienna Wentworth, are dating Calvin Keller, aka: Killer, the Vipers D-man, number ninety-one?”
I just smile at her.
“Oh my god. This is huge,” Savvy cries
“Bea and Rett. You and Killer. Please tell me there are two others for Sav and me?” Lessy asks, making us all laugh. “Seriously, though, that man is H-O-T. No wonder you’re all spaced out thinking about him.”
“Are his bedroom skills as good as they say?”
Embarrassment rushes through me. If any one of them had been in the position with Calvin that I have, they’d have jumped his bones and ridden him all the way to pound town.
I, however, am yet to climb on.
“He certainly knows what he’s doing.”
Lessy starts fanning herself with one of the leaflets as Savvy’s next client makes herself known.
“Well, all I can say is I’m officially jealous. Been a few years since I met one who knows what he’s doing.”
We all burst out laughing.
Barbara, or Babs, as she insists we call her, has been a client here since we opened.
She sadly lost her husband of twenty-five years, but she hasn’t been shy about trying to find the butterflies with a new man.
She also happily regales us with tales from her awful dates.
I think my most memorable one was the guy she met up with who kept asking her questions about her feet. I shudder every time I think about it.
“You,” Savvy says, pointing directly at me as she walks away. “I want all the details later.”
I reluctantly nod in agreement, although I won’t be sharing as much as Babs usually does.
Lessy can’t get any more questions in; her client also arrives, leaving just Bea and me alone.
“Did you have fun last night?” she asks as she hops onto the stool and wakes up the iPad.
“It was incredible.”
“Pretty sure you didn’t stop smiling the whole time.”
“How would you know? You were over on the other side.”
She chuckles. “I could see you just fine. And I’m not the only one,” she says before turning the screen toward me.
I blink in shock as she scrolls down to a photo of me and Calvin in the tunnel last night. He’s pinned to my side with his arm around my waist, and instead of watching the game, he’s gazing at me.
“W-what’s that?”
“A bunny site. I know, I shouldn’t look. But some of their bullshit is funny as hell.”
I look away, unwilling to see anything bad they might have to say about me. “What does it say?”
“Nothing much. Just questioning who you are. Calvin has never been seen with a woman before outside of events. You know that just as much as all these bunnies do. You can’t be surprised it’s being talked about.”
“No, I guess not,” I mumble. On some level, of course I expected it. It’s just…spending time with Calvin makes it easy to forget that he’s also Killer, a man most of the city thinks they know.
Bea reaches for my hand and squeezes. “I know it’s scary, but weirdly, this life becomes normal fast. This stuff,” she says, gesturing to the screen, “is written by bitter, jealous women who think the world owes them something. The only two people who know what’s happened between the two of you are you and Calvin.
That’s how it’s supposed to be. You just have to decide if you’re okay with this side of his life. If he’s worth it.”
“He is,” I say without second thought. “It’s just weird having people care about who I am and what I’m doing.”
“Think of it another way—you could be about to bring even more clients in. Good job we’re looking at the other places Monday, huh?”
“Do you feel weird knowing that it’s your man whose brought us all this success?” I ask.
“I…it’s kinda weird. But I’m not going to complain. We can’t help it if the men we fall in love with come with a truckload of fans.”
The men we fall in love with …
As I repeat those words over and over in my head, the salon door opens, and Bea’s next client walks in.
“Embrace it,” Bea says before walking off. “There are worse problems to have than being talked about on a bunny site.”
She’s right, and no sooner is she out of my sight than I push that website from my mind and focus on work.
Calvin already had plans tonight, so when I get home, it’s to an empty apartment.
It’s probably for the best, because after a long day on my feet, all I want to do is sink into a hot bath and then stare at some shit on the TV.
And that’s what I do—along with messaging Garrett, who’s still questioning me about the night before as if I haven’t already told him every detail I’m willing to share.
Calvin might be out, but that doesn’t stop him from messaging me.
I feel like a teenage girl, my legs kicking out excitedly regardless of whether he’s saying something cute or filthy, and let me tell you, his dirty mouth definitely extends to his messages.
I eventually fall asleep with a smile on my face and the scary, yet exhilarating thoughts that this could be it. Calvin could be the one I was waiting for.
It might be naive of me, but I can see it. Us. Our future.
The butterflies are still there when I wake the next morning, and he’s the first thing I think of. And then when I reach for my cell, I find that I’m not the only one, because I have a message from ten minutes ago.
Calvin King of the ice Keller: Good morning, beautiful. I hope you weren’t too lonely without me.
Sienna: Good morning. My bed is very big without you…
Calvin King of the ice Keller: So is mine.
Sienna: I need to see your apartment. Make sure you’re not some crazy man who’s obsessed with stuffing dead animals or something.
Calvin King of the ice Keller: I can assure you, there is nothing dead up here.
Sienna: Good to know.
We message back and forth while I get up and dressed, and as if he knows I’m walking out of my bedroom, heading for the kitchen, my apartment buzzer goes off.
My breath catches, and I glance down at my cell.
Calvin King of the ice Keller: I hope you’re hungry. Open the door.
My heart races as I rush over, and it only gets worse when I find him on the other side, holding a bag that I assume is full of breakfast.
“Surprise.”
I act on instinct, reaching out, twisting my fingers in his hoodie, and dragging him inside.
“Miss me, darlin’?” he teases as he happily steps into my body.
A second later, my back hits the wall, his mouth drops to mine, and any thought of breakfast is forgotten.