Chapter 7
IVY
By the end of the week, I’d stopped pretending that Saxon showing up every day was a coincidence. Even though he still tried to make it seem like it.
During the early afternoon lull, Missy leaned her elbows on the front desk and gave me a look that meant trouble. But her voice was sweet as she asked, “So, Ivy, do you want me to stop booking male clients for you?”
I blinked at her reflection in the mirror. “What?”
“You know, except for Nighthawks players,” she teased. “Your guy nearly burned a hole through one who wasn’t even in your chair.”
My comb slipped in my hand. “He’s not my guy.”
Missy grinned. “Mm-hmm. Sure.”
Before I could come up with something clever, Lorna walked in from the break room, one hand absently rubbing her rounded belly. “That won’t even help. Better make it only married players. If Saxon’s anything like Cole, he’ll still get all growly over the single guys on his team.”
Missy laughed. “Fine by me. Married athletes only for Ivy—strict policy. Gotta keep the peace.”
“You’re both ridiculous,” I muttered, turning back to my station and pretending to fuss with my scissors as I tried to hide the little thrill I felt at the idea of Saxon being jealous over me.
Lorna came up beside me, her grin widening. “I’m not sure how you can say that when you’ve seen how my husband is with me. Missy’s suggestion sounds perfectly reasonable.”
“Maybe if we were talking about Cole.” I shook my head with a sigh. “But you’re married to him and carrying his baby. Saxon has only driven me home a few times.”
Missy flashed a mischievous smile at Lorna. “What she’s not mentioning is that you missed our resident growly football player bringing Rhodes Channing in for a cut today.”
“He what?” Lorna huffed. “I knew I shouldn’t have let Cole talk me into taking half the day off.”
“You needed the rest.” I pointed at her rounded belly. “You’re cooking a baby in there, remember?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, but it sounds like I missed all the good stuff.”
“You really did,” Missy chirped. “Saxon barely said a word and didn’t crack a smile the whole time. And when Gloria’s client so much as peeked at her, his jaw did that thing where he looks like he’s plotting someone’s murder.”
“Facts,” Gloria mumbled from the station next to mine.
Lorna turned to me with a smug little tilt of her head. “See? He brought in a married guy. I rest my case.”
I stared at her, flustered. “That proves nothing.” Right?
Her grin only grew. “Oh, it proves plenty. He’s territorial, just like Cole was when we started dating.”
There were many similarities in how Saxon was acting, but I refused to assume they meant anything.
Missy snickered. “Saxon doesn’t even have to say anything. His glare does all the talking.”
Lorna laughed softly and rubbed her belly again. “Poor Ivy. Caught up with another broody Nighthawk who doesn’t believe in playing it cool.”
“I’m not stuck with anyone,” I protested, but my voice lacked conviction.
“Of course not,” Missy said, far too innocently.
I tossed her a look in the mirror. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”
“Maybe.” She winked. “But watching him mark his territory was the highlight of my day.”
I groaned and ducked my head, sweeping stray clippings off the floor to hide my burning cheeks. Their laughter filled the salon, warm and familiar, and I couldn’t help smiling—even as I muttered, “You’re all ridiculous.”
Lorna leaned her hip against the counter beside me. “You’re blushing because you know we’re right.”
I glanced at her reflection. “He’s impossible.”
Her grin softened. “Yeah, they all are.”
I didn’t answer. Because the truth was, she was right. Saxon was possessive and over-the-top in ways that should’ve irritated me. But every time his name popped up on my phone, or he showed up to drive me home, I melted a little more.
The rest of the day passed in a blur, but my focus was shot. Every time my phone buzzed with a new appointment reminder or product alert, my heart leaped like it was waiting for his name to pop up instead.
When my last client of the day left, I started wiping down my chair, telling myself I wasn’t checking my phone every thirty seconds.
At least not until it buzzed again with a text from him.
Saxon
What time should I pick you up?
I laughed softly before typing my reply.
Me
Can you be here in thirty minutes? I just need to check a delivery before I leave.
Saxon
I’ll be there in fifteen.
Of course he would. The man lived in Manhattan but had spent every day this week in Long Island.
And he’d never given me a straight answer about why he just so happened to always be heading back home just when I got off work, so I stopped asking.
But that didn’t mean I quit giving him a hard time about other stuff.
Me
Are you going to behave?
It took him a minute to answer, and I could almost picture him smirking as he typed.
Saxon
I have no idea what you mean…
Me
You glared at Gloria’s client just because he looked at me for longer than five seconds.
Saxon
Habit.
Me
What kind of habit?
Saxon
Guarding what’s mine.
For a long moment, I just stared at the words. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, but I had no idea how to reply. Exploding ovaries apparently made it impossible for my brain to work.
Before I could decide what to say, another bubble appeared.
Saxon
See you soon, sunshine.
The breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding escaped in a shaky exhale.
I locked my phone, trying to calm the flutter in my chest, but it was useless. My hands were trembling, and I was grinning like a fool.
Lorna noticed and followed me into the storage room. “Should I assume your smile has something to do with a certain wide receiver?”
I groaned. “You are the nosiest person alive.”
“I live for this kind of entertainment. It’s the only drama I get these days, now that Cole’s too busy obsessing over nursery paint colors.”
“I’m not even dating him,” I insisted, though the heat crawling up my neck probably ruined my credibility.
Lorna arched a brow. “Uh-huh. Yet you’re standing there looking like you just won the lottery.”
“I am not.”
“Sure you’re not.” There was a knowing glint in her eyes. “You had a front-row seat to the start of my relationship with Cole, so you should already know that resistance is futile.”
Tilting my head to the side, I quirked a brow. “I don’t remember you fighting it except maybe for that very first night when he gave us a ride home from the club.”
“Exactly, because I knew better.” She pressed a quick kiss to my cheek before heading for the door. “But if I had, you would’ve been the first person pushing me into his arms.”
I sputtered out a laugh. “Yeah, I would have.”
She smirked at me over her shoulder. “So it only seems fair that I do the same for you.”
“Ugh, stop making so much sense while I’m all tangled in knots over Saxon,” I complained.
“Only if you can honestly say that his calling you ‘sunshine’ doesn’t make you feel the way I do when Cole says ‘Lass’ in that brogue of his.”
I couldn’t, and we both knew it.