Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A cacophony of chattering female voices met Jaxon’s ears as he entered the small salon.
The tinkling of the bell over the door announced his presence, and several sets of eyes swiveled toward him.
The only ones he cared about, though, were the steel gray pair that met his, turning his blood to fire.
The stormy depths registered agitation and… worry?
Immediately on guard, his gaze swept over the scene before him, taking in the broken window behind the three women as well as the glass littering the pale blue carpet. He had been so preoccupied on his way in that he hadn’t even noticed.
Adalyn straightened and directed her attention to the women gathered in a semicircle around her. “Jenn, would you please bring me the vacuum? And Amy, could you please make some calls to get this window replaced or at least covered for now? I think our next appointment is due in about an hour.”
The women avoided him completely, scattering like pigeons as Adalyn dismissed them with a gentle smile.
He lifted a brow at her. “What happened here?”
She drew in a shaky breath and waved him off. “Something broke the window, but it’s nothing, I’m sure.”
“Hmm.” He hummed a noncommittal sound before venturing closer, examining the gaping hole in the lower corner of the window. “I can get some plastic sheeting and cover this for you.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Her voice was clipped, and her immediate refusal had his hackles raising.
He turned to her and crossed his arms over his chest. “Looks like you have a penchant for pissing people off, Addy.”
Her pretty gray eyes narrowed on him. “First of all, don’t call me that. Secondly, I didn’t do anything.” She lifted a hand and gestured toward the street. “It was probably some kid playing or… something.”
He didn’t like that tone at all, or the worried look in her eyes. He was willing to bet there was a lot more to the story than whatever crap she was feeding him.
“Did you find whatever came through the window?”
“Not yet.” She shook her head. “I was more worried about getting the glass cleaned up and the window covered before our next clients get here.”
He nodded and bent to a knee, searching beneath the ruffled folds of white fabric.
“What are you doing?”
He tipped his head up to meet her curious gaze.
“I’m looking for whatever they tossed in here.
” He swept his arm under the low-hanging dresses on the rack, and his fingers brushed something hard and rough.
He stretched his fingers and snagged the large rock, then climbed to his feet.
He held it out for her inspection. “Found the culprit. What the…?”
Her eyes widened, and she snatched the rock from his fingers just as he noticed the word scribbled in black marker across its smooth surface.
Fraud.
She clutched the rock close to her chest, her whole body trembling as she glanced worriedly out the window. What was going on here? “Adalyn.”
Her gaze jumped to his, but she remained silent.
“What is that?”
She swallowed hard, then reluctantly passed it back to him. He shot her a hard glare before redirecting his attention to the rock in his hands. He turned it over, but there was nothing else. Just that one word. What did it mean?
“Any idea who may have done this?”
Her brows furrowed, and she chewed her bottom lip in thought. Finally, she gave a little shake of her head. “No.”
“You sure you haven’t pissed anyone off lately—besides me?”
Her angry glare threatened to cut right through him, and he felt a sudden stab of guilt.
He hadn’t come to provoke her; he’d just wanted to talk things out a bit.
With Adalyn, though, things never went as planned.
It occurred to him that she might be more accommodating if he showed her he wasn’t the bad guy here.
He held up his hands in a placating gesture.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You should tell the police about this. ”
She gave a derisive little laugh. “So they can do… what? Post someone out front to make sure no one throws another rock through my window?”
She had a point. There wasn’t a lot they could do. “They can at least file a report. Have you had any trouble recently?”
She froze, her mouth parted slightly as if something had just occurred to her. Almost immediately she snapped it closed, and her expression shut down. “No.”
He didn’t believe that for a second. If he pushed any harder, he’d be calling her a liar, and he didn’t want to drive the wedge any further between them. If she wasn’t going to open up to him, he’d just have to do it his way. “What can I do to help?”
“Don’t worry about it.” She turned to leave, but he reached out and caught her shoulder.
Her muscles tensed under his touch, and he could feel the faint vibration of her body as he slowly spun her around to face him.
Her gaze collided with his, and he studied her expression.
Fear warred with trepidation in those liquid depths, and remorse seized him.
She was obviously shaken from the incident, and he’d made the situation worse.
He stroked her shoulder lightly with his thumb. “Why don’t you let me fix this up while you clean? If you have any plastic sheeting, we can get this covered up until someone can get out here to replace the glass.”
She looked torn, and her gaze darted to the back of the salon. “We have another appointment coming in soon, and—”
“Let me take care of it,” he cut in. “Please.”
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and she wrapped her arms around her waist before finally relenting with a single jerky nod.
“We should have some in the back. I’ll go check.
” She shrugged out of his hold and took a couple steps away before angling back to him, her voice as soft and uncertain as her gaze. “Thank you.”
The corners of his mouth lifted. “Welcome.”
He watched her slink from the room then turned back toward the window, inspecting the rock still in his hand.
If this was an accident, he would eat the boots on his feet.
The park was too far away and, though a kid may have been involved, it was surely no accident.
He’d have to chat with the neighbors, see if anyone heard or saw anything.
Noise from behind prompted him to turn around, and he saw the younger woman standing there, watching him closely. He recognized her face—she was the same one he spoke with the other night, the one who’d told him where Adalyn had gone on a date.
And thank God she had. He owed her a sincere thank-you for that. What was her name again? He offered up a small smile and thought he saw a faint blush stain her cheeks, but his attention was diverted as Adalyn came around the corner.
She held a large piece of plastic in one hand and a roll of duct tape in the other. She shrugged. “Fixes everything, doesn’t it?”
He quirked a grin at her. “Almost everything.”
They remained that way for a long moment, each of them absorbed in the other. A throat cleared from behind Adalyn and she jumped, breaking the moment. “I’m sorry, I’ll take that.”
She extricated the vacuum from the other woman and set it aside. “Jenn, can I borrow you for a second?” Her gaze flicked to him. “I’ll be back in just a minute.”
He dipped his chin at her. “Take your time.”
Adalyn led the other woman around the corner, her voice hushed as she gave instructions, and he turned back to the window.
There was still something between them, some indefinable quality that tethered her to him.
The feeling had awoken the moment he’d laid eyes on her four nights ago, and it refused to let up.
The papers he’d brought with him burned a hole in his back pocket.
He’d brought them somewhat out of obligation, but now he prayed he wouldn’t need them.
He couldn’t bear to leave whatever was between them unexplored.
He’d fallen hard in lust with her two years ago, and it seemed he was on the same track now. He wasn’t ready to let go of her.
He applied the last strip of tape to affix the sheeting to the window frame, then turned to find Adalyn watching him. She chewed that full bottom lip, looking unsure as she reluctantly met his eyes. “Thank you for doing that.”
“It was no big deal.” He shrugged. “Didn’t take much effort, and it’ll at least get you by until someone gets out here to fix it.”
“Well, um…” She shifted nervously, and he chanced a tiny step closer.
“Can we talk?” She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. “I know you’ve had a crazy morning. Tomorrow, maybe?”
“I suppose,” she hedged. “I might be able to make time in between appointments…”
She said the words like they had to be pulled from her, and he barely managed to bite back his smile. A victory was a victory, no matter how small. At this point, he’d take whatever he could get.
“Perfect.” He stepped forward, bringing himself to an arm’s length away. “I’ll bring us lunch.”
“Oh, no, that won’t—”
Her mouth snapped shut as he reached out and brushed a single strand of loose hair from her cheek. She seemed so uptight, everything perfectly in place, as if nothing dared defy her. Each time he’d seen her recently, she’d been buttoned up, her hair pulled ruthlessly away from her face.
Even on her date, she’d been dressed primly, almost businesslike—not the way most women dressed, in his experience. Most tried to show off their body to their advantage; not Adalyn. She was confident exactly the way she was, and he loved that about her.
The sleek chignon she now wore showed off those gorgeous cheekbones and luminous eyes, but he wanted to see it down again.
He remembered the way her hair had fallen in tousled waves and draped over his chest after they’d made love, the sexy tendrils tickling his skin.
He wanted to run his hands through the long, silky strands.
He shoved away the dirty thoughts tickling the back of his mind and dropped his hand away. “I’ll see you tomorrow around lunchtime.”
She nodded jerkily, and he could feel her eyes on him as he made his way to the front door.
He risked one last glance as he exited and met her gaze.
Pretty gray orbs narrowed on him as he shot her a wink, then hopped down the few steps and strode to his truck, humming softly and debating just how to win his wife over again.