Page 79 of Love Me Tomorrow

I’ll deal with it if I have to, but I’ll be dead before I allow customers to maul Savannah right in front me.

Leaving the chick on the table, I push to my feet and cup my gloved hands around my mouth. “Quiet!”

Silence descends over the parlor, dozens of eyes zipping in my direction.

Savannah’s included.

I look to her first, trying to get a read on her expression—her features are completely neutral, and if it weren’t for the fact that the hair at her hairline has begun to curl, I would have missed the fact that she’s sweating and clearly uncomfortable with the spotlight.

I got you, sweetheart.

I drop my hands to my hips. “Listen up, folks! We’re game to stay here all day if that means we get everyone the ink y’all are wanting. But I’m calling it quits right now on the personal questions or anything to do withPut A Ring On It. You stay, you know the score. That goes for me, my staff, and Savannah Rose over there. It’s your call.”

A few girls exchange annoyed looks, then slip through the crowd to head for the door.

The rest shift their weights, rocking back on their heels, but don’t move.

“I’ll take a few pictures,” offers Savannah, picking up Pablo from the desk and snuggling the crazy beast to her chest. She drops a kiss to the top of his head, and I’ll be damned—the cat doesn’t whip around, claws bared and prepared to shred Savannah alive. “I don’t mind.”

“Rose.”

At my gruff tone, she spares me a quick glance. “I’m good, Owen.” A small, fake smile widens her mouth. I doubt anyone else even realizes how much she wants to run. But I see, and I know the only reason she’s here is for me.To have my back. She returns her attention to the group of twenty-something women milling around her. “If y’all can promise not to ask aboutPut A Ring On It, we can even do a few videos? For Instagram, I mean.”

Cheers explode like she’s pulled an Oprah Winfrey and given everyone a set of keys to their own Lamborghini.

Gage’s client slips off the table, a square-shaped bandage on her upper arm, and swings past me with an open expression. “I told my friend there was something going on between you and Savannah Rose,” she tells me blithely. “I called it on that first night when she sent you packing. No woman reacts that strongly unless feelings are involved.”

She leaves me standing there, speechless.

Words have officially deserted me.

I watch as Gage hits the front, calling out the next name on the list. Jordan is right behind him. I don’t know who thisCelebrity Tea Presentsasshole is, but they’ve brought pandemonium to my front door. Literally.

Hitching my jeans at the knees, I sit on the stool and get back to work finishing the crescent moon. I shade G3 into G4, careful to blend the two yellows perfectly. And then I do it all over again, when the next customer sits at my table wanting a yellow butterfly.

Butterflies for all.

I really should make sure that’s the first line in my eulogy.

We close early.

By the time 5 p.m. rolls around, and the line has finally dissipated, we’re all exhausted. Kyle and Sammy head out first, muttering something about hitting up the first bar they come across on Bourbon. Considering you can’t go two feet without stepping in front of an establishment peddling booze, I figure they’ll be toasted within the hour.

“I wish I wasn’t pregnant,” Lizzie moans as she flops onto the sofa. “I need wine. Actually, I probably need more than wine, but I’ll settle for pretending I’m classy for at least the next thirty minutes.”

Savannah collapses next to her. Her long hair is pulled up into a ponytail, and her high heels are long gone. “I think I’ve lost the ability to smile. Here’s to a lifetime of having resting bitch face.”

My sister-in-law tips her head to the side, her face flattening the sofa cushion, and gives Savannah a lackluster poke in the cheek. “You could never have RBF. You justlookfriendly.”

“It’s a curse,” Savannah mutters wryly.

“I bet it brings all the boys to the yard.”

That makes Savannah laugh out loud. “I’m really only concerned about one boy.”

“Real subtle, there.” Lizzie pins me with a haughty look. “I bet she knows how to spell discreet too.”

Rolling my eyes, I watch as Gage heads straight for his wife. Bending at the knee, he slips one hand behind her back and the other beneath her knees. “Hold tight, princess,” he says warmly, just before he lifts Lizzie clear off the couch.

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