Page 5 of What He Wants

I gave Betty an appreciative smile. “Actually, I just got back from the bank.”

“Was the loan approved?” Jasmine asked excitedly. I knew that she was happy for the planned addition of the tanning beds to the salon.

I released a resigned breath. “Still working on it, but it’s looking good.” I had money in the bank, but I didn’t want to spend it and have nothing to fall back on if I needed it. A loan for the two used tanning beds I’d found wasn’t that much. I was lucky that the owner had agreed tohold them for a deposit, but the deadline for final payment was getting close.

“I don’t have anything else to do, so I might as well hang around.”

“You could always go upstairs and masturbate while thinking about that biker,” Jasmine suggested outrageously, receiving horrified, shocked gasps from Betty and Jackie.

“Jasmine!” I scolded for the two older women’s benefit.

“What?” she asked in an innocent, ‘what did I do’ tone. I raised my brow and gave her the look. “Well, that’s what I’d do if he’d given me that smoldering, I-want-to-fuck-you-right-now stare.”

There was no way that I was going to respond to that, though something inside of me warmed my blood unexpectedly. The fierce intensity on the biker’s face had frightened me, because I’d drawn the same conclusion as Jasmine had. But I would never admit it. With his thick hair and beard he’d looked like an angry beast, looking for prey to sink his teeth into. I couldn’t help wondering what the man beneath all that hair looked like. It hadn’t been his looks that had attracted me, it had been something deeper than that. Something deep and brooding in his eyes.

I should have known that Jasmine wouldn’t back down, she rarely did. She was a hardcore bitch, spoken with affection. She couldn’t help herself, she was outspoken and said exactly what was on her mind. Sometimes it may have been for the shock value, but most of the time it just came out in a way that revealed she hadn’t even thought about what she was going to say.

I gave Betty and Jackie an apologetic look. I could tell that they were fighting smiles as they shook their heads and looked elsewhere. They would never willingly encourage Jasmine by openly laughing at her comments. And I had no doubt that when they attended church they prayed heavily for her salvation, or at the very least a smooth entry through the pearly gates.

The three women were an odd mix, but I was growing to love them more and more every day. Jasmine’s friendship had saved me. She’d been the first person to reach out to me when I’d first arrived in Solon. We’d met in a small diner in town and had struck up a conversation that had led to me finding a place to stay and safety. Jasmine hadn’t been in Solon for long either, having decided to leave her old life behind to start another in the small, quiet town. She was the only one who knew about Paul and my reason for being there.

“Is the Christmas box marked?” Jackie asked as she headed toward me. Betty was right behind her.

“Yeah, there’s two of them on the floor next to the restroom.” I stepped aside and they pulled the curtain apart so they could continue to the storage room at the back. The stairs to my apartment were also located there. When Jasmine and I were alone she motioned me over. “What?” I snapped, still a little upset with her over her observation.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist,” she laughed in a low tone. “But you know that I’m right. That Viking biker wanted you.”

“Well he’s not going to have me.” There was no way I was going to let a man, especially one who looked dangerous, into my life. “He was scary.” Jasmine snorted. “Well, he was,” I insisted. “I don’t want any man.”

“Oh, come on! You can’t tell me that you don’t get horny sometimes. We all have needs.”

“I didn’t say I don’t have needs.” I felt heat fill my cheeks at what I was about to confess. She was my best friend, after all. “I have, a, ah, friend.”

She folded her arms and smirked. “Does your dildo have a name?”

A laugh burst from me because she’d guessed the truth. “Not yet.” The biker’s face flashed through my mind. A noise behind us alerted us that Betty and Jackie were returning. “We’ll talk about this later. No need for them to add me to their prayer list.”

Betty was carrying the box with the tree. “Where do we want the tree?”

“How about in the middle of the room?”

“It will look good there,” Jackie said, dropping her box onto the floor.

The door opened and a customer walked in. It was Dorothy Masters, a repeat client who came in once a week for a touch-up. The elderly woman’s hair was on the thin side, so keeping it short made it less noticeable. I don’t know how Jackie managed to curl it, but she did it.

Dorothy didn’t have a license, so her son always brought her in. Niles was a nice enough man, but I tried not to interact with him in any way. In my book, a forty-something bachelor who still lived at home wasn’t normal, especially with the way he ogled Jasmine.

“Hello, ladies,” Dorothy smiled, heading for the closest chair, which was at Jackie’s station.

“Hi Dorothy,” Jackie smiled in return, walking toward her. Niles sank down into one of the waiting chairs by the door.

I glanced at Jasmine, who rolled her eyes at me. “Why don’t you and Betty get started decorating? I’m going upstairs to put on a pot of chili for us later, and to change.”

“Sure, honey.”

I released a sigh after disappearing behind the heavy curtain, feeling as if I’d escaped. Niles barely gave me a second glance with Jasmine around, but he still freaked me out. After what Paul had put me through, I didn’t put a lot of trust in men. But one thing I did know was that I’d never allow another one to hurt me.

Once upstairs I changed into jeans and a tee, and then made up a pan of cornbread and acrock pot of homemade chili. It was the perfect meal for a cold, December day with my friends. Having a husband that had required a home cooked meal to be waiting for him every night when he got home had turned me into a fairly decent cook. The fact that he’d put me on a thirty-day schedule of serving up something different every night had filled my reading nook with a variety of cook books that I could draw inspiration from.

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