Page 68 of More Than a Good Friend

“You’ll look good no matter what.” His gaze starts bouncing between my feet, which are submerged in bubbling water, and the color choices. He’s making a show of trying to decide, and it’s both entertaining and nerve-racking.

When the woman returns, he points to a color. “This color for her toes. I’m not doing any polish.” His eyebrows lift as he shoots me a side glance. “Or are you going to veto my pick?”

“I’ve never tried orange before, but it’s pretty.” I don’t hate the color. And it will probably look nice with my skin tone.

He presses buttons on the arm of his chair, then sighs as the massaging starts. “I almost went with a red, but then I started thinking about that blue dress you wore. You know, the sundress you wore on that one date when you had me come get you. Anyway, I was picturing you in that dress...” He closes his eyes and smiles, leaving me wondering. “And orange goes better with that blue, I think.”

Now Dag is coordinating colors. The man who spends half his life in a white T-shirt because it’s easy and goes well with jeans.

“You’re right. Blue and orange are opposites on the color wheel.”

The confused look is back on his face, and he shrugs. “I have no idea what a color wheel is.”

The gentleman pulls up a stool near my feet and taps my leg. I pull it out of the water, and he wipes it off, then applies a scrub. When he begins rubbing my feet, I tense. While I absolutely love the way my feet feel after a pedicure, the actual part where they touch my feet is hard because I’m so ticklish. Clamping down on my jaw, I resist the urge to pull my foot away from the man.

Dag nudges me. “What’s wrong?”

“It tickles.”

“I didn’t know you were ticklish.” A mischievous twinkle dances in those green eyes.

“Only my feet, and you didn’t know because I never mentioned it.”

“Kinda like my reaction to blood.” He seems pleased that he now knows one of my secrets. Not exactly a secret. I just choose not to tell people. “Okay, so what parts are ticklish? I need to know in case I give you a foot massage or something.”

This conversation has succeeded in distracting me from the man touching my feet. But now I’m thinking about Dag touching my feet. “We’ve been friends more than twenty years and you have never once rubbed my feet. Why would that change?”

“You never know. I’m just trying to be informed.” He glances toward the back. “I wonder when the lady is going to start on my feet.”

CHAPTER24

DAG

It’s lucky I pulled up when I did. While I don’t like seeing Goldie sad about the canceled date, I’m thrilled to spend more time with her. And I might be saying too much when I talk about her being super hot, but I love the surprised look she gives me.

A pedicure isn’t what I would’ve chosen to do, but so far, it isn’t all that bad. The water feels good, and any minute, a woman is going to come and massage my feet. I’m looking forward to that part.

Goldie is still clenching her jaw. Her shoulders are tense, and her fists are balled up. She’s really ticklish, and I had no clue. Funny how you can know someone for so long and still not know everything about them. Now it’s like a treasure hunt, and I’m trying to learn new things.

I lean in close, making sure I’m angled so that when I speak, my breath will whisper against her neck. “Will your friend care that I’m crashing your lunch?”

Without turning to look at me, she shakes her head a little. “I doubt it.”

“So who is it? Who are we meeting?” I’m guessing either Bluebonnet or Daisy.

She relaxes when the man lets go of her foot, and she finally looks at me. “Tandy.”

This is way more than I signed up for. I wonder if she’d cancel lunch with Tandy if I agreed to get orange polish on my toes too.

“That woman scares me.”

A little of that fire I saw in Goldie at the dance hall that night shows up, but it’s mixed with humor. “I know.”

Now I’m concerned.

The man paints Goldie’s toenails, and they look amazing. Not sure I can talk her into putting on that dress, but I might try.

Then to my horror, he shifts his stool in front of my chair.

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