Page 42 of Oh My Secret Christmas Baby
"Maybe we should call the sheriff."
"Over my dead body. Come on." Kindred loops her arm through mine again and snags a bottle of hair spray off one of the shelves. The older woman who looks a little like Mrs. Claus from behind the counter doesn't say anything, only shakes her head and smirks. As though she’s seen this side of Kindred before and is waiting for the show.
When we exit the drugstore, we head back in the same direction as before. We have an appointment at the salon. Kindred checks for him again, and I see a mischievous smile pull at her lips.
Suddenly she yanks me over into a small nook that leads into another store, but we don't go in. She spins around, facing the sidewalk, blocking me in behind her. A few seconds later, the man appears. His eyes widen when he sees her standing there.
Kindred lifts the can she’s now holding, spraying him right in the face. He lets out a small shocked gasp, and she hits him with red and green glitter next. Where she pulled that out of, I have no idea, but it's the same glitter I gave her. I'm once again an accessory to her glitter crimes.
The glitter impressively sticks because of the hair spray. "Now try and be sneaky, you little punk ass."
Did she really say punk ass? I have to fight a laugh because I'm not sure if this is funny or scary.
The man wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. "I'm Ms. Snow's security." I press my lips together. I have security? This situation is news to me.
"Oh," Kindred says, shifting on her feet. "And this was a test. You passed." She grabs my hand and starts tugging me down the sidewalk.
"How did he pass if you got him?" I whisper.
"If he thinks he passed, maybe he won't report me."
"I think I might need to confiscate the glitter," I tell her.
“It’s better than mace.”
“True. That would really get you arrested.”
“Shit, the sheriff better not find out. No one has proof. It’s his word against mine. He’s not a local.”
“So we’re adding lying to our list of crimes?”
“We do what we have to.” Kindred pulls open the door to the salon for me. I step inside and am transported back forty years to a retro-style beauty shop. It’s completely adorable.
“You’re here!” A woman with shiny silver hair with streaks of black in it rushes toward us.
“I am,” Kindred confirms.
“I meant her.” She steps right past Kindred. “Look at you. Your coloring. That’s your real hair color?”
“It is. I’ve never dyed it or anything.” The thought never crossed my mind. Doing those things was expensive. It wasn’t a luxury I could have afforded. Max had once commented about making my hair more blondish, but I ignored it.
"Virgin hair." She gives me a warm smile. A lot of me is virginal, which is crazy because I'm pregnant with not only one baby but two. Hollis really does everything to the extreme. Evenwhen he doesn't know he's doing it at all. "I'm Betty. I'll be doing your hair." Betty turns partly. "This is Noel, and she'll do makeup." Noel winks at me.
"I'm nails!" A young girl with wild red curls bounces up from one of the salon chairs. "I'm Tinsley, and I might only be fourteen, but I still got this nail thing down." She comes to stand in front of me with a bright smile. "But I'm not really licensed, so we keep this on the down-low." Tinsley whispers the last part. She’s adorable.
"That actually works better for me. I've been working on stacking up my list of crimes."
Kindred snorts a laugh, but it dies quickly when the door to the salon opens. I turn around to see who has made her eyes widen at the sight.
Holy snowballs is my first thought when I see the man standing in the doorway. He’s big. The kind of big that comes to mind when I read bear shifter books. It’s easy to know who he is. The uniform gives him away. This is the infamous sheriff. The only person that seems to be able to get under Kindred’s skin.
“Kindred.” He has his attention fully on her. No one else matters to him.
“What?” she snaps. “Why are you bothering me again?”
“Did you steal a bottle of hair spray and assault someone with it?”
“I don’t use hair spray.” She runs her fingers through her long silky locks to prove her point. He audibly takes a deep breath as though he’s trying to maintain his patience.
