Page 20 of Baring it All (Men in Charge)

“That’s the man you marry, honey,” Kitty whispers in my ear as she walks away.

“Thanks, Griffin. Cassidy didn’t want to schedule her, and I didn’t want her in my shop, but money is money. I have a feeling she won’t be back. It was probably a one-and-done type of thing anyways.” Griff was making his way toward me when Kitty stopped him in his tracks.

“Nothing to thank me for. You think I can steal Stormy away for a minute?” He talks to Kitty like I’m not there. I roll my eyes. Marie is one of the easiest clients I have, and she won’t mind a bit.

“Take all the time you need. I’ll entertain Marie for a bit.” Griff nods, closing down the conversation, and prowls. There’s no other way to put it, he’s a lion in sheep’s clothing, and I’m his willing victim.

“Griff.” My voice trembles as he gets closer. There’s bruising along his shoulder where his shirt has shifted down, and this is ten times worse than I first thought. “What happened? Are you okay? Is this the reason you were dealing with paperwork?” The questions come tumbling out in rapid succession, and what does Griff do? He doesn’t respond to a single one of them. Instead, he pulls me to his chest with his good arm and holds me. He’s injured, yet Griff is consoling me. I’m careful not to jar his arm or shoulder, whichever is hurt, when I wrap my arms around his waist. I close my eyes and breathe him in. His scent of oranges, cedar, and oak settles me down.

“I’m fine, Stormy. Accidents happen every day. This one could have been prevented. Shit went down. I turned in my notice, and I’m not going back. I don’t want to get into it just yet. I will tell you my shoulder was dislocated. It wasn’t the first time, but I hope like fuck it’s the last.” He kisses the crown of my head at the end of his explanation, squeezing me one last time. A silent request for me to get it together, I’m sure.

My lips press a kiss against his chest. “I’m so glad you’re okay and home.” I know he’s leaving a lot out. I also know that if he’s done with his time as a boat race medic, it means things went really bad.

“Me too, baby girl.”

“You need to go home and rest, but don’t think you’ll get away with not telling me what happened when it didn’t. You’re injured enough to be in a sling.” He goes to say something, but I cover his mouth with my hand. “Go home, get some sleep. I have stuff set out to make dinner. When I get home, I’ll cook, you’ll relax, and let me take care of you for a change.”

“Who’s bossing whom now?” Griff’s eyebrows lift. A grin full of mischief is spreading on his face.

“I am. Deal with it.” I rock back on my heels with a smile. He’s home in one piece, but the man needs a bed, and soon.

“Kiss your man and get back to work.” His head descends, nose sliding along mine until I tip my head up, my mouth meeting his pillowy soft lips. If I thought I was getting away with only grazing his lips, I was all wrong. Griff’s tongue slides out. A soft whimper leaves me, and he takes over the kiss. I feel his hand holding the back of my head as he deepens the kiss. I’ve missed this, missed him, his scent, his feel, the way he takes care of me. And I convey it in our kiss, going to the tips of my toes, needing to be as close as possible to him.

“Damn, baby girl.” He pulls away first, and I mourn the loss. “I’m leaving now before I walk you to the back room and let you finish giving me one hell of a welcome home.”

“Okay, I’ll see you at home.”

“Fuck yeah, you will.” I’m left in a lust-induced fog courtesy of the man I’m falling for, and I’m finding I like that, a lot.

24

STORMY

While everything seems good on the surface after Griff is home, there’s something I have yet to tell him. Between my nap and the self-care Sunday, Aunt Catherine called saying she needed to stop by. Of course, I told her to come on over. The news she delivered wasn’t what I wanted to hear. For most of the wedding stuff, the deposits covered the potential cancellation of the wedding. Minus the venue, the most expensive part of the stupid farce I didn’t want anyways. Who gets married at a country club when you’re not even a part of it, but your future husband and his family are? This could have all been avoided if I had put my foot down, telling them both no, instead of putting it on my credit card, which is now maxed out. Zach said he’d help pay for it. I should have known. Aunt Catherine being the woman she is tried to work around paying for the ceremony at a reduced rate. When that didn’t work, she went to Laura, asking if there was a way she could talk to the country club. That’s probably why she made her appearance today. Instead of being an adult and talking to me or even my aunt, she does this instead. And yes, I’m aware my mom and aunt have put out a lot of fires that the adult in me should have done. I still kept my mouth shut, licked my wounds, and left everyone alone.

At least Mom only helped pay the deposit instead of the whole damn thing. Ten thousand dollars. I don’t even have the full amount in my savings account. I’m going to have to come clean and tell Griff eventually. For the time being, I’m going to pay my mom back first. She deserves that money, it’s hers, and it was my sheer stupidity to ask for help when I knew I couldn’t afford it completely.

Fucking Zach and his empty promises. I shouldn’t have believed him. He was all, ‘We’ll pay it off once we’re married. Just put it on your card.’Why didn’t I make Laura foot the bill since that’s where she wanted it in the first place? I guess the good news is, everything else is being refunded minus the deposits. Those are long gone, but hey, at least I was only paying for the ceremony. Zach’s family was in charge of the reception, which was even more money. I swear to God if she tries to nail me with that bill, I’ll find the most expensive attorney, go into even more debt in order not to. Twenty-five-thousand dollars for a reception, fully catered with wait staff, open bar, and flowers out the wazoo.

“There you go, looking as beautiful as ever.” I finished Marie up while in my head. She talked while I listened with half an ear and responded, and for the first time in my career, my heart wasn’t in it. It’s a good thing I can do this in my sleep.

“It looks great, thank you so much.” I take the cape off her, then move her hair in a manner so she can see the cut and style.

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry you got a show while you were here.” Marie would never hold what happened with Laura against me. I still feel like I should apologize.

“There’s nothing for you to worry about. She should be ashamed of herself, not you. Keep your chin up and enjoy that hunk of a man who clearly loves you.” Marie stands up, hugs me, goes through the motions of paying me, and leaves me with a tip I wasn’t expecting. And it wasn’t the monetary kind either. I already knew I was falling for Griff, quicker than what society deems is normal. Especially after being the runaway bride in a jilted kind of way. The truth of the matter is, I am falling, hard and fast. If I keep thinking about all this, I’m going to lose my mind. I may as well clean up my area and the floors while I wait for my next client. The broom is already near my station, so I grab it and get to work. My area is done first. Marie only wanted a trim, so it was an easy cleanup. The rest of the ladies still have clients in their seats.

“You okay, honey?” Kitty asks when I move near her.

“I am. Upset that Griff is hurt and he had to fight my battle, but I’m also really freaking happy all the same.” For the first time today, I don’t think about the mountain of debt or how this is putting me off track in my savings account. If Kitty decides to sell, there are other ways around purchasing the salon besides putting a wad of cash on the table.

“I’m glad for you. Do you have another client coming in shortly?” She’s working on a perm on one of her own usuals. That’s a lot of arm movement in one day. Kitty is known for her perms with the older ladies and spares us all because of it. I’ll do them, but I’d rather not.

“I’ve got another thirty minutes. I’m thinking about grabbing an iced coffee and a bagel from next door. Want anything?” The last thing I should be doing is spending more money. Tomorrow will be a new day, and I’ll pack my lunch. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and budgets aren’t my strong suit. This time, I’m going to be better.

“A peach sweet tea. Money is in the drawer.” She gets back to work, and I grab a few dollars for her drink.

“Cass, you want anything from next door?” I may as well do a group order.

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