"Wiesner, Karen - Gypsy Road 01 - Leather and Lace" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wiesner Karen)

was almost finished with Rod's 'baby.' "It'll only be a few minutes more, if
you'd like to sit down and wait." She pointed to the little reception area near
the front door where chairs, magazines, and coffee were available.
About to return to her shelf-stocking, Bethany was caught off-guard when
Rod said, "Hey, what's your name?"
He was talking to her; she couldn't mistake that. "Oh. Um, Bethany."
"As in Beauty by Bethany?" He indicated the pink logo painted on the
picture window next to the door.
"Yes. I own the salon." Clasping her hands, she waited for him to walk away
so she could too.
"How long you been in business?"
For what possible reason would he want to know? "Two years now."
He nodded in interest, glancing around. "This building seems too small for
a beauty shop."
Everyone had to notice that. The building was actually much larger; she
rented the whole thing since it only came that way, but she couldn't afford to
expand into the unused portion yet. That part had been blocked off with a
temporary wall. After her first successful year, she'd lapsed back into the red
when a chain salon had opened a few blocks from hers. "I know. I plan to expand
later." Two, three, five years later, if everything got off the ground again.
"Um, there's coffee if you--"
He moved around the reception desk, and her stomach did a somersault in
panic as he came to stand near her. Too near. She could smell the wildness of
his cologne, the leather he wore. His body was no longer shielded by the desk.
He was at least six foot tall, five inches taller than she was, and he was
solidly built. His biceps were golden brown, as was his hairless chest. She
wondered if he had any Native American blood, or maybe it was that he wore
animal hide and was almost bare-chested that he looked like an Indian warrior to
her.
"Bethany. That's a real pretty name, sweetness. Almost as pretty as you
are."
Her heart was pounding like a tennis ball flying back and forth over a
court. How could she be attracted to him? How could he be coming on to her while
his "baby" was only a few feet away?
Gosh, he was attractive. All that glorious blond hair, those sexy eyes. Not
to mention his mouth. It was as full and soft-looking as a woman's, but there
was nothing feminine about it. Everything, everything was one hundred percent
male here.
She blushed again, couldn't even begin to control it, when he reached out
and touched the delicate lace that bordered the collar of her blouse. For a
second, his fingers touched the skin of her chest. In that briefness, her
nipples tightened eagerly, and she gasped.
A hint of a smile lit on his beautiful lips. "You suppose I could have your
phone number, pretty Bethany?"
Oh goodness, she stood as though under a spell. His spell. She realized it
when she heard Olivia approaching. Without answering, she broke away from
whatever trance he'd put her under. Her gaze met Olivia's, and then Nicole
Martini's as the two came to settle up at the desk.
Bethany glanced back once she returned to her stocking and saw Rod put his
arm around his "baby" before they walked out together.