Chapter 6
“So he kissed you, right?” Vickie asked as she added more highlights to Gia’s hair.
“I never said that,” Gia stated firmly.
“You don’t have to. I can see it in your eyes.”
“Vickie, you’re standing behind me.”
With a chuckle she asked, “Do you really want to distract me while I’m doing your hair? I mean it’s your head, but you already know that going from brunette back to blonde is a delicate process. So the best thing you can do is quit arguing and tell me what happened. Every scrumptious detail.”
Gia rolled her eyes, knowing her friend wasn’t joking. It wasn’t as though anything crazy had happened, but since Gia had been living, for all intents and purposes, a dull life, she understood Vickie’s interest. “Nothing happened. Well nothing crazy at least. But you’re correct. He kissed me.”
Sucking in her breath, Vickie shrieked, “I knew it! Tell me everything.”
Gia couldn’t believe how dramatic Vickie was being over one kiss. One amazing kiss. “We were lying down on the blanket—”
“Here? Like on your bed?”
“Vickie, will you be quiet long enough for me to tell you? I told you, we went for a walk on the beach.”
“Yes. Walking is vertical. Lying is horizontal. So skip the boring parts and get to the damn kiss already.”
“It was nice. We were lying down star gazing. There was a shooting star and then he kissed me.” It really had been very romantic. Like something she’d have read in a book or watched on TV.
“Like a brief peck or a, you know, kiss? The kind that makes your toes curl and your body tingle.”
“Vickie, you read too many of those spicy books,” Gia blurted out. But there was definitely a tingle. If that policeman had arrived a few minutes later, who knows what he would’ve walked into. She wasn’t a reckless person, but with Roger, she found herself more of a . . . risk taker. She wasn’t ready to admit to herself, never mind to Vickie, that she was beginning to like Roger. I just wish he was easier to get to know. Was time going to change that or was that just who he was? Private or secretive?
“Are you listening to me?”
“Of course I am.” Gia tried to guess what Vickie may have said. Nothing. Damn it. “You said my hair is done, and we just have to wait for the color to set.”
“You’re right, but that’s not what I said at all.”
Gia turned around to face Vickie. Her arms were crossed as Gia asked, “What did you say again?”
“I said someone’s knocking on your door.” Shaking her head, Vickie added, “Don’t worry, I’ll get it.”
Gia didn’t get much company, but lately the postman had been putting her mail in the incorrect slot and her neighbor had been kind enough to deliver it. “This isn’t Maplesville. Be sure to look through the peephole and ask who it is first.”
Vickie looked through the hole, but said nothing. And when she opened the door, Gia’s jaw dropped. She wanted to run into her room and hide, but it was too late.
“Hello, Mr. Handsome. Gia didn’t tell me you were coming today.”
Roger cocked a brow, giving Vickie the once over before he looked in Gia’s direction. Then his expression really changed. “She wasn’t expecting me.”
Obviously.Gia hadn’t looked in a mirror and didn’t need to. She knew what she looked like. Her hair was plastered to her head with foils folded in it. Surely she wasn’t the first woman he’d seen having her hair done. Trying not to look as though she wanted to crawl under a rock, she asked, “Did you need something?”
“I thought I’d take you out for a late lunch. But I can see you’re preoccupied.”
Vickie didn’t give Gia a chance to speak. “If you want to sit and wait, I can have her ready in thirty minutes.”
“Vickie, Mr. Patrick surely has better things to do than sit around until my hair is done,” Gia stated.
Vickie boldly asked, “Do you?”
Gia rolled her eyes. I really need new friends.