Page 55 of In It for the Long Ride

“Stay your ass in this bed, Daisy. I mean it.”

She murmured incoherently and I slid away and grabbed my belt.

“Know what?” I doubled it and laid it across her backside.

She stiffened and looked up at me, I could tell she wanted to talk shit, but she wasn’t sure.

“You’re my ol’ lady. It’s my job to keep you safe. And when I tell you to stay put, or I place a detail on you. I expect it to be respected.”

She jutted her jaw and I thought for sure she was going to try me, but in the end, she just jiggled her ass and went back to sleep.

I showered and stared at myself in the mirror. Today would be the first day of the rest of my life. I’d no longer be a name, but a number. Would they even have good conditioners in prison these days? I heard they really cracked down on what a person could and couldn’t have inside.

No more name brand shoes and all-night block parties like there were in the nineties, shit was different. I picked up the scissors and got to hacking. When I was done, I started with the trimmers.

“What's that noise?” Daisy called.

I guiltily shut off the clippers. Shit. I forgot she was a hairdresser. She’d probably give me hell for not letting her do it.

“Did you get up?” I tried to sound all authoritative, but I was smiling.

“What are you doing?”

I locked the door and finished. Hairdressers like to snip and tweak. I didn’t have that kind of time. When I came out the belt was definitely repositioned from how I’d had it, but I pretended not to notice and snatched it off her ass while she gaped at me.

“You could have asked me to cut your hair…”

“I had a few minutes, not an hour.”

“What does that even mean?” She laughed.

“Nah. I know how you women cut hair.” I made an open-closed gesture with my hand to imitate all the jaw muscle that went into such an affair.

A pillow promptly sailed my way.

“Asshole.” She huffed.

I moved toward her and leaned down to plant a kiss directly on her lips.

“Guilty. But I’m also guilty of loving you, so it balances out, right?”

She blinked a few times and slowly gave into a smile.

“I love you, too,” she returned.

I kissed her and savored those words. I’d been so sure I’d never hear them again.

“I’ll be back in the morning,” I lied.

I made it two steps from the bedroom door before she called me on it.

“You’re gonna go bury that body for me, ain’t ya?”

I stopped and reached up to rub the scruff of my jaw. How I cut my hair and forgot to shave was anyone’s guess, but I hadn't noticed until now.

“I’m going to get Joplin,” I carefully answered, not wanting to make her an accomplice.

“You’re a lot of things, but you’ve always kept your word. I don’t expect you to change now.”

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