“Hey, Claire.” Jeremy, one of the guys often working here with Westley, bounds into the room with the typical upbeat energy I’ve seen from him before. “Who’s your friend here?”
“Hey, Jeremy. This is Lex. Lex, Jeremy.”
“Nice to meet you, Jeremy.”
“You too, Lex.” He draws out her name and gives her a wink. Lex looks over at me with a nervous smile.
“Just ignore him. He’s harmless. Finish your éclair,” I say, as I walk past her with a smirk on my face, watching her cheeks pink.
“Did you guys go to Sweet Escape? Man, I swear I’ve put on five kilos since we’ve been working here.” Jeremy hums in delight as I watch him pat his trim stomach.
“Huh, must have put all that weight on your head.” I smile.
“Yeah, I’m normally pretty good at eating healthy, but Westley goes over every morning. I think he goes for the brunette behind the counter, though.”
“Liv?”
He shrugs. “I dunno. She’s got wavy hair. Quiet little thing.”
“Oh my god, that’s so cute. It’s like a Hallmark movie. He goes to her bakery every morning just to see her.”
“Since when do you find things like that cute?” Lex asks.
Yeah, since when the fuck do I find that kinda shit cute?
I shake my head, ridding myself of rogue thoughts that have no business being in my head as I walk around the room to check out the painted walls.
My eyes practically bug out of my head as I take in the sweet pink gracing my salon walls. It’s event season at the moment, lots of weddings and school formals. I’ve been so busy at my day job that I haven’t been able to get down to the salon since the painting was finished last week.
“What do you think?” Jeremy asks when he joins me. “I thought all that pink would give me a headache, but it actually looks pretty good.”
Lex walks past me, sticking her head into the small treatment rooms at the front before making her way to the classroom at the end.
She spins around, taking it all in before coming to stand in the middle of the room.
“That’s going to look so good once the barn doors are on. Do you still have the paint sample here for the doors?” she asks.
“Yeah, I’ll go get them,” Jeremy says and dashes down the back hallway.
“Wow, there’s a cute bar right outside this window. This was such a good idea, putting the classroom in the front. Look at how much foot traffic you’ll get.”
I blow out a breath. “Yeah, I know. The guy was right. With every little suggestion he’s made, it’s all worked out better than I imagined.”
“We’re calling them suggestions now?” She chuckles. “I thought they were him exercising his male dominance?”
“I’m woman enough to admit I may have been wrong.”
“To his face?”
“Oh, god, no.”
To myself, let’s just call it a strategic marketing move. It’s still my idea, my concept. I’m just trusting him to guide me in the best way to reap the benefits. Besides, it’s not like my heart is on the line for letting the guy suggest a few paint colours.
Okay, more than a few paint colours. I suppose this guy knows his shit.
“Here we go,” Jeremy calls, stepping into the room with a board painted in the soft, bubblegum pink.
“This is what you wanted, right? Romance?”