Page 50 of Embracing James

“Better.” Casey checked off the last item. “Everything is out and we’re back in business. We really sell a lot of the purple and blue conditioners. Seems like we can’t keep them in stock.”

“That’s good. That means people are coming in.” He dusted his hands off. His phone buzzed and he checked the notification.

A text from James. His hands shook as he retrieved the message.

On my way back. Took longer than I thought to fill out the paperwork, but he can’t come within five hundred yards of me. Be there in ten minutes.

He sighed.Thank God.He paced and wandered until James returned to the salon. The second he spotted James, his heart raced and his mind settled. His love had returned.

James ventured into the salon and his shoulders sagged. “I didn’t think it was that hard to fill those things out.” He headed straight to his office.

Paul followed him and shut the door behind them. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” James settled on his chair. “I’m tired already and I’ve got a screamer of a headache, but I finally got Craig out of my life. If he comes within five hundred yards of me, my dog or my business, he can be arrested. Good enough.”

“It is.” Paul rounded the desk. He knelt in front of James. “Doob is fine. He’s snoring on the couch.” He held up his phone to show James the live feed.

“Good.” James leaned back in his seat. “At least one of us is relaxed.”

“Yeah.” He turned off the feed and left the phone on the counter. “What about you?”

James snorted. “He threatened to take my dog from me. Said he’d found the person who originally owned Doob and he’d get the dog back to them. Then he acted like he’d done me a favor.”

“He thought he had. Thought you’d be eternally grateful because he’d gotten the problem—Doob—out of your life.” He held James’ hand.

“Doob isn’t a problem. He’s my dog. He’s my sidekick.” James massaged his forehead with his free hand. “He’s the most loyal thing I’ve got in my life.”

“You’ve got more than just him. I know it’s new, but Casey, Ky and Lance are damn dependable. They’re all worried. Not just them. I’m worried, too. You mean the world to me.”

“I know.” James met his gaze. “You’ve become the most trustworthy person in my life.”

He liked hearing that, because it was true. “What can I do to help you?”

“I saw someone has straightened my product case. That’s huge.”

“I got Ky to help out if you needed someone to cover your appointments.”

“I called Mrs. Harmon and Gayle Siemens to reschedule their cuts to later today. They were both gracious and happy to help me,” James said. He rubbed Paul’s hand. “I wish I understood why he wants to be so rotten to me. It’s not like we had this great romance. We were barely friends and awful the few times we went out together.”

Paul sighed. “He sees you’re happy. That’s one big thing. He sees you’re happy without him and it annoys him because he wants to be that person who makes you smile. For another thing, he knows he missed out on someone special. Part of him knows you’re a great guy and he’s not meant to be with you. That has to hurt. It’d hurt me if I found out you and I weren’t meant to be.”

“Who says we’re not?”

“Not me.” He held James’ hand. “The big thing is that he can’t control the situation. People act strange when they lose control. I don’t know why he’s acting like this, but you have to keep your head up and go about your life. Don’t let him have power. You have the right to live your life.”

“I do.” James leaned forward and kissed Paul. “With you.”

“I hope so.”

“Yeah.” James nodded and rested his forehead on Paul’s. “You make me happy and I feel so much safer with you.”

“Then I’m doing my job.”

“You are.”

He nuzzled James’ cheek. “Let me take care of you. Let me feed you. What would you like for lunch?”

“I have a meeting in forty-five minutes.”

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