Page 9 of 40 and Flirting (with Disaster)
“Ms. Daniels?”
She jerked to a stop in front of the glossy gold reception desk. Stop being a ninny! Iris squared her shoulders and mustered her warmest smile for the woman behind the desk. “Yes. Iris Daniels.”
“Lovely! I’m Emme”—she pointed to the name tag pinned to the deep green, silky shirt that matched the silk-covered wall behind her—“and I’ll be getting you started this morning.” Rounding the desk, she offered each of them an eager smile. “We’re having a girls’ day? You ladies will be walking out of here happy, relaxed, and lovely this afternoon.”
Iris definitely hoped so.
“Let’s begin with a drink, shall we?”
Relief had Iris’s shoulders dropping from around her ears. “Yes, please.” A chorus of agreements came from the rest of their group, all except Erin, who added, “And a lemon water, please. My ankles are doing their best impression of an elephant’s this morning.”
Emme chuckled—discreetly, of course—as she led them across the lobby. The room she escorted them into had soft cream walls uplit with warm light that highlighted the multitude of lush plants dotting the area. Low music enhanced the relaxed ambience, as did the pretty peach blush of the mimosas Emme handed out. Each woman was given a locker and a luxurious robe and a few minutes to change. By the time Iris rejoined the group, everyone but Erin was chilling in the plush loungers scattered about, fluffy robes and socks wrapping them in warmth, half-empty drinks in hand.
Iris set her mimosa on the small table next to an empty seat. As she settled into the lounger, the door to the locker room opened and Erin walked in, tugging her robe tightly over her rounded belly. “This kid is becoming a problem,” she groused, her half-smile telling them all she wasn’t as upset with her figure as she might sound.
Iris gave her a conciliatory look, remembering the uncomfortable days of her own two pregnancies like they were yesterday. “So much emphasis is placed on both staying skinny and having kids. Kind of contradictory, isn’t it?”
Erin retrieved her sparkling water from the nearby cart, rubbing her opposite hand over her baby mound. “Definitely.” She glanced down, her smile indulgent. “She’s totally worth every second that my clothes don’t want to fit, though.” As she sat, she tugged at her robe once more, hiding the peek of skin that was revealed as the fabric crept open. “It just hits me at the weirdest times.”
“How many children do you have, Iris?” Lily asked. “I know you have a daughter.”
“Yes. Krista.” Iris’s smile was indulgent this time. “She works in the Sevier County archives office.” She stopped for a drink. “My son is a judicial clerk in Seattle. He fell in love with the Pacific Northwest on a trip in college and was determined to move there as soon as he finished law school.” Both her children were doing something they loved, and she couldn’t be more proud.
They chatted about family a bit, Iris enjoying the time getting to know Lily, Erin, and Claire a bit more personally than she had been able to during noisy evenings at the Drunken Otter or short lunches on a weekday. One by one each of her friends was collected by an attendant until Iris was the last one waiting. Just as she finished her second mimosa, the door to the back of the salon opened and a slim man walked inside, followed by a small team of assistants. Iris’s eyes went wide.
“Ms. Daniels? I’m Jose.” He flashed her a warm smile that lit up his handsome face. “May I call you Iris? We’ll be spending a lot of time together today.”
She’d known she was assigned to Jose; she hadn’t realized he would come with an entourage. Her nerves began a second, thankfully milder tap dance in her belly. “Of course.” She moved to stand, but the stylist waved her back into her seat, perching instead on the end of the lounger next to her.
“So I hear you are interested in a new look.”
Her fingers found their way to the ends of her hair without conscious thought. “I don’t know about a new look,” she admitted, feeling more than a little uncertain now that the time was here. “I was hoping to, you know, freshen my look up a bit.”
The way Jose was eyeing her hair could only be called greedy. “I would love to help you with that. Here’s what I’m thinking.”
By the time he’d outlined his plan, excitement and terror were warring for supremacy in her stomach. Yes, she’d wanted something different, a fresh start, so to speak, but what Jose was proposing…
As if he recognized the fear in her eyes, he patted her hand where it lay on the arm of the lounger, giving her a friendly squeeze. “Trust me. I promise, you’re going to love looking in the mirror every day when I’m done with you.”
Had she ever loved looking in the mirror every day? For special occasions, maybe, but otherwise she was just Iris and had been for forever. Frankly, wearing a sexy Halloween costume was the closest she’d gotten to true enjoyment in her looks in years. And suddenly, fiercely she wanted to experience that all over again.
Bracing her shoulders against her nerves, she gave Jose a nod. “Okay, let’s do it.”
“Great.” He rubbed his hands together, his anticipation stoking Iris’s enthusiasm even more. “Let’s get going, people.”
While his team laid the groundwork for Iris’s “transformation,” Jose sent her off with a masseuse whose hands were pure magic. If Iris had been nervous before the massage, after it, she was literally putty in Jose’s hands. A deep conditioner was applied to her hair—no artificial color, Jose said, could ever compare to the natural glorious shades that made up her hair color, a statement that made Iris preen a bit—and while it did its work, Jose’s team did theirs, tackling a pedicure, manicure, and facial all at once. Lunch came after, which she spent giggling through finger foods with her friends, before a wardrobe selection was presented for her to try. And try she did, with Lily, Erin, Scarlett, and Claire chiming in until they settled on a slim black dress that played up Iris’s ivory locks and showed off slender, muscled legs she’d always been proud of. Already she felt ten years younger, but now came the hard part.
Her hair.
Not that Jose’s ideas didn’t sound fabulous, but her hair… How could she describe her feelings about it? So many women her age cut their hair into classic—boring!—bobs or shoulder-length, shapeless masses. She’d always felt rather smug about her long, thick hair. But at the end of the day, after Jose had snipped and shaped, his assistant had artfully applied sexy makeup, and the subtly sensual black dress was on her body, one look in the mirror told her Jose had been correct—the new cut made her love looking in the mirror. She adored it!
“Wow!” A wolf whistle sounded behind her. She turned to see Erin grinning at Iris’s reflection in the mirror.
“Holy shit, Iris,” Scarlett exclaimed, coming to her side. The quartet of ladies surrounded her, all staring as raptly into the mirror as she had been. Scarlett reached up to finger Iris’s short hair. “That’s the sexiest haircut I’ve ever seen—and I never even considered haircuts sexy on a woman.”
Snickers escaped each of them, and Scarlett stuck her tongue out at them all. Iris turned her attention back to the mirror. Funny or not, Scarlett wasn’t wrong. Her thick hair was cropped close to her head in a shaggy style that gave her a modern edge. The top and front were longer, showcasing the depth of the layers, and a long length of curls fell over one eye, adding mystery and, dare she say it, a touch of whimsy she absolutely loved. Her dark brows winged over her gray eyes, a sharp contrast to the pale tones in her hair. Black cat’s-eye glasses framed her eyes, giving her a sensual look she’d never thought she’d attribute to her quiet self.
“Gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘sexy librarian,’ doesn’t it?” Lily observed. Her wink at Iris’s reflection made Iris’s cheeks go pink.
