Page 18 of Accidental Fire
I turned to Lauren, who smiled. “You don’t speak Spanish, do you?”
I shook my head.
“Ah, then English it is. I’m Arturo. Welcome to my salon. What can we do for you gentlemen today?”
Lauren giggled. “Seems they’ve decided to take my advice, so how about we take them one at a time. Who wants a massage?”
JD glanced at me before he smirked. “Do we get a happy en—”
“Stop!” I shouted, putting my hand over his mouth, the idiot.
Thankfully, Señor Arturo chuckled. “Not in my spa, but I can give you a phone number for a place off the premises. Anyway, massages?”
JD, Goldie, and Hardy lifted their hands. “Perfecto! Gisele, we have three gentlemen who would like massages,” Mr. Arturo called out.
A tall woman with spikey blonde hair came over from a desk and smiled at us. “Please, follow me.” She had a bit of an accent, but it wasn’t Spanish. It sounded more like German, but I couldn’t swear.
After those three idiots were gone, Mr. Arturo walked closer to Arlo and me. “What can we do for you two?”
I glanced toward Lauren and smiled. “I’m not tied to keeping my long hair. What do you suggest?”
Those must have been the magic words, because she clapped and bounced on her toes. “How about you, Arlo?”
He sighed. “Cut mine short and dye it black.”
Mr. Arturo nodded and turned to a woman with mahogany-colored hair braided down her back. “Follow the beautiful Rosa.”
Then it was just me.
“Let’s go back to my station and talk about what you’d like, River. This way, please.” Lauren and I followed Arturo to the back of the salon. “Take a seat, por favor.”
I sat in the chair and glanced at myself in the mirror. I did look like a homeless stoner with no life or ambition.Is that what people see when they look at me?
Obviously, the answer was a resounding yes.
“River, I was thinking maybe cut the sides short—not shaved into a fade or anything, but off your neck. The top, though, maybe leave it longer so that when you play, there’s movement. Think Kurt Cobain in ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ It’s sexy when a musician’s hair falls over one of his eyes when he’s playing, and he’s completely oblivious because he’s one with the music he’s sending out to the universe. That’s hot.”
Lauren’s cheeks turned pink as she stepped back and opened the bottle of water she was holding. She seemed to be breathing a little harder than she was before. Was she caught up in her daydream of Kurt Cobain?
Would Kit breathe hard as he watched me play? Would he thinkIwas sexy?
Arturo pulled a fresh comb from a glass jar with blue liquid and dried it off before he started dragging it through my hair. “You have beautiful hair. The color is natural, sí? You have some split ends, but if you continue to get regular trims, those won’t be a problem.”
I nodded. “It’s been about two years since I had a haircut. Do what you think is best.”
“Let’s get started.”
Please don’t make me look stupid…
Chapter Seven
Kit
Maybe this wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. We had lunch at the hotel, and then I walked him to the spa. Our talk in the penthouse had been good, and River agreeing to listen to Lauren regarding his image and bringing the other four with him was a step in the right direction.
He was supposed to text me when he finished, and then we were going to see the geyser. It looked pretty interesting, and it was better than being in the hotel all day. Besides, they needed to see the venue so they knew what the next night would bring.
As I turned the corner to go to the elevators, I saw Marshall Kensington standing at the bar with his phone to his ear, and I had a question for him.
