Page 31 of Where It All Began
She was staring at him over sweet Melanie’s swayback. “Before the party, I mean.”
John shoved a hand through his thick hair. He’d meant to get it cut. He sporadically made it into the Snip Shack in town but had forgotten to schedule an appointment—as usual. “I don’t have time to get into town between now and then,” he muttered.
“I can cut it for you,” Phoebe volunteered.
“You cut hair?”
“As long as you don’t want some fancy Flock of Seagulls cut or feathering. I can handle the basics.”
This felt like a trap,John thought.
Sure enough before dinner, she had him shirtless on the front porch, a towel draped over his shoulders and gleaming scissors in her hand as he stared at her breasts which were in his direct line of sight.
“You sure you know what you’re doing?” he demanded as she threaded her fingers through his hair, and he felt his blood begin to simmer.Down boy.She was cutting his hair, not giving him a lap dance.
He winced when he heard the first snip. “Don’t be such a baby,” she said, snipping another section. Deftly, she worked her way around the back, fingers stroking as she tilted his head this way and that. She smelled like sunshine and showers. When she stepped between his legs to trim the front and her breasts loomed inches in front of his face, John felt his mouth go dry. He felt like he was in danger of falling into a trance-like state.
“Are we going to talk about that thing that happened in the kitchen last night?” she asked.
He flinched at the glint of sunlight on the shears in her hand, and she laid a hand on his shoulder. “Relax.”
“Doyouwant to talk about that thing that happened in the kitchen?” he asked, finally finding his voice.
Her bare thigh brushed the inside of his leg, and he held his breath. She already knew what kind of an effect she had on his body. She’d seen it with her own two eyes the day before. She had to be messing with him.
“For a non-kiss, it felt pretty intense to me,” she said conversationally.
Intense? Intense was the feeling of metal scissors grazing his scalp while she stood between his damn legs. She had him so tied up in knots John didn’t know if he should be turned on or scared for his life.
“It shouldn’t have happened,” he said, his tone brisk.
“Now there you go being ridiculous again.” She sighed, and he felt her breath in his hair.
He grabbed her wrist, moving the scissors into neutral territory. “Phoebe, please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m not interested in pursuing a relationship with you.”
She never reacted the way he thought she would. This time, instead of getting mad or hurt, she laughed. “Don’t takethisthe wrong way, but from where I was standing in the kitchen, it looked like you wereveryinterested.”
John got to his feet and pushed Phoebe down on the stool. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to get involved. Better?”
“But bad ideas are so much fun,” she pointed out.
He closed his eyes and counted to ten, praying for patience.
“Your eye is twitching again.”
“Iknowmy eye is twitching,” he snapped. “Look,” he continued in a slightly calmer voice. “Every decision I make has infinite ramifications. And I don’t think I ever got that until I started farming. If I choose the wrong fertilizer or buy the wrong seeds or choose the wrong crop, it could be disastrous.”
“I get that. But I thought we were talking about sex?” Her pretty green eyes sparkled with amusement.
“I’m getting around to that.”
“Could you get there a little faster?” Phoebe asked. “I’m getting distracted by the view.” She looked at his bare chest and bit her lower lip.
“Stop it.”
“Stop what?” she asked.
“Stop intentionally driving me insane. We both know I’m attracted to you. I don’t need to be a walking, talking hard-on to prove that.”
