Page 41 of Merry Little Sugar Rush
My giggle comes out all giddy, and I practically swoon at his comment. And the kiss.
I watch as he walks around the counter and picks out a few of the holiday-themed sugar cookies. Jan bags them up and gives him a total. After he pays, he looks back into the kitchen and waves. I return the gesture and watch as he exits the building, his jeans accentuating what little bit of his ass I can see beneath his coat.
Turning my attention back to the cupcakes, I let my fingers brush across my lips. The kiss was chaste, too quick for my liking, but it still packed a punch. It does every single time our lips connect.
Kissing him has become my sugar rush.
“I have an idea,”my sister says as soon as I sit in her chair.
A single eyebrow shoots upward. “An idea?”
Eve nods eagerly. “It’s a little different, but I think it’s going to look so amazing on you.”
“Are you going to tell me what it is?” I ask, somewhat hesitantly.
My sister continues to stare at me through the mirror. “I don’t want to, but I will, because if you hated it, I’d feel awful. Not that I think you wouldn’t like it, because I think you totally will. It’s a slightly different style and a fresh color.”
“Okay,” I reply with a casual shrug. “I trust you.”
She pulls out her phone and cues up a photo. “This is the cut,” she replies, handing over the device. “It’s an angled lob, and it would work well with your oval face.”
“I like it,” I tell her, realizing instantly that I do. It’s shorter than I was thinking, but it’s super cute with longer hair in the front and shorter hair in the back.
“And I thought maybe we could try this…” She pulls up another photo on her phone and shows me the screen.
“Oh.”
“It’s darker than we normally do, but I think this color of chestnut would really complement the cut.”
She’s right, it’s darker and provides more all-over coverage. Usually, I just use highlights or lowlights to give my dark-blond hair depth, but this would change my color entirely.
I flip back and forth between the cut and the color a few more times before lifting my head and meeting her gaze. “Let’s do it.”
“Really?” she asks, her green eyes, the same color as my own, sparkling.
“Yep.”
“If you hate the darker color, we can always fix it,” she tells me, grabbing the cape and wrapping it around my neck.
“I’m not going to hate it,” I reassure.
“What did she think?” Mom comes up front after mixing her own client’s color in the back room.
“We’re doing it,” Eve announces, earning a big smile from our mom.
“That style is so popular right now, and I agree that it’ll look great on you,” Mom says, pulling a stack of foil squares off her cart.
“And I think it’ll still be long enough to pull back while I’m at the bakery,” I add, hoping that’s true.
Looking at Eve in the mirror, she gives me a knowing nod. “Yep, I’ll make sure you can still pull it back.”
I relax in the chair as she preps for my color. It’s been a while since she’s colored my whole head like this. The one and only time I thought I wanted to be blonder happened back when she was in her early days of beauty school. She colored me with something closer to a platinum blonde, and it wasn’t a good look for me. Since then, we’ve stuck with highlights and lowlights in shades only slightly lighter and darker than my natural color, which suits me just fine.
Eve gets to work on my hair, adding the color methodically. I watch her as she concentrates on her task, Mom doing the same at her chair. “How are the wedding plans coming along?” I ask, even though it’s only been a day. My sister got a lot done yesterday, including setting up the venue for the ceremony and finding a boutique open on Sundays so we can shop for dresses.
“I’m meeting with Debi at the flower shop on Thursday. She’s agreed to make a couple of small bouquets and boutonnieres for me. Plus, there’s a candlelight Christmas Eve service the night before, and the pastor told me the altar arrangements will still be there so we can just use those.”
“I still love the Christmas theme,” I tell her. “It’s very fitting for you.”
