The Beauty Within (13 page)

cracked up with laughter. Tyler looked at the Kiss Will had given her and

shook her head. He would be a heartbreaker when he got older!

“He was too cute,” Gunnar said after they had calmed down.

“He is. He showed me all the Valentines the girls in his class had given

him…he’s stealing hearts at six years old!”

“That include yours?” Gunnar asked, pointing to the Kiss she held.

Tyler chuckled slightly and put it on her cart. “Yep. Felled by a first grad-

er!”

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69

“Hmm…” Gunnar reached into his jacket and pulled out a pink rectangular

box with a gaudy red bow. “Mind if I try to up the ante?”

Tyler couldn’t help the smile that began forming on her face as she ap-

proached him. “Those are
not
what I think they are!”

“All Abouts,” Gunnar nodded, matching her smile. “One of my clients has a

daughter who is a Girl Scout and she came Monday to sell cookies. I remem-

bered your stash and didn’t remember seeing this variety so…”

She hugged him, touched by his gesture and the fact he’d remembered

something so…randomly significant about her. She hadn’t gotten this kind yet,

and was in fact waiting for her resident Girl Scout Nikki to come with her

wares. Though Tyler now had a box, she would still buy some from the fifth

grader to support her. She might keep Gunnar’s unopened for a while.

“Thank you,” she whispered, hoping she kept it together long enough not

to cry.

He had clearly surprised her, and Gunnar felt giddy and humbled for mak-

ing Tyler happy. He heard the tears in her voice and hugged her tighter.

“These are happy tears, right?” Gunnar asked, going for levity.

She nodded, letting out a watery chuckle. “And shocked tears and

just…disbelief tears. I never expected anything, especially not cookies!”

She pulled back and took the box from him, looking at the picture on the

front before flipping it to the spine and looking at the nutrition label. “How

many of these will you allow me to eat?”

Gunnar cupped her face and brushed away a tear with his thumb. “I won’t

keep count today.”

Her smile was brighter and she hugged the box to her chest. “I can’t believe

it!”

“I could’ve gone the traditional route with flowers and candy, but I

thought you’d appreciate the cookies more.”

“Do you usually give Valentine presents to all your barbers and clients?”

“Only the pretty ones,” he said with a wink.

Some of the light when out of her eyes and her smile dampened. “Well, I

thank you, Gunnar. I feel awful because I don’t have anything for you—”

“Do men usually get something for Valentine’s Day?”

Tyler shrugged and gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m a little out of prac-

tice with the customs of the holiday.”

He only realized he’d still been cupping her cheek when she moved away

from him. He put his hands in his jeans pockets, watching her set her box on

the counter of her station. Gunnar didn’t want to leave. When he’d come, he

had expected Tyler to be alone as she usually was on Wednesdays, so the

presence of the mother and son had him concocting the story of needing a

haircut. He definitely didn’t need one, but if it meant prolonging the visit…

“You want a wash too?”

70

Savannah J. Frierson

Her voice was incredulous, and he grinned as he took his seat at the sham-

poo bowl. “Is that a problem?”

“Not necessarily…your hair is already short, Gunnar,” Tyler said. “Do you

want to go completely bald?”

“It’s not too early for a trim, is it?”

“Your hair looks fine!”

“I know you’re not turning down good business,” Gunnar said, appealing

to her entrepreneurial sensibilities.

Tyler twisted her mouth in resignation, but took her sweet time coming to

the bowl in favor of cleaning up her station and sweeping the hair and other

debris from her chair. Gunnar allowed it, needing the time to get himself

together as well. Ever since the dinner at her house, he’d wanted to see her

again. That had been the best dinner date he’d had in years, and they hadn’t

even been on an official date! Damon had noticed Gunnar’s distraction during

the day, but he hadn’t ribbed him about it as Gunnar had expected. In fact,

Damon had asked Monday if he had any Valentine’s Day plans, and Gunnar

had said no. Damon had shrugged and said neither did Tyler, all the while

giving him a pointed look.

Gunnar still hadn’t decided if it was a good thing his employee dated Ty-

ler’s sister or not.

Nevertheless, the cookies had been borne of inspiration after that, but he

hadn’t planned anything more elaborate. He hadn’t wanted to assume any-

thing…she was his friend…

A friend he wanted to kiss senseless.

Tyler finally came to the shampoo bowl and pressed her hands on his

shoulders. “You know the drill. Lie back.”

He did, but kept his eyes on hers. She pulled her bottom lip between her

teeth as she turned on the water, and the smock tightened around her torso as

she prepared to shampoo him. When her hands touched his scalp he let out a

little moan, and he knew she heard it by the brief pause in her movements.

“You all right?” Tyler asked. There was concern in her voice.

“Not really…”

“What’s wrong—?”

He’d reared up and pressed his lips against hers, hearing the nozzle clunk

into the basin and swallowing her yelp in his mouth. His hand came up to

cradle and anchor her head, and he moved his mouth expertly over hers. She

tasted like butterscotch and Gunnar didn’t think he would ever be able to

separate the two again.

Tyler pushed against him, and reluctantly he broke the kiss, though he

didn’t let her go far.

“What are you doing?!” she asked, her breath whooshing against his lips.

His smile was naughty. “Kissing you.”

“
Why
?”

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71

“Because I’ve wanted to from the second time I saw you, and I couldn’t

take it anymore.”

“What?”

He smiled, tangling his fingers in her hair. “Your lips are gorgeous, Tyler.”

She blinked and bit her lower lip unconsciously, and her fingers tightened

in his hair. “Is this a prank?”

Gunnar shook his head and brought hers down. “Not at all.”

This time she relaxed against him, and he smelled shampoo, peroxide, the

various perfumes and colognes of her previous customers, and her own fresh

scent. He opened her mouth with his and slipped his tongue inside, moaning at

her tongue’s texture and the myriad of flavors she held. She was sweetness

personified.

“Gunnar…”

He ended the kiss with a final peck, pleased to hear her heavy breath and

see her eyelids flutter as she calmed down her body. He removed his hand from

her hair slowly.

“I’ll let you get back to the wash,” he said, his voice deep and husky.

Tyler nodded and bit her bottom lip again, now swollen from his kisses. As

before, Gunnar gripped the arms of the chair while Tyler stood straighter and

fumbled for the nozzle to rinse his hair. Her fingers trembled as they massaged

his scalp, and her eyes kept darting to his. She had a tiny frown on her face, as

if she were trying to solve a mystery.

She shook her head, perhaps with dismissal of a solution, and turned off

the water. She grabbed a towel and began drying his head, and Gunnar grasped

her wrists gently.

“You can either let me do that or find yourself in another breathless kiss.”

Tyler immediately dropped the towel and mumbled something about

cleaning her shears.

He rubbed the towel hastily over his head before letting it fall into the ba-

sin behind him. Tyler stood on the other side of the cart, away from the chair,

using it as a barrier from him. His lips quirked at her defense. He’d made the

first move and was emboldened by her response to it. They were friends all

right…friends who did an excellent job of kissing one another.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Tyler asked, not looking at him. She

wasn’t fooling him with her complete focus on her shears, or that her question

was only about his trim.

“Yes.”

She frowned. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Why not?”

“It’s perfectly fine the way it is!”

“Is it?”

She glared at him. “Of course!”

He shrugged. “You’ve already committed to it. Might as well go full out.”

72

Savannah J. Frierson

“Committed how?”

His eyes fall to her lips before gazing back into her brown orbs. “I’m not

going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“That’s not an answer!”

“It is. Just not the one you want to hear.”

Tyler huffed and moved from around the cart. “Fine. You want to mess up a

good thing then by all means…”

He behaved as she trimmed his hair, although it took about five minutes

because he didn’t have that much hair to trim. As soon as she put down the

shears, however, Gunnar spun the chair around and wrapped an arm around

her waist, bringing her flush between his thighs. He said nothing as he grazed

his hand from her waist to the curve of her breast to her jaw, all the while

keeping his eyes on her. Hers swirled with anxiousness, and he brushed his

thumb against her jaw.

“I want to kiss you again, Tyler Carver,” he whispered, dragging his thumb

against that arousing bottom lip. “May I?”

She blinked once, then nodded as she met him halfway. This kiss was gen-

tle, tentative, with Gunnar giving her lips swift soft pecks that had her moan-

ing in a most delectable way. Those sinful hands of hers found their way to his

head, caressing him there and making him moan in return.

Tyler began nibbling at his upper lip, leaning further into him, and Gunnar

scooted to the edge of his seat to get the maximum out of this kiss. He brought

her closer, his arms growing tight around her waist, and he groaned when she

brought his head forward.

He could’ve easily spent all night kissing her, but he knew she had to close

up shop. He framed her face and pulled away, his upper lip ricocheting as he

pulled it from her teeth. Tyler refused to look at him, but he bent his head so

their eyes would meet.

“Tyler?”

“I can’t…”

He frowned as his hand caressed her neck. “You can’t what?”

“We’re friends. We shouldn’t.”

“Why shouldn’t we?”

Tyler moved away from him and shook her head. “We’re already clients of

each other as well as friends. Don’t you think that’s enough entanglement?”

“Not even scratching the surface of enough.”

She blushed and sank a hand in her hair. “Gunnar, be realistic about this. I

think both of us just got caught up in the holiday, you know? Or maybe you

felt pity for me because I’m alone—”

“I don’t pity you,” Gunnar said seriously, standing. “And even if I did, I

wouldn’t take advantage of you like this. I wanted to kiss you. I
like
kissing

you. And you can bet I plan to kiss you many more times in the very near

future.”

The Beauty Within

73

He’d been approaching her slowly throughout his speech, secretly proud

and impressed she didn’t back away from him. He touched her cheek with the

back of his fingers and kissed her forehead gently.

“I promised I wouldn’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” he

said against her skin. “And I mean it. But I’m also not going to sit idly by,

either. We have something here. I feel it and I know you do, too, and I’m going

to do everything in my power to make sure you feel safe enough to explore

that.”

“Gunnar…”

His index finger pressed against her lips and he kissed her forehead again.

“You don’t have to say anything. Just…just let that sink in for a day or two.

We’re still on for Saturday?”

“Saturday?”

“Training. I should have a meal plan for you by then too.” She nodded

shortly and he brought his other hand to her cheek. “Tyler?”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I’ll be there.”

“I mean it, Tyler—”

“I said I was comin’!” she snapped, yanking her head away from him.

Gunnar’s smile was nothing short of predatory, and he leaned his mouth to

her ear. “I look forward to that also.”

He left her there slack-jawed, appearing far more confident in his exit than

the quivery jumbled mess her kisses had made him become.

Eight

It was almost impossible to maintain a professional relationship with Tyler

during the next few training sessions; it must have been a test administered by

God. Big shirts and shapeless sweatpants should
not
make Gunnar almost lose

it, but on Tyler, they did. The one saving grace was she drove to his house now,

so he didn’t have her torturing him for fifteen minutes in a tight, enclosed

space to and from her home.

He made it a point not to touch her unless it was absolutely necessary, and

even they were fleeting and clinical. Her scent wreaked havoc on him, and

multiple times he had to physically back away so he wouldn’t bury his nose in

her hair or her neck.

Gunnar also didn’t know whether to be grateful or disappointed Tyler was