The Beauty Within (4 page)

“Did you wash your hands?”

Gunnar’s eyes snapped to Tyler’s. “Um…yes?”

“It’s a pet peeve of mine,” she explained, still cleaning out the clippers and

not looking at him. “If you go to the bathroom, please wash your hands! I make

sure it’s always stocked with soap and paper towels!”

Gunnar smiled a little and relaxed. “You sound almost as anal retentive

about cleanliness as I am. When I first opened the gym, it would take me at

least an hour and a half to disinfect every single piece of equipment. Me and

germs do
not
get along!” He sat back in the chair.

“That’s why everyone and their mama’s always sick all the time,” Tyler

said, starting her soothing and arousing cutting again. Gunnar was better

prepared for it this time, however, and he willed his body to stay calm.

The duo managed to fall into a comfortable stream of small talk. How sad

was it this was the most enjoyable experience he’d had with a woman in

weeks, and she hated his guts!

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of her fingers through his hair.

Maybe it
wasn’t
so sad…

His hair felt like silk. That was the only way Tyler could describe it. The

strands were fine as they slid through her fingers, but not so fine they would be

considered thin. She was used to thick, tightly curled strands that fell in puffy

clumps on the floor, so seeing the light-brown sleek strands by her feet was a

bit fascinating.

“I can’t believe you’re letting me do this,” she muttered absently, pulling

the comb through a section of hair she was about to cut.

“Why?”

“Why? I know you know I don’t get many…
European
hair textures in my

shop,” she said

“
European
?”

“Yes!”

Gunnar snickered. “My mom is Norwegian and my dad comes from a line

of Scottish settlers. I guess you can’t get anymore European than that!”

Tyler grinned in spite of herself. “That explains ‘Gunnar’, huh?”

“Yes. My sister is Inge. I think she has it worse!”

The Beauty Within

21

“Oh,
my
!” Tyler laughed, but that wasn’t bad compared to some of the

names she’d heard. Young mothers who came into the shop sometimes had

children whose names Tyler could only
pray
they would learn how to spell

eventually. It was as if the mothers had put all twenty-six letters on a dart-

board and threw at them, then constructed a name from whatever had been

hit. Then again, her name was Tyler after her grandfather because her father

had been determined she would be a boy—no other name would do.

Gunnar chuckled. “I got teased awfully when I was in school. Not many

southern boys with a name like mine.”

Tyler stood behind him, their eyes locking in the mirror. Once again, they

blew her away. Never before had a pair of eyes affected her so. Throughout the

entire cutting she’d forced herself not to stare at them, at the way his eyelashes

seemed too long for a man like him, yet only served to enhance his handsome-

ness. His eyebrows almost looked tweezed, so perfect were their arches over

his eyes, but Tyler knew that was because of the perfect cocktail of genes he’d

inherited from his parents.

She noticed his mouth curving into a slow smile and she ducked her head

immediately. “Uh…is that why you started working out?”

“Hmm?”

Tyler huffed out a breath, but had to force herself not to drag her hands

along his arms. “The teasing. You decided to work out to stem it, or did this

body happen later?”

There was a short exhalation of breath. “You’ve been checking me out?”

She scowled at him through the mirror. “You own a gym, and it’s obvious

you’re in peak physical shape. I
notice
things. And actually Damon has a better

body than you anyway.”

Liar!

Gunnar shrugged slightly. “That would probably hurt my feelings more if it

weren’t true.”

“You agree with me?”

“He’s had more time to work out than I. I’ve gotten lazy trying to get the

gym off the ground, though after a year and a half you’d think I’d be done with

that.”

“You’re never done. The market is always changing…gotta keep things

fresh.”

Another slow smile. “Exactly. It’s nice to talk to someone who understands

that.”

Though she’d inherited Soul Cuts from her father, and with it many of his

regulars, there was still the need to expand business. With many chain

barbershops coming into town, she had to offer something a little more. She

hired many kids and younger people in her neighborhood for jobs here—many

times their first—and she rented out stations for people who could do hair but

didn’t have the money to open up their own shop. It was a way to keep

22

Savannah J. Frierson

everyone more connected to the business, and she liked her set up just fine. She

was, however, talking to some local television networks, Wendy’s station

primarily, about getting ads on the channels and she would start putting in

calls to radio stations as well.

Sighing, Tyler put down the shears and picked up the portable hair dryer.

She had finished styling his hair and would now dry it so he could get its full

effect. She didn’t get too crazy with it, but she cut it much shorter than she

imagined it had initially been. It was short in the back and a little longer in the

front. It made him appear younger, bringing out his boyish charm and enhanc-

ing his piercing eyes.

Damn, but this man is fine!

“So,” Tyler said, handing him a mirror so he could look at the back of his

head, too, “what do you think?”

It was a simple haircut, but it rivaled many of the hair stylists his agent had

forced upon him during his years in LA. She really had found her calling, and he

suddenly realized why Damon was always in a better mood after he’d gotten a

haircut. Tyler was as personable as she was professional; and despite the way

he’d treated her upon their first meeting, he’d never felt unwelcome in her

establishment.

He shook his head, bemused and once again humbled by her. “You’re an

amazing woman, Tyler Carver.”

“What?”

The absolute shock coloring her voice had him chuckling. He turned his

chair around so he could face her head-on and he nodded. “You could’ve easily

given me the haircut from hell, and yet you gave me one of the best cuts I’ve

had in years. I find that incredible.”

Tyler shrugged, averting her eyes from his as she took the mirror from him.

“You’re my client. I always treat my clients with respect irrespective of how I

really feel about them.”

He ignored the way his heartbeat had accelerated in his chest. “And how

do you feel about me…when I’m not your client?”

Tyler made a big show of putting up the mirror and cleaning her clippers

and shears. “What does it matter?”

That was a very valid question, and Gunnar didn’t have the balls to answer

it just yet. He stood from the chair and reached into his pocket. “How much?”

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Fifteen.”

Gunnar reached into his wallet and pulled out a twenty. She reached into

her pocket and pulled out some cash, preparing to make change, but he put his

hand over hers. “Keep it.”

Her eyes were wide and luminous as they looked into his. Her hand was

dry, but he could still feel the softness underneath. He wanted to rub his

The Beauty Within

23

thumb along the back of her hand. He wanted to bend his head and see if her

lips were as pliant as they looked.

“Wow, that’s mighty generous of you.”

Her voice was huskier than it had been and he grinned. So it seemed he

wasn’t the only one affected. “I figure it’s a thanks for making me look good

and a sorry for treating you like crap earlier—to go along with the initial

apology of course.”

Tyler placed the twenty with the other bills and flashed him a small smile.

“All right.”

Gunnar didn’t want to leave. He had to, though, before he made a complete

ass of himself around her again by kissing her.

He stepped away from her and went to the chair where his jacket was.

Their eyes remained on each other as he slipped his hands through the sleeves.

“Thank you, Ms. Carver,” Gunnar said in a low voice.

“You’re welcome Mr.…”

“Daniels.”

“Daniels. Thank you for your business.”

They stood there staring at each other a moment more before Gunnar

found his sense. He gave her a tiny wave and smile, then walked out the

barbershop.

Gunnar couldn’t let this be the last time he saw her; and since she swore

she’d never set foot in his gym again, he would have to return for another

haircut.

Three

“I sent you to Soul Cuts to apologize and you sat there and got a
haircut

instead?”

“Not instead. Too.”

Damon rolled his eyes but didn’t miss a rep as he bench-pressed two hun-

dred pounds worth of weights. Gunnar was spotting him, both taking time to

enjoy the free day of no classes and actually get some exercise in themselves.

The hum of the machines being used by other members was welcome to

Gunnar, calming, and Damon’s short bursts of exhalation had his body primed

for his own set of reps that would come as soon as Damon finished his.

“It’s a nice cut, though. She did a good job.”

“Thanks.”

“So y’all made up?”

“Made up? I apologized and she accepted. There was more I had to do?”

Damon lifted his shoulders slightly before pressing the weights up again.

“Dunno. When I spoke to her last night she ain’t try to snap my head off, so I

reckon you did good.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“I’m just saying! She’s gonna be my future sister-in-law—I’mma need to be

on good terms with the woman!”

Gunnar raised an eyebrow as he helped Damon put the weights back on

the stand. “Future sister-in-law, huh?”

Damon grinned sheepishly as he sat up, wiping a white towel over his ha-

zelnut face. “Maybe. I’ve been thinking about it, y’know?”

Gunnar dapped Damon’s fist. “Congratulations, man! Wendy seems like a

nice…” He trailed off as it finally dawned on him what Damon had said. “
Sister-

in-law
?!”

“Yeah,” Damon chuckled. “Tyler and Wendy are sisters. Wendy’s older.”

The Beauty Within

25

Gunnar was surprised. He’d met Wendy briefly during the first few weeks

Damon had worked at GD, but he’d never asked for a last name, and she and

Tyler looked so different…

“I know what you’re thinkin’, man,” Damon said, getting up so Gunnar

could take his place on the bench. “Thought the same thing, too, but they’re

more alike in personality than in looks. Wendy is very protective of her lil’

sis—”

“There’s nothing ‘lil’ about her—”

“Hey, man—!”

“I mean that as a compliment,” Gunnar said hastily, getting a solid grip on

the bar before beginning his reps. “She can definitely hold her own.”

Damon was quiet for a moment, adjusting Gunnar’s positioning. Gunnar

didn’t like the silence, but he didn’t force Damon to say anything, either.

Gunnar went through twenty reps before Damon decided to speak again.

“I’m trying to decide if I like your tone.”

Gunnar chuckled breathlessly. “What?”

“I don’t know yet. I need to think on it.”

“Think on
what
?”

Damon didn’t speak again until Gunnar finished his workout. Gunnar had

no idea what was going on in his friend’s head, but he wished he didn’t feel so

anxious to find out.

Damon assisted Gunnar in putting the bar and weights back on the rack.

Gunnar took a long swig of water as Damon sat next to him on the bench. The

pair looked at the other members of the gym working out for a few moments,

both taking pride in how well the facility was doing. Though Damon hadn’t

been Gunnar’s first hire, he’d been his best by far. He had an eye for the person-

to-person side of the business that GD Gym and Fitness had been missing.

This wasn’t to say Gunnar wasn’t pleasant, but given how he’d treated Tyler

earlier, he definitely could do with a little more people skills when under the

heavy strain of stress.

“She doesn’t seem your type.”

“Who?” Gunnar said, tearing his eyes away from a female member. He

hadn’t even been looking at the woman with interest, but rather noting how

her form on the treadmill was making her workout more difficult than it had to

be. He’d been about to help correct it when Damon spoke.

“Not her, although she’s fine, but Tyler.”

“Tyler?”

“Yeah, man. It sounds like you’re in the beginning stages of ‘sprung.’”

“Sprung?”

Damon snorted. “You repeatin’ me ain’t gonna make it
not
true. What the

devil happened during your haircut, man?”

26

Savannah J. Frierson

Gunnar shook his head and stood, deciding to help the woman later be-

cause it wouldn’t do to approach her while sporting a blush. Damon had a little

too much emotional intelligence for Gunnar’s liking sometimes.