Steal Me, Cowboy by Kim Boykin Read Free Book Online Page A

thank Beck too, but I can’t let him do that, no matter how loaded he is. It wouldn’t be right.” I left the garage feeling like I needed a drink.
    The little bell over the door announced my presence. Nell poked her head out to see it was me and blushed a little over the fact that she hadn’t just fluffed her hair up, it was even bigger than it was when I met her. “Hey, hot stuff, what brings you back?”
    I plopped down in her chair and looked at myself in the mirror. “I need a job, but I don’t have a license, at least not for Montana.”
    “You can work here, fixing hair.”
    “But if the state board came around, you could get in a lot of trouble.”
    “What are they gonna do? Yank my license? After fifty-five years, maybe it’s time somebody did,” Nell huffed. “You set up shop here, Rainey. I’ve even got a big Saturday job for you, Missy Wilson’s wedding.”
    “I can’t just come in and take business away from you.” I wasn’t even sure her silver heads would let me touch their hair. “It wouldn’t be right.”
    “Truth is, you’ll be doing me a favor. I’m getting too old for this shit.”
     

     
    “What do you mean Rainey turned me down?” Beck was checking in a shipment of wine that had arrived late while the restaurant bustled, getting ready for the dinner crowd.
    “I told her you said you’d pay the difference, but she said no, she pays her own way.”
    Beck stepped into his office and closed the door. “How short is she?” Immediately, his brain went literal on him. She was maybe five-four and if her arms were wrapped around him, the top of her head would hit him just above his heart.
    “Seven hundred dollars.”
    “That’s nothing.”
    “To you maybe, but not to the rest of us, Beck. Besides, she’s out of work. She was trying not to show it, but I think she’s scared.” Beck’s cell buzzed, he looked down at the caller ID—Rainey. “I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
    “Hey, Rainey. I’m glad you called. How’s it going?”
    “Hey, Beck. I think you know how it’s going, that’s why I called, to thank you for trying to save me—again.”
    He loved the sound of her voice with the drawl turned off, still southern, still sexy as hell. “I like saving you, Rainey Brown.”
    “Well, you don’t have to. I have a job, temporarily. If everything goes the okay, Dillon will have my car ready by Saturday so I can head out Saturday evening. I’m going to be fine”
    “You don’t sound too sure of that.”
    “Everything’s fine, really. Nell’s going to let me work out of her beauty shop, just for the week. She has a wedding to do Saturday and gave me that—twelve fussy bridesmaids and the bride for one hundred and twenty dollars. I’ll work my ass off charging Nell’s prices, but I think I can do it and have enough to pay Dillon. Nell said she’d put a pickle jar out for tips. And if I have to stay a few more days to pay him, I will.”
    “You always so independent?”
    “Fiercely.” She wished that were true… she was too dependent on Adam Harper for things money couldn’t buy.
    “Since you turned me down, will you at least let me cook dinner for you tomorrow?” She didn’t say anything for a while, and the silence wasn’t as comfortable as it was last night when he’d called her. “Rainey?”
    “If it’s not a date, yes.”
    “Okay, what time do you get off work?”
    “Nell’s closes at five.”
    “I’ll pick you up at six.”
    “That’s a little early for dinner isn’t it?”
    “Maybe if it were a date. But it’s not. I’ll see you then.”

 
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    WEDNESDAY
     
    I was at work early the next morning, praying for walk-ins, not the silver-headed kind who expected to pay the sixties prices. I’d told Antwan about my setup with Nell… he loved retro and begged me to take pictures of the salon. I snapped about a dozen of them, sent them to him, and then silenced my phone since I was at work.
    But that