Wild About the Man (Mills & Boon Modern Tempted) by Joss Wood Read Free Book Online Page B

panicked.
    Clem kept a tight hold of her hair. ‘I can’t leave it. I’ve started already. Can you try and cut the rest off?’
    Nick shook his head and took the scissors from her hand, running his thumb along the blade. ‘Blunt as hell. Wait here, you crazy person.’
    Nick was back in under a minute, a sharp, lethal hunting knife in his hand. Clem lifted an eyebrow. ‘Are you planning on doing me in at the same time?’
    Nick stepped into the bathroom and stood behind her with both of them facing the mirror. ‘Considering it. You should be shot at dawn for hacking off your hair.’ His eyes met her miserable ones in the mirror. ‘Why?’
    Clem lifted her shoulder. ‘It stinks and it was so hot today and …’
    ‘You could’ve pinned it up and the stink isn’t that bad. Tell me the truth, Clem,’ Nick said as he nudged her hand away to hold her hair in a tight grip.
    ‘I’ve wanted to cut it for ever. About six years ago, I cut about six inches off and Cai went nuts. I thought he was going to kill me.’
    Behind her, Clem felt Nick stiffen. ‘He hurt you?’
    ‘No. He wanted to but he knew that was a steptoo far. He did threaten me, though, said that if I ever cut it, I’d regret it. I guess he frightened me enough that I was too scared to try.’ Clem looked into his hard, angry face. ‘I’m not scared any more and if I want to cut my hair, I will.’
    ‘Was he the one who told you that your sole value was in your looks?’
    Clem bit her lip. ‘You caught that then?’
    ‘Pretty big trigger. You did a one-eighty in two seconds flat.’ Nick looked at the back of her head and winced. ‘I can’t believe I’m about to do this. OK, hold still. I don’t want you jerking and the knife slipping. It’s seriously sharp.’
    Clem grinned. ‘Yeah, explaining my death to my father might not be easy.’ She saw his hesitation and reached back to pat his thigh. ‘It’s OK, Nick. Just do it.’
    The knife slid under her hair, slipped through like butter and within seconds Nick stood with a hunk of hair in his hand. Clem laughed and ran her hands through her hair, swinging her head. ‘Yay! Oh, that feels so good.’
    ‘It’s a little uneven at the back. Maybe one of the girls in the spa can cut it straight,’ Nick suggested.
    ‘I don’t care!’ Clem did a little twirl. ‘Oh, I look so different. I love it, love it!’
    Nick held up the hair in his hand. ‘What do you want to do with this?’
    ‘Oh, toss it! Um … maybe not. I’ll keep it and donate it to one of those organizations that makewigs for cancer patients. I’m sure they could use it.’ Clem took her hair and sniffed it. ‘Or maybe not. Eeew.’
    Nick smiled as he slid his knife back into its sheath. ‘Put it in the sun to air. The smell will go, eventually.’ He backed out of the bathroom and stopped at the door. ‘You look good, Red.’
    Clem looked at herself in the mirror and had to agree. She did look good. Her hair, drying quickly, had jumped back into its natural curls and fell into a natural tousled bob. It was the best haircut she’d ever had and it had taken two seconds flat with a hunting knife.
    Clem looked at her face and her dancing eyes and suddenly thought,
Oh wow, so that’s what I look like when I smile. I almost didn’t recognize myself.
    He had to get rid of her, Nick decided, as he walked back into the lounge, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. She was wild and crazy—what the hell was she thinking cutting off her stunning hair on a whim?—but he wanted her.
    Since the moment he’d seen her stepping off that plane he’d imagined those long, slim, pale legs wrapping around his hips, her head on his pillow, those come-to-bed eyes staring up into his. It had taken every last vestige of his self-control to stop himself from banding his arms around her waist and kissing every inch of that smooth skin he’d earlier sniffed.
    He was attracted to her because she was a stunning woman and he was a man who