"Haircut, love?" Lucy turned, startled, and saw a man holding out a flyer to her.
"Huh?" she said. Her mind was on the grocery list in her head. She hadn't even known there was a salon here.
He inclined his head toward stairs leading to the basement of the building they were standing in front of. "I have a little shop down there. No customers yet today. $45 for a shampoo, cut and style?"
Lucy's hands went to her hair, long and ragged down to her shoulder blades. How long had it been since her last haircut? Not since before Brandon had dumped her.
She studied the man. Mid-20's, perhaps, lightly muscled, clean-shaven, and classically handsome. He had a tribal tattoo around his upper bicep. A haircut might be a nice diversion, she thought.
"Sure," she said, taking the flyer from him. "Styles by Devon," it read. He'd obviously made this on his computer.
"Great. This way," he said. She followed him down the stairs and into a small salon. Just one chair and a shampoo station, with styling products on shelves lining the walls. It was neat and clean and brightly lit and smelled just as a salon should. "Have a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair.
She perched on the chair, studying herself in the mirror. Her auburn hair was tucked haphazardly behind her ears, parted messily down the middle. She cleaned up good, she had been told, but she hadn't felt like putting in much effort lately.
Devon - she assumed that was his name - appeared in the mirror behind her. He ran his fingers through her hair, loosening knots and getting a feel for the length. A shiver ran through her. She loved having her hair played with.
"What would you like?" he asked. His British accent was a delight.
"I don't know," she said. She shrugged. "What do you think? Layers? Short? Long? It's been ages since I had my hair cut."
His fingertips brushed her neck as he folded her long hair under itself to shoulder length. "How about here?" he suggested.
"Sure. I trust you," she said. He grabbed a comb from the station and straightened her part. Goosebumps pricked along her arms.
He smiled, meeting her eyes in the mirror. "Good." He rested a hand on her shoulder.
There was something strange about the way he looked at her.
He took her hand and helped her down from the chair and led her to the sink for a shampoo. She sat in the chair and leaned her head back.
He stood beside her and ran his fingers behind her neck to gather her hair. He washed her hair, massaging her scalp in a way that made her feel limp. She closed her eyes while he rinsed and squeezed out the extra water. He wrapped a towel around her head and rested his hand on her shoulder again. When she opened her eyes and sat up, he was staring at her chest. She noticed that her tank top was pulled down low enough to show the top of her bra. How had that happened?
"Uh, are you done?" she asked.
"Oh, yes, love. Let's see what we can do with this beautiful hair." He helped her up and put his hand on the small of her back to direct her back to his styling station.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. It was one thing to enjoy a haircut from a good-looking stylist. But he was getting a little too touchy-feely for her comfort. Well, surely once she had the cape over her and he had a pair of scissors in one hand and a comb in the other, she would feel better. She surreptitiously adjusted her top.
He ran the comb through her damp hair, then draped a cape over her and secured it around her neck. He picked up his scissors. Bits of hair fell around her as he wielded his scissors with confidence. He made his way around her head, smoothing, measuring, snipping. He paused and put his hands on her shoulders. "Okay so far?" he asked. "How's the length?" He stroked the back of her neck with one finger to illustrate the length of her hair in the back.
"Uh, it's fine. Are we almost done?"
"You got somewhere to be, pet?"
Pet? Must be a British thing. She really just wanted to get out of there. Devon was decidedly creepy. She hesitated too long before coming up with a believable lie, and he continued the haircut before she could speak. "There, now, doesn't that look nice?" He came around in front of her and fussed with her bangs, then put one foot up on the footrest and leaned in close to her. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach. She felt trapped, frozen in place.
He put his hands on her shoulders again. "Shall we take this off?" he asked, then reached around behind her to unfasten the cape. It slid to the floor. "Oh, look at all the little hairs all over you. That'll get itchy." He brushed away loose hairs from her chest that had found their way under the cape. His ran his fingers under the straps of her tanktop and down to her cleavage.
"I'd like to go now!" she blurted when his hand lingered on her breast.
"Aren't you going to pay me, pet?" She wished he'd go back to calling her "love."
"Uhhh, 45, you said?" She fumbled with her purse in her lap.