fanciful moment, Dameon imagined her foot rubbing the side of his while they were tangled up in sheets.
“So you’ll go?”
He blinked away the vision of her lying next to him. “What? Yeah. Of course. Wouldn’t miss it.”
“You want polish?”
Dameon looked at his feet and the woman waving a clear nail polish in the air.
“No. I’m good.”
Grace started to laugh. “Men get polish, too.”
“I call bull on that,” he said.
She kept laughing.
His feet were dried and his pants rolled back down. The woman thanked him and walked away.
Dameon waited until Grace’s toes were painted and carefully tucked into a pair of sandals. He stood and reached for his wallet as he approached the desk where he’d noticed the other woman check out a few minutes before. “Both of us,” he said, pointing to Grace.
He thought he’d get an argument from her, but found silence.
She looked at him with innocence. “What? You yammered through my stress relief. The least you can do is pay for it.”
That’s the sarcasm he was growing to appreciate from the woman.
Nell told him a price and he handed her his credit card.
The transaction went through and he put the card back in his wallet.
He started toward the door.
Grace stopped him. “You need to give them a tip.”
“Oh, of course.” He reached for his wallet again and whispered, “What’s appropriate?”
She smiled. “Ten each.”
Considering the bill was less than fifty, he thought that was a bit much.
“And it is the holidays,” Grace added.
He removed two twenties and handed one to each employee.
The cash disappeared quickly with thank-yous and smiles.
He opened the door for Grace and followed her out. “I just over tipped them, didn’t I?” he asked.
Grace giggled. “Yup.”
“And men don’t go in there, do they?”
“Well . . . it’s cheaper than a podiatrist when you’re on a fixed income,” she pointed out.
He cringed. “That’s what I thought.”
He walked beside her.
“I’m sure my brothers have had pedicures.”
“Really?”
“No. They wouldn’t be caught dead in there.” She started to laugh as if she’d been holding it in for the last hour.
It was worth it, he decided, just to hear her happy. “I’m never going to live this down, am I?”
She placed her hand over her stomach with laughter. “Nope.”
They stopped at the edge of the strip mall.
“This was fun, but I need to get back to work.”
Dameon wanted to pull her in for a hug. More, he wanted to kiss her. He shoved his hands into his pockets instead. “I’ll see you Friday.”
“I guess so. I’ll text you the information.” Her eyes were searching his. “I gotta go.”
“Right.”
She turned away.
“Wait.”
“Yeah?” She looked at him again.
“Where’s the best place to buy a bed in town? I can use Grandma’s sofa, but the bed needs to be replaced.”
“There’s a mattress store on the Old Road.”
He knew where that was. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
She turned again.
“Oh, and Grace?”
“Yeah?”
He glanced down at her feet. “I like the red.”
And just like that, her cheeks matched the paint on her toes.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Concentrating at work became a chore when Grace kept remembering the maze of expressions on Dameon’s face during his virgin pedicure. Absolutely priceless. She wished she had known it was coming so she could have set up a secret camera to record it.
Before it slipped her mind, she sent Dameon a picture of the invitation that went out to the masses for the holiday event and called to leave a message for the coordinator to add his name to the list of attendees.
She no sooner hung up the phone than her cell buzzed.
I feel the need to attend a boxing match after today.
She laughed, texted him back. Do you feel like a girl now?
What can I do to convince you to keep today a secret?
Grace sat back in her chair and looked at her drying toenails. My price is steep.
Name it!
Never mind. I’ll hold onto the information to lord over you.
I see how this works. Blackmail.
She couldn’t stop smiling. We all have our ways and means. Now go away. I have real work to get to.
Grace stared at her phone, knew she was flirting, but couldn’t seem to stop herself.
Thirty minutes before quitting time, Richard walked into her office without so much as a knock.
No hello, no excuse me, he jumped right in with his demands. “I need you to go by the Sierra Highway site today.”
She looked outside. The sun was already low on the horizon. “Why?”
“Mr. Sokolov called my office, said he had a plan that doesn’t require the city to step in.”