for all these years, it felt nice to have someone around to do all those little things that didn’t seem like they mattered enough to make a difference, but they did.
It took me only two weeks to find a job at Cut & Clips and, while not glamorous, it was a job I was grateful for. I was by no means a stylist or beauty guru, but the salon’s vibe was energetic enough that I didn’t mind sweeping up hair, stocking shelves, or refiling shampoo containers. And since the salon was only open during daylight hours, I had a day shift that made it possible for me to be home safe at night.
I had also managed to find a used car in the sale ads that I got for cheap. Randall was a high school junior who had wanted to upgrade his car to something a little more cooler, so I got his used KIA for a good bargain.
All in all, everything was coming together, and I felt I was finally in a place where I could start looking for a place of my own. I was finally living a semi-normal life where I wasn’t afraid to have a cellphone, bank account, job, and somewhat friends. Being near Karla was also a great plus. We talked all the time and had lunch together at least once a week. It was…nice.
The only dark spot in my rather sunny picture was that Brant was a lot smaller town than I had been prepared for. Living in big cities in California, I hadn’t given much to gossip or worried about what my neighbors had been into. Brant was a different animal altogether; mainly, me living with Xander.
One thing salons were notorious for was gossip, and Cut & Clips was full of it. I heard more than I wanted to about what a catch Xander Raynes was and I had to let the gossip fly because I couldn’t tell people the real reason I was living with Xander. Sure, I stuck to the script that he was just helping me out as a favor to Karla and Trevor, but nobody bought my story. The town was full of women who believed in Lifetime Original Movies and romantic comedies that they convinced themselves that I was living with Xander. So, the sooner I could move out, the sooner I could squash some of the rumors.
Not to mention, living with Xander was harder than I thought it would be. I learned early on that my living with him had no effect on his daily life. The man walked around in just basketball shorts or sweats all the time. Hell, a few times I caught him in just a towel, fresh out of the shower. And, trust me, that’s not a good thing when the man is shredded all to hell and is sexy as sin. I didn’t need my attraction to Xander to deepen. I had real-life problems that didn’t include a reformed jackass in my bed.
The surprising thing is that we got along fairly well. I was sure our personalities would clash, but they hadn’t yet, and we fell into a nice, cordial routine. I even stopped fighting his alpha tendencies and let him be the man of the house. Everything was working out, if only the women at the salon would stop plaguing me with questions about how good the man was in bed.
With the decision to start looking at places to live, I sat at the house computer in Xander’s office and pulled up realty listings for Brant, North Dakota. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been seated at the computer before I heard Xander’s deep, rumbling voice behind me. “What are you doing?”
I looked up, startled and surprised. “What are you doing here?”
He was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. “I live here,” he smirked.
I rolled my eyes. “I mean, what are you doing home already?”
“Fallon, it’s past six,” I said, jerking his head towards the clock on the wall.
I glanced back down towards the corner of the computer screen, and sure enough, it was a little past six already. “Shit,” I mumbled. “I hadn’t realized it was that late.”
“What are you doing?” he asked again.
I looked back up at him. Damn, the man really was a good-looking sonofabitch. “I was checking real estate listings for condos or apartments,” I replied.
I could see the tick in his jaw. “Why?”
I logged out of the website and powered