Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 15430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
“He’ll be fine,” Rowe replied.
Noah winked at them both over his shoulder. “Prep the tape.”
B watched in stunned silence as Noah marched straight up to the man who was terrorizing both customers and coworkers, demanding to know where the rear exit was and not believing them when they said that there wasn’t one. There really wasn’t. There was a side exit, but people were too scared shitless to remember it.
Noah was a strange sight. The black, waterproof cape wrapped around his shoulders fluttered lightly as he walked. There was a bright-blue clip and a hot-pink clip holding back chunks of his hair that sort of bobbed as he marched. He looked as if he had two strange little pigtails on the top of his head. It also didn’t hurt that he was a relatively tall man at six feet, with hunky broad shoulders. Of course, he looked more crazy than hunky at the moment.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Noah demanded in a disturbing falsetto.
The robber gaped at Noah for a second and took a step backward before he seemed to remember that he was supposed to be the one in control. But Noah didn’t give him a chance to speak.
“Do you have any idea how long I had to wait to get an appointment here? B is the only stylist I let touch my hair and no one—and I mean no one—is as good as he is. Are you trying to keep me from looking my best for this wedding? Why are you sabotaging me?”
The gun lowered slightly, and the poor robber’s eyes widened within the mask, looking at Noah as if the man had lost his mind.
Noah struck in a flurry of quick, precise motions that were only enhanced by the flutter of his plastic cape. It was like seeing a superhero in action right before their eyes. B watched in speechless horror as Noah grabbed the robber’s wrist and did a little twist. The man cried out in pain, dropping the gun with a loud clatter on the tiles. Before the thief could react, Noah was whirling around him and wrapping his arms around the guy’s neck and head like an anaconda’s love squeeze.
For a second, B looked over at Rowe and found him taking pictures of his lover with the robber.
“Seriously?” B gasped in horror.
“What? No one’s gonna believe us later that we were attacked while getting our hair cut.” Rowe turned his attention to Noah. “Smile, babe!”
Noah looked up at Rowe and grinned. A second later Noah released his hold on the man, and he flopped to the ground, unconscious.
Everyone in the salon cheered and Noah chuckled. B stumbled backward and dropped into his chair before his knees could give out. He glanced down at Cynthia who was still curled up on her little stool, but she had her cell phone pressed to her ear. It sounded like she was talking to a 9-1-1 dispatcher.
She lifted her wide eyes to B, her mouth forming a shocked O. “I told the dispatcher that Rowe Ward and his boyfriend managed to knock out the thief. She started cussing.”
B snorted. “Apparently she’s heard of them.”
“Yes.”
They watched as Noah and Rowe dragged the unconscious man over to B’s station. They placed him in the chair Rowe had been sitting in and wrapped him up in the hearts duct tape Andrei had left behind as a joke.
Giggling like a little kid, Rowe then convinced Cynthia to locate some pink nail polish that would match the duct tape while Rowe pulled off his gloves. Rowe and Noah took turns grabbing selfies with the unconscious man wrapped in duct tape before Noah returned to B’s chair with a happy sigh.
“Ready?” Noah asked, watching B in the mirror.
B looked over at Cynthia and Rowe as they painted the robber’s nails in two different shades of pink. That was going to make him so damn popular in jail. The two had their heads together and were giggling like little kids, though B had a feeling Cynthia was still in shock.
“Do you two do this often?” B said sharply.
“What? Foil robberies and hostage attempts?” Rowe murmured.
“Never,” Noah said.
“Sometimes,” Rowe added.
Noah spun around in the chair so that he was looking at the real B, instead of his reflection. “Are you okay? Should we reschedule the appointment?”
“I need a fucking drink,” B muttered and shook his head.
Everything happened so fast. One minute they were all in danger—B had barely started to wonder if he would ever see Ricky again, get to tell him how much he loved their time together—and then Noah was knocking the bastard out, and Rowe was painting his nails.
“No, I’m fine,” B continued, his voice gaining strength as his thoughts cleared. “We are not rescheduling. Ian’s wedding is in two days, and you will both look gorgeous for that wedding. Nothing is gonna stop me.”