Chapter 6

It took my brain a moment to click on when my eyes blinked open the next morning, but once it did, my lips curved into a huge grin. With Hayes wrapped around me, his arm flung over my waist and his thick thigh wedged between my legs, it was a great way to wake up. One I hoped to experience again and again.

When I saw Hayes crash his motorcycle, I had no idea it was going to change my life. But even though the past day had been full of surprises—and had put me in enough danger that Hayes insisted I stay at the clubhouse—I had no regrets over stopping to help him. Not only was it the right thing to do…it also landed me in bed with the sexy biker who'd brought my dormant libido roaring to life.

"Morning," Hayes rasped, his arms tightening around me. "Sleep good?"

I nodded, cuddling my back deeper against his chest. "Yeah, better than I expected since I'm not used to having anyone else in bed with me."

"You better not be," he growled, brushing his lips against the top of my head. "But that's gonna change now that you have me."

"I like the sound of that," I admitted softly.

"Fuck, angel," he groaned. "I hate to be the one to say it, but we better get moving if we're going to make it to the salon on time."

"Wait a second." Twisting around, I blinked up at him. "You were serious about that?"

"As a heart attack," he confirmed with a nod, his blue eyes gleaming with determination. "Nobody is gonna hurt you on my watch."

When he said stuff like that, it was difficult to remember that I was supposed to go into the salon instead of just convincing him we should spend the day in bed together. "But don't you have other stuff you need to do? It's going to be a long one since I need to be there from eight until five, with back-to-back appointments all day except for my lunch break."

"I got nothing on my calendar that's more important than you." He winked and slid out of bed, holding his hand out to me. "Knew that dumping my hockey money into real estate was a good call, but now I have another reason to be grateful for it—plenty of free time to watch over you."

"Okay, but you're going to be bored," I warned as I climbed off the mattress with his help.

He shook his head with a sexy smirk. "Not a chance in hell when I get to watch you all day."

I found his confidence amusing because there was no chance he'd be happy sitting in an uncomfortable chair surrounded by gossiping women. But I wasn't going to argue with him when I enjoyed having him around. Spending my workday with Hayes nearby wasn't going to be a hardship for me like it was for him.

"Alrighty then." I gestured toward the en suite bathroom. "You're probably going to want to get ready first because it will take me a while to do my hair and makeup after my shower."

His eyes heated as his gaze swept down the T-shirt he'd given me to wear to bed last night. "If I didn't know damn well that it'd end up taking us a fuck of a lot longer, I'd say we should shower together. But there's no chance I'd be able to keep my hands off your naked, wet body. Or my tongue."

While my core clenched in response to the dirty picture he painted with his words, I gasped. Taking advantage of my parted lips, Hayes lowered his head to capture my mouth in a deep kiss that left me breathless. I didn't come out of my sensual stupor until I heard the shower come on after he padded into the bathroom.

"Whoa," I panted, using my hand to fan my face before I went into the closet to grab some clothes and my hair dryer.

Hayes got ready as quickly as I expected, and I took as long as I warned him. But he put that time to good use by getting me a travel mug of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese to enjoy while he drove my car to the salon.

"Thanks so much," I mumbled around the last bite of bagel as we pulled into the lot behind the salon.

"It was my pleasure, angel." He turned toward me after killing the engine. "I like making sure you have what you need."

I squirmed in my seat. "You can't say stuff like that when I only have a couple of minutes before I need to clock into work."

"How come?"

"Because you're too darn sexy for my own good." Feeling more daring than I ever had before, I added, "And it makes me want to climb you like a monkey."

"Shit, angel." He reached down to adjust the hard length pressing against his zipper. "Now I'm gonna need a minute before I walk in there, or else I'm gonna scare all the customers away."

Knowing I had that effect on him sent a feminine thrill through me, and there was a little extra sway to my hips as he followed me into the salon. After he swept his gaze over the space, he settled himself in the waiting area, choosing a spot where he could see me the whole time.

Before heading over to my station, I leaned close and whispered, "I will totally understand if you get bored and want to bail. I'll be safe, surrounded by plenty of people all day."

"Not gonna happen, angel," he assured.

Hayes ended up proving me wrong about being happy while he hung around. Seven hours and six clients later, he was kicked back in the salon owner's chair—which Peggy had happily rolled out of her office first thing this morning so he didn't have to squish into one of the seats in the waiting area. Her idea, not mine. Even though she never let anyone so much as touch that chair because she loved it so much.

And that wasn't the last time someone at the salon surprised me. I had expected my coworkers to be uneasy with having a guy invade our space, but they'd barely blinked when Hayes announced that he was staying to keep an eye on me. The single ones had done a lot of fluttering of their lashes at him, though. Which hadn't made me happy at all.

But my current customer took it further than that. If Candi didn't stop soon, she would find herself with a nasty surprise when she looked in the mirror after I finished her hair. If she could even manage to look past her boobs with how they were almost spilling out of the top she kept pulling down.

"Here," I grunted, shoving a black cape at her. "You better put this on so you don't get any stray pieces on your shirt."

"Uh, okay. I guess." She made a big show of putting it on, lifting her arms high enough that the bottom of her bra showed while she stared at Hayes. When he didn't react, her shoulders slumped, and she dropped onto the chair, where I used a little too much force to whirl her around so she wasn't facing him anymore.

Feeling jealous was a new experience for me, and I didn't like it one bit. I knew I wasn't being reasonable since Hayes had barely glanced at any of the women who'd tried hitting on him today, but that didn't soothe the green-eyed monster inside me that wanted to hack their hair off instead of styling it how they asked.

It didn't help that I kept wondering what would happen when Hayes moved into his house. Would he want me to stay at the clubhouse for my safety? Or was he thinking about taking me with him?

The questions rattling around inside my head drove me up the wall. The day couldn't end fast enough for me, and it had nothing to do with how much my feet ached.