Demons Prefer Blondes (Demons Unleashed #1)(31)

“Ouch,” Gerardo cried out. “That hurt. You brute.” He slapped Frankie’s face. With an irritated huff he turned to her. “Such a Neanderthal.”

“Me, a Neanderthal? That’s the pot calling the kettle black.” Frankie huffed dramatically, placing his hands on his waist and sashaying to and fro. “And before you say anything else…” He arched his chin. “Lucy’s mine!”

“Boys!” Lucy shouted, sounding like a mother. “I’m not anyone’s. Not ever.” Aha! She turned to Serah. “Bring these cavemen outside and see if Rafe and Kalli can work their magic on them too.”

“Sure thing, Lucy. What about Squeaky?”

“What about me?” he mimicked, flailing his super long arms. He added a few chimp squeaks for good measure.

Lucy covered her ears. “Okay, Squeaky, go with Serah.”

Squeaky flipped her off. “I take back what I said earlier. You are mean.”

“Ooh wee, maybe he can talk,” Frankie chimed in as he bounded out the door. “With his fingers.”

“Yeah, it’s CSL for ‘have a nice day.’” Lucy narrowed a glare at Squeaky.

Gerardo scratched the new growth of a goatee. “CSL?”

“Chimpanzee Sign Language.”

Squeaky flashed a toothy grin, turned around and wiggled his butt. “I can talk with more than my fingers.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“Whatever,” the chimp muttered. “Your friends are kind of cool. Even if they don’t understand anything I say.”

“The chimp is cute and all,” Gerardo said, sidling up to Lucy and brushing his hips against hers. “But an animal like that violates every health code here.” He drew out his Latino accent and breathed in her ear. “What would Tabitha say?”

Bravo Network, yet another of Gerardo’s guilty pleasures.

“She wouldn’t say anything, because she won’t be taking over this salon—ever. Spank you very much.”

He batted his eyelashes. “Please?”

“Let’s not and say we didn’t.” She gave Gerardo a gentle nudge out the door toward the shop. “Now go open the salon. We’ve got a lot of customers.”

Lucy managed to control her snicker. That was an understatement. Hopefully, once Kalli and Rafe finished with their mumbo-jumbo, most of them would be on their merry way. “I’ll be out in a minute. I’ve got to… ahh… check our towel inventory.”

“Yes, my love.” Gerardo blew her a kiss and a flourish, à la Don Juan, and followed the others.

She waved. No way would she blow kisses. “This sucks,” she whispered beneath her breath.

Frankie’s screech echoed throughout the shop. “It ain’t free haircut day, is it?”

“?Ay Dios mío!” came Gerardo’s frazzled voice. “Who let him in here?”

Guess they saw Josh. For some reason, they—along with Serah from time to time—liked to blame Josh for the “breakup.” And to make matters worse, they were her newest admirers. She wasn’t looking forward to the cat-and-dog fight that was sure to follow.

Time to make her presence known.

She took a peek in the mirror and scraped her fingers through her hair—even though she didn’t need to. How great it was to have hair with a mind of its own when it did exactly what you wanted. Bad hair days were obviously a thing of the past. Throwing open the supply room door, Lucy took determined steps toward the vicinity of the commotion.

“Where’s Lucia?” Josh asked. Same ol’… same ol’. In the five years they dated, he always called her by her given name. Then there was the coronary he had every time she dared called him Josh. Then again, that was his boring nature. He always said Joshua sounded more professional. Lucy thought it sounded like he just stepped out of the Old Testament. “I’ve missed her so much.”

Yeah right, like a heart attack (unless the heart attack belonged to a patient, of course). It was only his pheromone-induced hormones talking, not his mind.

“Five years, Josh.” Serah said amongst the clamor of voices. “You think she hasn’t moved on?”

Josh sighed. “It’s Joshua… only Lucy can call me Josh. And I certainly haven’t moved on. Last I checked, she was still single, so I know the feeling has to be mutual.”

Oh, this became even more interesting. Her own private soap opera in her little salon. And did she notice a hint of arrogance? Josh was bolder than she last remembered him. She loved a good soap opera every so often. But not now!

“What about the lovely Miss Harding?” asked Gerardo, his Mexican accent carrying across the room. “Your—madre—was here yesterday and gave Lucy the honor of styling your bride’s hair.” When Gerardo slipped into Spanish, all hell would soon break loose.

Bemusement filled Josh’s face. “I want to marry Lucy.”

Squeaky let out a high pitched chuckle. “Damn, Lucia. You have your own posse. Need some more bodyguards? I got some underground connections, y’know.” Squeaky had apparently watched one too many episodes of The Sopranos.

Ignoring Squeaky, she gazed directly into Josh’s eyes. “No you don’t, Josh,” she said, striding into the sitting area. “You love Larissa. I’m way below your mother’s standards. Especially since I dropped out of med school.”