The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3)(37)

Stella made it to the front of the shop in time to see the door close behind Jed’s cute butt, clad in tight-fitting jeans. Stepping out on the sidewalk, he stopped and winked at her and she quickly glanced at everyone else to see if anyone saw it. Thank God, they were all busy either with work or, in Agnes’s case, stuffing the end of a hot dog into her mouth.

She glanced at the sofa and high color filled her cheeks. Sex with Jed in all that buttery softness, then cuddled up with him afterward real close because the sofa wasn’t all that wide, brought visions to her mind that would shock the cussin’ out of Agnes.

“What are you blushin’ for?” Agnes asked.

“I had to turn down the preacher. Reckon that will be a scandal?” Stella answered.

“Honey, if it ain’t a scandal in the Yellow Rose, then it’ll be one at Clawdy’s or at Bless My Bloomers. Ain’t nothin’ Cadillac likes better than a nasty old scandal.”

“Ain’t it the truth.” Stella sighed.





CHAPTER EIGHT

The aroma of lasagna and hot bread met Stella that evening when she opened the door to her house. Her last appointment was a permanent that had kept her in the shop until six thirty, so she was hot, sweaty, and hungry.

Jed leaned against the doorjamb in the kitchen, his barbed-wire tat shining beneath the tight muscle shirt. He looked like sex on a stick and she didn’t know whether she wanted a shower, sex, or lasagna first.

He made the decision for her. “Bread has ten more minutes. Go grab a quick shower and then we’ll eat.”

With a couple of long strides he crossed the room and kissed her on the tip of her nose. He smelled like Stetson, soap, and that scent that was all his own, and she had to fight with herself not to drag him down on the floor right there and forget food and a shower.

“This is a real treat,” she whispered. “I didn’t know if you’d be able to get away tonight. You know this whole town is watching me?” She dropped her denim shorts, T-shirt, and shoes in pile at the end of the sofa and padded to the bathroom barefoot in nothing but her underpants and bra.

He followed her, laid out a towel, handed her a washcloth, and adjusted the water while she finished undressing. “I was careful. I heard that you might be interested in Rhett Monroe. Should I be jealous?”

She rolled up on her toes and kissed him hard. “I’m a married woman who is only interested in one damn fine sexy preacher.”

“Good.” He grinned.

When she finished her shower, she wrapped a towel around her wet hair and loosely belted a kimono-style terry-cloth robe around her waist. She was almost to the kitchen, where she planned to do a little strip tease with the towel and hopefully wind up having dinner sitting on his lap totally naked.

Piper poked her head out around the kitchen door and said, “Nancy’s trying to make up for putting you on the prayer list. I told you that she was sorry.”

“Why would you say that?” Stella’s heart felt like it was fighting its way out of her chest. Any minute it would throw her left breast out on the floor and land on top of it in a quivering mess. Where in the hell was Jed? Was he hiding in her bedroom?

“Duh, girl!” Piper said. “Lasagna is on the bar and I just took hot rolls out of the oven.”

“I thought you made all that and had run to the store for salad.” Stella was amazed that her voice was not high and squeaky.

Piper shook her head. “I just popped in to see if you wanted to go to the Rib Joint for supper. Lorene called to ask if they could keep the boys overnight so they could take them to a youth rally at their church tonight. But it looks like the magic fairy left supper for us.”

Stella’s heart settled from a full-out run to a gallop. Where was Jed? She had to get him out of the house, but first she had to find him.

“Well, the magic fairy can come around anytime he, she, or it wants to,” she said.

Piper opened the refrigerator. “Nancy is real sorry. You need to forgive her, Stella. There’s a beautiful salad all cut up pretty and sliced strawberries for shortcakes.”

A rush of hot air blew Charlotte into the house. “What’s that I smell? I came by to see if you wanted to go eat somewhere, but I’m staying here if that’s Nancy’s lasagna. I’d rather eat and then curl up on your sofa with my knitting. I finished the little hat and now I’m working on the booties. When I finish, do you want me to start another one in green or yellow?”

Stella headed toward her bedroom. “Bite your tongue if you are talking to me. But Piper has always wanted a daughter, so you could talk to her. Y’all put supper on the table while I find some clothes.”

She shut the door, looked in the closet, under the bed, and behind the drapes. She threw off the robe; jerked on underwear, a clean bright-blue tank top, and a pair of khaki shorts; and swore when she realized she’d left her purse on the sofa.

“Dammit!” She stuck her head out the door and yelled, “Charlotte, will you hand me my purse?”

Charlotte put it in her outstretched hand and said, “Tell her that we forgive her and we love her and if she wants to put us on the prayer list to go right ahead if that means she’ll cook for us.”

Piper yelled from the kitchen, “I knew you’d made up with Nancy when I smelled the lasagna.”