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this is Billy Ballew. A new client.”
    Ru made a slow appraisal, from Billy’s scuffed sneakers to his sloppy sweatshirt and up to his uncut hair. “Oh my. Are you going to do him next?”
    Shaz looked up at Billy through his dark lashes. “I’d love to do him, darling, but sadly I think we’re just sprucing him up for the ladies.”
    Ru grinned. “What a waste.”
    Jesus, Billy half wanted to run and half wanted to laugh.
    Rhonda smacked Shaz’s shoulder. “Behave yourself. Billy’s so red they may have to call the fire department.”
    Shaz smiled. “It’s all right. I love firefighters too.” He pulled on Billy’s arm. “Don’t mind me, Billy. Let’s sit you down and look at the hair, shall we?”
    Billy let himself be hauled to the chair. The feelings he’d had at his mother’s house were creeping back. Spinning head. Couldn’t breathe.
    The receptionist put a bottle of tea on the counter for him, and he grabbed it and took a sip; then he landed in the chair and was suddenly staring at himself with Shaz behind him. Beauty and the Beast. He gazed at his shoes.
    Warm fingers slipped into his hair. No way. This isn’t happening . They pulled at his waves and scraped across his scalp.
    “Billy, let your hair keep growing for another week, then we’ll style it for the wedding, okay?”
    Rhonda said, “But it’s so messy. Shouldn’t you cut it now? We kind of want him to look great for, you know, social events leading up to the wedding.”
    Billy peeked up at Shaz. Big mistake . The man had poised himself so that his head was directly above Billy’s. “Rhonda darling, are you so blinded by your beautiful fiancé that you can’t see how fabulous this hair is? Rich brown, perfect waves.”
    Mitch muttered, “Yeah. It’s damned great.”
    Rhonda frowned at her fiancé.
    Mitch kind of ducked. “I mean, hell, what guy wouldn’t want hair that thick?”
    Shaz slipped his hands into both sides of Billy’s hair and threaded it through his fingers.
    Dear God, I’ve made it to purgatory . Billy shifted in his seat. Cannot breathe . “Is it hot in here?”
    Rhonda patted his shoulder.
    Shaz looked at Rhonda. “What we’ll do at our next appointment is clean up those eyebrows, give his skin a good work over, and, of course, do some shopping and tailoring.”
    Rhonda bounced. “That sounds so great. When? Can you do it soon?”
    “Ru, when can we begin?”
    Ru’s eyebrows tightened over his nose as he searched through his tablet. “Hmm. We’ll have to work him in, but I think we can shuffle some things to start Monday.”
    Rhonda squeezed Billy’s shoulder. Shaz kept stroking his head. The heat from his fingers seeped into Billy’s brain. There was some kind of smell, like maybe lavender or something. It was so strong—and so great. Good God, his cock was twitching. He squirmed, and Shaz just kept talking to Rhonda and massaging his head. He had another head in his pants that wanted massaging. This is so not good . Damn, if his sister looked down and saw him with a hard-on, what the hell would she think? Worse, what if Shaz saw it? He’d totally get the wrong idea. He had to get out of here. Needed air.
    Breathe through your mouth. Then you can’t smell how delicious he is . “When should I come on Monday?” Hell, if this kept up, he’d come now.
    Ru looked at the tablet again. “How about four?
    Good . He leaped up and pulled his sweatshirt down. Shaz stepped back and looked startled as Billy started toward the door. “Okay, good. Monday. I’ll be here at four. Thanks a lot. Sorry to run. I just realized I’m late. Have a, uh, date. Sorry. Thanks again. See ya.”
    He made it to the exit.
    “Billy!”
    “Sorry, sweetie, gotta go. Love you. Bye.”
    He heard Mitch say, “What the hell got into him?”
    Shaz laughed. That laugh was like music. “I think all this styling business was too much for a first visit. Give him some space.”
    How come of all the people in the room, the gay guy