It had been almost a year since Ethan waltzed into my shop like he owned the place. Things had changed a lot since then. The shop had expanded, now twice its original size thanks to the renovations on what had been the convenience store. Ethan had funded the whole thing, insisting that expansion was the only way to make a business work these days. I thought he just wanted walls that weren’t painted moss green. That side of the shop was the blue he’d liked so much in the first place.
“It’s a man’s area,” he’d argued with me when I said I wanted it all the same color. “It should be blue, a manly color.”
I’d raised an eyebrow at him and said, “It’s baby blue.”
He waved me off like my point was irrelevant and I just accepted that half my store was going to be blue. We even made a theme of it, painting a new register half blue and half green. It was a little corner, but I felt it was symbolic of our partnership.
The bell over the door, which hadn’t changed a bit since the day I opened, rang as an older man with his son came in. “Hello there. What can we do for you?” I asked from a chair set aside for me so I could look over some paperwork.
“I’m here to make sure my grandson understands the importance of a good haircut,” the older man informed me.
The kid beside him rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything. I held back a smile. “Oh, well, in that case, we’d better get you set up. Paul?”
“Yes, Diana?” asked a young man of dark complexion and hair colored to look almost like honey. He’d been working here a couple of months now and came from some hot shot salon in New York. I’d had to hire him and a few others after the expansion and I found he was one of my favorites.
“Would you help these fine gentlemen today?”
He nodded. “You bet. I’m a little slow today anyway.”
The older man thanked me and escorted his son to barber side of the shop. I went back to my numbers. Now that I had more help—and business in general—I spent less time cutting hair and more time doing the business side of things. I still had a few customers that asked for me specifically, but other than those few I kept myself otherwise occupied.
The bell rang again and I glanced up to see Ethan. Since we’d decided to have a relationship, both business and personal, we agreed it was unrealistic to expect us to keep it under cover. Between Louis stopping here with shipments and me going to see Ethan, it was impossible to keep everyone from saying anything. So we embraced it.
“Hey,” I greeted with a smile, standing to meet him.
He smirked at me and gave me a quick kiss. “How’s it looking?” he asked, motioning towards the clipboard. He wasn’t just referring to the salon, but also the secondary business.
“Let’s talk in my office,” I told him and led the way towards the back. We’d put it in after Jessie had walked in on us entwined intimately in one of the chairs. She’d accused us of being sex-crazed teenagers then told us to get a room. Ethan took the suggestion to heart.
As I passed Jessie who was working on an older woman’s hair, trying to talk her into a more exciting color than brown, I put my hand on her shoulder. “We’re going to be in the back for a minute. Call me if you need help.”
She rolled her eyes a little, but offered a smile and nodded anyway. To Ethan she gave a quick glare, then went back to her customer.
“She’s just never going to come around is she?” Ethan asked quietly as he followed me to the office.
I opened the door and stepped inside. It was fairly small given that there wasn’t a lot of space to expand from the back rather than the side, but it did the trick. A desk, two chairs, and a filing cabinet. I had a laptop set up, too. “No, probably not.”
He closed the door after him, then shrugged his shoulders. “Her loss. I was serious about her watching us.”
I let out a laugh. “You’re terrible.”
“You love it,” he told me, putting his hands on my waist and pulling me to him.
“Not that I’d ever admit that to you.”
He kissed me again and started backing me up towards the desk. When I felt it at the backs of my thighs, I put my hands against his chest to stop him. “Don’t even think about it,” I told him sternly, though a smile kept trying to break free.
“C’mon, Diana. Jessie already thinks that’s what we’re doing.” He began to kiss along the column of my neck, trying to seduce me.
I swatted at him. “No. We’ve got plans tonight, which means we need to take care of business today. We’ve got a new shipment coming in and I don’t want there to be any problems.”
Ethan relented and we settled down for the next hour, talking about the shipment of drugs we were supposed to get in. Ethan had trucks come in from all over to drop off drugs at his diner. Now, we used The Cut not only to store the excess of those drugs, but to take shipments of its own. We’d only just gotten to this point, so I wanted to make sure things went smoothly.
When we were finishing up, Ethan stood and leaned over the desk towards me. “Sure I can’t interest you in some fun before I go?”
I considered giving in. Even after months of being together, he still managed to make my toes curl, but I resisted the temptation. “No. I told you, we’ve got plans tonight and I want them to be extra special.”
“So I have to suffer for it?” he complained, still mostly teasing.
I shrugged. “The best things are worth waiting for. In part, because you had to wait for them.”
He gave up and grumbled about patience and other worthless things as he left. I laughed a little at him as he went, hoping my little surprise for him tonight would be just as good as I thought it was.
# # #
After The Cut had been closed up for the night, I headed home. I still lived at my place and Ethan at his, though we had extended sleepovers periodically. At first I’d been careful about letting him near my son, but as it turned out, Ethan could be decent to kids. They’d hit it off and Ethan even taught Cody a few card tricks.
But tonight, Cody wasn’t home. I walked in to an empty apartment, shucking off my coat and hanging it by the door. Then I toed off my shoes and headed for the shower, stripping off my pants and shirt as I went. I wanted to get cleaned up before Ethan got here.
I washed thoroughly and shaved every inch of me before getting out. I brushed my teeth, redid my makeup, and put on a slinky black dress that was starting to get just a little too tight on me. I smiled as I thought of why.
“This is going to be good,” I told my reflection.
The door knocked and I heard it open. “Diana, it’s me.” It was Ethan, which I’d figured. He was the only one besides Jessie and Louis who just came in without waiting for me to answer.
“Coming,” I called, then spritzed perfume lightly down my cleavage before heading to join him in the living room.
“Hey, don’t you look like something delicious,” Ethan commented, dragging his eyes over my dress.
“I thought you might like it.”
“I do. Definitely worth the wait.” He came to me, his hands instantly going to my hips. He dragged me against him and began kissing along my neck, just as he had earlier that day. But he paused suddenly and asked, “Where’s Cody?”
I laughed. Cody was the only person that could keep Ethan’s pants on. Everyone else, he wasn’t shy around. Hell, if they didn’t freak out and I didn’t tell him not to, he’d usually let them watch if they wanted.
He’s such an exhibitionist.
“He’s with Louis tonight,” I told him, smiling.
Louis had gone from goon to uncle in a very short amount of time. Instead of leaving Cody at daycare or with babysitters where Ethan felt he was vulnerable, Louis had become a bit of a babysitter himself. I’d been hesitant at first, but now it wasn’t a big deal. Louis was like Jessie. There was a deep trust there.
“Good,” Ethan told me, then began to kiss me again.
He kissed me everywhere he could, his hands sliding up my body to grab my breasts over the fabric of the dress. I moaned a little, though they were swollen and sore. It still felt wonderful.
He maneuvered me back towards the couch until the back of my knees caught it. I went down with a laugh and Ethan crawled over me, his mouth finding my cleavage.
“Ethan,” I moaned. It was difficult to keep my wits about me, but I barely managed. “Ethan, wait.”
He growled. “Damnit, woman. I’ve been waiting all fucking day. What is it already?”
I grinned at him, at his impatience. I took a quick breath and said a silent prayer that he would think this was good news. “I’m pregnant.”
He froze completely, his eyes wide in shock, his mouth just slightly open. “Pregnant?”
I nodded, my grin widening. “Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded again, feeling a little nervous. He still had that slack-jawed expression on his face, so I wasn’t sure how to read him.
But then he scooped me up into his arms, rolling us over so I was on top, then clutched me to him. “We’re pregnant!”
I laughed, feeling relief and pure joy at the knowledge that he was excited for this baby.
“Pregnant!” he repeated. “Then get out of this damn dress so I can fuck you proper already.”
Looking down at him, I asked, “So you still want me?”
“Hell yes. I want you more than ever. That baby’s mine.” He leaned forward to kiss my stomach for emphasis, then he sat up and kissed me on the mouth. It was all tenderness, reminding me of the affection that had bloomed between us unbidden.
He did get me out of my dress and he made love to me like I was the only thing that mattered in his world.
THE END
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