I'll Stand by You (39 page)

Ruby arched an eyebrow at the twins as a reminder that this was a place of business, then turned Lily’s chair around and the blow-dryer back on.

It wasn’t until she was about through that she realized Lily was staring at the stranger as if she’d seen a ghost.

Ruby paused. “Hey. Are you okay?” she whispered.

Lily blinked, and when she met Ruby’s gaze in the mirror, her eyes were filled with tears.

“I’m fine, Sister. He just reminded me of someone.” Then she shook her head and looked away.

Ruby’s eyes narrowed. This was the first time she could remember the woman even showing an interest in another man. Even if it was a negative interest, it was better than nothing.

“How about we do something a little different with your hair? Maybe pull the sides away from your face and fasten them up here at the crown…or maybe at the nape of your neck? Hmm? What do you think?”

She pulled the sides back and held them up at the crown to show Lily what she was talking about.

Lily frowned. Pulling her hair away from her face like that only emphasized her double chin.

“I don’t know. I guess,” she muttered.

“Good,” Ruby said. “A little change never hurt anyone.”

When Ruby finished, Lily frowned again. She felt naked—like she’d revealed too much of herself. She didn’t much like it, but it was too late to change it.

“Same time next week,” she said as she handed Ruby her money and bolted out the door like the place had just caught on fire.

But what had caught fire was LilyAnn’s lust. She hadn’t felt stirrings in her belly like that since the last time she saw Randy Joe naked. Only then she’d been just as naked and proud of her body, not like now.

Not once in the last eleven years had she given her changing shape much thought. It had never been an issue to her existence until today. The stranger was hot like Randy Joe and drove a fine fancy truck, just like Randy Joe. And once upon a time he would have looked at LilyAnn and wanted her…just like Randy Joe. But that man sitting in Vera’s styling chair would never give her a second look.

So the question was…what, if anything, was she going to do about this?

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About the Author

New
York
Times
and
USA
Today
bestselling author Sharon Sala is a member of RWA as well as OKRWA. She has ninety-five-plus books in print, published in five different genres: romance, young adult, Western, fiction, and women’s fiction. First published in 1991, she is an eight-time RITA finalist, winner of the Janet Dailey Award, a four-time Career Achievement winner from
RT
Book
Reviews
, a five-time winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award, a five-time winner of the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence, and winner of the Heart of Excellence as well as the Booksellers’ Best Award. Writing changed her life, her world, and her fate. She lives in Oklahoma, the state where she was born.

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