Wrong Way Renee (13 page)

“How many times do you need to hear it before you'll believe it?
”
Renee used her electric drill to bevel the edges of the acrylic.

“I know I can trust you with this secret, but you've got to promise me that you won't fly o
ff the handle when I tell you.”

Renee nodded.

“Okay.
”
Pam rolled her shoulders.
“I want to get pregnant, have
a baby on my own.
Pablo
's baby.”

Renee shut off her drill and laid her head down on her table.
Was she out of her mind?

Pam
playfully slapped
the side of Renee's head.
“Get up. P
eople are looking.”

Suddenly, it seemed a thousand times more imp
ortant to convince her to dump the bastard
.
“You can't be serious
.”

“I am. I want to be a
mother
before I'm to
o old. And I want
Pablo
's baby.”

“You told me his parents are pushing him to marry that gir
l from Texas. What if he does?”

“I said I wanted t
o have a baby alone, didn't I?”

“Then why make it his? Go to a sperm bank, adopt, do anything else.
”
Sh
e blew out an exasperated breath.
“This will be painful for both you and a child if you go through with it. Plus, you'll have
Pablo
and his future wife in your life forever. Do you really want that?
”

“I've thought this through. I've gone off the pill.
Soon
I'll be ready to get pregnant. It's best to have the hormones out of your system
for a while before conceiving.”

Renee
racked her brain, searching for the right words. But in her heart, she knew there was nothing she could say to change Pam's mind. “You've done some research, huh?
”

“I'm a nurse.
”
She squared her shoulders.

“You know, I have a very close friend who had a baby when she was a teenager. After
a lot of
soul-searching, she decided to put
it
up for adoption. She got to pick out the adoptive family and everything. It's been a great comfort to her over the years knowing that the people who adopted her son really wanted a child. You could do that for a pr
egnant teenager
. Why have
Pablo
's baby and bring a child into
such a complicated situation?”

“I've thought about adoption. But I'd have to do it privately because I'm single. Do you have any idea what that costs? Anyway, it's
Pablo
's
baby I want.”

T
here was nothing more
sh
e
could say that Pam wouldn't counter with a rebuttal.
“
How does
Pablo
feel about this?”

She
shifted in the chair.
“I
haven't exactly told him yet.”

“What? Do you plan to?
”
This conversation was tumbling downhill fast.

“I haven't decided that yet.”

“I sure hope you know what you're getting into, my friend. It sounds lik
e a recipe for disaster to me.”

After she
finished with Pam,
sh
e did a pedicure and two more manicures which kept her mind blessedly occupied. The last thing she wanted to do was think about Pam and her plans to have a baby. At five in the afternoon, she was finally done.
She headed to the utility sink to clean her equipment.

“Y
our hair would look great with a touch of
pink
in it.
”
Zoey dropped a hand full of wet perm rods on to a towel.

“You think?
”
She
caught a glimpse of herself at the mirror over one of the hair stations
.
Maybe a change would be good, something to jazz her up.

“
Do you have time? Adam's working 'til seven, so I've go
t nothing going on until then.
And I got this new product I’d love to try out.
”

She shrugged.
“Sure, why not.
”

“Have a seat in
my chair. I'll be right there.”

Renee returned her sanitizer tray to her nail table, then
parked herself
in Zoey's service chair.

“Getting a cut?
”
Becky
stood at her station combing
out Mrs.
Ferguson’s
hair.

“Highlights.”

Becky raised an eyebrow.
“Hmm.”

She wasn't sure if that meant Becky doubted highlights would suit her or that she was miffed because Renee was essentially cheating on her by having
Zoey
do something to her hair.

“Okay. Let's use a cap so we're sure to only do a little. We can always add more.
”
Zoey ran her hands through Renee's curls.

“You're the boss.
”
She sank into relaxation mode.
“T
ell
me about your boyfriend, Zoey.
I want to hear about a relationship that isn’t screwed up.
”

Her dreamy smile spoke volumes.
“He's wonderful
, perfect for me
. We met in high school. A couple y
ears later, Adam asked me out.
We’ve never even had a fight.
”

“Do you think
you'll get married eventually?”

“Who knows? Marriage isn't a priority for either of us right now. I haven't felt my biological clock ticking yet. Maybe when I do, I'll change my mind. What about you?
”

“I wish I was a better judge of men.
”
She thought about Dan, the bastard.
“My last one turned out to be such a jerk. He was wonderful when we first got together.
”

“Sometimes it takes a while for a man's true character to come out. I'd known Adam a few years before we hooked up. Did you know your ex l
ong before you started dating?”

She didn’t want to admit that
she’d slept with him
the very night they’d met
.
“No
.
We took things too fast, I think and
moved in together a month
after our first…date.”

Zoey shrugged.
“Maybe that was the problem. Slow it down next time. I think it works both ways. You could have a real loser and think he's great, like your ex. Or someone who doesn't particularly
excite
you at first could be a diamond in the rough. My
mom
says she nearly broke up with my dad a month after they started dating. But her friends convinced her to give it some
time. They've been married
thirty years now. They still hold
hands when they walk together.”

Sh
e chewed on Zoey's sage words as her
hair was pulled, painted and finally pink
ed. Had she listened to Becky's advice to dump Dan weeks after they'd started dating, she'd have saved herself loads of grief. Next time, she'd pay more attention to advice.

“What do you think?
”
Zoey
stood behind
her
,
star
ing past her into the mirror.

“I love it. Thank you.
”
The bright
pink
highlights
gave her just the lift she was hoping. Since her diet was already ruined, a change to her hair would have to do.

After helping with the cleanup,
sh
e drove home, checking out her new look in
her
rearview mirror at every red light. She liked what she saw and felt good about herself for the first time in a long time. Having two men interested in her at once was also a boost to her self-esteem.

Minutes after she got home, she changed into yoga pants and a tank top, determined to start getting some exercise and tone up in anticipation of being naked with a man in the near future.

A
knock at the door caught her off guard.
She opened it to find Dan
there, staring down at her with those piercing b
rown
eyes.

No, no, no. I will not let myself fall for his great looks because he's an asshole. An asshole, do you hear?

But damn, he looked hot in his tight jeans.

“Hey,
”
he said as if it hadn't been months since he'd seen her.
“Looking good. I like the hair.
”
He tousled her curls.

Sh
e took a step back, stumbling over her
own feet
.

“Same old klutzy Renee.
”
He entered the apartment, closing the door behind him.
“Exercising, huh? That's new.
”

“Where do you think you're going?
”
She blocked him from going any deeper into the room.
“What do you want, Dan?”

“I wanted to see you. You didn't return my call, baby.
”
He smiled, tilting his head in that helpless way he had.
“That wasn't very nice.
”

She gritted her teeth.
“Why should I be nice to you? Yo
u never gave me that courtesy.”

“Place looks great. Is that a new vase?
”
He pointed across the room to her most recent antique shop find.
“Apple
…
here girl. Here kitty.”

The little traitor came dashing in, rubbing against him like he was her long lost best pal. Dan bent to pet her.
“I see someone around here misses me.
”
He glanced up at Renee like a little lost puppy
and she noticed the red in his eyes
.
He’d been drinking.

“She'd rub against the devil himself if she thought he'd scratch her behind her ears.
”
She folded her arms over her chest.
“So, where's Bunny tonight?
”

“It's Bonnie. I don't want to talk about her. I want to talk about you
. How are things at the salon?”

Okay, safe ground. That was good.
“They're fine. We're going to hire more hairdressers soon. Maybe even a receptionist.
”
She planted her hands on her hips, eager to let him know she was doing
great
without him.

He
stood, six feet of sexy, hot male. And she was more sex-starved than she'd ever been. He looked her over from head t
o toe before meeting her gaze.
“You look great in those clingy pa
nts. You've got a hot ass, girl
.
I always loved that about you.
”
His eyes were hooded, his lips curled into a seductive grin.

Her face
burned
. She knew he could see it. She always gave herself away.

He
took a step closer.
So close she could feel the heat of his body and the masculine scent she knew so well.
But she stood her ground, fighting her instincts to
touch him
. She couldn't. Would
his hold
on her ever go away? “One thing we a
lways had was the best sex ever. You know it and I know it.”

She
shov
ed him back.
“I can't do this, Dan.”

“You can't
not
do it. I dream about it, Renee. It was
that good between
you and me. You know it was.
”
His hands were on her, rubbing her
shoulders
, her neck, cradling her breast.
It had been so long since anyone touched her there. The need
was unbearable.

Then his mouth covered hers and she was grasping bunches of his shirt, her nails nearly poking through it. No use fighting, he pulled her like a magnet pulls metal. They sank to their knees together, hands exploring, the comfort and familiarity of the burning heat they used to
share
gripped her
so hard
.

She pulled his shirt over his head
then he
snaked his hands under hers, guiding it upward. Her body was electrified by his every touch. Squeezing her bottom, he pulled
her
closer to his ready erection.