Bella moved toward him, her hand extended. “My pleasure,” she purred. “So strong, so handsome. Josh is my favorite. After all, I’ve known him since he was a boy, but you… You come very close.”
Raoul shifted uncomfortably, then shook hands with the woman. “Ah, thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I’m ready for you.”
He leaned toward Pia. “You’re not leaving, are you?”
“No. I’m here to protect you.”
“Good.”
He was aware of every woman in the place watching him. He was used to attention, but it usually wasn’t so blatant.
Bella seated him in a chair and wrapped a plastic cape around him. Then she stood behind him, her hands on his shoulders, and met his gaze in the mirror.
“What would you like?”
“Just a trim,” Pia said, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “This is his first haircut in town.”
Bella smiled. “And you came to me.”
“Where else would we go?” Pia asked.
“Exactly.” Bella reached for a spray bottle and dampened his hair, then combed through it. “Are the two of you together?”
“No,” Pia said quickly.
“Yes,” Raoul insisted just as fast.
Bella raised her eyebrows. “You should probably get that part figured out.”
Pia looked at him. “We’re not dating.”
“We’re together.”
“Okay, but not in that way. Just because we’ve…” She stopped and glanced around, as if aware of everyone listening.
He’d been talking about him being her pregnancy buddy, but he realized she’d been thinking about their night together.
“Men,” she muttered, as she stalked off and started talking to one of the other hairdressers.
Bella combed and cut efficiently, her hands moving confidently. “So you like our Pia, do you?”
“Very much.”
Bella’s expression sharpened. “As a friend or more?”
“We’re friends.”
“Then you’re a fool.”
He held in a grin. He’d always enjoyed women who spoke their minds. “Why?”
“Pia is worth ten of whatever women you’ve been dating. She’s a good girl. Smart, caring, beautiful.”
He turned his head so he could see Pia in the mirror. She’d shrugged out of her coat and he could see the way her sweater clung to her curves. She laughed at something he couldn’t hear, but the sound of her amusement made him smile.
She was all Bella said and more. She had heart and character. No one knew about the embryos. She could have walked away from them, had them donated to science or simply thrown away. But none of the options had occurred to her. There weren’t a lot of people he admired, but she was one of them.
“What happened to her was sad,” Bella continued. “Losing her father that way, then having her mother run to Florida. There was Pia, in her senior year of high school, and she lost everything. She had to go into foster care.”
“I’d heard,” he murmured, wondering what kind of mother simply abandoned her kid without a second thought. The grief and loss could have drawn them closer together. Instead Pia had had to deal with all the crap on her own.
He found himself wanting to fix the problem—even though it had happened over a decade ago. Still, the need was there, to do something. To act.
“She’s had boyfriends, you know,” Bella announced.
“I’m sure she has.”
“They never stay. Poor girl. I don’t know what goes wrong, but they leave.”
Not a conversation he wanted to be having with Bella, he thought. His gaze once again returned to Pia. She’d had a difficult road and her life was about to get three times more complicated. Who was going to take care of her? Who would be there when she needed help?
He knew she had friends and they would help. The town would pull through. Fool’s Gold seemed like that kind of place. But on a day-to-day basis, Pia would be on her own.
He wondered if she’d thought that part through. If she knew what she was getting into. She turned and met his gaze in the mirror, then smiled. He winked at her and she returned her attention to her conversation.
He’d been in love twice in his life. He and his first girlfriend had grown apart, and Caro had betrayed every part of their marriage vows. He wasn’t looking to feel that way ever again. Not getting involved was safer. But there was still the reality of wanting a family—needing that connection. He couldn’t have one without the other. Or so he’d always believed.
“I CAN HEAR YOU,” Pia yelled through the closed bathroom door.
“I’m just sitting. There’s nothing to hear.”
Even so, she was sure there were noises. Or maybe the problem was there weren’t. Talk about pressure, she thought as she stood and pulled up her bikini panties and jeans. Is this what it was like to be a guy? Pure performance anxiety?
She opened the bathroom door.
“I can’t do this with you in the room,” she said, then held up a hand. “Don’t bother saying you’re not in the room. It’s practically the same thing.”
Raoul shook his head as he got to his feet and turned to face her. Laughter brightened his dark eyes. “Can’t stand the heat, huh?” he teased.