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Chapter 9

Lily et to the Mane Attraction at nine am on the dot, half an hour earlier than her official start time She liked to be prepared Unlike, say, how it felt to run into Aidan again Nope, she was as unprepared for that as one could get …

The salon was located in the bottoe at the resort, next to an equipment rental and sales shop The place itself was s nevertheless There was one client roo else was done out in the main room of the salon

In other words, no real privacy

"Not what you’re used to, I’h The place was nothing like Lily was used to In San Diego they’d had 10,000 fabulous square feet, every inch designed to soothe and calm and rejuvenate the spirit

They’d been a five-star salon and proud as hell of it

Jonathan gestured to the three hair stations "Pick your spot"

Pick her spot? "Don’t you havein?" she asked

"Today it’s just you and hed "Cassandra’s not supposed to be on her feet foranymore until after she pops And then there’s my part-timers, Terika and Rosa, but they’re not in today either"

"What days are they in?"

"Well¸" he said with a griht now"

"Why?"

"Soht, tooafter" He sighed "It’s complicated"

I bet "And Rosa?"

"She scares hed, but Jonathan didn’t "You serious?" she asked

"As a et at a nudist colony," he said

Lily shook her head and spent a fewher stuff all set up They shared a wash station, and everyone had to answer phones, since they didn’t have a receptionist Definitely not five star, but then again this wasn’t SoCal Needs here were different Things were si into the San Diego culture and lifestyle But the Rocky Mountain way of life came back to her in less than fifteen minutes The lack of fake niceties, the laid-back atmosphere … all of it

It took her about five more minutes to realize that the Mane Attraction needed so, new equipment, and a better system all around