Love Me Tonight - Four Erotic Romance Stories for Valentine's Day - Boxed Set by Cassia Leo, Mimi Strong, Kandi Kayne, Catou Martine

became a part of the whole of her, back when she'd been whole.
    “It's time,” he said. “You'll leave here with platinum hair, and you're going to love me for it.”
    She could hardly argue with that, so she smiled, and the scissors flashed, and the hair fell away. It all just fell away.

    Perhaps it was a trick of the lights in the salon, but the new color did bring out gold flecks in Tessa's brown eyes. Andrew's touch had worked its manly magic as well, putting a natural blush on her cheeks. When she stood and walked to the counter to pay, she had to look down at her feet to keep her balance, as she could hardly feel them.
    As the receptionist processed the transaction, Andrew came and stood near them, looking less tall now that she was standing, but still strong and handsome.
    Something was different.
    He'd removed his wedding band. It had flashed all around her head, and there was no mistaking it was not on his hand now.
    “Tessa, I'd love to see how the color washes out,” he said.
    “I'm sure it'll be fine.” She tucked her wallet into her purse and pulled out her leather gloves, preparing for the January weather outside.
    “I usually have lunch at the diner across the street on Wednesdays. Perhaps you'll come by this week, so I can see you again.”
    “What time?” Her voice sounded high and shrill, and it seemed like everyone in the salon was listening, their movements in slow motion.
    Andrew tucked his hands into his pockets, shrugging his shoulders in adorable modesty. “One o'clock. After the lunch rush.”
    Tessa nodded. “Wednesday.”
    She turned on her suede boot heel and left the salon quickly, gloves loosely held in one hand.
    The cold winter air hit her like a sobering splash, and she walked quickly up the snow-covered sidewalk.
    At the end of the block, she remembered her car was parked in the opposite direction, so she circled all the way around the block rather than pass by the windows of the salon.

    The haircut was on Monday, and on Tuesday, Tessa worked a half-day at her job, where her new hair created a riot—or, as close to a riot as they'd ever had at the small library.
    Patrons and co-workers alike oohed and aahed and cooed and sighed over Tessa's short, bouncy blond locks.
    “You look like a news anchor,” said one woman with four children, all by different fathers. They were one of Tessa's favorite families, with more love than money, their cheerful faces a rainbow of cultures.
    The youngest, a gap-toothed boy named Huey, said, “You look like the lady on the bus bench,” referring to the town's highest-profile real estate agent.
    Their mother, an exhausted-but-positive woman named Heaven, gave Tessa a knowing look as they sorted through the kids' book choices at the counter. “So, who's the new man?” she asked.
    “I'll let you know when I meet him,” Tessa said, tight-lipped as ever.
    Heaven wouldn't leave the counter, though, so Tessa broke down and told her.
    It felt good to spill over, gushing all the details about the handsome hairdresser, the mysteriously-removed wedding band, and to hear back that everything Tessa felt was normal. Just normal. And also wonderful.
    “Sweet beginnings,” Heaven said. “How can a girl resist?”
    “I'm no girl!”
    Heaven looked her up and down, her gaze pausing on Tessa's freshly-painted fingernails, sporting color for the first time in a decade.
    With a wry smile, Heaven said, “If you feel like a teenage girl, then that's what you are. When we're kids, we work so hard to grow up, to get to that place where we have all the answers, but it doesn't exist. That place is no more real than the leprechaun at the end of rainbows.”
    “I thought I had the answers,” Tessa said. “But now I don't even know what the questions are.”
    Heaven gathered up the books and stuffed them into canvas bags, her lips drawn into a serious line. “If you don't go meet him for lunch tomorrow, I will be crushed.” She held up her hand, showing her