Need Him (BxB)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"Did you get the picture? Of Ross?," I asked, feeling guilt in the pit of my stomach.

"Of course I did. Why?"

I shrugged. "No reason," I said weakly.

Nathan nudged me lightly. I lifted my face to look at him.

He took in a breath. "I'm not doing this just to be a jerk, okay? If I didn't get a bad vibe about your...friend," it looked like it pained him to say it, "then I wouldn't be imposing on him."

"I know," I whispered. "I know, Nathan."

"Good," he said. Then after a while, he looked over at me quickly and added. "Stop looking wounded about it. Everything's fine, I got it under control."

I released a small breath and allowed myself to believe him, that everything was going to fine.

When we arrived in front of a small beauty shop, I noticed that we were in the more sketchy part of town. Nathan unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to me.

"Before you ask," he said warningly. "The answer is no."

"You don't even know what I was going to ask!," I protested.

He arched a brow. "Were you not going to ask if you could come inside with me?"

I opened my mouth, but I stopped short, because he was right.

"Please," I pleaded.

He ran a hand over his hair, then, "No, little one, you'll just be standing there, there's no need for you to come."

I huffed, but I didn't give up. I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned fully to him. "I can help," I explained. "Maybe the last time you talked to the small businesses, you were missing something. It couldn't hurt to try, the boss doesn't care how we get the deals...he just wants them done, right? Let me try."

Nathan's eyebrows knitted together in consideration, then he threw his hands up in the air, helplessly. "Okay, kid. Let's see what you got," he responded with reluctance.

I smiled widely at him. He cut the engine and muttered something inaudible.

I leaped out of the Jeep and kept the smile I had on. Once we were at the door of the beauty shop, Nathan plastered one of his rare smiles on his lips. The dashing one.

It was showtime.

Nathan held the door open for me. Once we were inside, my attention fell on the short, portly women at the counter. She beamed at the sight of us.

"Good afternoon, boys," she said. "Can I help you find something?"

"Hi," I piped up. "Is the owner here?"

Her expression became slightly uneasy as her attention drifted to the tattoos on Nathan's hands, but she quickly recovered as she looked upon me again, smiling.

"I'm the owner," she replied. "My name's Katrina."

"I'm Presley," I said, mustering every ounce of maturity that I could find. I turned to Nathan. "And this-."

He held his hand out for her to shake. "I'm Nathan," he said, grinning. I could've swore I saw Katrina blush. "This is a great place you have here," Nathan continued, surveying her small shop.

Karina smiled bashfully. "Thank you, I try to keep it up, but with all the break-ins we have, especially on this part of town, it's hard to maintain the place," she said, looking around with a defeated look in her eyes.

Nathan glanced at me, his eyes lit up with the chance of an opportunity. He gave Katrina his full attention.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, resting his elbows against the counter. Watching Nathan, it was like seeing a teacher outside of school. The Nathan that was talking to this woman seemed compassionate, and someone that you could trust. He didn't seem hardened and avoidable. He looked normal, vulnerable.