Bon Bon Beauty (Plus Size Romance 3) Read Free

trailer to pay for her mama’s funeral before moving in with the woman who had been Starla’s very first customer—Wavalee Tisdale. The much older woman had been a beacon of light and optimism during Saffron’s darkest days.   Wavalee even co-signed the loan with her to buy the Bon Bon Beauty Parlor.
    Saffron shook her head and smiled, recalling the exchange between Wavalee and Parker—the most handsome man ever to walk the earth.  The only man to seize all her senses at once.  A man she hadn’t been able to get out of her mind for the last week.  Every time the door to the beauty parlor opened, her heart would palpitate with the hope that he had come back to check on her. She knew it was a silly fantasy, but it was one she couldn’t help but entertain. 
    He had been on her mind constantly, and she longed to see him again.  The attraction and intensity of heat between them had continued to warm her for the last seven days.  She ached to feel his arms about her, to hear his deep baritone voice, to look into his bedroom eyes.  Since there were hundreds of paramedics in Sparkle City, it was highly unlikely they would run into each other again.  Besides, it was foolish to think he had felt any of the electricity she had.
    During the past week, she had entertained many scenarios, all involving ways to see him again.  She imagined herself fake-fainting on the sidewalk outside the beauty parlor.  A Good Samaritan would whip out their cell phone and call for an ambulance.  Seeing as how things always work out perfectly in a fantasy, the sexy Parker Sloan would be on duty and come racing to her rescue.  Maybe he would be astride a white horse instead of driving a red ambulance.  She giggled at such an absurd prospect. 
    Saffron had even fancied herself in the role of detective—the savvy computer sort—who would use the tools of the internet to track his every movement.  With some careful planning and the element of good timing, she could conveniently show up wherever he happened to be.  Naturally, she would feign surprise, saying something witty like, “ Imagine this!  What’s a handsome heartthrob like you doing at a fish camp like this?”
    It was fun to dream but safer to keep things real.  Sighing deeply, Saffron vowed to deal with the loneliness the way she always had.  She would bury herself in her romance novels where every hunky hero in every book would become Parker Sloan.  It would have to be enough for now, maybe forever.  She wasn’t ready to entrust her heart to any man.  Her mama made that mistake and ended up dead.
    Just as she was getting to the good part—the place where the hero was declaring his undying love and perpetual passion—the phone rang.
    Glancing at the caller ID, she cursed.  Shit!
    Before Saffron could greet Wavalee, she started yakking a mile a minute.  “Lawd child, you better not have your nose stuck in a book.”
    Nearly jumping out of her skin, Saffron felt like a kid who’d been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.  Dropping the book like a hot potato, she straightened up and stuttered, “Uh—no, ma’am.  I’m just getting dressed.”
    She could hear the sound of suspicion in Wavalee’s voice.  “Well, you better be. You gonna be late if you don’t kick that butt into high gear.”
    “I know.  I’m on my way to McMillan Park right now,” Saffron said, hopping out of the bed.  She cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder while wrestling her way into a fresh T-shirt and pulling on her running shorts.
      “Alright then, but you be sure to eat some breakfast.  I can’t have you fainting and ruining this fundraiser.  The Sundowner wing of Barkingham Palace is counting on you.  You know how much those fur babies mean to me, especially that cuddly Sir Barksalot.  Now get moving!”
    She shoved her feet into a pair of running shoes just as Wavalee disconnected the call.
    How could Saffron forget about the charity cross-country