“Have a seat; she said, giving him a careful smile that welcomed, yet drew boundaries around that welcome She allowed herself to be a maxi s fantasy for the time he rested within her chair. Her customers seemed to understand the unspoken rules and she’d rarely had a problem with unwanted advances. Amber hadn’t yet perfected the technique, but Dallas was slowly teaching her.

The man hung his hat on a rack by the door and sat in the chair gingerly. He was probably the sort of guy who paid a bare minimum to a male barber whenever some woman heckled him into gettinga haircut. Dallas wondered why he was here. Maybe to settle a bet or prove he could handle anything. Dallas suspected he’d worked himself up to the experience, possibly even had a couple of drinks to bolster his courage.

She turned the chair to face the mirror. “I’ll need your name. “

He frowned. “Why?”

“For my files, so I can record what we did tonight. Then next time I’ll remember your preferences.” The subtle suggestion there would be a next time was one of her time-honored techniques for getting repeat business

“Gabe: He cleared his throat and looked slightly uncomfortable. “Gabe Escalante: ‘

“What a wonderful name: ‘

He made no response as she copied it onto an index card, but when she glanced into the mirror he’d composed his expression so that he once more resembled a haughty war nor prince from another age. She wondered again what had motivated him to come into her salon.

She accepted his reticence as a challenge. “Just relax ; she said, picking up the massage wand and running it across his shoulder blades. His facial expression didn’t change, but his muscles flexed uneasily beneath the soft shirt. Lots of muscles. “I’ll bet you work outdoors , she said.

“Some: ‘

Dallas smiled. The strong, silent type still existed, but she could usually break them down a lit8e during the time she had them in her chair. “Construction?” The vibrating wand was having an effect and the tense set of his shoulders eased a fraction. She imagined a softening of the flint like dark eyes.

“Not exactly.”

“The mines, then.” She moved the wand in a semicircle beneath his shoulder blades, working through the knots.

“Once upon a time.”

Dallas thought she heard him sigh, which told her she was making progress. Men who had a sensual experience in her salon always came back. She’d consider it a feather in her cap if she captured this stressed-out cowboy. “I have a brother who worked out at Duval. When the bottom dropped out of the copper market he was laid off, like a lot of miners .” Dallas flipped off the switch on the wand and laid it on the counter beside her. “Times are tough.”

“Not for everyone.” He sounded bitter, almost as though he were insinuating something.

Dallas wondered what he could be getting at but shrugged it off. She pulled a cape patter red to look like rawhide around him and lifted up his hair to snap it at his nape. He immediately freed his arms from under the cape and gripped the arms of the chair. He was back on guard, but she’d soon fix that.

She ran her fingers up through the back of his hair, lightly caressing his scalp. The texture was surprisingly silky. He had good volume. He’d take a styling cut well, if he’d let her experiment a little. “How much are we taking off tonight?”

That comment usually brought some harmless joking from her customers, but Gabe seemed at a loss for words. Some powerful energy radiated from him, though, coaxing her to stroke through his hair again,

although she had no professional reason to. “I’d recommend some layering, to show off that natural curl .”

The choked sound he made could have been laughter or distress.

Dallas chose to interpret it as laughter. She met his gaze in the mirror and smiled. “Okay, Gabe. I know you’re not used to this sort of place, but bear with me. You’ll be glad you did.”

The look he gave her was direct and strong, shocking her as if shed stepped from an air-conditioned building into the hot Arizona sunshine. She didn’t often meet a man with such a self-confident gaze. It was a quality she’d nurtured in herself, and for a moment she and Gabe seemed to understand each other perfectly , although no words were spoken. A man who could match her strength. She’d about given up finding one.

GABE STARED at the blond Amazon in the mirror and wondered what the hell he’d gotten himself into. This woman wasxi t at all what he d expected. She seemed so self-possessed and sure of herself he couldn’t picture her stooping to consort with the likes of Parnell. But she d said times were tough, and she was trying to keep a business going. Maybe Parnell had offered her financial help.

It became more difficult to think straight with every moment in this chair. He’d been on a plane for thirty six hours in an attempt to get back to Tucson for at least some of the trial, only to arrive at the courthouse after it was all over. That would work to his advantage because neither Pameil nor this woman could tie him to

Celia. But he hadn’t taken a break since leaving Celia at the courthouse. He was jet-lagged and emotionally whipped. He looked away from the mirror before Dallas could see any vulnerability in his gaze.

“I’m going to tilt you back, so I can shampoo and condition your hair; she said in that sultry voice of hers.

“You doxi t have to do that.”

“It’s part of what you pay for, Gabe.” She moved a lever and he didn’t have much choice except to lean back. Sheslipped a soft towel under his neck to cushion the porcelain basin. “I’ll bet you’re a man who likes to get his money’s worth.”

Well, she had that right. And his tax money hadn’t bought him much when it came to putting away a slimeball like Parnell. He’d better concentrate on why he was lounging in this fancy excuse for a barber shop. Except concentrating wasn’t easy when she ran warm water over his scalp and massaged something creamy into his hair. Nobody had washed his hair since… he couldn’t remember. When he was a little kid on the ranch, maybe, except that had probably been in a horse trough, and designed for efficiency, not pleasure.

And pleasure described what Dallas was giving him. His eyes refused to stay open as her clever fingers worked the lather through in long, kneading motions that nearly made him groan with delight. She leaned over him, her breasts tantalizingly close, her lush perfume filling his nostrils. And he’d wondered why men subjected themselves to this.

The running water subdued the sounds of country music, the voices from the bar and the crack of a cue ball on the tables nearby until they were nothing but inconsequential background noise. Gabe was totally immersed in the experience of having this woman minister to him. She d stopped talking, and for the life of him he couldn’t summon the energy to speak.

Warm water sluiced through his hair, followed by a caressing motion of her hand. To his disappointment she turned off the water, but she rubbed his wet hair with long, languorous strokes of the towel, and the mood remained.

“That’s better, she” murmured. “I’ll lever you back up now. “

As she raised the chair he opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the damned flowers. The sensuous haze evaporated as he stared at them. She must have noticed his gaze because she swiveled him toward the mirror with more vigor than he thought necessary. She didn’t want him focusing on those flowers. Guilty conscience , perhaps?

He glanced in the mirror, but she was busy choosinga comb from the sterilizing jar on the counter. Or maybe she didn’t want to look at him right now. The party, sweet though it might have been, was over. Time for him to do a little questioning of his own.

“Will you let me use my own judgment on the style?” she asked as she combed his damp hair back from his forehead.

“Sure: ‘

“Good. I think you’ll like the results.”

He decided to go for the jugular. “Is Neal Parnell one of your regular customers?” ,

She froze in mid-motion. Then she began studiously snipping at his hair. “No. Why do you ask?”

“I saw him in here a while ago.”

“Yes.” Her voice had lost its soothing texture. Such a pity.

“I wouldn’t think having him hang around would be very good for business.”

“He can go wherever he wants.” Her snipping became more vigorous. “He s an innocent man: ‘

“So the jury said.”

She stopped snipping and glared at hirxi in the mirror’ Were you at the trial?”

“Got there after it was over, unfortunately. But someone pointed you out as the foreperson.”

Her chin went up a notch. “That’s right: ‘

He jerked a thumb back toward the vase of roses. “Nice flowers .”

She laid down the scissors and the comb. “Just what are you implying, Mr. Escalante?”

He’d meant to be more subtle, but exhaustion pushed him toward the accusation he’d been restraining for hours. “No implication. The plain truth. You turned a rapist loose. “

“That’s not true!”

“Oh, yes, it is .” He wrenched off the cape, scattering hair, and pushed himself out of the chair. “And for a little reward, he sends you flowers. What else has Neal

Parnell done for you lately, Miss Dallas?”

Her face went dead white and she began to tremble.

“Get out of my shop .”

“Sure thing.” He pulled money from his wallet and threw it on the counter. Then he snatched his hat from the rack. “But justice is a hobby of mine. And I’m not going away ,

DALLAS DIDN’T MOVE as Gabe stormed out of the shop. Then she grabbed a broom and began furiously sweeping the bits of dark hair that had scattered when Gabe pulled off the cape.

“Dallas?”

She looked up to find Dave Fogarty, operator of the old-time photography concession, standing in the doorway.

“Did that fellow cause a problem?”

Dallas gripped the broom handle and took a deep breath. “No .”

Dave stroked his full gray beard. “I’ve never seen anybody take off like that from your shop. Usually they leave looking sort of dazed:

‘


“I ordered him out.”

Amber hurried in, carrying a half-full mug of coffee that she nearly spilled in her haste. “You did what? Did he try to hit on you or something?”

“No : More in control now, Dallas took the dustpan from a corner and swept the snippets of dark hair into it.

“Hey, Dallas; Dave said. “I’ve been running the shop across from yours for eighteen months, and I’ve never known you to throw somebody out. What did he do?”

Dallas dumped the contents of the dustpan in the trash and faced them. “He accused me of having some underhanded deal with Parnell, of somehow rigging the trial .”

Amber gasped. “Oh, wow. He’s lucky he didn’t go out of here looking like van Gogh.”

“I considered aiming the scissors a bit lower than that .”

Dave adjusted his gray Stetson down over his eyes. “He’s at the bar. Maybe I’ll go have a little talk with him.”

“No, please.” Dallas picked up the cape from the floor and folded it. “Let’s not make this into a bigger deal than it is .”

“That darn Parnell would have to come in here.” Amber glanced nervously at the vase of roses. “I suppose the guy figured out about the flowers, too.”

Dave’s eyebrows rose. “Parnell sent you those?”

“Unfortunately. He has some idea that as foreperson of the jury I deserve his gratitude.”

“That’s not all he thinks you deserve, Amber said. “He’s developed a crush on you, Dallas. I watched him while I was eating dinner, and in between dances he kept looking over at the shop.” She turned to Dave. “He invited her to dinner at the Tack Room: ‘

Dave let out a low whistle.

“She declined.”

“That’s good.” Dave glanced back at his studio where a couple lingered, looking at the sepia-toned photographs on display. “I’d better get back, but I’ll keep an eye on you over here. If either of those clowns pester you again, I’ll drop by.”

“Thanks, Dave.”

Amber put down her coffee and started toward the roses. “Maybe I’d better take those out to my car before they cause any more trouble.”

“Wait. I know I promised them to you, but I’d appreciate it if you d leave them here, after all.”

“You want these flowers?”

“No, but I refuse to be intimidated by that son of a bitch.” Dallas glared out the door of the shop. “Those roses are staying until they wilt. Just let him try and make something out of it!”

Gabe new he’d screwed up. He sat at the bar where he had a view of the Cutting Pen and nursed a beer. Alcohol probably wasn’t such a great idea, either, but the crisp bite of the ice-cold liquid fit the bill right now.