"Good Lord, that's adorable." Tyler squealed out.
Thankfully Kari spoke up to keep Tyler's filter from completely running wild. "That's our Grey, she's awesome. Well, did you want to come in and get the tour?"
"Grey already gave me the tour the other night, but I'd love to meet everyone."
Kari put her hands on her hips, while Tyler eyed me up and down with a look of admiration.
"Did she?" Kari asked. "Funny, I don't remember seeing you in our appointment book."
Stefan's composure never faltered a single moment.
"I stopped in right before close. Luckily Grey still managed to fix my hair before going home for the evening though. I had a ton of meetings that next day and my hair was completely unmanageable."
"Well, I'll bet she didn't mind squeezing you in." Tyler said with a smirk.
"Not at all. Come on Stefan, I'll introduce you to the others." I chimed in, taking hold of Stefan's sleeve, pulling him away from Tyler's big mouth. Stefan threw his arm around my neck, chuckling softly as he pressed his forehead against my temple.
"They making you nervous?" He joked.
I rolled my eyes, playfully shoving against his chest making him let out a laugh. He released me, just as we went through the doors. The second my foot stepped onto the tiled floor the atmosphere changed. The constant chatter seemed to come to a halt the instant the stylists and clients realized who had just walked in. My eyes cased the room and the mix of shock, amazement, and downright frustration-from Kacie's chair-met us. Looking away from all the others I focused my attention on Stefan. Once again he blew me away with the cool façade that stayed in place. An easy smile greeted them while he naturally commanded the room.
"Look who we found eating lunch outside in the parking lot?" Tyler announced, appearing behind us.
The buzz began all at once as the clients all called out to Stefan. Some said hi, a few got up and shook his hand-claiming to have his security system. Whatever the story was, they all tried relentlessly to capture his attention. Stefan handled it wonderfully, shaking each hand firmly. Always looking into the woman's eyes, holding their attention directly. I had to admit, he was made for this kind of work and it was mesmerizing to watching him interact. Of course, observing the naturally charming side that had all these women under his spell was swiftly making my blood boil.
Kacie left her chair and stood in front of Stefan with her hand out.
"Hi, I'm Kacie Brooks. I'm co-owner of Bella Donna, Grey's best friend and her maid of honor. It's great to meet you."
For years I had listened to Kacie go gaga over every picture or article of Stefan. Right now, though, it seemed she was more of a scorned lover than a longtime fan.
I saw pure amusement spark in his demeanor as he shook her hand. He understood the same thing I had. Kacie was showing her loyalty to me and Richard by letting Stefan know that she was watching him.
"Nice to meet you as well, Kacie."
"How did you two wind up getting together today?" She asked with a smile, as daggers shot from her eyes.
"Stefan just stopped by to join me for lunch." With the others I didn't know how to respond to their questions. With Kacie I felt the instinctual need to defend Stefan. She knew more about my past with him than the others. I knew she had every intention of watching over my shoulder to make sure I didn't slip up somehow. I loved my friend, but I hated the way she was treating me like a child.
"Just randomly?" Her smile never faltered as her eyes narrowed at me.
I shrugged casually. "Yeah, pretty much. Kari and Tyler thought it'd be fun to introduce Stefan to everyone in the salon."
"Well, welcome to Bella Donna. I'm sure you're busy and everything but we are so happy that you stopped by. You're more than welcome back anytime."
Stefan spoke up before I had a chance. "Thanks Kacie, I really appreciate that. Today though, I'm not all that busy anymore. So, there's nothing I'd love more than to hang around for a bit to get acquainted know Grey's work family."
I bit my lip to suppress the wicked grin of amusement from Stefan's response. Maybe he actually did have other plans today, but Kacie's not-so-subtle comments to get him out of here had worked in the opposite way. Stefan was never one to back down from a challenge, no matter the circumstance. In this case I knew all too well that he wanted to prove that I had been his first.
"We'd love you to stay!" Tyler blurted out.
Stefan whipped around and pointed to Tyler, nodding his head enthusiastically.