When hair stylist Jai Hathaway decided to open his own salon, he knew he would sacrifice some of his personal time to run the business. But long hours working late have him feeling lonely, and he just doesn't seem to connect with the few men he dates. His business partner Kiki suggests what he needs is to find a different type of guy, someone who isn't in the salon business, but not only does Jai not know how to find a guy like that, he isn't even sure where to look.<br><br>On a particularly cold morning in January, the salon's hot water goes out and Jai scrambles to find a plumber on short notice. Enter Duane Schneider, sexy and confident, and interested in getting more than just Jai's hot water boiling. But he's so outside Jai's comfort zone that, at first, the stylist isn't sure how to react. When it becomes obvious Duane wants to continue things outside of business hours, though, Jai agrees to a date, if only to see where the evening might lead.<br><br>Is Kiki right when she said Jai needed to find someone different? Or will Duane turn out to be just his style after all?

Just My Style

God, this weather sucks!Why’s he stay here anyway? Why does anyone? Nine degrees is insane. Jai wants to be on a sunny beach somewhere—Florida, perhaps, or maybe California. Or hell, if he’s going to dream, he might as well go big or go home—Hawaii, or Bora Bora, or Tahiti. Somewhere the weather never drops below seventy. Somewhere January doesn’t exist.


When he reaches the Starbucks, he’s tempted to duck inside to grab another cup of something hot enough to warm him up from the inside out, but he doesn’t want to keep the plumber waiting. For all he knows, the guy will leave and then the salon will lose not just a morning’s business but the whole day. Or worse, the whole weekend, if Jai can’t get anyone else back out until Monday. So he takes the corner and turns his face away from the wind that threatens to steal his breath as he hurries down the street.


“Shit!” he mutters out loud. “Kiki, girl, you oweme.”


Though really, wasn’t switching days his idea?


Chapter 9