With a firm tug, Arabella Vanderbilt was pulled into Joel Russo's embrace.
"Hey—"
Arabella propped herself against his shoulder, looking slightly flustered.
"Don't move."
Joel Russo's voice had been husky from the beginning and now, being so close, she could even hear the dryness in it.
She didn't move again.
The hair dryer was turned on; its sound was quiet. Russo tested the temperature with his hand before the vent and, looking at the woman in his arms who kept her head low, the corners of his lips curved in a slight smirk.
His fingers gently approached her scalp, and he could feel the woman in his arms trembling slightly.
He rubbed her soft hair, letting the warm breeze pass through her tresses and between his fingers.
It seemed like a long time had passed as Russo patiently stroked her hair.
Once her hair became loose and fluffy, Russo turned off the hair dryer, and there was no more sound in the room.
