Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 24154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
I turn my bike off and stand up. “No one is messing with you, Emily.”
She wants to argue with me, but she nods her head. “Okay, well, I appreciate you, but I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me.”
“Emily—” I start, but she’s shaking her head.
“Nope. It’s fine. I’m going to go.”
“Stay,” I command. I step toward her. “I mean…” I point at the building behind us. “Stay, let me give you a tattoo.”
She looks at Heat & Ink. “What?”
I jut my chin at her. In my head, I’ve thought about tattooing her before, but I never thought it would be possible. But right now, I don’t want to let her go. “Let me mark you. You said you wanted a tattoo but didn’t know what to get.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “I still don’t know what I would get.”
“I know what I would give you.”
That makes her curious. She takes a step toward me. “You know what tattoo I should get?”
I nod. Hell, I know exactly what I want to put on her.
She tilts her head. “What?”
I hold a hand out to her. “Trust me?”
“Really? You going there… again?”
I reach for her this time. “Let me give you a tattoo.”
She nods and puts her hand in mine, and I let out a breath. Maybe, just maybe, I can make this right.
CHAPTER 12
EMILY
I should march right out of here.
I should walk away and not turn back.
Jack has been upfront and honest this whole time. He said nothing could come of us, and I should have believed him.
But even knowing that, I can’t bring myself to do it.
It’s not just an attraction. It’s so much more. And no matter what I want to do, I can’t fight it. I can’t just walk away from him.
So now here I sit, waiting for him to stick me with a hundred needles like some lovesick fool.
“Is it going to hurt?” I ask him.
“Not too bad.”
I grimace. I hate pain. “Okay.”
He lifts the tattoo gun. “Do you want to know what I’m putting on you?”
I lay back. “Nope.”
I’m half afraid I’m going to chicken out, so I close my eyes and let him do his worst.
“Shirt off.”
I open one eye to look at him. “Excuse me?”
He laughs. “Shirt off. I’m going to tattoo your rib cage.”
I roll my eyes at that one. “You mean my roll of fat.”
He squeezes my thigh. “Don’t say that. You’re perfect.”
I lift my shirt up to expose my rib cage, but that’s not enough for him.
“All the way off.”
I grit my teeth and pull my shirt off over my head and then lean back. He starts cleaning the area, and my traitorous nipples pebble from his touch. There’s no way my bra is hiding my reaction, and I try to make up excuses for it. “It’s cold here.”
As soon as I say it, I slam my mouth shut. He sees right through me. He knows what his touch does to me. There’s no hiding it.
His voice is soothing. “The sound is going to bother you more than anything.”
I lie back. “Go ahead. I’m fine.”
At least I’ll have something to remember him by since he’s determined we can’t be together. I flinch at the sound of the gun coming on, and there’s a sting at my side. I clench my eyes shut and sit tensely.
“Breathe, baby,” Jack tells me.
I take in a deep breath and let it out slowly. It helps, but I don’t open my eyes because I don’t want to see it.
I breathe through it, and my side seems to numb with each passing minute.
I’m not sure how long I sit here, but it doesn’t seem long before he turns the tattoo gun off. “All set.”
He avoids my gaze, and it kills me not to look down and see what he did. I watch as he cleans up his equipment and puts his things away, soaking up my last minutes with him.
I reluctantly put on my shirt. “Okay, well, I’m going to go.”
He looks at me, and it’s obvious he has something to say. I’m hoping he stops me, begs me to stay, and then tells me he loves me, but he does none of those things. “Let me lock up.”
I nod and walk to the front of the shop. We go out, and he walks me to my car. Nothing is said in the short distance, and even though my head is filled with all kinds of things, I don’t say any of them. He opens my door, and I sit down. He leans over, and I hold my breath, waiting for something… anything from him. “Drive safe.”
I nod, not trusting myself to say anything.
He shuts my door, and I waste no time starting my car and pulling away.
I get down the block when I see the single headlight behind me. I wipe at the stupid tear that escaped my eye and keep looking in the rearview mirror. As I drive across town and the bike behind me makes every turn I make, I know it’s him. He must be making sure I get home okay.