Inked in the Steel City Series(16)

“This is the photo, Mina.” Karen danced back and forth on the balls of her feet, jostling the screen so that Mina was barely able to catch a glimpse of the image. “Thank you so much, you guys.” She danced away, and Mina turned to Eric, feeling the pull of his gaze like a magnet.



Her breath caught in her lungs when she met his eyes, and for a split second the air of intimacy flared up between them again and she thought he might reinitiate the kiss. He only extended his hand though, offering her the end of the length of silk, which had somehow become entangled in his grasp. A powerful flush heated her face as she looked at him standing there, the delicate material caught in his fist. It would only have taken half a moment and a minimum of effort on his part to pull her cover away, baring her from the waist up. The look in his eyes told her that his gaze would have fallen on much more than just the ink he’d put in her body if it hadn’t been for the silk.



She took it silently, and with one last lingering gaze, he pulled away from her, putting space between their bodies for what seemed like the first time in hours. Suppressing a sigh, Mina drifted to where she’d draped her top across the back of the computer chair and pulled it on. When she cast a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw that Eric was still facing the background, presumably waiting for his hard-on to subside. The set of his shoulders was tense, his muscles tight and defined beneath the ink. She felt just the opposite – as if she might melt into a puddle on the floor at any moment.



“I can’t believe how well these images turned out. I’ve never been so happy with the results of a shoot. We have to celebrate.”



Mina allowed her thoughts to return to the land of the ordinary as Karen turned to her, beaming. No, more than just beaming – glowing. She had that luminous look people always talked about pregnant women getting. “Let’s all grab something to eat. My treat.”



“I don’t know, Karen. Jess is waiting for me at home. I told her I’d be back in a couple hours.”



Karen waved away Mina’s objection. “Why don’t you swing by your apartment and grab Jess? It’s on the way to Ruby’s anyway.”



Ruby’s Bar & Grill was where Karen waited tables four nights a week, and she received a generous employee discount that she sometimes shared with Mina and Jess.



“You know Jess loves the fries,” Karen said. She’d been friends with Mina for years and knew that the easiest way to get her to agree to something was to take advantage of her feelings for her little sister.



It was true. Jess loved the fries at Ruby’s. Mina also didn’t get to take her out as often as she wished she could afford to. Being wheelchair bound was tough enough for a fourteen year old – it was important to Mina to do whatever was within her power to make sure Jess had as normal a childhood as she could give her. “All right. I’ll call Jess and tell her I’m coming for her.”



“Eric, you’ll come too, won’t you?”



Mina’s heart skipped a beat as Karen asked the question she hadn’t dared to. As she dialed, she breathed a little quicker as she waited for his answer.



“Sure.”



“Mina?”



“Hey Jess.” She was aware of how breathy her voice sounded, but she couldn’t help it. “Would you like to grab something to eat at Ruby’s?”



Jess responded enthusiastically, and a twinge of guilt assaulted Mina. Jess had probably been bored to death stuck alone in the apartment on a Sunday afternoon. “All right. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”





Chapter 4





The fall air was crisp and fresh. Autumn was Mina’s second-favorite time of year, surpassed only by spring. Normally stepping out of the apartment and into the pleasant weather with Jess at her side would have put Mina in a good mood, but as she locked the door, her stomach churned in a fit of nervousness. In just a few minutes, she and Jess would arrive at Ruby’s, where Karen and Eric would be waiting for them.



Eric. Mina’s stomach flip-flopped as she tried to imagine what he’d think of her when he saw her arrive with Jess, who, in many ways, was more like a daughter to her than a sibling. Would he still see her as the girl he’d kissed in the studio, or the much older woman she felt like? Maybe he’d regret the kiss. Trying not to dwell on the possibility, she unlocked her car, helped Jess into a seat – she could stand, but only for short periods of time – and folded her wheelchair, stowing it away in the trunk. By the time she finished the routine she’d broken into a light sweat. Fortunately, she was stronger than she looked.