Inked in the Steel City Series(56)

For someone who looked like sin in rolled-up shirtsleeves, he was surprisingly conservative.

But he didn’t say anything to the waitress. Instead, he looked directly into Karen’s eyes. “I have a gift for Karen, too.”

Karen’s heart launched itself into a series of cartwheels. He had a gift for her? Seriously?

He reached under his chair and retrieved a giftwrapped box a third of the size of the one Mina had given her. It was wrapped too, in teal paper, no ribbon. She willed her hand to stay steady as she reached across the table, accepting it.

Jed’s fingertips brushed hers, sparking an electric sensation that raced throughout her entire body. “Thanks. You really didn’t have to get me anything. I…” She hadn’t gotten him a gift. She hadn’t dared, even after she’d discovered that he shared her birthday.

She broke eye contact, staring intently at the gift instead as she peeled back the wrapping paper. Even it was masculine – the deep blue-green color suited Jed. Heck, the same color was visible on his skin, in some places – all sorts of colors were, thanks to his tattoos.

After divesting the box of its wrappings, she lifted its lid, revealing something blue. A soft shade of blue – a lot like the blue in her new sweater, actually – with golden embellishments.

It was a camera strap. She lifted it, unfolded it and ran it through her fingers. It was sturdy but beautiful, definitely not cheap. She’d admired some like it online just the week before, but hadn’t been able to bring herself to shell out the cash. A little tag near one end confirmed that it was the trendy brand she’d been lusting after. The little golden fleur-de-lis designs that had been embroidered onto the strap looked even better in person than they had online.

“Wow, Jed. This is beautiful. I’ll definitely use it.”

Every. Single. Day. She’d use it even if she didn’t need it, and not just because it was so pretty.

“But you know, you really didn’t have to get me anything. Now I feel bad that I didn’t get you a gift.”

He shrugged, his broad shoulders straining the dark fabric of his ridiculously sexy shirt. “Don’t worry about it. I wanted to get you something – you’ve done so much for Hot Ink. You deserve a gift.” He motioned toward the camera strap. “You deserve a lot more than that, actually, but I saw it in a camera shop and thought it would look nice on you.”

Her cheeks burst into figurative flame as he held her gaze, eyes dark and more intense than his casual shrug.

“Thank you.” For once, she didn’t ramble or babble. No other words came as she lowered the strap back into its box, carefully replacing the tissue paper.

Time flew after that – each moment Karen spent trying not to stare at Jed seemed to take forever, but when she slipped up and caught his eye, the evening seemed to melt away in fleeting hours instead of minutes.

Eventually Mina and Eric rose to leave, along with Jess and Blake, saying something about the kids having some sort of extracurricular weekend trip related to their school’s art club starting the next morning.

Karen nodded, smiled, hugged Mina and thanked her again for the sweater, butterflies fluttering in the pit of her stomach all the while. Jed wasn’t making any move to leave, and neither were the others from Hot Ink. In fact, they’d just ordered another round of drinks.

“Have a great rest of the night,” Mina whispered in Karen’s ear, leaning back with the tiniest of winks.

“You’ve gotten downright evil lately, you know that?” Karen whispered back, careful to keep her voice low. “I can’t believe you’re leaving me.”

“Eric and I both volunteered to chaperone the art club’s summertime weekend trip, and that means getting up at five tomorrow morning. Obviously, the others aren’t ready to call it a night yet. You’ll have fun without us – you’re among friends.”

“They’re your co-workers, not mine. I don’t know any of the others half as well as I know Jed.”

Mina’s smile broadened. “So talk to Jed. See you, Karen. I’ll give you a call and let you know how the trip goes.”

“You do that,” Karen said, fighting a fit of nervous laughter as she watched her friend leave, waving until she could no longer do so without looking like a weirdo.

Cheeks still blazing, she finally turned around.

“For the birthday girl.” Abby pressed a shot glass into Karen’s hand.

“What is it?” Karen asked, staring down into the shallow depths of the shot glass. A furtive glance around the table revealed several sets of hands clutching the little cups, all of them full of the same greenish mixture.