She’d managed the sexual part, something she’d feared would be a hang up because of her past. It turned out that it had been the easy part. The emotional connectedness part—that’s where she’d had problems…and now that Stone had become a major part of her life, she was beginning to see all that she’d been missing.
She’d had an empty spot.
He was filling it, though, bit by bit and day by day. She was beginning to wonder how she’d ever managed without Stone, and she definitely didn’t want to imagine her life without him. He was becoming more important to her than air or water. She made sure she didn’t come across as desperate or needy…but Stone was definitely her rock. More than once, he’d told her she didn’t need to hide who she was from him. He loved who she was on the inside and he wanted to help her heal.
That was probably why she was spending more and more time at his house and with him at his shop. The only times she was staying at her apartment anymore were when she had to work a super-late shift—and the last time she’d done that, Stone had told her he was going to start picking her up anyway, because he worried about her. She’d threatened him, but she was beginning to think she liked the idea.
He’d made room in his closet, his dresser, and his bathroom cabinet for her. He’d begun buying her favorite kind of apple to keep in the fridge as a snack and getting her preferred shampoo and soap. He made sure to have all her favorite music on his iPod so she could listen to it while she studied…often in the room where he did his drawing. They would spend hours together listening to music working on their own things.
At first, she’d thought she was maybe at that point in her life where she would have started to fall for any guy…but no. She knew better than that. Stone was a special man—really special—and she didn’t know if maybe she had sensed that when she’d first met him or if she’d just lucked into lusting after the right one. She felt fortunate…for the first time in her life.
Well…that was until the day she rode her bike to The Iron Maiden after class, excited to see the guy who made her feel warm and gooey.
Outside had been hot and she was starting to perspire, but the cool air inside the shop felt good on her skin. She paused for a moment as her eyes adjusted from the brightness outside to the dark interior of the shop. She noticed Richie at the counter. He’d been doing something with one of the velvet-lined boxes of jewelry but had slid it back under the glass when Kory came in. He said, “Hi,” and—for the first time ever—Kory thought she saw the hint of a smile on his face. That made her want to try being friendly.
“Hey, Richie. What’s up?” She walked over toward the beige sofa.
“Not much. Stone’s doing a tat right now. Two chicks, matching ink. We got some new t-shirts in you might like.”
She placed her backpack on the sofa and turned to face him. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He walked out from behind the counter and showed her the rack. They usually carried a lot of Goth clothes, things Kory would never wear, and it was all overpriced anyway. T-shirts, though…she wouldn’t mind checking those out. “Don’t quote me, but I’d be surprised if Stone didn’t give you the employee discount on them if you wanted one or two.”
Kory hadn’t even thought of that, and she tried not to frown. “Oh, I wouldn’t expect a discount.” She probably couldn’t afford them with a discount anyway. She knew they charged a lot because of the quality but also because the people who came in their shop were willing to pay more.
Richie shrugged. “Just sayin’.” He walked back over to the counter and a woman walked in right after and began asking him to show her their jewelry for navel piercings. Kory started browsing through the t-shirts. As she read the designs on the tees, she thought to herself that the store definitely knew its demographic (or perceived demographic) and catered to it. Yeah, Kory knew plenty of straight-laced housewives and otherwise “ordinary” people got inked these days, but many of them expected a certain feel for a tattoo shop, and The Iron Maiden gave them what they were looking for. Kory doubted they sold much clothing at all, but the racks projected that image. The t-shirts fit right in—skulls, Harley-Davidson, Goth imagery, and the like.
While she continued looking through the shirts, she stole another glance into the back of the shop and saw Stone hard at work, his gun pressed against a woman’s back. Another woman stood on the other side, hovering, as though she were watching to make sure nothing was messed up. Well, no, he must have been finishing up, because he backed off, wiping at her skin with his cloth a few more times. Kory could imagine what was being said, but she could tell the standing friend was saying she liked it and the woman being tattooed got up so she could look in the mirror behind her to see if she was happy.