Kory had no doubts she would be, because Stone was incredible.
She also saw Russ on the other side of the work area, tattooing a guy’s arm. She imagined the energy back there was great today.
She hoped Stone didn’t have another appointment booked for a while so she could talk to him for a little bit. She didn’t want to interrupt his work, but she needed to check in with him. He was insisting of late that he pick her up, no matter how late she got off…and then they would likely spend some naked time together after. She had studying to do, but she hoped she could get some of it done at work and then maybe in the morning too, but she wanted to make plans to spend some time with her man.
As she was finishing looking through the t-shirts on that particular rack, she moved to the one next to it, because it looked like it had some clothes on it that she hadn’t noticed before. In a few more minutes, her heart soared, because she heard Stone’s voice as he and the women exited from the back and over to the counter. Richie was ringing up the customer who’d been there to buy jewelry, so Stone was chatting with the women, talking about tattoo aftercare, just like she’d heard him do dozens of times before.
The blonde she’d seen getting the new shoulder tattoo wrapped her arms around one of Stone’s, giggling. “Oh, Mal, you are the best tattoo artist on the planet.”
Kory felt her smile fade when she saw the other woman take his other arm in the same fashion. She never would have thought herself to be the jealous type—and still didn’t feel that she was—but something about the way those women were laying claim to her boyfriend was pissing her off.
Stone seemed to be politely blowing them off, but he wasn’t removing their arms and he was laughing and joking with them. When Richie turned his attention to them, Stone began telling him what additional charges the cashier needed to ring up for the woman. “Oh, Mal, you know I’d be happy to make other payment arrangements.”
Richie started to laugh and said, “We don’t have a button on the register for that.”
Kory could hardly believe her ears. The woman continued. “You know Mona and I have dated the same guy at once, right? Are you into that kind of thing?”
Richie’s caterpillar eyebrows jumped halfway up his forehead, and Kory only noticed because he’d tossed his long bangs to the side once more. She half expected him to look her way, because no one else had seemed to notice she was there. Maybe he’d forgotten too.
She decided she couldn’t stay and watch these women paw the man she’d fallen in love with. If things progressed, she didn’t want to see it. As she started moving, she heard him say, “You are beautiful ladies. Thanks for the offer. But I’m pretty serious about someone else right now.”
Had he said that because Richie tipped him off? It didn’t matter. She had to leave and maybe they could talk about it later. As she picked her backpack up off the couch, she heard one of the women say, “She doesn’t have to know.”
Kory refused to look toward that side of the shop, instead focusing her eyes on the front door, and she walked straight for it. She heard Stone force a laugh but then he said, “Speak of the devil, there’s the woman of my heart.” She blinked but kept walking, even while she heard his boots on the wooden floor as he got closer to her. “Kory.”
She wasn’t the crying type. Never had been, even though she had awakened crying so many times in the past, it wasn’t even funny. Her history, her past had had that effect on her, but there was nothing—nothing—in her adult life that she’d felt was worth crying over.
Even the perfect man.
The perfect man who somehow understood her through and through.
The best guy ever who’d seemed to love her back, but now, seeing him with the bleach blonde with ultra white teeth and sculpted boobs made her doubt he could ever see her like he no doubt saw those women. Kory could never compare, so why even try?
She wasn’t crying now…but, for some reason, she could feel the sense of it stinging her nose, her eyes. Her heart. It was clenching in her chest cavity, aching for something it should never have wanted in the first place.
She felt Stone’s hand wrap around her arm and she turned in response. “Kory. Where are you going? I didn’t even know you were here.”
She heard the blonde say, “That’s his girlfriend?”
Yeah…Kory had been right. Those women knew she was no competition for them. “I have to go,” she said, her voice so quiet she doubted he could hear her. He could see her face, though, and he had to know she meant business.
He let her go, but as she tugged the glass door toward her, she heard him say, “Yeah, that’s my girlfriend.”