Kory wondered if it was because of the pain—maybe he could only handle so much. She knew that would be her problem…if and when she ever got the guts to be tattooed.
She felt her phone vibrate and she looked down at the screen. Ur not chickening out, are you?
That stupid little text was flashing at her when she looked up to see Stone standing right in front of her. Oh, God, the man was jaw-dropping gorgeous. “Didn’t I just see you a few days ago? Did your last piercing get infected?”
She stood up, moving on instinct, and he tilted his head, trying to see the tragus he’d given her the week before. As though it were in slow motion, she watched him raise his hand and pull back her hair a little on the right side so he could see her ear. She felt as though she were on the verge of collapse, feeling the warmth of his hand right up against her face. “It looks okay to me,” he said.
It was a struggle, but she found her tongue. “What? No, the piercing’s great. Expert work, as always.” Oh, fuck. Did she sound as big a dumb ass to him as she did to her own ears? Get it over with! “I, uh…needed to ask you some questions.”
He considered her for a second. “Oh. Okay.” He nodded. “We can go in the back.” She would say one thing for Stone Bowman—he was patient as hell. She could almost sense Richie’s exasperation, but Stone acted like he had all the time in the world and he was happy to give it to her. Yeah, Richie could learn a thing or two about customer service.
Must. Not. Look. She really wanted to check out his ass, but she was glad she didn’t, because when he got to the door, he held it open for her, and she would have been caught gazing. She smiled and walked through, waiting for him to lead the way. “So what’s up?” he asked, pausing by the counter that held his tattoo supplies.
Kory’s mouth was dry. Somehow in the short time she’d had to wait, followed by the overabundance of nerves while he walked her in the back, her adrenaline supplies had depleted themselves, but not without first dumping all they had into her body. She felt jittery, like she’d had too much caffeine and no sleep. Her stomach was woozy and she was beginning to doubt she could ask her question.
She sucked in a deep breath. “Okay, so…” She swallowed, even though there was nothing in her mouth to force down her throat. “I really want to get a tattoo, but I’m afraid of that gun. Does it hurt really bad?”
She could almost hear Tina in her head, shouting at her. What the hell? That’s not what you were gonna ask him!
Stone shrugged. “Depends on your pain tolerance.” He had a sly grin on his face. “You seem to have a high one, and I have a hard time believing you’re afraid of my gun. How many piercings do you have so far?”
Oh, he had no idea. She really was totally fucking afraid of needles and pokey things, and the piercing might have started out as a way to get past all that. Then her fascination with Stone had made it tolerable, but she hated the damn things. Really hated them. Really, when she thought about it, the tattoos might be easier to handle than all this pincushion torture she’d been putting herself through. She forced a laugh. “I don’t know. I lost count.”
He shook his head. “I think you could handle it just fine. What do you have in mind?”
She could still hear Tina in her head. Worse yet, Lacey’s voice was joining hers, and Kory didn’t want to seem like a wuss. That’s what she was, though, and after all that tough talk about being able to handle anything.
She spat it out. “I wondered if you’d want to go out with me sometime.”
Oh, holy hell. She’d actually said it.
And she couldn’t register Stone’s reaction to save her soul. He seemed taken aback a bit, but that was understandable, because he’d been waiting for her to talk about tattoos. Then he smiled. “Okay. What did you have in mind?” He said it just like he’d said it before when he’d asked what kind of tattoo she’d wanted. That was what convinced her he was just toying with her.
Oh, shit. But was he maybe actually considering it? “Oh, uh, I dunno…” She couldn’t ask him out for a drink, so she said so. “I, um, can’t go to the bar, but maybe, uh, pizza or…”
His eyes. They were lit up. Amused, maybe? Kory wasn’t sure. “Yeah. Pizza’s a great idea.”
“Yeah, sure, pizza.”
“Okay. When?”
Holy fucking shit. Was he really saying yes? “Oh, uh, yeah? You want to?”
His smile was huge. She didn’t think she’d ever seen a smile like that on his face. It was beautiful. “Yeah.”