Rowdy(44)

My client wanted a massive Claddagh heart and entwined hands on her back with a bunch of intricate roses all along the bottom. It was a huge piece that was going to take multiple sessions. It was a neat design that I was pretty proud of. I just hoped the girl was tough enough to sit through the entire outline, which was bound to take at least four hours.

Since the design covered most of her back, she had to get topless. A situation that could be awkward and a little weird if the client was an exhibitionist or angling for more than just ink from an artist. Luckily this girl was a pro and put her hoodie on backward and settled into the chair like a champ. I told her I appreciated her attitude and the fact she wasn’t trying to flash me.

The girl laughed and told me if she was going to be flashing anyone in the hopes of getting a number, it would be Salem, which had me laughing so hard I had to take a second to collect myself before putting any ink to her waiting skin. Salem turned around from the desk to give us a questioning look, which had me rolling all over again. I winked at her and she scowled at me before she turned back to the client she was talking appointments and designs with.

“She’s really something.” The girl sounded wistful and it made me smile.

“She is.”

“I liked the other one, too. The mouthy blonde, but the new girl seems a little easier to handle.”

I grunted and held my breath as I traced a particularly long line along her ribs. I knew it had to hurt but the girl didn’t even flinch.

“Easier is relative. I think they were kind of hatched from the same egg.”

“She doesn’t happen to like girls, does she?”

God, I hoped not. “Not that I’m aware of.”

The girl hissed out a sharp sound as I put the ink on her spine right at the base of her neck.

“That’s a bummer. She probably likes you. Am I right?”

I paused in what I was doing for a second and looked up to see that Salem was watching me. I grinned at her and saw a hot red flush rush into her cheeks. Busted. At least I wasn’t the only one daydreaming about what it was like when we got naked and tangled up together.

“We go way back.”

“You look like you belong together.”

We did? I didn’t know anything about that, but I didn’t hate the idea and we had always sort of been a matched set, so I just murmured my nonreply and settled in to do some serious tattoo work.

I WAS IN THE MIDDLE of trying to pick my place up and make it look less like a bachelor crash pad when I heard a knock on the door and Jimbo yip from the other side. Not having empty beer cans and fast-food containers littering every surface was going to have to pass as clean.

My place was pretty basic guy fare. Big leather couch, bigger flat-screen TV, and a fridge that was stocked with Coors Light and that was about it. It would never be considered homey, but most of my overnight guests I didn’t want to stick around for too long anyways, so it worked for me.

I pulled the door open and the little dog lunged at me. I wasn’t ready for him, so his fuzzy body hit the floor with a thud that made Salem gasp. I was going to pick him up and check him over to make sure he was all right when he scrambled to all fours and took off to explore the new place with his nose to the ground.

Salem shook her head at him and handed me the dog bowls and bag of dog food she had carted over. A little thrill raced across my skin that she had heeded my warning about not letting her go back to her place. She had brought enough stuff to keep Jimbo comfortable for the night.

“You can’t get mad if he pees on any of your stuff. He isn’t housebroken all the way yet.”

She waltzed past me with a flip of her hair and my eyes zeroed in on the fact she had a very short denim skirt on. It wasn’t what she had worn to work. Thank God. I could barely concentrate on my job as it was with her dressed in the formfitting outfits that she typically wore.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine. I don’t really have much for him to get into.”

As I said it, her gaze wandered around the sparsely furnished space. She looked back at me with a frown.

“How long have you lived here?”

“Five years.” I’d moved in shortly after settling into Denver permanently, right after my apprenticeship with Phil was over and I was working full-time at the shop.

“Everything looks brand-new.”

I set Jimbo’s stuff down and filled the bowls with food and water. The black ball of fur came barreling down the hallway to inspect the goods when he heard the food hit the dish. He jumped on my legs until I gave his ears a scratch and I figured we were friends again and I was forgiven for doing such awesome and unspeakable things to his master.