Buck and Chad had long since left The Dancing Pony with the beauty queen lodged between them. It had given Jayne pause whenever the woman had walked up to the table and started talking to Seth. She was undeniably gorgeous, but Seth had seemed to pay her no mind until he’d finally risen from their table and come to claim her from Buck.
“Would you like a drink?” Seth asked as they moved slowly on the dance floor.
“No, I think I’m done.” Wanting to keep her wits about her, she’d only had one mixed drink earlier in the evening and drank sodas the rest of the night. She’d noticed Seth had only had a couple of beers and then switched to sodas when she did. Since he was driving her home she appreciated that.
The last of their friends had already departed, with the exception of Lily, Del, and Clay Cook, who looked like they were readying to leave as well. She smiled when Lily waved at her and made the “call me” signal with her thumb and pinkie. Lily was a recent addition to the group like Jayne was.
As “Dancing Away With My Heart” by Lady Antebellum ended, Seth gently kissed the top of her head. He led her back to their table and held her chair as she sat and then took the seat next to her.
Continuing their conversation from earlier, Jayne said, “Since you’ve come to Divine, how has your business been? Do you stay busy?”
Seth nodded. “Yes, in the tattoo business, word of mouth is the best advertising. I’ve got a lot of new customers and Divine is a nice town. I’ve felt very welcome.”
Jayne chuckled. “Yeah. Same here. I had the job lined up before I moved here, and Grace and her bunch adopted me from practically the moment I arrived.”
Seth had serious facial features, so his sudden smile nearly addled her. “Yeah. They do that, don’t they?” She wanted to see him smile some more.
Jayne could here Grace’s voice in her head. Seize the day, baby! You’ve earned the right.
Feeling brave, Jayne turned to him and asked, “Have you ever tattooed someone like…me?”
Seth tilted his head, and his eyes roamed over her face with a look of slight confusion. “Like you…how?”
Clasping her hands and trapping them between her knees, she scrunched up her shoulders. “Atypical for having a tattoo.”
Seth nodded. “Sure. I tattooed one of Divine’s elected officials and his wife last month and they were both in their seventies. That’s pretty atypical.”
Jayne was fairly sure her eyes bulged as she popped her hand over her mouth. “Woody and Charlene Porter had you tattoo them?”
Seth grimaced. “Crap. I thought my hint was vague enough that you wouldn’t know who I was talking about but clear enough to reassure you. Yeah, they did. Really nice people, too.”
“Okay, question then. How did Charlene take it?”
“She did great. Woody got his first and then she had hers done. They said it was something they’d always talked about doing but being in public life they’d never wanted to risk people gossiping about it. Woody told me he figured if he’d reached that age and was close to retiring, he could do whatever the hell he pleased.” Seth punctuated the last word with a nod, like he respected the local justice of the peace and his wife for it. Jayne was curious but out of respect didn’t ask where or what they had gotten tattooed.
“Do…do you think you’d be interested in tattooing me?”
Jayne watched his stoic face carefully and couldn’t pinpoint his emotions. “That depends on what you want done.”
Jayne sat back and looked up at him. “Actually, I hadn’t given it much thought. I think I assumed you’d tell me no because I don’t look like I could handle the pain.”
Believe me, I can.
He laid his hand open, palm facing up, on the table as though asking her to lay her forearm in it, which she did without hesitation. He brushed her short shirt sleeve up to her shoulder and then drew a couple of fingertips down her tender inner arm. His gaze was on her arm, and she was grateful he didn’t seem to notice the blush that was enflaming her cheeks or the fact that her nipples hardened visibly. His gentle touch sent a hot wave of awareness blazing through her core like an inferno, centering in her clit so that she could barely focus when he spoke.
“Because of your profession, I’d never agree to tattoo your arms or anything that might show beneath your work clothes. I think that your beautiful, creamy-white skin would be the ultimate canvas to work on.” He glanced up at her, his blue eyes looking so deep into hers that she thought he might be able to read her mind and know how aroused she was. “I’d design a tattoo for you that was one-of-a-kind and I’d never duplicate it on anyone else.”