Her gaze moved between me and Lennox. “Something I can help you with?”
“Brady Lund. I have an appointment with Zorn.”
She finally smiled. “Lovely to meet you, Mr. Lund. I’m Tawny.” She offered her hand.
When I shook it, I felt the cool press of metal since she had rings on every finger.
“Before we head back to Zorn’s station, I want to go over the charges with you, so you don’t suffer from sticker shock.”
Then she went into a spiel about Zorn’s qualifications, awards and all that crap that justified the six-thousand-dollar price tag for a custom image and for Zorn to tattoo me personally.
“Any questions?”
“None right now, thank you.”
She placed her hand on my forearm and squeezed. “You’ll have to ditch the suit jacket so I can gauge how tight your shirt is.”
“Excuse me?” Lennox said.
“If your shirt is loose enough, you can leave it on,” Tawny said to me, ignoring Lennox completely.
I shrugged out of my suit jacket and handed it to her, watching as she hung it up. I unbuttoned the shirt cuffs and rolled up the left side first to the bend in my elbow.
Tawny returned and ran her hand down the outside of my arm. “This fits you to perfection, but I’m afraid it might cut off blood flow, so it’ll have to come off.”
“Then I’ll be the one to remove it.” Lennox moved in so close our thighs brushed. Then she began to unbutton my shirt.
The act of her undressing me as her right put Tawny in her place and she backed off.
“How do you not roast every day?” she murmured when she saw that I wore a thin V-neck T-shirt beneath my dress shirt.
“I’m used to it.”
She locked her gaze to mine and the lust in her eyes knocked me back a step. “You have so many outer layers, Brady. Is that intentional? What I’ll find underneath is better than the outer wrapping?”
What a loaded question.
After she got all the buttons undone, she flattened her palms on my abdomen and floated her hands up my torso with deliberate provocation. When she squeezed my pecs and feathered her thumbs across my nipples, I released a low warning growl that had her gaze snapping back to mine.
“Not. Here,” I said with a rough edge.
But my warning didn’t deter her. She pressed her lips to my chest where the vee of my T-shirt ended. She slipped her fingers beneath the open collar on each side of my shoulders and pushed the dress shirt down my arms. After she’d removed my shirt, she held it out for Tawny to take, without looking away from me.
Such a sexy show of possession.
So I returned the favor. I brought my hand across the front of her throat and held her in place. I leaned in. “I think she gets it now, Lennox.”
“What makes you think that was for her?”
I kissed her. Not with the passion she expected, but with tenderness.
“If you two are done marking your territory,” a male voice said dryly, “there’s a tattoo I’d like to get started on.”
I glanced at the guy leaning on the doorjamb. He wasn’t the bearded biker-looking dude I’d expected. He was taller than my six feet, two inches. His dark hair was parted in the center of his scalp and hung past his shoulders. He wore a YO, BITCH T-shirt and I smiled at the Breaking Bad reference.
He started toward me, his hand outstretched. “I’m Zorn.”
“Brady Lund. I appreciate you fitting me in this week. I understand you’re usually booked weeks in advance.”
“Months, actually. But I had a client cancel due to a family emergency. And your design concept intrigued me.”
Lennox offered her hand. “I’m Lennox, Brady’s girlfriend.”
Zorn’s gaze moved over her. “Where are you inked, babe? Tramp stamp?”
“And this.” She gave him her back and lifted her hair with one hand as she pulled her shirt down with the other.
“Nice. Who did that?”
“Pixie. She owns Pixie’s Skin Pixels in Kansas City. Do you know her?”
“I haven’t met her in person, but I’ve seen a few designs here and there.” Zorn ran his fingers across the design and I clenched my jaw to keep from telling him to get his hands off her. “The ink needs refreshed. If you’re not going back to Pixie to have her do it, that’s a service we provide.”
“Thanks. I noticed the one on my arm needs a touch-up too.”
Zorn looked at me again. “Is she coming back with you?”
“Yes.”
“Cool. Get something to drink, babe, ’cause this is gonna take a while.”
*
The pain associated with getting a tattoo wasn’t as bad as having to sit still in the chair for four hours.