“He seemed like a perfectly nice guy.”
“He probably waxes his balls.”
“And what’s wrong with that?”
His eyes go wide. “First of all, oh my effing God no. And second, you’re into that?”
“He was cute.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“I liked his tattoos.”
“I have tattoos.”
“I know. And I like them, as well.”
He blinks at me like he’s regretting his decision to ask me out.
“I love your tattoos, actually. Especially the one on your chest.”
He eyes me for another minute and then flashes a small, crooked smile. “I wanted to show you as soon as I got it, but it didn’t seem appropriate, you know?”
“When did you get it?”
“A couple years ago.”
“It’s amazing.” I pause as the waitress comes with our drinks and our appetizers, then confess, “I think I want one, too.”
“Really?” Jesse’s eyes go wide in surprise. “You serious?”
I nod. “I love Jett’s footprints on your chest and I want to do something similar.”
“You want our kid’s feet inked on your boob?”
“No!” I laugh. “Can you even imagine?”
He gets a distant look in his eyes. “Actually, I can.”
“Oh, my God, stop!” Heat fills my cheeks and I nudge his leg under the table again. “I want something on my wrist. So I can see it all the time.”
“Ah.” He nods and sticks a straw in his soda, while I stick one in Jett’s root beer. “Footprints on your wrist. I can see it.”
“Not footprints.”
“No? What are you thinking?”
“That you’re going to have to wait to see it.”
“Okay, but what if it’s a shitty idea…”
I laugh at the taunting gleam in his eyes. “It’s not. So, did you get yours done locally or…?”
“A guy just over the border in Michigan did it. He’s busy as hell, though. He was booked out almost eight months when I wanted the chest piece done.”
“Oh.” That’s disappointing. “I was hoping for sooner.”
“How soon are we talking?”
“This month?”
He quirks an eyebrow. “That’s not going to happen, babe. But he does owe me a favor since I did some free landscaping for him a while back. I can call and see what he can do.”
“Would you? I really want to do this and as soon as possible?”
“I’ll call him right now.” He digs his phone from his pocket and I laugh.
“You don’t have to call him now. I’m just saying it’s something I’d like to do sooner rather than later.”
“Then the sooner I call, the better.”
He hits a few buttons on his phone and then sticks it to his ear while I put a couple of cheese curds and onion rings on a plate to cool for Jett.
“Look at my dinosaur,” he says. “It’s green.”
“I see that. You did a great job staying in the lines.”
“Yup. I’mma give him some spots.” He grabs a red crayon and colors over the green.
“Oh, that looks cool. How many spots does he have now?”
“One, two, three, four, five… six!”
“Good job! Can you give him four more?”
“Uh huh!” He does and then flashes a bright grin.
“How many spots now?”
He counts again and by the time he’s done, Jesse’s off the phone.
“He’s booked until October,” he says, sliding his phone back into his pocket.
“Ugh, okay. I’m sure I can find a decent place in Green Bay, too.”
“But he did have a cancelation.”
“Okay…”
“How’s right now sound?”
My gaze jumps to his. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope. He said if we could be there within the hour, he can do you up tonight.”
“But our food…” And also… tonight? I’m positive I want the ink, but I wasn’t expecting so soon.
“We can grab ours to go and I’ll see if Amelia can watch Jett.”
“You’re serious? He said tonight?”
He smirks from across the table. “You gonna do this or not, city girl?”
“Oh, I’m doing it.”
“Then let’s go.”
JESSE
“I can’t believe this is happening.” Hayden squirms in the passenger seat as we hit the outskirts of Copper Crossing. “We’re close, right?”
“Just a couple blocks away.” Her excitement is friggin’ adorable, but I swear to God if she bounces in that seat one more time, I’m going to have to pull over and excuse myself to walk off the raging hard-on I’ve had since I picked her up and saw her in that damn dress.
Not only is it a tiny little thing with pretty pink flowers, it’s so low cut that if she wanted that tit tat I teased her about, she could get it without having to undress.
“He must really owe you,” she murmurs, taking everything in as we slow for the first stoplight. It’s almost eight o’clock, so the sun has started to go down, but the town is still very much alive.
“Drew would ink twenty-four seven if he could. Besides, it’s the weekend. Late night sessions are his equivalent to partying.”
Hayden’s eyes widen. “Oh, really? He sounds interesting.”
“Don’t be surprised if the music is cranked and if he stops talking to you fifteen minutes into the session. He tends to zone out when he’s in a groove.”
“Should I be worried about that?”
“You want him to zone out, trust me. It’s when he does his best work.”
“Hmm.” She presses her lips into a smile just as I hit the blinker for his street. We pull into the parking lot of Diablo Tattoos a minute later and Hayden sucks in a breath before blowing it out carefully.
“You change your mind?” I ask, putting the truck into park and unbuckling. “It’s not too late to back out.”
“No. Not at all. It’s just...” She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and gathers her purse. “This feels right. I’m excited.”
“I’m excited for you.” And I like that she’s sharing the experience with me. “I should warn you that it’s probably going to hurt.”
Concerned eyes dart to mine.
“But don’t worry. They say for women it’s like losing your virginity. It stings like hell at first and you’ll think you can’t possibly take another poke and then, all of a sudden, it’s like ahhhhh… fucking amazing.”
She blinks at me for a solid three seconds. “You’re full of shit. The pain does not go away. I’ve researched it.”
My gaze slides from her face and to the plump, pink flesh rising and falling at the top of her dress a little faster than it did a few moments ago.
“You’re right. I just wanted to make you blush. Looks like it worked.”