Eventually, Alex walked away. He hovered a little too long for my tastes, but once he left, Blaise and I lapsed back into conversation.
“You’re doing so good,” I told him.
“Hockey player. We’re used to pain.”
I laughed. “Umm…I had Benny in this chair, and I think he almost squeezed Rox’s hand off.”
“Ah, she can take him.”
I laughed. “They’re an interesting couple.”
“They used to hate each other, which is baffling to me.”
“Oh, she told me the story,” I said. “I did an enormous piece on her thigh. We had a lot of time to talk.”
I wiped at his skin and smiled to myself, as this was looking perfect already. I still probably needed to do a touch-up after it healed, but so far, it was doing the job. We talked while I shaded his tattoo. I gave him a break after a little while, and then we were back at it.
I was almost done when I felt his eyes on me again. “Stop staring at me. I’m trying to focus here.”
“You’re sexy when you work.”
I stopped and lifted up my head to look at him. “Is that so?”
He nodded. “Yeah. You’re so talented. It’s a turn-on for me to see someone good at their job. I’m glad it’s you doing this for me.”
I beamed at his compliment and returned to my task at hand. “It’s kind of like when I watch you play hockey. You’re like…I don’t know…graceful, elegant even on the ice.”
“What? I block shots with my body and check dudes into the boards. I’m a rough and tumble guy.”
“I know, but there’s a beauty in it,” I explained. I wiped at his skin and assessed my work. “I think we might be good.”
“Let me see,” he demanded.
I handed him a mirror so he could see the three groupings of flowers on his chest that went up into his shoulder and blended into the phoenix on his upper arm. I was proud of this work and glad I couldn’t see that woman’s name anymore. Once it healed, we’d see if we needed another session, but I wasn’t sure it was needed. Maybe only one more to get the colors deeper.
“Thoughts?” I asked.
Blaise’s features softened when he looked at me, and he opened his mouth, but words didn’t come out.
“What? Is it okay?” I asked. I was never nervous about my work, but his silence sent anxiety through me.
“Baby…” he breathed out in awe. Relief spread through me that he liked it. I don’t think I ever had a client speechless before.
“Oh wow,” Liv’s voice said behind me.
She held up her phone to take another photo for the shop’s social media. Blaise pulled me toward him, hugging me to his side, and we smiled for the camera. Fake plastic smiles for our fake relationship that was on a ticking clock to expiration.
“Can you take one on my phone?” Blaise asked and handed Olivia his phone.
He kissed my cheek in this one, and I knew a blush was creeping up my pale face. Liv smiled at that, an expression suggesting we’d talk about that later. I’d rather not.
I patched Blaise up and went through the after-care stuff, even though he knew the drill. I always tried to make sure my clients understood how to keep their tattoos looking fresh.
“Am I your last client for the day?” he asked.
I nodded.
“You wanna get dinner?”
I should say no. We couldn’t go on dates. It was bad enough we were fucking while pretending we had a serious relationship. Plus, I had concept art I needed to work on.
“Can’t. I have some work I still need to do.”
“Go be with your man,” Alex yelled after me. He stood at the front desk talking to Liv, and they both grinned at me.
“Yeah, the team travels again tomorrow,” Seth cut in.
I didn’t know that. How did assface know that before I did? I wanted to say something, but the bell ringing on the front door and a petite blonde walking in with a baby in a stroller distracted me. Seth smiled and went to greet them. That’s when I recognized her.
I watched with anger bubbling up inside as Seth kissed his soon-to-be wife and picked up his child. What an asshole. He just came waltzing back into my life and had to shove it into my face how he’d betrayed me. I didn’t know about this woman, but I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to think she didn’t know about me during their affair. It was possible since Seth and I weren’t active on social media.
Blaise squeezed my hand and put his lips to my ear. “You okay?”
I nodded, but I was pretty far from okay. Especially when Seth and his cute little family walked over to us. The blonde looked nervous, and I didn’t blame her.
“Hi, I’m Lily,” she introduced herself.
I stared at her.
She shot a look at Seth. “Um…look, I told Seth it wasn’t a good idea to invite you because I know you guys ended on bad terms.”
“Bad terms?” I parroted. Behind her, Seth gave me a pained look, like he wanted me to drop the subject.
“He said you had a bad break-up. We met shortly after that, and then we had our surprise child.”
She didn’t know.
She had no idea.
She started dating this asshole when I was still dating him. When I was going to marry him, and then he left me in the lurch when she got pregnant.
I felt Blaise’s hand squeeze mine again, and then he held it out to Lily. “I’m Blaise, Veronica’s boyfriend.”
She smiled. “Oh, I know you. You’re both still welcome to come, of course. I just didn’t want any hard feelings.”
“Hard feelings?” I repeated.
“We’ll still come,” Blaise answered for me.
This was so messed up. Did I tell Lily her baby daddy was a piece of shit? That he had been playing both of us? I looked at Blaise, and he grimaced at me. “Well, it was nice meeting you, but V and I have dinner to get to. We’ll see you at the wedding in a couple of weeks.”
And then he whisked me away for the night, taking me back to my place and helping me forget in the best way he knew how.
Blaise had to wake up early to catch the charter jet to Carolina tomorrow. They had a Sunday afternoon game against the Carolina Thrashers and then a game on Tuesday against the Florida Hurricanes. He was supposed to get back Wednesday sometime, and I didn’t know why I was so invested in his schedule when he wasn’t even my boyfriend.
He had passed out in exhaustion after we fucked all over my bedroom, but I couldn’t sleep. I studied his profile as he slept. He looked peaceful, and a smile came to my face at how he tried to make me feel better tonight.
After we left the shop, we went back to Drakesville and went to dinner at the local brewery. I realized how small of a town I lived in when a bunch of people recognized him, but he took it all in stride. The surly brewmaster had to tell people to leave us alone, so we could eat in peace, but Blaise just flashed his bright smile. We ate and drank good beer until I drug him back to my apartment to have my way with him.
It was going to be a bummer when this was all over because Blaise was a great fuck buddy. Not too clingy, and he knew what I liked. But I was starting to like him too much. I had to remember where the lines were. Relationships only hurt you in the end, and I couldn’t let my heart make the decisions.