Skin Deep

by Trista Jaszczak

  “Always.” He beams.

  “How about I put you on the spot,” I tell him, “I want you to give me a tattoo, right here, right now. I don’t have any appointments. I'll pay you. If I love what I see, you have yourself a job.”

  He rubs at the stubble on his chin and shoots me a knee-weakening smile. “You have yourself a deal.”

  “You can use all of my stuff, anything you want,” I tell him, ushering him to my spot in the shop.

  “Alright then, what can I do for you?” He grins, looking down at me.

  Jesus his eyes. They’re so bright they nearly make me forget what the fuck I was going to ask for. I had a plan. Yes…a plan. An infinity loop but made like a daisy chain. Simple. Should be easy enough for him.

  “I want an infinity loop on the top of my right foot, but I want it made from daisies…you know, like a daisy chain?”

  He gives me a wide, bright smile as he helps me sit down. “Actually, I know exactly what you mean.” He begins looking through my supplies and holds up one of my machines. “Pink, huh?”

  I let out a little giggle. “Yeah, they were a gift from my friend.”

  Cas laughs. “Kade got them for her before he left. I told her the pink was crazy.”

  River looks at me from the corner of his eyes, “Kade?”

  I nod. “My friend. He worked here before. You’d be taking his spot. If you get the job, that is.”

  His bright eyes flash for a moment before smirking. “Why don’t you get that flip flop off and get comfortable, Lola?”

  I give him a nod. There’s something in the tone of his voice that I love. It’s deep, sultry…it’s irresistible. I'm in for it if I hire this man. I absolutely strive to keep a professional workplace, but as River flits around me, prepping to give me my tattoo, I can’t help but keep a close eye on how his body moves. How the muscles flex in his arms. I feel my cheeks flush with heat as I watch River prep for my newest ink. I'm officially gone. Not only is he hired but I'm going to have to control myself around this one.

  After about an hour, I lean forward carefully inspecting River’s work. Though it will need time to heal, it’s obvious that he knows what he’s doing and he’s quite good at it too. I look up at him. “Well, I'll give you one thing, River. You are damn good at this.” I tell him. He smiles with approval. “You sir, have a job.” I extend my hand for him to shake. “Welcome to Skin Deep.”

  He smirks at me in such a way that my cheeks run crimson. “Thank you, Lola.”

  Good fucking God. Just how will I control myself around this man?

  I’m a little shocked by Lola. Okay, a lot shocked by Lola. I suppose when I walked into Skin Deep I never expected someone like her to be running the joint. And Jesus, is she ever fucking beautiful. She’s been taking the time to get to know me and my style for the first few days. I’ve brought in tons of photos of my work, but honestly as she leans across the counter and flips through the pages the last fucking thing on my mind are tattoos. Well, maybe her tattoos but that’s the extent of that. Right now, my eyes are on her lower back where there is some ink peeking from underneath her tank top. Just enough to show me that it’s there, but not enough to tell me what it is. And I’ll be honest with you, it’s driving me fucking insane.

  She looks over her shoulder at me and smiles. “You do amazing work, how the hell did they let you go at NYC Ink’d?”

  I laugh. “Kicking and screaming. This is home, you know? I just…missed it.”

  “I don’t blame you. Home is home.” She bites down briefly on her lip, a bad habit when she’s thinking. All it manages is to make me wonder how her lips would taste. Aside from the fact that all I've been doing is imagining my new boss on a whole nother plane of inappropriate levels, I will say that she and Cas have been doing their damnedest to make me feel welcome. Lola was kind enough to close the shop a little early, order some food and have a welcome party for me.

  She brings a hand up to the back of her neck and rubs. We’ve been here since open. Cas has been working his ass off on a huge back piece and Lola has been buried in some book or another. I actually feel sorry. Though completely fucking gorgeous, she looks like she could use a long, hot bath and good night’s sleep.

  When the shop phone rings, she jumps and looks up at me, laughing embarrassed at herself. “Cas, care to grab that?”

  “On it.”

  “Well, coming from NYC Ink’d I hope that you feel at home here.” She tells me as she shuts my binder and passes it to me.

  “Oh, something tells me I'll feel right at home here.”

  Cas walks down the hallway, laughing on the phone. “Hey Lo, you’re going to want to take this one.”

  She excuses herself and takes the phone from him. Cas smiles at me as Lola releases a little squeal. “It’s Kade,” he tells me. “He actually went to NYC Ink’d. He and Lo were really close.” He explains to me.

  I give him a nod, lean on the counter, listening as I hear happy giggles on the phone.

  Really close, huh? Just how close?

  *

  As we close the shop, Cas, Lola, and I walk out to the parking lot together. Cas is the first to leave, allowing Lola and me to finish chatting. She’s smiling and doesn’t seem to mind my sense of humor. She has the most adorable laugh I've ever heard. But, there can never be anything between us. I do know that much. Not because she’s my boss. I honestly don’t give a fuck if she’s my boss. But there is something about me that would probably make her head for the hills if I even breathed a word of it. Because of that I know that there can never be anything between us.

  She tucks her hair behind her ear and rocks back and forth on her toes as she shoves her hand into the pockets of her jeans. “So, River, I was wondering,” she pauses long enough to take a deep breath and release it. “I was wondering if you’d like to meet up before work and have some coffee with me. I know this great place just a few blocks away.”

  Damn it. I want to. I really do. But, I can’t. If I did then things would happen and I would have to tell her about me and that will just scare her away.

  I smile but give my head a little shake, “I want to, believe me, I want to, but I can’t.”

  Her face drops. She looks at me as though I just kicked her puppy and it’s the worst face I've ever seen. “That’s fine…no worries.”

  It’s not fine. I can tell that much. I know I've hurt her feelings. But hurting her feelings now is better than scaring her down the road.

  In the past week since River started here at Skin Deep, I find that we are flirting way more than we ever should with another. And it’s gotten so bad that customers are beginning to notice. I’m sitting here in my private booth giving my returning customer, Karen, a tattoo of a small butterfly on her wrist. She sees River purposely standing where he can peek inside, staring hard at me. She also knows that I am leaning forward giving him quite the show of my ass, letting the tattoo on my lower back play peek-a-boo for his curiosity. I hear her suppress a little laugh as I glance up at her with a puzzled look.

  “Ya know, if you take a picture, it’d last longer.” Karen spouts in River’s general direction.

  I look over my shoulder at River, who is standing, pretending to tinker with one of his machines. He glances up from his fiddling with a shocked expression and retreats to his booth silently. As he walks away he gives me a smirk that I can barely handle, so I smile back and bite down on the tip of my tongue before turning my attention back to Karen’s wrist. “Sweetie… if a man looked at me that way, I would tie him to the bedpost.” Karen whispers to me.

  “Between you and me, I would too, but I’m his boss.”

  “Honey, you’re the boss, what you say goes, right?”

  I give her a little nod.

  “Then what are you waiting for girl? He is looking at you like women pray a man will look at them.”

  I giggle, pulling my machine away from her for a moment.

  “Go for it. I bet you won’t be sorry.”

&
nbsp; I laugh again, this time taking a moment to compose myself. “Well, we're closing together tonight,” Leaning closer, I whisper, “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

  She gives me a wink. “You have fun.”

  I take a second to glance at the clock. She is the last customer for the day. Then it’s just River and me as we clean up, sterilize, do the books, and lock up. Maybe I can actually ask him out for a drink. What harm would it do? It’s not like it’s a crime and she's right. The way he looks at me…I swear…I can hardly control myself. His eyes. His smile. I knew it would be difficult to work with him, but this is downright ridiculous. I doubt anything will come of our harmless flirting though, he did turn me down three days ago when I asked him out to coffee. I admit, I was quite stung when he told me “no”. I understood the possibility of him saying no but was in no way prepared to hear it. Business is business and I'm wrong in the first place for flirting with him as much as I do…but his eyes melt me into goo. Puddles and puddles of goo.

  When I finish the butterfly on Karen’s wrist, I close the shop. I flip the sign on the door locking it as I flip off the neon and pull the shade to the large front window down. I begin making a mental checklist as I go. I still have to clean my station, get the trash out, and do the books. River is cleaning his station quietly as I walk to the back and turn up the radio. I sigh as I stop and stare at River for a moment. That man is too good looking for his own damn good. I shake my head. No Lola, no. I let out a sigh as I head back to my station and begin organizing my mess from the day and making sure that everything is in its proper place. I bite my lip. I’m going to need to order some Pelikan ink soon and maybe some new flashes for the shop. I’ve asked River to submit some photos of his custom work for one of the walls. He's as picky as I am about choosing what goes up there. I don’t blame him. I understand. I make a few more mental notes: Pelikan ink, new flashes, I need to do the books. I give myself a little nod, shutting a drawer on my rolling cart as I turn to walk to my office. But instead of watching where I’m going, like most normal people, I walk smack dab into River, my head smashing into his chest.

  “Christ, River…,” my eyes grow wide. His chest is as hard as a rock. “I'm so sorry. I was making some notes in my head and I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

  He gives me a bright grin, looking down at me. “How are you doing?”

  Me? I'm fucking perfect. How about you stare at me just like that all damn night?

  I shake out my ridiculous funk and nod. “I’m great. Sorry. I was just…I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  His hand finds the side of my neck. “Thinking? About what?”

  I blow out a sigh.

  You don’t even want to know.

  “Mental reminders to order some Pelikan ink and new flashes for the shop.”

  He gives me another little smirk. This one sly and…and sexy…and…I can’t even comprehend what’s going on really as he gives my neck a little rub. I feel his fingers squeeze gently as he makes me look up at him. His bright eyes stare at me. He’s gorgeous. I feel my heart jump as he leans into me. I can’t think. I can’t speak. And as River presses his lips to mine, what’s left of my resolve disappears. His tongue works carefully to part my lips, sweep the inside of my mouth and tangle gently with my tongue. I feel my eyes roll as I stand on my tip toes to wrap my arms around his neck. River breathes a low, deep growl into my mouth as while reaching for my wrists, he pulls them up and behind my head with one of his hands while his other hand latches onto my hip. The hand on my hip pulls me into him as he deepens the kiss, putting more of his body into it. I let out a soft whimper as my legs begin to tremble and I can feel myself becoming wet. I feel a few of his fingers slip into my belt loop as he breaks the kiss. He takes a deep breath and releases it slowly before using my belt loop to guide me over to the counter where he releases my hands and turns me around to face it. “Hold on to the counter right here,” he tells me, extending one of my arms, showing me that he wants me to grab the edge. I quickly obey as his right-hand pulls the hair off my left shoulder and starts kissing it as his left hand kneads my breast. He moves his right hand fast and gives my ass a quick slap. I let out a little yelp as he pushes the back of my tank top up, laying kisses on my now bare back. I press the heels of my hands into the edge of the counter, tilting my head back, moaning loudly as both of his hands work around to unbutton and unzip my jeans. I instinctively step out of my flip flops just as he begins working my jeans down my legs and off my body. He stoops down and strokes slowly up my leg, his hand stopping at my knee so that he can lean in and kiss behind my knee and up the back of my thigh. I immediately cry out as he nears my ass and my breathing becomes choppy as his free hand rubs carefully over my rounded ass. He runs his fingers tips over my black lace panties, playing with the edge, letting a finger slip toward my now aching pussy. I whimper, trying to steady myself and push my ass toward him at the same time. He leans forward and kisses my ass as his hands grab the top edge of my panties gently tugging them down my legs. He stands up, his hand sliding between my dripping wet lips, feeling how soaked I am for him. He smiles, grabbing a wad of my hair with his free hand. “You were such a bad girl teasing me like that.” I let out another moan, pushing my ass towards him, practically begging him to touch me more. Instead, he slowly moves his hand and begins working himself out of his jeans and black boxer briefs. I glance over my shoulder and I am rewarded with the vision of a large, rock hard, and oh so perfect cock. “Is this what you’ve wanted baby?” He breathes into my ear. I bite my bottom lip hard almost hard enough to draw blood and nod enthusiastically. He smiles, grabs my hair again, and pulls my hips backward slightly revealing my soaked entrance. Slowly, he slides his cock into my hot, wet pussy. The sensation is so intoxicating that I feel my eyes roll back into my head while I moan loudly and grip the edge of the counter harder, pushing my ass back into his groin. River releases another deep growl as he pulls back only to slide himself as deep as he can go, He pauses slightly before increasing his rhythm to an almost punishing pace. Our breath quickens and becomes choppy. My legs begin to shake fiercely as I feel myself reaching my climax fast. I feel the muscles deep inside pulse and tighten around his hard shaft as I hold tighter to the counter. River releases a deep, throaty moan as he pulls back on my hair causing me to arch my back. “So…fucking…beautiful,” he growls in my ear as he lets my hair go and trails his hand down my back and around my stomach only to land his tactful fingers right on my clit. I cry out and begin panting for breath as my muscles tighten on around him. I can’t hold it in. My climax hits forceful and washes over me, making me scream his name and throw my head back. “Good girl…” He leans into my ear, “ride it out.” My entire body trembles as I ride my orgasm to it’s fullest extent, while my limbs twitch in response, he releases my hair allowing me to drop forward on the counter as I come down from my euphoria. River continues to pound my pussy with a hard punishing rhythm. When he lets out another throaty growl, I know that he’s close to coming. He pulls out quickly and orders me to get on my knees. I immediately comply with his command. He grabs a handful of my hair once again as he guides his cock into my mouth. I happily take each inch, letting him push it against the back of my throat before pulling back out again. I bob my head at a quick pace as he groans, gripping tighter to my hair, holding me where he wants me. “Lola…fuck…” He breathes out as I suck my own juices from his shaft. His head tilts and another deep groan escapes from his mouth as his hot seed fills my mouth. I greedily welcome every surge of hot come, swallowing as I take his cock in my hand to clean off any remaining juices. He looks down at me, “such a beautiful, fucking sight.” He breathes as he crouches down in front of me, he lifts my spent body, placing my ass on the counter. Wrapping his arms around me, he strokes my hair and pushes the sweaty strands away from my face. “Slow breaths…relax.” He whispers into my hair. I lean into him with a shaky body. “You are so incredible…so beautiful…” His voice trails as his lips find
mine, his tongue slowly entering my mouth. I feel his heart beat starting to return to normal as he steps back, pulling up his boxer briefs and his jeans. “Sit right here, don’t move, I bet you’re thirsty.” I give him a weak nod as my exhausted body wants to do nothing more than to lie down on the counter. River returns with a bottle of water, opening it, and passing it to me. “Here, drink this.” I look at him and accept the water, downing more than half the bottle. “I found these on your desk,” he tells me holding up a Hershey’s kiss, “I want you to eat this for me too.” I give him a funny look as he opens the foil wrapper and commands me to open my mouth. I obey none-the-less letting him place it on my tongue. “You were positively amazing.” He tells me while tucking my stray locks behind my ear. I feel the heat begin to radiate from my cheeks as I blush. “Do you want to go freshen up and get dressed? I will take care of our little mess. I'd also like to take you for a quick bite of take-out and get you home.”

  I give him a smile. “I'd really like that.”

  He helps me off the counter, not letting go until he's sure I'm not going to fall over, handing me my jeans and panties as he lets go of me. I blush as I take them from him. “Thanks.” I say sheepishly.

  “You should take the water with you and finish it.” He says, passing me the bottle.

  I give him a little nod and take a sip as I begin walking back to the bathroom. My mind is whirling. I can’t believe what just happened. I finish what’s left of the water and toss the empty bottle in the recycle bin before heading into the bathroom. I take a few moments to make myself look presentable again, brush my hair, fix my makeup and get re-dressed. I look at myself in the mirror, fixing a slight smudge of eyeliner as it really dawns on me what just happened. I just fucked an employee, in my shop, on the counter no less. My eyes grow wide as I try to let things settle in.