Would it be wrong to ask him for a date even though he turned me down for coffee earlier this week? He did just bend me over the counter and take me from behind.
That has to count for something.
I shake out my hair and take a few deep breaths. It’s fine. I’ll take one step at a time. It’ll all be okay.
I find River wiping down the counter when I walk back into the shop. I blush. Good call. I haven’t exactly done this before. “Sorry, if I took too long.”
He looks up, tossing the used paper towel in the trash. “Not at all, you look radiant.”
My cheeks feel warm again. Seems they have that habit with him.
“Are you hungry?” He asks me with an oh-so-sexy smirk that just makes my knees weak all over again.
I give him a little nod. Starved is more like it and I'm exhausted now.
“Well, I finished cleaning up here,” he explains, “don’t worry, no one will know what happened here in the morning,” he winks playfully. “Why don’t we both go have a bite to eat? My treat. We could talk a little, then I could get you home.”
“I'd really like that.”
“I would too. Are you all finished here?” He asks, tossing the rest of the used paper towels in the trash and storing the cleaner underneath the counter behind the cabinet door.
“I am, actually.” I rock back and forth on my toes a second. “You want me to drive or both of us drive and just meet somewhere?”
He shakes his head. “I’ll drive, then I can get you home.”
“I work in the morning,” I tell him, “and I need my jeep.”
“You work with me, so I can pick you up for work.”
I giggle. “Alright, sounds like you are a man with a plan, let’s get out of here.”
He gives me a nod as I flip all the lights and neon “open” sign off, heading to the front door where I lock it behind us. He places a hand on the small of my back guiding me over to his large black F-150, opening the door, and offering me the passenger seat. I climb in on shaky legs and happily accept the place to sit. I give my thighs a quick rub and stretch them as it’s apparent they’re going to have the shakes for a while if I don’t do something to ease the muscles.
He opens his door, climbs in, and stares at me for a moment. I feel my cheeks heat up again. Of course, this part would be awkward for us.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, my legs are just a mess,” I explain, rubbing the trembling muscles.
He reaches over and begins to rub my inner thigh gently, alternating between squeezing and rubbing. “Relax, stretch out; and don’t be so nervous.” He smiles, pushing my hair from my eyes.
I blush, thankfully he can't see it since it's so dark. I let out a breath. “So, dinner? I haven’t eaten much today. I always forget.”
“I noticed, which is why I’m taking you to White Castle.” He clicks on his seat belt as I do the same. “We can park, down by the levee on the river and talk.”
I give him a little nod. Honestly, it doesn’t seem like a bad plan. Getting to know each other better wouldn’t be a horrible idea right now.
“And you did your internship at Skincraft?” I ask, having a drink of the coke he’s just handed me. We’ve been sitting in his truck, eating and talking for about two hours now. While we’re not exactly divulging our deepest, darkest secrets, it is nice learning more about one another. Makes me feel like less of a…well, whore to be honest.
He nods, shoving a few crinkle fries in his mouth. He swallows, having a drink of coke. “Then I took off to New York, worked for NYC Ink’d. I loved it here, but it was just too much…” his voice trails and he looks up at me with the saddest blue eyes I've ever seen. “Things just weren’t healthy for me in the situation that I was in, so I left.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, reaching out to touch his arm. “I didn’t mean to bring up anything painful.”
He shakes his head, bringing one of his hands down on mine, “Oh, baby it’s nothing. Really, it’s been a long time.”
“It just looks like it bothers you still.”
“It’s alright,” he says, “you should finish up that cheeseburger. You said yourself you hadn’t eaten much today.” He pulls his hand away, reaching for another drink and I nod quietly having a bite myself. “How are you feeling? Are you feeling better?”
“I'm great, actually.” I laugh softly. “Definitely more relaxed.”
He smiles. “Good. So tell me, Lola. You left home at eighteen, became a tattoo artist, had a killer internship, managed to successfully open a shop…is there anything you don’t do?”
I feel the ever more familiar heat rush to my cheeks. “Nothing that I’m aware of.”
“How’s your family feel about your profession?”
I look up. He has no idea just how sensitive that question is. My family is abhorrent. If I could think of worse words to call them, I would. They all disowned me and told me that I was going to hell. The fact that they still talk to me is confusing as hell, all they do is beat me down, tell me I'm going to hell and disown me over and over. My mom was an abusive bitch who really didn’t want a kid. She made that clear every time she threw in my face that she should have had an abortion or just gave me up. My dad was fantastic, but he died from cancer when I was eight, leaving me to the mega-bitch. “You know my family isn’t all that great. That’s why I left home at eighteen. Kind of like you, you know, it was a dangerous situation, one that I didn’t need to be in.”
“I’m sorry, shit, sounds like both of us had fucked up pasts.” He brings a hand to my face letting his thumb graze my cheek.
“It’s okay, you didn’t know and it was a long time ago.” I shrug. “It’s in the past, right? It’s not like it can hurt me now.”
“Beautiful and intelligent. Baby, that is one deadly combination.”
I feel my cheeks rage with heat as I’d swear my blushing is up to my forehead by now. This could be bad. This could be dangerous. For one, he’s my employee. One that I just had sex with in my shop. For two, there is no fucking way possible that I am already a little smitten over this man. No. No, I won’t believe it. It’s not feasible. But right now, as I sit here with him in his truck like this, I suddenly feel like it's possible. And it’s kind of scary.
River looks at the clock on the dash of his truck. “Christ. It’s after two in the morning. You have to be exhausted. Sorry, I kept you up so late. You sure you feel alright?”
I honestly hadn’t given one thought to the time. I’ve been content just sitting here with him. “I’m fine, I can manage with just a few hours of sleep.”
He gives his head a shake and I notice his brows furrow. “You need your rest. Let’s finish up and I'll get you home. I can pick you for work about nine. Does that work?”
“Works great.”
“Alright, finish up your dinner and I'll get you home.”
I give him a little nod as I have the last bite of my cheeseburger. I'm utterly exhausted. On the plus side, it'll be just River and me in the shop tomorrow, which gives me a lot to look forward to. I toss the last cheeseburger box into the bag and finish up my fries as River does the same. River helps me clean up and steps out of the truck briefly to walk to the trash bin. Despite all the caffeine I’ve just ingested, I feel exhausted. Well, after the way he bent me over the counter, it shouldn’t be surprising at all. If he’d have left me, I’m sure I’d still be lying on the counter at this very moment.
He stirs me from my tired state, climbing back into his truck, shutting the door, and clicking on his seat beat. He glances over at me and smiles. “Oh baby, you are tired, huh?” He pushes some hair from my face, grazing his thumb on my cheek again.
“I am a little,” I admit, “I’m sorry.”
“Don't apologize. You, uh…we used a lot of energy.” He winks, pulling his hand away and starting his truck.
I lick my lips and purse them. There’s no way around it at this point. River Hawthorne, my employee, bent me o
ver the counter in my shop and fucked me. And you know what? I fucking loved it. I adjust myself in my seat and snap my seatbelt on as he pulls out of the levee parking lot. I give him directions to my condo, he nods, turning the radio on low for us. 102.7 WEBN, my favorite.
“Would you like me to call you before I pick you up in the morning?”
I think for a moment. I know that I’ll set an alarm, but I don’t want to sleep through the damn thing. Waking to him pounding on my door, then he'd have to see me looking like hell ran over. “You know, just in case, would you care to call me, please?”
“I don’t mind. I’ll make sure you’re up, don’t worry.”
“Thanks, I really appreciate it. I always set an alarm but who knows, tomorrow could be the one day that my body picks to sleep in.”
He glances over at me for a moment and shoots me a knee-weakening smile. “Don’t you worry about anything. I’ll make sure you’re awake and get you to work on time. You just get home, crawl into bed and sleep.”
I let out a little giggle. There’s definitely something different about him. Sadly, I’m just too damn tired at the moment to figure out what. Doesn’t matter anyway since as soon as the thought crosses my mind, he’s already pulling into my condo. It’s one of the nicest ones in town to be honest. All white and well lit. They’re pretty basic, very house-like, there are three attached in a row with three more across the way, with a little grassy area separating them. There’s a walkway, a few wooden benches, and a neat row of trees that look amazing in the fall. River looks around, pulling into a parking space, and putting his truck into “park.”
“Nice place.” He smiles, shutting his truck off as he takes his seat belt off.
“Thanks, I do love it here. It’s quiet and safe.” I undo my own seat belt and start to slide from his truck.
“I’ll walk you to your door, to make sure you get in safe.” He tells me, hopping out just behind me.
I give him a little nod as he meets me on my side of the truck. “Thanks again, for dinner. I appreciate it.”
“My pleasure,” he smiles, “which one is you?”
I point to the left, “third one down.”
He gives me a nod, placing a hand on the small of my back as he walks me to my door. I half expect him to turn around as soon as we’re in front of my place, but instead he walks up the white steps with me, right to the front door.
I turn to face him and he pushes the hair from my eyes. “Tonight was incredible, Lola.”
I bite my bottom lip, blushing, “It was, it really was.”
“You go get some sleep. I’ll pick you up in the morning.” He tells me, leaning in for a quick kiss.
“I will see you in the morning.”
“Mhm, you will.”
I turn slowly to unlock my front door and glance at River behind me.
“I’ll wait until you’re inside.”
I smile as the deadbolt clicks free, I push my door open, and glance at him. “Goodnight, River.”
“Goodnight, Lola. Sweet dreams.”
I walk inside, clicking on the light as I shut and lock the front door behind me. I lean against it and take a deep breath. I still can’t believe what just happened. I think I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. I’m too exhausted to think about it all now. It’s done, it’s over with and it happened. Right now all I care about it getting out of these clothes and curling up in bed until my alarm screams at me.
Not only did I not oversleep this morning, but I also woke up before my alarm. I honestly think it’s all the excitement of getting to see River again this morning. That or my subconscious was so terrified that I would oversleep and he would be banging on my door and see me looking like a mess that I woke up on my own. It’s hard to say at this point. All I know is that it’s 7:45 a.m. and not only am I showered and dressed, but my hair and make-up is done too. I’m so early that I have enough time to cook some scrambled eggs, toast, and juice. I better mark this on the calendar because I have no idea when this will happen again.
After eating, I take the time to brush my teeth again, floss and use mouthwash. Not because I’m expecting River to kiss me or anything but if he should happen to then at least I know that I won’t have bad breath. I spit out my mouthwash and inspect myself quickly in the mirror. I've gotten into this horrible habit of wearing tank tops at work just because it displays my ink so well, and today I have opted for a super light pink. It works well with my super dark hair and my cleavage doesn’t look bad today. I let out a sudden sigh. Of course, River could very well get here and things will be awkward. Things might not even work out. Bad things might happen if we even try. I groan. How did I get myself into this situation? Worse yet, I asked for it by flaunting and flirting ninety-nine percent of the time. It never occurred to me that I stood the chance of losing an incredible employee because of it.
My doorbell rings at exactly 8:00 am. I, of course, already know who it is and become both excited and nervous to see him. I jog downstairs and take a deep breath before answering the door.
River smiles brightly glancing at his watch. “I’m sorry, I’m early, I figured we could grab some coffee or a bite to eat together. Are you hungry?”
I feel myself blush. “I actually ate, but coffee sounds splendid.”
“My treat then,” he tells me, “are you ready? Or do you need a minute? I tried calling, but you never answered.”
“I woke up earlier than usual and put my phone in my purse. I am sorry, but I am good to go,” I say, grabbing my purse from the couch. I lock my front door and stare at him from the corner of my eye. He’s in a pair of dark jeans and a plain white tee shirt that makes it easy to see his nipple piercing. I spin around, pop my keys in my purse for safe keeping, and begin following him to his truck. He opens my door, allowing me to climb in before heading to the driver seat. I click my seat belt and stare at him for a moment as he fiddles with the radio, setting the station to 102.7 again.
“Did you sleep well?” He questions.
I give him a nod. “I did, how about you?”
“A little lonely, but slept well,” he tells me, looking at me from the sides of his eyes.
I sigh, I would have gladly joined you, I think to myself.
“Do you have any coffee places in mind? A favorite of yours?”
“Actually,” I say, “I do and I think you’ll love it. Park at the shop, we can walk there.”
He smiles and nods, shifting his truck from “park” to “reverse” as he backs from the spot and heads towards the street. So far nothing seems awkward. I’m feeling pretty relaxed with him to be honest. He doesn’t seem nervous, at least not that I can read and I am pleasantly surprised when he reaches over and places a hand tenderly on my knee. So much in fact that it makes me blush enough for me to look out my window.
“So, this coffee place,” he starts, “what is it?”
“Oh, it’s called No Doze,” I explain, “the decor is a little obnoxious, but it’s an awesome place. I really love it and I’ve gotten to know all of the baristas.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Have you eaten?” I ask. “If you need to go someplace with a bigger food selection you’re more than welcome to.”
He shakes his head. “I’m sure they’ll have something to fill me up. I can have a bigger lunch. Pick us both up food if you like.”
“That would be great if I can get some time to have actually eat.”
“That’s not good for you, you should seriously start eating throughout the day.” he tells me, “It'll do you some good.”
I give him a little nod. He has a point. I am horrible about eating at work, I usually end up picking at food like a baby bird until I get home and have a big dinner. Not the healthiest way of doing things. “If things slow down, maybe we can have some lunch together.”
“Sure,” he tells me pulling into Skin Deep’s parking lot. “You said we could walk there, right?”
“Yup,” I say, unbuckling m
y seat belt and hopping from his truck. “It’s just a few blocks away, you don’t mind walking do you?”
He shakes his head and meets me by my side of the truck. “Not at all.”
We make for the sidewalk and begin the stroll to No Doze. Making small talk along the way, we mostly gab about the shop and other little things. To my surprise though, River hadn't once mentioned last night. When we get to No Doze, River places his hand on the small of my back and opens the door for me. We’re nearly blinded by the neon colors and bright lights as we step in and let the door shut behind us.
“Whoa, you weren’t kidding.”
I laugh. “Nope, but it’s awesome here, not many people know about it since it’s kind of hidden and the coffee and tea selection is incredible here.”
“What’s your favorite?” He asks.
“I always get a chai tea, that is my favorite.”
“I will have to remember that,” he tells me as we stroll up to the counter.
The barista is one that I know well. She smiles wide from underneath her No Doze baseball hat. “Hey, Lola!” She looks behind me at River. “Wow, when did you trade up Kade for this model?”
I blush furiously as River tries to pretend that he didn’t hear. “You know that Kade and I never had anything going on. We were just friends.”
“Him tasting the inside of your mouth with his tongue before he left didn’t look like nothing.”
I can only imagine how red my face is now. Too bad she doesn’t have a fucking filter. If I could throw coffee grounds at her right now, I would. “So, anyway, I’m going to have a monster chai tea, non-fat milk,” I tell her, digging in my purse for my wallet. River’s hand comes down tenderly on mine as he shakes his head.
“It’s on me,” he smiles at me before looking back at the menu. “I’ll just have a monster black coffee, no sugar.” He tells her reaching into his back pocket.
I smile, “Thank you for the tea.”
“I said it was my treat,” He smirks, passing the barista his credit card.
When he finishes paying, I lead him over to my beanbag corner. I fight the urge to flop into them, but River shocks me as he makes the first move and dives in. I laugh, following suit as I fall back into the huge pile of rainbow bean bags.
Skin Deep Page 4
