by LS Anders
“Yes, ma’am. Every word,” he said, taking control of the pointer, proving he had been paying attention by navigating through the files to the spreadsheets she’d just shown him. “My records for Gales were similar to these.”
“Jason, why did you sell your shop and come to work for me?”
“I thought I told you all that.”
“You did, but your shop seemed to be doing well. You had five other tattoo artists working for you.”
“Four. You stole one of my best.”
“I did not steal Tegan from you,” Evana snorted. “From what he said, you told him about the job opening here.”
“I did. I admit it. I felt Tegan would be more successful in New York than he would ever be in Boston, and I knew Exotic Ink would launch his career in a whole new direction.”
“Well, that’s rather selfless of you to give up your best artist.”
“I’m a nice guy,” he remarked, leaning back in his chair to get a better look at her.
Returning his gaze, her eyes glided over him, pausing when she got to his lap.
Oh yeah, she was still interested.
“So, why did you sell your shop and move here?” Evana questioned again.
Because, I wanted another chance to make you mine, he admitted to himself. Because I’m a hopeless romantic, and you still have my heart on a string.
He was pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. He had sold a thriving business to move to a brand-new city, where no one had a clue who he was, to go to work for a girl he hadn’t known for two decades, that was the widow of a man he revered.
“Positions at Exotic Ink are the most sought-after in the country. Every single one of your artist are famous in their own right. Isn’t that reason enough?”
Her face fell, escalating his own hopes that she had been anticipating a different answer. One that would reassure her that he was still interested in her after all this time.
A quick knock and the door swung open, startling Evana. “Oops, sorry, E, I didn’t realize you had company.”
“That’s alright, Callie. Come on in and meet Jason.”
“Hi there,” Callie smiled, amusement adding an extra spring to her step as she made her way over to Jason’s outstretched hand.
“You must be the same vivacious red-headed that Vehn can’t stop talking about.” He gave her hand a squeeze in greeting. “After everything he’s said about you, I almost feel like I know you.”
“I hope it was all good.”
“You know it was. I can see why he’s so taken with you, you’re an absolute doll.”
“Thanks.” Callie gifted him with a bright blush before dropping her hazel eyes to the toes of her stilettos.
“It was nice of your fiancé to take me in until I get a place of my own.”
“That’s my Vehn, generous to a fault,” Callie said. “We should all go out and grab a bite after work to celebrate your first day of work.”
“Well, that’s a great idea. I’m game. How about you, Evana? Wanna have dinner with me tonight?” he smirked, swinging his eyes in her direction.
Evana tilted her head, ignoring his flirtatious question. “Sure, Callie, that would be great.”
He sensed that Callie had already picked up on the sexual tension sizzling between them. She was now sharing a curious look between them. He needed to lay low if they were going to get away with this ruse Evana had cooked up to hide their shared past.
“Sounds like the entire crew’s here,” Evana commented, looking toward the voices in the hall that were filling up the front of the shop.
He followed Evana and Callie out of the office.
Meeting Cale and Gabriel next, he took an instant liking to the two. Tegan had already given him a run down on the other artists, and he had been dead on accurate with his descriptions. Cale and Gabriel could have been brothers. If Tegan hadn’t already told him Gabriel’s age, he wouldn’t have believed the guy was twenty-eight. Not as youthful in appearance as the twenty-one-year-old Cale, he still easily pulled off the whole punk-ass-skater-boy motif.
He’d already met Avie, and damn, she and Cale made a cute couple. They were perfect together.
Glancing at Evana as the chatter with his new colleagues took off, he imagined he and Evana as that couple people envied. He’d dreamed of them together for so long, his perspective so attuned to seeing them as one, that there was no other woman he could ever imagine himself with in a permanent relationship.
Turning to the sound of the softest, sweetest voice imaginable, his heart skipped a beat as he got an eyeful of Tegan’s blonde bombshell. Rayna was more than he had expected her to be, and it was clear why Tegan had become so wrapped around the axle over her. That poor black-hearted bastard hadn’t stood a chance against a sweetheart of this magnitude.
He prayed his friend didn’t find himself in a similar situation where he’d be miserably stuck in a love that was unreciprocated like he had. It was a lonely place to be.
Just last night, he and Vehn had forced Tegan’s dead weight out of the house on a boys’ night. Tegan was with them in body only. His mind completely lost to thoughts of Rayna and whatever disaster had slashed apart their budding relationship. Tegan had consumed a well full of beer and scotch, apparently trying to drown his aching heart.
It had taken both of them, straining every muscle they had to the limit to haul Tegan’s drunken girth out of the cab and into Vehn’s penthouse.
Luckily, Vehn had volunteered to strip the guy and roll him into bed. Not that he wouldn’t do anything for Tegan, but taking off another man’s pants wasn’t high on his list of things to do.
“I’m gonna grab a smoke before my first client gets here,” Cale said, tracking his wife’s hips as she made her way to the front. “Wanna come with?”
“Sure.” Jason smiled over how enamored Cale was with Avie that he was able to carry on a conversation with someone else while his focus was elsewhere.
As soon as Avie was out of view, Cale’s attention snapped back to him. “Let’s do it.”
“After you,” Jason said, following behind. He didn’t make it a habit, but smoked on occasion, usually when beer was involved or some good sex. He’d been drinking a lot of beer lately.
Hitting the back door, Gabriel was right behind them.
Stepping back farther into the courtyard behind Evana’s building, Jason looked up admiring the three-story brick structure she owned. Evana had done rather well for herself given she had been on the run half her life from a motorcycle club with a personal vendetta against her.
“So, you like Evana.”
Gabriel’s statement rocked him back on his heels. Was his attraction to her that obvious?
“Gabriel. Bro, you can’t just blurt shit out like that,” Cale scolded.
“Sorry, JG, didn’t mean to pry,” Gabriel apologized.
“He has no filter. At all. Shit just erupts out his cake hole with no warning whatsoever,” Cale explained.
Jason laughed at Cale. The nickname Gabriel had given him made him feel as if he’d been accepted into the group. Pulling a pack of smokes he’d been nursing for the better part of a week out of his front pocket, he said, “It’s no problem. I rather like straight talking people rather than folks that talk out of the side of their neck. Let’s me know where I stand without having to guess.”
Lighting up, Jason coughed out the smoke at the off-the-wall topic Cale had just brought up.
“Do you think the police can CSI a turd?” The seriousness with which he asked the question had tears rolling down Jason’s cheeks as he tried to clear the smoke from his lungs.
“What kind of turd? Human or animal?” Gabriel’s brow creased, considering the question.
“Human. I dropped a deuce on my brother’s doorstep, and I’m starting to worry I might get caught.”
“You did what?!” Jason nearly doubled over from laughter. The shock of the conversation, and the image of Cale dropping his baggy jeans to squat in front of someo
ne’s front door was too much. “Why would you even do that?”
“He was sniffing around Evana, and I didn’t fucking like it,” Cale shot back.
The hilarity came to an abrupt halt. He would shit on someone’s doorstep too, if he thought it would keep away any competition.
“I would think you could get DNA from excrement.” Gabriel hadn’t even cracked a smile, taking the situation seriously. “I mean it’s organic. If you think about it, it could be considered vandalism. If your brother wanted to push the issue, he could press charges if he were able to figure out it was you. He does have the funds to investigate, but I can’t imagine the police would go to that much effort.”
Jason considered Gabriel. “Gabe, I—”
“It’s Gabriel. I’m cool with nicknames as long as you don’t shorten my name, I can’t stand it when people do that,” Gabriel interrupted. “No, I’m not entirely serious. I’ve been around Cale long enough that nothing he does or says surprises me anymore.”
“Have you known each other a long time?”
“Less than a year, but if you hang with him for any length of time, you’ll grow numb to the stupid shit he does,” Gabriel replied.
“Fuck off, douche,” Cale fired off. “That was not stupid. You saw how Jake was all over Evana at me and Avie’s wedding. Plus, I caught them coming back from a date.”
Jason had to agree with Cale, this wasn’t stupid at all. This was some serious shit that needed immediate sorting. If Evana already had a boyfriend, that was just another obstacle he’d have to deal with and was taking him further away from his goal of winning her back. “So tell me about this date.”
“All I know is, they were coming back from somewhere. I left my wallet at the studio. I called E, but she didn’t answer, so I disarmed the alarm and came in through the back to get it. As I was leaving, I recognized my brother’s voice, so I ducked out of sight,” Cale answered.
“Do you think it’s serious? I mean do you think they’re still dating?”
“Holy fuck, you do like her. Hat’s off, Gabriel, for calling it.” Cale high fived his friend. “I sure as fuck hope not.”
Yeah, he sure as fuck hoped not, too.
There was a permanent grin etched on Evana’s face after the dinner she had shared with her friends last night. Jason had tried so hard to keep and hold her attention. She was seriously flattered over the intensity of his interest. But, she had taken it in stride and had come home alone, shirking his advances in the kindest way possible.
Sipping her morning coffee, she peered out through the plate glass windows of her shop, scanning the pedestrians for any familiar faces in the crowd that might be a threat. After years of hiding in plain sight, she had developed a habit of becoming very aware of her environment and who and what was around her. An imperative skill that was still key to her and her Aunt Jenny’s survival.
Not so much Aunt Jenny anymore, having married and moved to Gloucestershire in the United Kingdom with her new husband, John. Neither one of them figured the MC’s reach would cross the Atlantic, so her aunt was safe. At least one of them could take an easy breath.
There was another face she’d added to her mental list of dangerous characters that went beyond the motorcycle club members she remembered from her youth.
Callie’s ex-boyfriend, Ryder.
What a piece of work he’d turned out to be. Poor Callie had suffered his mental abuse in silence, but had finally confided in her after her best friend, Dylan, had made the trip from Chicago to find out why her bestie wasn’t returning her calls.
Even with the restraining order, Ryder kept lurking around. Always loitering across the street on the days Callie worked. After one too many times of watching Callie’s face turn whiter than newly fallen snow, fleeing from the reception area to hide in her workspace, she’d snuck out the back so no one at the shop would know what she was about to do.
Crossing the street, she’d confronted Callie’s ex, luring him into an alley where she put her self-defense training to good use.
She would never forget the smug expression on his asshole face when he’d agreed to speak with her. He thought to have the upper hand in the conversation because he was a male chauvinist prick and women were the weaker sex, in his opinion.
“You have no dog in this fight, Evana. Why don’t you take yourself back into the shop, I wouldn’t want nothin’ bad to happen to ya’—”
Priceless was the surprised look on his face when she’d taken ahold of his hand and twisted it back, cranking his arm back at a bad angle. The Nancy yelp he’d let out as she’d dropped him to his knees could still bring a smile to her face.
“You will leave Callie alone. If I ever catch you skulking around her again, you won’t live long enough to regret it. Now get away from here before I make you hurt a lot worse!” she’d hissed before turning him loose, leaving him on his knees in the alley.
She had no intentions of listening to anything that fucker had to say. She was merely there to give him a warning and put an end to his reign of terror over Callie. She’d spent most of her life looking over her shoulder, and there was nothing she could do about her own situation, but she could help Callie. There was no reason that they both had to live life with eyes in the back of their heads.
She’d been getting away with a falsified birth certificate since she was eighteen, so bringing trouble to her own doorstep was completely stupid. The last thing she needed was to get arrested and be entered into the system for assaulting and threatening Callie’s ex-boyfriend, even if he had deserved to have his ass handed to him by a female.
But so far, she hadn’t seen any of the Satan’s Disciples members or any sign of Ryder. No news wasn’t good news in his case. Ryder was seriously unstable. Maybe she had successfully scared him off, because she didn’t want Callie in the same situation as her, always looking over her shoulder, living in fear. She wouldn’t wish that on her worst enemy.
Luckily, her world had changed after she’d met Kyle Grey at a tattooing seminar, and he had agreed to take her on as an apprentice, ending her endless running.
Kyle had been co-owner of Intenze Ink and had ended up inheriting the shop and the building from his dad. After they married, he had changed the name to Exotic Ink in honor of his beautiful new wife. He’d always said she reminded him of a sleek black panther. Untamed, aloof, and exotic. A vibrant force of nature that was impossible to contain.
Funny that Kyle had seen her as that when she was anything but. She was forever trapped in a cage of fear from discovery. A trapping designed by her aunt in order to keep her safe from her mother’s vengeful enemies.
Her aloofness had come from the years she’d spent on the run. She’d learned to be vague in answering personal questions about her past, until she’d made the mistake of looking into Kyle’s crystal, clear blue eyes and had given him her birth name instead of the fake one her aunt had chosen for her.
She always felt bad that she’d never felt comfortable enough to confide all her secrets to her husband. Maybe that’s why she had been so interested in making contact with Jason. She missed her life in Scottsdale, and even though she had to learn how to not miss her friends, she’d never forgotten him.
Movement switched her focus. Reflected in the glass was Avie readying the shop for the day. She had always liked the girl, but there was something very unusual about her. She just couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
Avie had started working at the studio right after Kyle had passed away. It was so strange how she came to work there. No sooner had she posted the ad for the job, then Avie walked through the door.
Evana liked her the moment she laid eyes on her, and it had always struck her as peculiar at how Avie seemed so familiar to her, as if she had always known her. Like she had a purpose for being there that went beyond answering the phones, booking appointments, and greeting customers.
When they met, she had shaken her hand and felt this healing warmth spread through her like
she had been immersed in a warm bath, almost as if a soothing balm had been placed over her fractured soul. Of course, she still mourned Kyle, but she didn’t feel quite as broken after that.
After a while, that raw pain of her husband’s death had turned numb as if a cold blanket had been placed over her soul, leaving her emotions diluted from the sorrow of her loss.
Done with her morning watch, she greeted Avie and headed back to her office. Passing by her shared workspace, Jason halted her progress.
“So Tegan said he finished up your leg piece,” Jason said. “Can I see it?”
“Oh yeah, sure.” She wandered inside the room and lifted the edge of her skirt to expose more of the design.
“Jesus Christ,” Jason swore as he dropped into a crouch in front of her. “I can’t tell which part Tegan did and what was Kyle’s work.”
“He’s really amazing at photo realism. He did an extraordinary job blending his work in with Kyle’s. It was almost as if he were able to adapt his style to what was already there. I’m thrilled with how the piece turned out.”
“How far up does it go?” Jason asked, running his hand over the design adorning the outside of her right leg.
Shivering from his light touch, goosebumps washed over her skin.
“It extends up to my hip—” she began, but pulled away as Jason tried lifting the edge of her skirt to peek beneath the hem. “Hey! You can’t just go around pulling up girl’s skirts, Jason.”
“Well, I’m not going around pulling up other girls’ skirts, Evana, just yours.” He smiled up at her. “Come on, let me see the rest. I want to see how he compares to the tattooing legend.”
Rolling her eyes at him. “No you don’t. You’re just making an excuse to try and look up my skirt, pervert.”
“I’m wounded, and that’s the second time since I started working here that you’ve rolled your eyes at me, baby.”
“Firstly, I’m not your baby. I’m your boss. And secondly, maybe if you stopped flirting with all the girls, including me, I wouldn’t feel the need to roll my eyes at you.”
