She examined his eyes. “Maybe you’re right…but I would argue with you. Even if it stays with you forever, it fades. It does. You can find a way to move on and maybe be stronger.”
He raised one eyebrow. “You know this from experience?”
So it made her vulnerable…but she couldn’t hide herself from him. “Yeah, I do.” He nodded and the waitress brought his new mug of beer. She didn’t want him commenting, so she forged on. “But you told me to tell you more about me—tell you what you should know, I think you said. So here goes. Like I said, I graduated high school a couple of years ago and I’m going to the community college. I’m not sure what I’m going to get my degree in yet, but I need to decide by this fall. Business right now, until I can decide for sure. I’ve been taking two or three classes a semester—you know, getting pre-reqs out of the way—but it’s time for me to focus now. I’ve got the general shit done. And I work at On The Go—you know, the convenience store? I live on my own with a couple of roommates now, so I have bills, and they come first. So I work and go to school part time.”
“You work full time?”
“Pretty close. Between thirty and forty hours a week, depending upon how many hours my manager decides to give me for the week.”
He nodded. “What else?”
“Hmm. Let’s see. I think of myself as an amateur photographer. I love to take pictures with my phone. If you want to friend me on Facebook, you can see some of the pictures I take. I try to find beauty in everything I see.”
“Nice.”
She paused for a moment, ultimately deciding that he wasn’t being sarcastic before moving on. “I also like hard rock music and catch a concert now and then, but I can’t afford to buy a lot. I mostly load up Spotify and that’s how I hear a lot of new stuff.” She noticed that he tilted his head again and then took a swig of his new mug of beer, but he didn’t say a word. “I’m also into reading a lot of weird nonfiction books about odd subjects.”
“Like?”
“Hmm. Oh, like the last one I read—it was a book about physics. Physics. I am so not a math or science person, but the book I read made it seem almost understandable to me. It was pretty cool.” She smiled and took a sip of her tea.
“Anything else?”
She shrugged. “I dunno. I guess that’s all you need to know for now.”
He grinned. “Fair enough.”
“What about you?”
“Oh, come on, Kory. Don’t play around. I already know you know who I am.”
Okay, so that was strange. “Uh, yeah. You’re the tattoo guy from The Iron Maiden.” If she’d been the kind of person who blushed, her cheeks would have flamed at her next statement. Instead, she stifled a smile. “And, uh, I guess I have an unhealthy fascination with you…which is why I asked if you wanted to go out sometime.”
He had a skeptical look on his face, his brows furrowed, a slight frown on his face. “Come on.”
Was he being a dick again? As much as part of her liked him, she was getting ready to write his ass off. She didn’t need his particular brand of shit. “What the hell? Seriously?”
His face was serious as his eyes searched hers—for what, she didn’t know. “Hmm. You really don’t know.”
“Know what?”
He grinned again—that was so damned disarming. Every time he did it, she almost forgot she’d been irritated with him. She was getting ready to say something else when the waitress brought the pizza by along with two plates and asked if they needed anything else before zipping off again. Without a word, Stone grabbed a plate and slapped a slice on it before handing it to her. She thanked him as he put another slice on a plate for himself and said, “Okay, well, you know about the shop. A friend of mine opened it about seven years ago, and then after being open a couple of years, he somehow managed to get buried in debt. He called me up because he knew I was interested and had enough money to invest in the place. So now we’re partners and I’m doing something I really love.”
She sprinkled Parmesan on her pizza and then took a fork to it. “How many tattoos do you design yourself?”
“Let’s just say this—I don’t like to do flash when I can help it. Putting flash on your body is like buying a print instead of an original painting. I get why some people want something like that, but most people want something no one else has. They figure the artwork is permanent, so it should be something unique and special. Yeah, it costs more, but that’s because I put my heart and guts into my original stuff. And I have no problems designing something special for someone.”
At that point, it sunk in—fully—with Kory that Stone had some secret. He’d been alluding to it just moments earlier and had somehow managed to gloss over it without her giving it another thought. Well…she decided to let it go. She too had her secrets and maybe, if and when they got to know each other better, they’d one day feel safer and less vulnerable, more willing to share with one another.
Until then, she was digging the part of himself he was willing to share. When she swallowed her next bite of pizza, she said, “I think I already told you that I’ve been working up toward getting a tattoo, but you know…that fear of needles I have.” He started laughing then, and Kory frowned because he wasn’t taking her seriously. “I want to know what’s so goddamned funny about that.”
“You keep saying you’re afraid of my tattoo gun, but I can shove a huge needle through your eyebrow and you act like it’s nothing.” She made a face at him, but he said, “You know it’s true.” She sighed and picked up her tea, taking a sip. “Look. Let’s make a deal. Would you trust me?”
“Depends.”
“What if I give you a tiny tattoo? In a place that usually doesn’t hurt.”
“Like where?”
He grinned. “I’ve had a lot of women tell me it hardly hurts on their tits.” She couldn’t help but laugh and then she flipped him off. “Yeah, I figured. It hurts more against your bone—like on your ankle or ribs or the top of your foot. You could try something on your lower belly or the middle of your back—you know, where you have more flesh and less bone. Even your upper arm is a pretty decent spot.” She stayed quiet, focusing on her pizza. What the hell was wrong with her? All she’d gone through in her life, and the idea of getting a tattoo from Stone was scaring the shit out of her. “Would you trust me?”
She looked up and into his dark eyes, feeling like she was drowning in them. She felt peace there, though, and if that meant she was under water, then so be it. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do.”
He winked. “Then you have another date.”
Chapter Six
THE DATE—IF that’s what she could truly call it—both exceeded Kory’s expectations and underwhelmed her. She was happy not that she’d maybe found a connection with Stone, but she liked that they’d had an easy time talking and it felt like they could get along—when he wasn’t being a jerk. But she hadn’t felt like they’d made a deeper connection, which was what she’d wanted.
Then, she supposed, beggars couldn’t be choosers. She should just be happy that they got along…right?
They stood outside the restaurant in the warm summer air, and Kory was surprised a mosquito or two hadn’t attacked her. Maybe it was because there were two people out there smoking cigarettes—a little too close to the entrance, but she wasn’t playing policeman. She was listening to Stone.
“So we’ve got a pretty busy week next week, but I can call you tomorrow and let you know what I have open, and you can compare that to your schedule and let me know.”
“Okay.”
“Well…this was cool.” He grinned, almost a little cocky. “Did it fulfill your expectations?”
She tilted her head. “Honestly?”
His smile faded. “Yeah. I don’t need you to lie to me.”
“It was nice, but…” He raised his eyebrows. She found her balls and just blurted it out. “I wouldn’t mind a ride home and a good night kiss.” Fuck, yeah. She’d said it. Still a bad ass.
His smile returned as he let out a slight breathy chuckle. “Look, Kory, you’re a sweet kid. But that’s the problem. You’re a kid.”
That pissed her off. Oh, he did not want to see her go there. “Kid? Are you fucking with me?”
Smile gone. Good. She needed him serious. “Just how old are you anyway?”
That pissed her off again too, because she would have guessed that, by fifteen, she’d been through more than most thirty year olds, but that was beside the point. He was dismissing her because of a number, and it angered her. “Twenty. Why? How old are you? You feel like an old man next to me?”
He started laughing. “Okay, okay. I’m twenty-eight.”
“See? Not that old.”
“Lots older than you.”
“No, not lots older. Older, sure, but I’m not an immature fucking little kid.” She took a deep breath. She was not winning her case by arguing with him. She took another breath and made sure her voice was steady and calm. “Know what? Never mind. I thought you were better than that.” She turned on her heel and started walking down the street away from him.
Three…four…five. “Kory.” Yes. It had worked…well, at least she hoped so. She’d have to wait to hear what he had to say. Carefully, she turned around. She was several steps away from him. She made sure her face didn’t show sadness, fear, or anger. She hoped she had a look of annoyance, like he was an irritant at this point.
She let out a breath as though she didn’t have time to wait. Finally, she said, “Yeah?”
He walked toward her and she became aware of the sound his boots made on the sidewalk. Sure, she heard a couple of cars driving down the street, and she could hear noise from the bar she was almost standing in front of. She was becoming more and more aware of the heat bearing down on her shoulders like a weight, and it got worse the closer he got, because her breathing grew shallow.
He stood in front of her. Oh, fucking hell. His eyes were dark and her mouth started watering as his hands cupped her cheeks and he guided her chin upward until his lips touched hers.
Gone…the heat, the noise, even her goddamn heartbeat…until it started throbbing in her chest and her blood began swarming through her body, warming her back up from lifelessness. Stone’s tongue touched her lips and parted them before entering her mouth and, holy God, for the first time in a long time throughout her miserable existence, she felt alive. Overflowing with too much emotion, too much adrenaline and…
her fucking panties were wet
…hopes and dreams, unspoken and unknown, flowed through her like water.
Until the kiss was over. She opened her eyes, the breath gone from her lungs, and she searched his eyes. He’d done it. Why had he done it after fucking with her, blowing her off? Did he like messing with her mind?
But his eyes—they told her more than his words ever could. Jesus. What she felt then was heavy. Had he been screwing around with her head, when really he was just trying to deny something?
As she sucked in a breath, forcing it to the bottom of her lungs, she realized her hands had formed fists around the back of his t-shirt, as though she were clinging to him for dear life. No smile, no smirk. He said, “That what you wanted?”
She tried to nod but her head wouldn’t obey. At least her mouth worked. “Uh-huh.”
Then…yeah, then he smiled. “Let’s get you home.”
* * *
Stone talked a lot about his tattoo business on the ride to Kory’s apartment, but she didn’t register much of it. Instead, she was relishing the feeling of being alive and excited and warmed inside. She hadn’t felt like this in—well, maybe ever. Stone had awakened something inside her that she needed to explore.
Yeah, since about her junior year in high school, she’d been sexually active off and on, but no guy had ever really ignited her. Something about Stone always had, and that kiss had done more, so much more than she’d expected.
She had to learn how to focus again.
Somehow, she’d explained to Stone how to get to her place. It was an apartment, sure, but it wasn’t an apartment building. It was a four-plex in a series of identical building of four units, and they all surrounded a courtyard of sorts. Really, the courtyard was just a patch of grass with a few trees and sidewalks between all the buildings. Nothing fancy, but it was a nice enough place.
As they walked toward her door, Stone said, “Anything in particular you want for your tattoo? And have you given thought as to where you’d like it?”
She could have told him the truth, that the touch of his lips to hers, the way his mouth had consumed her drove her rational mind out the window. But she wasn’t ready to make that confession, not yet. They didn’t really know each other enough for her to begin divulging information like that and especially not to let him know the power he already had over her. It would make her vulnerable, and she couldn’t let that happen.
They paused in front of her door. There was a lamp in the courtyard just in front of her door, and it added a little light, so she could see his face. “No. I’m still not convinced it’s a good idea.”
“Would you trust me?”
She inhaled a shallow breath, searching his eyes. Should she—could she—trust him? She wanted to. And, honestly, it had been something that she’d wanted to do for a long time. She could conquer this crazy fear, right? Just like she already partially had by getting pierced? There was no one better for the job. So she let another breath out of her lungs and said, “Yeah, okay. But tiny—just like you said.”
“Yeah, tiny. I need you to decide where you want it and what you want—do you want a little star or heart or bird? Just remember—the more detail, the bigger it will have to be, and I think we need to start you out small.”
She nodded. “Yeah, okay. Can I have you pick for me?”
He drew in a deep breath and smiled. “Sure. If that’s what you want.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Now…get inside and get some sleep.”
“You don’t want to come in for a while?” Her body was thinking about something it hadn’t done in a very long time.
A sly grin told her he’d already considered it and decided against it. “Not tonight. Maybe next time.”
She couldn’t remember unlocking the door or saying good night to him because her mind was too busy processing that he’d told her there would be a next time. A tattoo and another date. She could definitely live with that.
* * *
The next morning, she told Tina and Lacey about the date, and they both said it sounded hopeful. Tina thought it was cool that Kory was considering her first tattoo finally, but Lacey was a good friend and said nothing, even though Kory couldn’t help but notice the slight eye roll.
When she was in class later, she could hear the slight buzz her phone made in her backpack. It was repetitious, so she knew she was getting a phone call. She was curious but stayed focused on her professor’s lecture. The hectic pace of summer classes meant she couldn’t afford to be distracted, not even for a few moments.
All bets were off when the professor let them go for the day, though. She pulled her phone out of her backpack while she waited outside for Tina beside the girl’s car. Kory felt fortunate that her friend attended WCC like she did, and as long as she could arrange her classes around Tina’s, she had a ride. Work was another matter, but she lived a hell of a lot closer to work than she did the college. She didn’t mind walking most places, and the only time it really got to her was when the temperature was extreme either way. In the spring, she’d had an extra two hours to study in the library because Tina had one more class than she did, and Kory felt like the study time had helped her grades.
Oh. The phone call had been from Stone. She should have expected that a call from him would make her happy, but she hadn’t anticipated how much. She felt warm and eager, and when she saw that she had a voicemail message, she played it. “Kory, Stone here. I have an opening Friday night at seven o’clock. You in? Call me back.”
She d
idn’t hesitate. When he picked up, she said, “Oh, Stone, it’s so nice of you to offer to do this, but my payday is the Friday after. I don’t have any money for a tattoo right now.”
“I said I would do it. I never said I would charge you.” She was silent for a few seconds, and he started talking again before she could say anything. “Really, Kori. On the house. I just—you know, if you want a tattoo, I want to make your experience as stress free and painless as possible. Do you trust me?”
She smiled. “Yeah, I do.” She spied Tina walking toward the car from across the parking lot. She waved but she wasn’t able to get her friend’s complete attention.
“Good. Friday night at seven.”
She felt nervous all over again. She knew she would continue feeling that way until she got it over with, even practicing the deep breathing exercises her therapist from years ago had taught her. She just had to do it. That was the only way she could face her fears and overcome them. She knew this.
She had this.
Chapter Seven
LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON, Kory touched up her makeup. She understood that people didn’t think much of the way she painted her face. They simply thought she drew black around her eyes and called it good, but that wasn’t it at all. Yeah, she went heavy on the black, but she wore a little eye shadow and mascara, too.
Dressing was more difficult. She couldn’t decide on a shirt. She found a pair of jeans with the knees ripped out a little and chose those. Afterward, she searched through the shirts hanging in her closet and the t-shirts in her dresser and started to fret. Why was she worried? Stone already liked her enough to hang with her and he was going to tattoo her for free. He probably didn’t care what she wore.
That wasn’t why she was so nervous, though, and she knew it. No, Kory was scared shitless of that goddamned tattoo gun. It was irrational, and Stone had tried to assure her that it would be okay…that she could trust him. She had to find a way.
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