Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“This is very impressive,” I say to Gage, keeping my voice low.
His smile is gentle, but genuine. “Thank you. We’ve worked hard to get here.”
“I can see that. So you have four other artists working for you?”
“Three, at the moment. We’ll hire another one if we find the right fit.”
Another man comes through the door. He’s as big as Kai and Gage, and has an impressive set of tats himself, full sleeves on both arms. “Morning,” he says to Gage, and instead of going to one of the tattoo stations, he settles on a standing stool near the door.
I look from him back to Gage. “You have a bouncer?”
An unmistakable look of embarrassment crosses his face. “Sometimes fans of the show get a little … enthusiastic.”
As if summoned by his words, a group of young women pushes through the entrance, their eyes lighting up when they spot Gage. The bouncer moves nimbly to intercept them. “Good morning, ladies. Do you have appointments?”
Four faces fall in unison. “We just wanted to talk to the guys,” one of them says. “Get some autographs, maybe a selfie, you know.”
“Sure,” he says easily. “In order to let all the artists here focus on their work, we have set times for fans to hang out. Today, it’s from two-fifteen to two-thirty. You’re welcome to come back then.”
The woman who spoke looks sullen, then crafty. “Can we make an appointment?”
“Ember?” The bouncer gestures over a woman who appears to be in her early twenties, who’d been sitting behind a counter in the center of the shop. “Ember handles appointments for all the artists.”
Ember smiles at the women. “We don’t do group appointments, but you’re each welcome to make an individual appointment, and you can bring one other person with you for moral support.”
“How much is an appointment?” the spokeswoman wants to know.
Ember quotes a price for consultations and a range of hourly rates for tattoo work that make the fans’ eyes go wide. They look at each other, then shrug, pretending to be undaunted by the figures. “Whatever.”
The women’s gazes move past the bouncer and Ember to Gage, and they smile and wave; but when they look at me, their expressions turn hostile. “We’ll be back later,” their leader says.
They flounce out and I turn to Gage, dismayed. “You have to deal with that all the time?”
He shrugs, still uncomfortable. “Not all the time, but often enough.”
“Enough that you pay a full-time bouncer,” I murmur, mostly to myself.
“Brax is getting his degree in mechanical engineering. This job lets him make some money while he studies.” Sure enough, I can see now that Brax has a textbook open on a tablet, the device looking almost dainty in his big hand.
The receptionist comes over to us. “This is Ember,” Gage says. “Ember, this is Lexy, an old friend of ours.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say, shaking her hand. “Call me Alex. Are you a student too?”
“In business administration,” she says with a smile. “I don’t have any artistic ability, I’m afraid, but I like being around artistic types.”
I laugh. “Same here. I can barely draw stick figures.”
“Right? I’m always so amazed by the things artists create.”
“We all have our strengths,” Kai says behind us.
LEXY
He’s snuck up on me again. How does such a huge man do that? His dark eyes go from me to Gage and back again, and I see the fire smoldering in them. It’s not jealousy, I don’t think, or not exactly. More a reminder that he intends us to get naked again before long.
He keeps his distance, though, not giving me a kiss or even a hug. I suppose that if he made a big point of being possessive or affectionate here at his workplace, it would bother me. It’s better for him to be professional in this setting.
Which means it’s my problem, not his, that his entirely appropriate distance disturbs me, even with Gage standing right next to me. Yep, definitely not rational where Kai’s concerned.
There’s a teasing light in those eyes now, his lips curving slowly, as if he can read my mind. Suddenly annoyed with both him and myself, I tell him, “Nice place,” in a deliberately casual tone of voice. “Fancy.”
Kai grins, not concerned by what might seem faint praise to others. “We like it.” Then the smile fades, and there’s a brief but charged silence before he cants his head toward his client. “Gotta get back. Catch you later.”
He’s gone two steps before he stops and says over his shoulder, “We can talk about Jane Eyre some more.”
My face gets hot. It’s a good thing Gage already knows we slept together. Still, I keep my eyes on Kai as he makes his way back to his client, and don’t look at the man beside me.
By the time Kai’s back at work, my face no longer feels like it could grill a shish kabob. “Looks like a big job,” I observe to Gage, hoping I sound casual. Kai said as much this morning, but no point revealing that.