“A lot of hours, that’s for sure.” My sleeve took about twenty hours, and while Tenley is petite, it’s a lot of skin to cover.

“It’s a gorgeous tattoo.”

“It is,” I agree.

“Do you think it’s sexy?” She glances at the flower decorating my hand.

“A full back tattoo? Or Tenley’s specifically?”

Lily shrugs. “I don’t know. Either? Both?”

“Sure. I guess. Do you think it’s sexy?”

She nods. “Those two have insane chemistry.”

“Yeah.”

“That cupcake thing was intense. I was worried there was going to be a throw down.” Lily laughs, but it’s a little breathy.

I slip a hand under her hair and run my thumb down the ridges of her spine. “I bet he can’t give her orgasms just by looking at her.”

Lily snorts. “Neither can you.”

“Pretty damn close.”

“Mmm.” She taps her lip. “Maybe I should get Hayden to design something bigger.”

“One step at time, luscious. Starting small is probably a good plan.”

“But if that goes well, I could get something more detailed.”

“If that’s what you want.” I try to keep my grin contained. I think I may have created a monster, and I’m not even a little bit sorry about that.

Chapter 4

Hair Braiding

CHRIS

Once Hayden finishes the consults with Randy and his girlfriend—who makes Lisa look voluptuous—we show him the options for the various tattoos he and his teammates will be getting later in the summer.

After they leave, I don’t have another appointment scheduled until two in the afternoon, so I figure I can run across the street to see Sarah—the girl I’ve been hanging out with for the past several months.

It’s not serious. At least that’s how I’m spinning it right now. Mostly we see each other when we can. Since she’s a full-time grad student with a waitressing gig on the side, and I work weird hours as a tattoo artist, even the convenience of her living across the street from my work is often hard to take advantage of. But not today. She’s home, based on the text I just received, and looking forward to a visit. Which I’m hoping will include an orgasm—maybe more than one for Sarah, if I’m on my game this afternoon.

I use the key to get in the back door and take the stairs at a jog. I have more than an hour before I have to be back. Maybe we can even squeeze in lunch or something—if we have time.

I don’t bother knocking since Sarah knows I’m on my way over. I open the door to find the living room empty. “Sarah?”

She comes rushing down the hall from the direction of her bedroom, looking frazzled. I take in her attire. Actually, I take in the entire package. She’s wearing one of my oversized shirts and running a brush through her long, pale blond hair.

She tosses the brush on the table, but misses, so it drops to the floor.

“Hey! Hi!” Sarah launches herself at me, throwing her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. The enthusiastic affection is short lived, and she backs up. “How much time do you have?”

“I don’t have to be back at the shop until ten to two.”

She glances at the clock on the stove, and her eyes light up. “That’s more than ninety whole minutes! What should we do?”

“Hmm.” I tap my lip. “Maybe I can braid your hair, and we can talk about our life goals.”

Sarah wrinkles her nose. “Or maybe you can check to see whether I’m wearing panties or not.”

“So hair braiding is out?”

“Uh, yeah, unless it’s a euphemism for taking your clothes off.” She grabs my hand and pulls me toward her bedroom.

“What if I just want to talk?”

“You can do that naked.”

“Don’t you want to know how my morning was?” I ask as she pulls me through the doorway and into her pretty, feminine bedroom. The sheets are still rumpled, despite it being after noon. Sarah works late hours, and it’s Saturday, so she doesn’t have classes to contend with today.

Turning, she pushes up on her toes to kiss my jaw. “How was your morning?”

Sarah’s a tall girl. She’s long and willowy, and she probably could’ve been a model. The career she’s choosing has better longevity, though. An MBA will go a lot further for a lot longer. And once she’s done, her side job serving drinks at a strip club will be history. I’m the only person she takes her clothes off for, though. Thank fuck.

“One of the professional hockey players we do work for came in for a consult.” This is actually something I’m pretty excited about, although I’m not sure Sarah gives much of a shit about hockey.

Sarah slides her hands under my shirt, her nails running over my abs. “Seriously? Back for more?”

“Yeah.”

She stops her quest to get my shirt off, her palms flat on my chest. “Holy crap. That’s really cool. Which player? Was it Waters again?”

“Ballistic was in today, but a bunch of the guys from the team are coming in at the end of summer, and they’re all getting work done.”

“That’s amazing.” She edges her hand up a little more. “That’s kind of like having celebrities in the shop, right?”

“Kind of.”

“I’m glad things are going so well. You deserve something good right now.” She’s sincere, even though she’s still working on getting my shirt off—and she’s not just talking about sex.

The past few months have been challenging for personal reasons, so good things haven’t been all that easy to come by. Sarah’s one of those rare good things, and since I don’t get to see her all that often, I choose not to fill our time with depressing talk.

“You got anything else good you wanna give me?” I slip a finger in to the waistband of her shorts, pulling them out so I can check to see if she’s lying about the lack of panties. I get a glimpse of white cotton. They’re my fucking favorite. “Playing tricks on me with these, huh?” I edge a finger under the elastic.

“Keeping you on your toes.” She gives my shirt another tug, and this time I help with getting it over my head. Sarah sighs and smooths her hands over my shoulders and down my biceps, her eyes tracking the movement on my right arm—the one with the full sleeve. Then she continues over my chest until she reaches the waist of my jeans, popping the button.