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.Brandon s mouth opened and shut a few times before he pressed his lips tightly together, I massuming to hold back the (naturally) smart-assed and (most definitely) inappropriate commentssitting on his tongue.He finally settled on a wink and a shit-eating grin as he, too, made his way backdown the hall to his own studio.T.J., however, didn t move.Nor did he even try to contain the mirth plastered across his face, nowthat I wasn t in danger of choking to death. What s up? Where s Ian? he asked me. He s still at work, trying to finish up a job.He ll be here when he s done, if I m not a home beforethen.I came in to see if any of you had time to squeeze me in for a tattoo, but, I glanced around thelobby again. You guys are pretty busy. I ll get you, if you don t mind waiting a little bit. He turned to Emma. Chase Ledford s design isdone.Will you call and get him scheduled?She nodded and then handed him the signed consent form and info sheet for his next client. These aremostly walk-ins for piercings, she said, motioning to the room. That guy, that girl, and that guy, shesaid, pointing quickly,  are here to see about tattoos.Before T.J.could say anything, Emma continued. Just looking, picking out of the books, probablyjust flash, in and out, will wait.T.J.grunted, apparently because he understood what she d just said.I didn t, but who asked me?He called his next client back with him and disappeared with a quick smile and a  wait here motionto me.Emma swiveled on her stool once more. Alright, give.You don t just show up here out of the bluefor a tattoo on a whim.I shrugged. Yes, I do.I told you that when I came in and you asked what I was doing here.Did youforget already? Remember, the whole conversation about shorts and the weather and& are you gettingsenile?She narrowed her eyes at me. Don t deflect.Just answer the question.I m so sorry I didn t ask it assoon as you walked in the door, but we got a little sidetracked in conversation and coughing fits,remember? Now spill!I gave her a wide-eyed look. Seriously, Emma, I just came in to get another tattoo. I paused,smiling. And Ian is working, Chloe is helping her mom with something, and I was bored.Looking at me suspiciously, she responded,  You sure that s it? Oh my God! Yes, Emma!She cocked her head and raised her shoulder, giving me a haughty-raised brow look as she dead-panned,  Okay, fine.Whatever.After that, we both giggled and the conversation turned to tattoos and wedding plans.I helped heranswer the phone and handed the guys paperwork as they worked through the waiting clients.Therewas only one left when Ian sauntered in the door, looking dirty, disheveled, exhausted, but still sosexy he took my breath away.I sighed, not even realizing I was doing it, until my sister laughed at me and nudged me with herelbow. I remember those days, she said, dreamily, staring off into space. When just the sight of your mantakes your breath away and then makes you wanna run to him and tear his clothes off and make hotmonkey love to him sixteen ways to Sunday.Ian stopped in front of me, his lips twitching with laughter as he mouthed,  Hot monkey love? to mesilently.I pursed my lips and nodded my head solemnly, mouthing back,  Yep.So hot.So monkey-ey.He couldn t contain his chuckle any longer and let it out, his mouth stretching into a full grin.Emma jerked her head to the side and looked at Ian. You laughing at me, Ian? Nope.I would never, dear sister-in-law-to-be, he said cheekily. But I might need to get somepointers from your husband on how to make hot monkey love sixteen ways to Sunday.Emma s cheeks flushed and she muttered,  Asshole, under her breath, making Ian laugh even more.He turned back to me. You get your tattoo, yet? No.They were pretty slammed when I got here, but T.J.said he d do it if I waited.You wanna gohome and get cleaned up? Wait for me there?He shook his head. Nah.I ll wait with you.Unless you re trying to get rid of me, already? Nope.Not a chance in hell, buddy.You re stuck for life, I told him, tipping my head back andpuckering my lips at him, wordlessly asking for a kiss.He moved behind the counter and pecked my lips quickly. I m all hot, dirty, and sweaty.You don twant me too close until I get cleaned up. Mmmm& you make that sound so sexy&  I waggled my eyebrows at him, earning another shake ofhis head.Emma snorted, then commented,  Hot and sweaty? Leah and I just had this conversation.It s likenegative two outside, so how can you be hot and sweaty?Ian (with a straight face, might I add) said,  Emma, it s thirty-nine, not negative two.And some of usactually do manual labor that makes us hot and sweaty, even in the cold.You know, unlike others whosit in nice warm buildings all day&  He winked at Emma when she sputtered in mock-outrage, andthe two went back and forth for a bit, bantering good-naturedly, as usual.A few minutes later, Brandon came out and took the last waiting client back after saying hi to Ian, sowhen T.J.emerged from his studio room, he looked around to double check that he wasn t missinganyone waiting still and then jerked his head for me to follow him as he greeted Ian, as well.Ian and I followed him down the hall, but Ian peeled off to go wash up a bit.I settled into the chair inthe middle of T.J. s studio room as he asked if I knew what I wanted. I want just a line of script across the front of my upper thigh.Easy peasy. You have any particular font you re wanting? he asked me. Can you just write it out for me, see what you can do? Sure.Here, write it down for me and I ll work on it for a minute, see what you think.I took the scrap of paper and pen from him and wrote what I wanted before handing it back to him.He glanced over it and then nodded at me. I like that.What s it from? It sounds kind of familiar. It s from an e.e.cummings poem, my father moved through dooms of love. Hmm.With that, he turned away from me and began writing, but it didn t take him long.And as soon as heturned and handed me the paper where he d scripted the quote, I handed it right back and said, Perfect. You sure? You don t want me to try a couple different ways, or- Nope.That s perfect, T.J [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]