Page 68 of Swan

“Come see me after.”

“Uh-huh.” I waved over my shoulder as I headed out the door.

“Drake, I mean it.”

Chuckling, I shook my head. I should have gone to Texas before Maya. Now she wasn’t going to let up about it. Unless I got Texas to get her to back off. She’d listen to him more. Yeah, I’d have a chat with him later.

Walking into the room, I smiled at Kayla. I’d gone to school with her, and she’d heard through some of the other girls I’d already inked that I was open for business.

Loved my job. But sometimes it was a pain.

I’d been popular in school, and the girls had wanted my attention. I gave it to some, but there were others who, despite their persistent advances, I didn’t bother with, knowing they were toxic. Ones like Kayla. I wasn’t even sure if she liked my design but was willing to get it done if it meant alone time with me.

When I got more designs under my belt, I could be more selective with my clients.

For now, I was stuck. But at least the money was good, and when I did hint that I wasn’t interested in seeing them outside of business, they took it reasonably well.

Hopefully today wasn’t any different.

Or what I hoped more was that I’d read incorrectly into the look in her eyes when they ran over my body.

“Glad you liked the design I emailed enough to get it inked, Kayla.”

“You drew it exactly how I pictured it.”

“Thanks.” I went over to the sink and washed my hands. “Just gonna get it all set up. Where’re you lookin’ at placin’ the stencil?”

She lifted her tee and pointed at her ribs.

I whistled. “That’s a painful area. You sure you’ll be good with that? You got one done before?”

“I have on my back, and I’ve already applied numbing cream.”

Which would last for a little while at least, and then it’d kill like a motherfucker.

At least it wasn’t too big.

I sat on my seat and held the stencil up. “Come here for a sec and show me the place you want it.” She stood between my legs closer than needed, so I pushed my chair back. Lucky it was on wheels. I held the stencil near the spot she’d shown me and moved out of the way of the mirror behind me. “There?”

“Perfect.”

“Great. I’m just gonna lay the table back before you jump up again.” As soon as I had it in place, she climbed up and lay back, tucking her tee into the bottom of her bra. I prepared the area and stuck the stencil to her.

“Just gonna get some things set up.”

“No problem.”

The first thing I did was put music on in the background.

Shit, I forgot to ask Maya if she talked to Swan about going to Melbourne.

I’d add that to what I wanted to ask Texas later.

Kayla was quiet for a little while, but as I put my gloves on and wheeled close, she asked, “How’s life been since school?”

“Can’t complain. What about you?”

“Oh, I’m working at a local day care. The one on Davidson’s Drive.”

---