Page 3 of Her Double Desire

Chapter 2

Veronica

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Hands touch my face, soft and cautious. Something cool presses to my forehead. I open my eyes a crack, wincing from the bright lights above.

Shawn stares down at me, frowning while he mops my face with a wet cloth. “Are you awake?”

Uncomfortable with a stranger so near and intimate with me, I sit up and recoil. My hands curl on top of plush carpet. I'm sitting at the bottom of the stairs. Lifting my chin, I count the steps.Did I fall down all of them?

“Relax,” Shawn says, reading my mind. “Jared managed to catch you before you broke anything.”

I see the green-eyed man hovering nearby. His arms are wound tight over his broad chest, creating a dimple in his gleaming tie.He caught me?I know he wasn't far away when I blacked out, but to manage to grab me in time, he had to be extremely quick.

Shawn tilts his head. He's close enough that the scent of oranges and almonds enters my nose; it's a wonderful fragrance. “Are you going to faint again, little lamb?”

“I'm not a lamb.”

“No,” Shawn snorts, standing straight and tossing the damp cloth into a small trashcan. “You're only the worst purchase I've ever been a part of.”

Carefully, I rise up on my feet. It's a relief when my legs don't give out. “What the hell do you meanpurchase.Does that have something to do with this tattoo on my throat?”

Shawn takes in a big breath of air. Before he can respond, Jared lifts a hand, silencing him. “It's clear you've forgotten much of your evening. Perhaps we can help your memory. Do you remember walking into Brander's Alley Ink?”

The instant he utters that name my skull splits. Hissing, I bury my fingers in my scalp. I'm swooning from the vivid memories assaulting me.

That's right... Brander's Alley Ink. I remember now.

I wish I didn't.

Last Night

Sonya laughs, shoving another shot my way even as I'm falling out the front door of the bar. Both of us are giggling helplessly.

“Veronica, one more! One more, in celebration of ourfuckingshit heel boss!”

“I can't, I can't,” I complain, pouring the drink down my burning throat. “I should stop! We've been out... fuck, what... Sonya!” I grip her arms, snorting at my own helpless giggles. “Sonya! Listen to me. What time is it?”

“Not time to go home!” she declares, pushing me down the dark street. Together we stumble along, our voices carrying through the air.

Clasping her shoulder, I gesture at the starry sky. “We can be free you know! We can both quit that fucking job, before either of us gets fired!”

“Only one of us is getting fired, and it's you.”

I shake my head angrily. “Let's both quit with a bang, shove it up their asses! Tim thinks we're too stupid to know what's up, but we do!”

Sonya props me up, wiping her mouth as she considers me. “You want to go out in a blaze of glory?”

“Yes! That's exactly what I fucking want!”

She points, and I follow her finger towards the the blinking red glow of a sign above a doorway on our quiet backstreet. “Then do it,” she says. “Show them what you think of their shitty rules.”

I focus on the shop, digesting her words slowly.

Brander's Alley Ink.

It's more perfect than I could have come up with if I'd had time to plan. Our company has hammered home multiple times, often in passive aggressive emails, how “unprofessional” tattoos are in the workplace. They're explicitly not allowed. A fire-able offense.

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