Page 34 of Broken

His mouth drops open, and I stare back at him. His shoulders drop as he looks around. “Yeah, no problem.”

“Jesus,” I grin. “I’m fucking with you. Lucky is cleaning up,” I add.

He bursts out laughing and I join in. Out of my peripheral I spot Calli. She seems surprised to see me laughing. I am capable of it. At times. For once, I don’t let the smile fall off my face.

The party goes on. Clients old and new, friends from college that haven’t turned their backs on Shane lavish him with attention. There are a lot of women here too. Most of them young, and beautiful. The kind who frequent the shop to hang around and stare at us, Phoenix mostly.

None have a damn patch on Calli. I’m finding it hard to keep my eyes off her.

She isn’t getting away with pretending she’s not looking at me either. I can’t stop thinking about her piercings. Given my profession, body modifications have never affected me. It turns a lot of people off but I’m a big believer in people expressing themselves in the best way for them.

Nipple piercings are a huge turn on. Knowing they’re under that corset is driving me insane.

“Hey Garrett.”

I turn at the feminine voice. “Nina,” I glance down at her chest where my work is still fresh on her skin. “Hey.”

I didn’t realize she knew Shane well enough to be invited to a party. Lucky was in charge of the guest list, which makes more sense. She bonded with my client overfemale powerafter Lucky clocked the drunk in the balls.

Nothing came from that, thankfully.

“You’re healing well,” I say, checking out the ink.

“Yeah, I’ve never healed this cleanly after getting such a big piece,” she touches her shirt. “Would you like to grab a drink with me?”

I’ve been around the block a few times. She’s flirting. I finished the tattoo off a couple of days before the accident that put me out of commission so have no reason to see her again, unless she comes in for more work.

Dating clients is another big no go for me. Nina is good-looking. The kind a guy notices but I don’t see her beyond being a client. She isn’t the first woman I tattooed to flirt with me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Calli walking down the hallway which leads to the back of the shop. The storeroom and private studio room are back there, along with the bathroom, which is probably where she is going. Nina turns to see what I’m looking at.

Her shoulders stiffen. I guess she saw Calli before she slipped out of view. When she looks back at me, her disappointment isn’t disguised.

“She’s a lucky girl,” Nina says.

I’m about to protest it’s not like that. She’s giving me a way out of this. I’d be stupid not to take it. It’s the best way to let her down.

My gaze keeps going back to the hallway as I join Sumner and one of his friends from another tattoo place in the city.

“What happened to your arm?” Rex asks.

“He had a run in with a push bike,” Sumner grins.

Rex eyes my arm “That’s shit man. Can you work?”

“Couple more days and I’ll be good.”

Distractedly I glance around. Calli still hasn’t come back. There isn’t anyone here my employees don’t know. I think. Some of them might have brought other people, who we don’t knowor trust. I excuse myself from Sumner and Rex and head for the hallway.

The door to the bathroom is open, which means it’s empty. Where the fuck is she? I move along the narrow space and check the storeroom first. The lights are all off, but I flick them on anyway, to make sure. It’s empty.

That leaves the private room, or the staircase up to my apartments. A noise from my left draws my attention. Shit, what if she’s in there with a guy? Not that Calli strikes me as the type to take a guy into a back room in the middle of a party.

Jealousy surges and without thinking, I barge into the room. Calli turns, letting out a short shriek of surprise. When she sees it’s me, she puts a hand against her chest.

“You scared the shit out of me.”

“What are you doing in here?” I step inside, looking around.

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