Page 84 of Love at First Ink

“Office, please. I preferthat method.”

Alice let out a sigh of relief. “Me too. I’m too old for this new technology.”

After teaching Alice how to log off, Marisol ended the session. Just in time, too, because the next second, Cisco peeked into the car. When he saw she was no longer on the phone, he opened the door and slid inside. “Good session, Princesa?”

Marisol tucked a stray strand of hair and nodded. “It was. Alice might drop by tomorrow. She’s hoping to adopt a dog. How is setup going?”

“Done,” Cisco said, surprising her.

“Done? Like all of it?” she asked, not sure if she heard him correctly.

“Like all of it.” He chuckled, reaching for her hand. “Everyone else is meeting at Tino’s Pizza. You up to going?”

After her busy day and eating a granola bar for lunch, she would kill for some pizza. “Yes please,” she groaned.

“Good, because I said we’d go. Get that sexy ass out of the driver’s seat and let me drive us,” he said, reaching to squeeze her thigh.

The touch made her body warm, and she nearly forgot she was hungry…nearly. But then her stomach growled, and she remembered she was exactly two minutes away from being hangry, so she climbed out of the car, making her way to the passenger seat.

She crossed paths with Cisco in the process, and he pulled her close, leaning down to capture her lips. It was a soft, brisk kiss, but promised more for later.

“Proud of you, Princesa,” Cisco said as he pulled away. “And I love you.”

“I love you too.” She smiled, feeling the same butterflies she always feltwhen she said it.

“Let’s go get that congratulatory pizza and celebrate with our friends,” he said.

Our friends.

She had a boyfriend, a man she loved. And now she had friends. She didn’t know if this would ever stop feeling surreal, but it wasn’t something she would ever take for granted.

“Let’s go,” she said and got into the car.

CHAPTER 38

Cisco

Cisco enlisted Tiny’s help to manage the waiting list at the pet fundraiser. It was an easy sell because Tiny loved animals so much, and Cisco promised her $100 with lunch thrown in. They arrived a half hour ago to set up the station. Cisco had texted Marisol that he was here, but he had yet to see his girl. She was probably busy making sure everything was ready for today, and he didn’t want to bother her if that was the case.

“So, you’re only offering these designs here?” Tiny held up a laminated paper with twenty-something designs on it.

Cisco nodded, wrestling with a portable chair he bought for this reason. “Yeah. Nothing else. Those don’t take much ink and will probably take me ten minutes to finish. Charge forty dollars per design.”

Tiny saluted him, laying the paper down on the folding table. Their booth size wasn’t huge, but it was big enough for them to work comfortably. Together, they had put up a black canopy with a fabric wall around three sides. The top of thecanopy readGolden City Tattoosin bold golden letters. He bought it a year ago when he was asked to attend a tattoo expo as a featured artist. He had nearly forgotten about it until Tiny hauled it out of the shop this morning.

Even though the fundraiser was not set to begin for another thirty minutes, already a few people trickled in, checking out the booths setting up. The slight breeze in the air carried the smell of Cajun spices and fried funnel cakes. If he hadn’t picked up breakfast sandwiches this morning, he’d be lining up outside the Cajun food truck right now. He still might later.

“Do you think they have a coffee truck?” Tiny asked.

Cisco didn’t quite remember everything he blocked off yesterday from Marisol’s list, but he vaguely remembered a coffee truck. “I think so. You can check before it gets busy.”

Tiny pushed herself up from her chair, stretching. “Do you want anything?”

“Nah, I’m good.” He barely got the words out before Tiny left. Off to get her sugary caramel latte, or whatever overly sweet concoction she drank these days. It changed every few months.

Cisco checked his phone again. Marisol still hadn’t replied, but she hearted the message. She’d find him later, once everything kicked off. She was with friends, so she had people to lean on if she needed the help.

Yesterday, he didn’t get to fully appreciate the event, too busy getting everything set up. It was one thing to mark off spots and an entirely different thing seeing it with the vendors in place. It was quite the production, and it was only possible because of Marisol.

---