Page 36 of That One Night
She took a deep breath, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe she was doing this. Especially in public. “Seriously,” she muttered. “Do you have a tattoo on your cock, Hendrix Hartson?”
The way she said it made him full-on laugh. The kind of belly laugh that hadn’t forced its way out of his mouth in a long, long time. She looked appalled and intrigued all at the same time.
“Yeah,” he gave her a huge grin. “Of a whale. Life size.”
“Shut up!” She batted his arm with her hand. He grabbed her wrist to stop her from doing it again, his fingers curling around her soft skin.
Her breath stuttered and damn, he couldn’t stop looking at her. It was some kind of exquisite torture, being this close to her, knowing he couldn’t have her.
Her raspberry pink lips parted, her gaze locked with his. And for a minute he swore his heart stopped.
“We should go in,” he said, his voice thick.
“We should. We don’t want to miss our appointment with Jack.” She nodded, not moving her arm from his grasp. He looked at the way his fingers made a bracelet around her wrist. She was so pale and so perfectly delicate. He wanted to break her and then put her back together.
He swallowed hard. “You ready for it? To go talk to Jack?”
“Yeah. And I’ve decided I’m doing it. I’m getting a tattoo today.”
It was his turn to look surprised. “Seriously? What happened to ‘I’m not sure I’m ready to get a tattoo.’?”
“I figure life is too short to start over thinking things.”
Funny, because he’d only just started overthinking them.
“If I want a tattoo, I’m gonna get one,” she told him, sounding resolute. “I don’t give a damn what anybody thinks.”
A smile pulled at his lips as he gently released her wrist. His fingers flexed, like they were already missing the touch of her. “You still planning on getting a firefly?” he asked her.
He was glad this was working out. After the whole debacle of telling her they shouldn’t talk, followed by her heroism at saving Frank, helping her with this list was the least he could do.
It might even be fun.
“Yeah, I think I will. It’s small so it won’t hurt, right?”
“Right,” he agreed, lying through his teeth. “You’ll be fine.”
Chapter
Ten
“Oh my God,oh my God, oh my God.” She could barely breathe as the high-pitched wail escaped her lips. “Ow ow ow.” It felt like the needle was hitting bare bone. Or a nerve.
She wasn’t sure who looked more amused at her screaming – Hendrix or Jack. All she knew was that she was never doing this again. That needle hurt worse than breaking her wrist when she was eight.
“Want me to stop?” Jack asked her.
“No,” she said through gritted teeth. “Keep going.” Then she glared at Hendrix who was trying not to smile. “And you can shut up. This is all your fault.”
That just made him smile even more.
It took almost an hour for Jack to finish coloring in the tiny firefly they’d agreed on. And yes, he’d warned her that it would be painful, because the skin on her ankle was thin and close to the bone. But she’d managed to keep the screams to whimpers, and she’d grabbed hold of Hendrix’s hand tight, squeezing it hard enough for him to lift a brow.
She wasn’t sure which of them was the most relieved once Jack had finished adding the ointment to her skin and coveredup the tattoo, giving her a leaflet about caring for the freshly inked skin.
“By the way, I was wondering, does Hendrix have a tattoo?” she asked Jack as she slid the care instructions into her purse.
From the corner of her eye she saw Hendrix smile at her question. Because no, she didn’t believe he had a whale on his dick. But she also wanted to know if he did have one somewhere.
