Page 2 of Rivers of Ink
“Don’t. It’s beautiful. Like there’s a lot of meaning in it.”
He took a good look at the woman standing in front of him. She wore a tight black pencil skirt that stopped above her knee, a traffic stopping red top with a v-neck that hinted at a voluptuous cleavage, and killer patent heels. Her hair was the colour of dark chocolate and looked as if it had been pulled back in a sensible style for work at the start of the day, and now strands of it fell across her face. He was struck with a sudden urge to reach up and tuck it behind her ears. Her green eyes glittered at him, radiating… he didn’t know what. She looked exactly like one of the girls he had deliberately avoided when he arrived.
“It might be a new tattoo design,” he admitted. It wasn’t an outright lie. He’d been thinking about getting something for Xander, but he hadn’t been able to find the right thing. Designing his own was the most obvious thing to do.
“You look like you already have some,” said the woman. She checked out his forearms and hands, her gaze skimming over the patterns and inks that covered them.
If only she knew, thought Callan.
She sighed. “How long does it take to get a drink around here? Though I’m not too bothered as it means I don’t have to go back and witness that love fest.” She pointed to a table in the corner where Callan saw a couple kissing. “I seriously feel like a third wheel, and that probably means I’m not going to get a decent night’s sleep tonight either.”
In spite of himself, Callan laughed. To think that someone’s single problem might be a noisily shagging flatmate. It felt foreign to him after the past couple of weeks.
“Why don’t you stay and have a drink with me?” The words were out of his mouth before he’d given them any thought.
She shrugged. “Sure, why not? Looks like I’m going to be here a while.” She held out a hand. “I’m Ali, by the way.”
“Callan. Good to meet you.” He took her extended hand and shook it. The touch sent unexpected shockwaves through his system, and he pulled back. Instead, he raised a hand in Vinny’s direction and immediately another double Jack, and a glass of red, appeared in front of them.
“You must be a regular,” said Ali, nodding in appreciation.
“Yeah, a bit.”
“Do you work locally then?”
“Got a shop in Fosse Arcade.”
“Really? Would I have been there?”
Callan’s gaze swept over her exposed skin. There was nothing to give away the fact that she had any inks herself, although she had several piercings in her right ear. “I don’t know, maybe?”
Ali wrinkled her nose at him. “You’re being a bit cagey for someone who just asked me to stay and have a drink with him.”
She was right. He wasn’t in the place where he wanted to share his deepest darkest secrets and how he was really feeling about life right now. He wanted to have some fun, and Ali was the first person to make him laugh in weeks.
“Sorry, I guess I’ve had a lot going on recently,” he said.
“Anything you want to talk about?” Ali paused. “Uh oh, by the look on your face, that’s a no.” She shrugged easily instead. “Okay, so why don’t we talk about everything else. Like, I don’t know? Your favourite cartoon character? My money’s on SpongeBob Squarepants.”
For the second time in as many minutes, Callan found himself chuckling. Ali was a breath of fresh air, seemingly taking him at face value and not wanting to delve deeper into his life.
It was exactly what he needed right now.
And an hour later, it was exactly what he needed, pressing her against the wall on the landing at the top of the stairs, kissing her so thoroughly that he almost couldn’t breathe. His hands were all over her, stroking the side of her neck, dipping underneath her blouse, skimming the lace of her bra. She gasped against him, her own hands grazing the top of his jeans, her nails brushing his skin, running the tips of her fingers over his abs. He buried his head into her neck, inhaling her perfume; a seductive scent he wasn’t used to, one he definitely wanted to smell more of.
He drew back, meeting her green eyes with their heavily dilated pupils. “You want to get out of here?” he asked.
Ali reached forward and met his already bruised lips, kissing him hard. “Does that answer your question?” She pulled away, straightening her top and skirt. “I need to let Nell know where I’m going. I’ll see you downstairs.”
Callan watched her walk down the stairs, a bounce in her step. He sank back against the bannister, head spinning as he asked himself what the hell he was doing.
2
Alicia Dylan swept up her clothes and tiptoed into the bathroom, trying not to wake Callan, who snored softly. She winced slightly at the start of a headache as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.
The queen of bad decisions had done it again.
After being let go early from a temp role in the Marketing department of one of Oakridge’s management consultancy branches, she had met up with her best friend to commiserate. She and Nell had gone to the Trackside Social on a whim.
