Page 28 of Joyride
“I’ll meet you outside,” she says. I shrug and head to Luke’s office for my purse. When I walk past Luke’s station, back toward the front, he stops me.
“Where are you off to?” His eyes are on his notebook. He’s adding some finishing touches to a client’s piece. I could watch any of these guys draw all day. They’re amazing artists.
“Lunch with Elena. Cheshire is watching the front for me,” I tell him.
“Sounds good. Have fun.” He still doesn’t look at me. I smile, shaking my head. Luke has been protective over me all week. It makes me wonder if Sketch said something to him. I walk out the door with a wave to Cheshire. Elena is leaning against her car when I walk up the stairs.
“Why didn’t you want to wait inside?”
“That guy wouldn’t stop staring. He’s really hot, but it was a little awkward,” she tells me. I giggle.
“You mean Ches? I’m not sure why he was staring at you like that. I’ll have to talk to him later,” I say. We climb into her car.
“What are you hungry for?”
“Let’s get Panera,” I suggest. The drive over is short but quiet. Elena doesn’t say much of anything until after we’ve ordered our food and found a table.
“Do you know when Sketch is coming back,” she asks.
“Soon, maybe sometime this weekend,” I explain. “He’s going to give me my first tattoo hopefully next week.”
“Does that mean you decided on a spot for you lotus flower?”
“Sure did. I’m getting it on my sternum.” I grin, pointing to the spot under my boob.
She gasps. “That’s going to look sexy as hell.” Her eyes go wide. “Won’t you have to be completely topless for a tattoo there?”
“Yeah and I thought about that. If it was anyone other than Sketch, I wouldn’t be comfortable getting it there. I trust Sketch one-hundred percent. Also, I’ll be wearing pasties so I won’t feel so naked.” I let out a light laugh.
Elena smirks at me. “Something’s going to happen between the two of you. I know it.”
I roll my eyes. “Stop it. You do not.”
“Well, somethingshouldhappen. Everyone can see there’s something there,” she tells me.
“What about you? Are you ready to date again,” I ask. She clams up, not wanting to answer.
“If I had someone who looked at me the way Sketch looks at you, then yeah. I would be,” she admits. We talk for another twenty minutes before she takes me back to the shop.
“I might be late coming home tonight. Tonight is pretty busy for the guys, so I offered to stay,” I tell Elena.
“Keep me updated. I’ll be home all night.” We say goodbye and I head back inside.
“Oh, good, you’re back. I was starting to miss you.” Cheshire smirks at me.
“Don’t lie. You were getting bored not having anyone to torture,” I tease.
“Sweetheart, you wouldn’t survive if I tortured you.” He winks, walking back to his station. His words stun me.I wonder what he meant by that.
A few hours go by. I decide to start organizing the shelves on the desk. I’m kneeling on the ground, looking through some tattoo magazines I found when the bell above the front door rings.
“Welcome to the Mad Tatter, where we’re all mad.” My eyes are still on the magazines as I stand. When I lift my head, I nearly drop the magazines. “You’re back!”
Sketch laughs. “Does Luke really make you say that to customers?”
I shrug one shoulder, smiling. “He really doesn’t have to make me.”
“That doesn’t shock me in the slightest.”
