Page 70 of Cast in Shadow
And that was the problem right there, wasn’t it? She didn’t need him. She could walk away at any moment without a backward glance.
So, he’d done it first.
Except he had been looking back, every fucking day.
Who was watching her back these days?
Nobody, according to Nix. Yeah, he’d called Callaghan Auto. Multiple times. Wanting to know if there’d been any word. Zeke could handle Aggie being pissed. Hell, she should be pissed. But if something had happened, something that could have been prevented if he hadn’t walked away ...
He’d already made up his mind. He’d give it another day, two at most, and if he still hadn’t heard anything, then he would haul his ass to Pine Ridge and demand answers. They could say they didn’t know anything, but he didn’t believe for one moment that they couldn’t find out.
“It’s fucking awesome, man,” the canvas said, stepping away from the mirror and bringing Zeke out of his own head. “Worth every penny.”
Zeke nodded, accepting the praise. It was a damn good piece.
He applied a thin layer of salve and wrapped the fresh ink with a sterile bandage, then walked the guy to the front, mindlessly repeating the aftercare instructions, knowing the guy probably wouldn’t follow them for more than a day or two, if that.
The guy paid and left. There was nothing left for Zeke to do but head out, grab something to eat at the twenty-four-hour place up the road, then catch a few Zs before he did it all again.
“Flip the sign and turn out the lights, Cass. We’re done.”
“You’ve got one more,” Cass said to him, tilting her head toward the waiting area.
Zeke shook his head. He was beat, and at two a.m., chances were, whoever it was had come straight from the nearest bar. “Tell them to come back tomorrow.”
“Tell her yourself.”
Zeke was about to say something else when he felt it. A tingling at the back of his neck—a sure sign that he was in someone’s sights. He raised his gaze to Cass, saw her smirk.
He turned slowly and saw a woman sitting there, flipping through one of the binders that held his designs.
Aggie.
Relief flooded through him in a wave powerful enough to almost take him to his knees. Relief and disbelief and an incredible sense of joy.
She smiled at him. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
He remained rooted to the spot, afraid to move, for fear she’d disappear. She got to her feet, placed the binder back on the table, and shoved her hands in her pockets. She looked as nervous as he felt as she closed the distance between them.
She stopped short of where he stood and held up the business card he’d left at the chalet. “I’m interested in getting a tattoo.”
“Are you now?” he murmured.
Aggie was there. Within touching distance. Smiling at him.
She nodded. “I hear you’re the best.”
As far as she was concerned, he was also the only. No one was going to touch that pristine skin of hers besides him.
“Got something in mind?”
“A few ideas,” she said almost shyly, “but I’m open to suggestions.”
That was good. Perhaps he’d even show her the full-body pieces he’d designed for her. She could pick and choose some or all. But later.
He couldn’t stand it any longer. One moment, there was three feet between them. The next, she was in his arms, and he was kissing her like she was the air he needed to breathe. Her arms curled around his neck and she kissed him back just as desperately.
