Page 12 of Four Tattoos

“You live together?”

Hutch gives a single nod in response.

“I can come to yours.” My place isn’t an option, but even if it was, I’d opt for their house, because I’m so curious to learn more about them, and their house will be another piece of the puzzle. Plus, the thought of being alone with them in their home has all of my little shivers joining forces, setting my whole body tingling with anticipation.

TATTOO 2

9

CHRISTIAN

The house is already clean, but Hutch is doing another run-through, looking for clutter we might have missed, even though I could still use his help in the kitchen. The fettuccine is simple, but we’re also searing chicken, roasting asparagus, making a salad, and heating rolls. Earlier, we made tiramisu, which is chilling in the refrigerator.

“You’re going to a lot of effort, aren’t you?” Zipper says, when I enlist him to cut carrots and tomatoes. When I don’t answer, he says, “You know this is a bad idea.”

After washing and drying a cucumber, I set it in front of him along with the vegetable peeler. “Keep your doom and gloom to yourself. You don’t have to be here tonight if you don’t want to.”

He’s quiet after that, and when the bell rings, he starts for the door, but Hutch beats him to it. Zipper looks like he does any day of the week, with a t-shirt and jeans, but the rest of us have nicer shirts on, and Hutch, with a light blue dress shirt, looks like he’s dressed to go to a fancy restaurant rather than eat at home.

I hear him greeting Rose, and her melodious reply, and I can hear her smile before I see her. Finally, she appears, looking even more beautiful than usual. Her silky hair lies in soft waves on her shoulders, falling over the thin straps of a tight black dress that hugs her curves in a very enticing way.

Her lips are a pretty pink, matching the blush on her cheeks. Her eyes are wide with what appears to be nervousness. “I brought wine,” she says, holding up two bottles, one in each hand. “I hope you like wine?”

Hutch hurries to take them from her, looking like he hadn’t noticed them before, and I can understand why. The way Rose looks is very distracting.

“Chardonnay. That’s perfect,” I tell her when Hutch sets the bottles on the kitchen counter.

He offers to show her around, and I watch her follow him down the hall, loving how her legs look in her high-heeled shoes, and how her dress clings to her perfectly-shaped ass.

Though spacious, our house isn’t enormous, so it’s not long before they’re back. If it’d been me taking her around, I might have given her an extended tour of my bedroom—specifically the bed.

“It’s good that your house is close to your shop,” Rose is saying as they reach the kitchen.

“Yeah, we weren’t necessarily planning to live together when we moved to the island, but when we found this place, with room for all of us, we decided it was the easiest thing to do,” Hutch tells her.

“Nice, quiet neighborhood, too,” Rose says.

“Also, the beach is right at the end of the street,” Mace says.

Rose’s pretty eyes widen. “Really? I didn’t realize. What a bonus.”

“Maybe we can walk down there after dinner,” I say, as I split my attention between Rose and the butter I’m measuring out for the alfredo sauce.

“Do you need any help?” she asks, turning those beautiful brown eyes on me.

I’m tempted to tell her yes just to have her close to me here in the kitchen, but it wouldn’t be very nice to make a guest cook, especially when there are four of us men here to do it instead.

“No, thanks. You can relax. How was the coffee shop today?”

“It was good, though I missed delivering to you.”

“We figured we’d wait since we’d be seeing you tonight,” Hutch explains.

Rose wanders over to the couch, trailing her hand along the back of a chair as she goes. “I like your house.”

“Do you?” Mace asks. “We haven’t done much to it.”

“It is a little bare, I guess, especially compared to the walls full of art at your shop.”

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