Chapter 3
THREE
TUCKER
“Someone is in a good mood for a Monday.” Paige, one of the artists who worked in my shop, tossed her black and white polka dot bag onto a chair and pulled up another, perching herself in my space.
I stopped humming to myself and looked up at her. “What are you doing here? I have a client coming in.”
She smirked. “Is that why you’re humming and smiling like that?” She waved a hand vaguely at my face.
“Maybe, but I kind of thought I was going to be alone.”
Paige raised an eyebrow. “Is this an appointment or a date?”
I turned away from her, putting my attention back on getting everything set up for Misha’s appointment. “It’s an appointment.”
Before I could react, her hand shot out and she grabbed my tablet from where I’d set it on my workstation. I tried to snatch it back, but she held it out of reach.
“Holy shit, Tuck. This is sick.”
I felt my cheeks warm a little. I knew I was a good artist, but it was still a little strange to have other people, especially other artists’ whose work I respected, compliment my art. “Thank you.”
“Seriously, this is fucking gorgeous. Is this what you’ve been working on for the last couple weeks?”
“Yeah. It’s got a lot of meaning for my client, and I wanted it to be perfect.”
She studied me carefully, and I turned away from her perusal, knowing she’d see more than I wanted her to.
The truth was, after emailing with Misha for the past couple weeks I’d developed a little bit of a crush.
It was stupid to think I could fall for a guy I’d never met after what amounted to a handful of emails all about a tattoo, but I recognized myself in Misha’s story.
We were kindred spirits, and there was something else too, something that made me think that maybe Misha might be the thing I felt like I’d been missing.
The weird thing was when I tried to picture what I thought he’d look like, the only image that came to mind was the shy, adorable guy I’d met at Nico’s bakery on Valentine’s Day.
Since that morning, I hadn’t been able to get the cutie out of my head, and it was weird to be crushing on a guy I was talking to over email while only being able to picture the omega from the bakery. It was starting to do my head in.
Which was why I’d wanted the time alone to get ready for this appointment.
“Are you sticking around for a while?” I loved Paige like a sister, but I also wanted her to leave.
“Nope.” She popped the P as she set my tablet down again.
“Just stopped in because I lost my stylus.” She held up a hand when I opened my mouth to give her shit.
“Yes, yes. Again. No commentary required. I’m hoping it’s in one of my drawers.
” She sashayed over to her workspace and started opening drawers, mumbling under her breath with each drawer she opened.
“Not giving you shit, but have you dug through that monstrosity?” I nodded toward her huge bag when she glanced my way.
“Yes. It was the first place I looked.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? You took everything out?”
“Do you want me to prove it?” She blew out a breath that ruffled her short turquoise bangs and stomped back to her bag, upending the contents onto the top of her cart.
She gave the bag a hard shake as if to prove to me that it was empty, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing as her stylus fell out and landed on the pile of crap she’d dumped from her bag.
Paige glared at me over her shoulder. “Not one word, Tucker. I swear to god.”
I held my hands up in surrender. “I’m not saying anything.”
She picked the stylus up off the top of the pile and tucked it into her messy bun, then she haphazardly shoved the rest of her stuff back into her bag before slinging it over her shoulder. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I’ll be here.”
She made it all the way to the door before she turned back to say, “Have fun on your date.” The door closed behind her, cutting off her laughter, before I could protest that it wasn’t a date.
Alone again, I put all my attention back on what I’d been doing before Paige had blown into the shop.
I wanted all the colors to be perfect for Misha’s tattoo, and I spent way too much time painstakingly choosing each shade.
I’d fill the ink cups after I saw Misha’s skin tone and verified that the colors I’d chosen would complement him.
It took me a second to realize that I’d picked colors I thought would look good on pale, creamy skin.
Skin that was way too close to that of Nico’s new employee.
“Snap out of it, Tucker.” I thought maybe saying it out loud would make it easier to do, but I was wrong. Instead, I just pictured the omega from the bakery more clearly. I really needed to go in and apologize for being an asshole. Tomorrow. I would do it tomorrow. No excuses.
The bell on the door jangled, and I took a breath, trying to get my head back in the game so I could make Misha’s tattoo the perfect symbol of his new life that he deserved.
“Hello?” The timid voice from the front of the shop oddly made the hair on my arms stand on end and my heart beat a little faster in my chest. I’d done lots of meaningful tattoos in the past, but I’d never gotten like this before meeting the client.
I wiped my damp palms on my pants before I stood to look over the half wall that separated my station from the front of the shop.
And my heart nearly beat out of my chest.