Chapter 17
DANNY
“Areyou sure you want to do this?” Eden says to me with a concerned frown.
God’s honest truth? No way in hell. I thought I wanted to. But that was half an hour ago, after two glasses of hard alcohol. Now that I’ve had some water and some time to sit and think about things, I don’t think I can stomach getting an impromptu tattoo.
I swallow and glance around the shop space. It’s exactly what I imagined a tattoo shop would look like: dark furnishings, cushioned chairs, and loads of wild artwork displayed everywhere.
“Um, well…” A cold sweat breaks out across the back of my neck when the person I assume is one of the tattoo artists here, walks out to the reception area where we stand. Every visible inch of skin on this dude is tattooed, save his face. I fixated on the elaborate eagle face etched in black in across the front of his neck.
“Uh…” I choke.
Eagle-neck dude frowns. “You okay, buddy?”
“Yeah. Just, um, deciding what I want.” Total lie. I just can’t bear to tell this guy to his face that the thought of getting a tattoo in this moment makes me want to hyperventilate.
“Here’s a book you can look through if you want.”
He drops a black binder three inches thick in front of me.
“Oh. Um, thanks.” I flip through the pages of tattoo designs, pausing every once in a while to squint at a random image.
“This one’s a pretty popular first-time tattoo.”
The guy points to a skull and I have to hold back a grimace. God, that’s such a cliché.
“Huh. Interesting. Not sure if that’s the one I want to go with.”
“Getting a family member’s name inked on you is another go-to,” he says.
“Everyone I’m related to would hate that,” I say, before I register just how bad that sounds. But he laughs and so does Eden.
She smiles at him. “I think we might need a bit longer to decide.”
He nods once, then his gaze seems to focus. He grins, and I can tell he’s looking at her nose ring. His gaze drifts to her bare right upper arm. “That’s some gorgeous ink you’ve got there.”
She tells him thanks and he continues to rake his gaze along the entire length of her body. My insides turn to fire. What the hell, is this guy flirting with her?
Are you jealous right now? You’ve got no right to be. She’s your friend and boss—not your girlfriend.
Despite the voice of reason sounding off in my head, I can’t help the flash of anger I feel. Okay, fine, we’re not together, but is this guy for real? He’s openly checking out Eden in front of me. He has no idea if I’m her friend or boyfriend or…
Maybe he assumes I’m not with her because I look like a milquetoast yuppie standing next to edgy and beautiful Eden. I catch my reflection in the glass entrance. I look like a cross between the stock photo for “late-twenties white guy” and a J. Crew catalog model.
I shake off the moment of insecurity and look at eagle-neck dude, who’s chatting and laughing with Eden.
“How many tattoos do you have?” he asks. I clench my jaw. Maybe that’s a totally normal question, but something about it comes off as kind of personal—even borderline invasive.
“Two,” she says.
“I see one.” He nods his head to her arm.
He smirks at her, his expression expectant, like he’s waiting for her to reveal the location of her other tattoo—like he thinks her tattoo and her body is his fucking business for some reason. It takes a second before I realize I’m clenching both of my fists at my sides.
Instead of responding to him, Eden crosses her arms and looks away.
He starts to speak again, but I slam the binder shut and push it away on the counter, which jerks his attention to me.
“You know what? I changed my mind. I don’t think I’m ready for a tattoo.”
I start to turn for the door, but eagle-neck dude speaks.
“That’s cool, buddy. They’re definitely not for everyone. You sure there’s nothing you want to get done?”
He aims his gaze at Eden once more, and I swear every single muscle in my body tenses.
“I’d be happy to ink you up,” he says with a quirk of his eyebrow. Holy hell, did he just say that? Jesus, dude. Can you make it any more obvious that you’re aching to fuck her?
Eden shakes her head, flashing a polite smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. Something about that eases all the tension inside of me.
“I’m not looking to get anything done at the moment,” she says. “Thanks, though.”
Eagle-neck visibly deflates but nods.
We head out of the tattoo shop and walk down the street. Eden laughs as she pulls on her jacket. “Wow. You really hated that guy, didn’t you?”
“What do you mean?” I mutter, shoving my hands in my pockets.
She giggles. “It was so obvious. Whenever you talked to him, you sounded like you were speaking through gritted teeth.”
Only then do I realize how tight the muscles in my jaw are. I take a second to relax.
“Okay, yeah. I definitely wasn’t his biggest fan. But come on, he was clearly hitting on you. Dude had no shame and it just rubbed me the wrong way.”
She pats my arm, and I feel my body relax even more. God, this woman. Just being around Eden, talking to her, laughing with her, working with her, makes me happier and more at ease than just about anything.
“Yeah, he was pretty obvious, wasn’t he?” She wrinkles her nose.
“Eagle-neck isn’t your usual type?”
She bursts out laughing again. “Eagle-neck?”
“I didn’t catch his name, so I thought I’d come up with one myself.”
She shakes her head, but she’s smiling. “No, he definitely wasn’t my type.”
“Really?”
“You sound so shocked.”
I tug a hand through my hair, hoping I’m playing this well. I don’t want to sound jealous.
As we head toward the Nob Hill neighborhood, I take a second to carefully choose my words.
“I guess I just thought that you’d be into guys with lots of tattoos.”
“Lots of people think that,” Eden says. “But honestly, I’ve dated all types of guys. Guys who looked like eagle-neck. Guys who looked the exact opposite of him. Guys who were older and younger than me. I guess I don’t really have a specific type.”
“That’s cool,” I say, hoping the relief I feel isn’t apparent in my tone.
“I honestly care more about feeling a connection with a person. Physical attractiveness counts, of course. At least for me. I need to feel attracted to the guy, but that can’t be the only thing that draws me to him. He has to make me laugh and feel safe. He has to be honest and kind and thoughtful. And when he looks at me, he has to make me feel like I’m the only person in the room worth looking at.”
I stop walking when I realize what she’s said. She said that exact thing when I was nervous about my first Dream Guy date.
When you’re focused on someone, you look at them like they’re the only person in the room worth seeing. It’s very, very hot.
“Oh,” I manage to say as I glance down at her.
A look of recognition crosses her face. “Oh, god! Not like…you. That’s not…”
Her cheeks go adorably beet red as she presses her eyes shut and shakes her head.
“Sorry. That totally sounded like I was describing you, didn’t it?” She winces.
“Yeah. But it’s not a bad thing, Eden.”
I step closer to her, officially in her space.
“It’s not?” She stays standing in place, leaning her head forward.
“Not at all. The thought that you find anything about me attractive is very, very hot, Eden.”
She doesn’t move. Not when I reach down to tuck a stray chunk of her hair behind her ear. Not when I lightly cup her cheek in my hand.
I hold my breath. I need to in order to keep my nerves under control. Yeah, what I’m saying and doing—making a move on Eden—is risky as hell. But I can’t wait anymore. We’ve been existing in this flirty back-and-forth long enough. And even though she backtracked on what she said a second ago, part of me thinks she’s telling the truth—that she wants me just as much as I want her.
With her gaze locked on me, she licks her lips. And then she starts to smile.
My breath comes out in a slow, silent hiss. She’s into this—into me. Hell YES.
She steps forward and tiptoes up to me, closing the already narrowing space between us. And then she tilts her head up at me. This is it. We’re finally, finally going to kiss.
My mouth waters as I lean down to her. I press my mouth to hers and hum. Her lips, her skin. She’s so damn soft.
Her phone rings, jolting us apart. That sudden loss of contact has me aching.
“Hang on, let me get rid of this,” she mutters as she digs her phone out of her purse. “Hey, Gavin. What’s up?”
Her brown eyes go wide. “An emergency? Okay, where are you? I’ll be right there.”
She hangs up. “Gavin is having some Dream Guy date disaster and needs my help.”
“Damn, really?” I can feel my shoulders sinking. What the hell kind of timing is that?
“Yeah. He’s at a bar in the Pearl District. That’s not too far away, I should go check on him.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Who knows, you might need my help.”
She flashes a relieved smile, and together we head in the direction of the Pearl District.
“Sorry, this, um, interrupted our…kiss,” Eden says as she speedwalks down the street.
I take her hand in mine, spin her to face me, and rest my hands on her hips. “Don’t be sorry. We can pick up where we left off.”
Her gaze turns fiery. “That would be perfect.”