Chapter 3
Keith
Afew days later, I was alone in my shop. I didn’t want to go home, didn’t want to hear anything from my best friend about the chick he couldn’t get out of his head, because that chick was my cousin. That was all an image I didn’t need.
But I also had no clients, at least not this late at night. Occasionally, though, we had walk-ins come in. So, we all said that every so often, one of us would stay later, just in case.
And that was what I chose tonight.
Not that I was holding out hope, personally.
I sighed, standing up to relieve the pain in my lower back. Sitting hunched over for hours at a time could really do some damage that no one probably thought of.
I flipped the TV on, going through the channels, hoping something would pop on to keep me entertained for the next few hours. I found an old war movie, figuring that would last long enough.
Twenty minutes later, the front door opened, scaring me half to death.
“Holy shit,” I cried, clutching my racing heart. Brittani stood there, her lips pressed together, struggling to hold in the laugh I knew wanted to come out. “Get it over with,” I told her.
She doubled over, her arm clutched around her stomach, as she laughed loud and hard.
“I’m sorry, Keith. I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t think you’d be so into the movie that you wouldn’t hear someone walking up.”
“I wasn’t supposed to,” I muttered, turning down the volume. “But it’s a favorite of mine and just got drawn in. What are you doing out so late?” I glanced at the clock on the wall, my brow crinkling. It’s half past ten.
“I just got off work. Lots of mail today. I saw the light on and thought I’d swing by.”
“Were you thinking we left them on? Or were you thinking that you wanted something?”
“Maybe a bit of both?”
That was new.
“Sure. Come on in. Do you mind locking the door behind you? I think you might be my last client tonight.”
“Yeah, sure.” She turned around and flicked the lock, then followed me back to my studio. “I like it, it’s spacious.”
“Thanks. Not your first time in one?”
“Uh, no. I have some ink, and some piercings.”
“Besides your ears?”
“I had my eyebrow, had to take it out. But I have my belly button, even if I’m not a size six.”
She wasn’t, that was for sure. She wasn’t a big girl either. Brittani had some curves and that was nice, not that I was thinking about her like that.
“Don’t need to be to get what you like. So, what are you thinking?”
“I don’t know. I just…got this whim and thought I’d come see. Do you have a book I can look at, maybe get some ideas?”
“You know this will be on you forever, right?”
She rolled her eyes at me and for some unknown reason, I wanted to wrap my hand around her throat and kiss the sassiness right out of her. Which is very much unlike me. I didn’t have those urges. At least I controlled them. And I didn’t have them around people I didn’t like.
“I’m not dumb. I have plenty. I just, I don’t know Keith, I wanted one. Do you do this with all your clients? Try to talk them out of it or something?”
I slapped my mouth closed and glared at her. No, I didn’t try to talk them out of it. In fact, I really wasn’t trying with her, either.
But most people who sat in my chair knew exactly what they wanted. And here she was, trying to get me to help her pick something. What if she didn’t like it? I didn’t want her pissed at me because she didn’t know and refused to help me out.
“What are you thinking?”
She flipped through a few more pages of my portfolio, then stopped. She eyed a photo before flipping back, looking at another one.
“This,” she said, pointing to a mountain scene. “And this. I want this mountain scene with this sunset.”
I took the book and looked between the two photos before glancing at her.
“Okay, where would you like that?”
“Oh, along my upper back. That would be okay, right? More than enough space.”
I eyed her for another second before nodding.
“Let me draw it up and see if you like it.”
“Sure.”
I just shook my head as I climbed off the stool and went to another room that had the drawing table and light I needed.
The image was overly detailed, but the beauty of it came from the colors.
After several moments, I walked back into the room, seeing that her shirt was off, and her bra straps were down.
She was lying on her stomach, ready for this.
“Is this okay?” I showed her the sketch and her eyes opened wide.
“Yes! That is beautiful. Those are the Colorado mountains and it’s one of my favorite scenes ever since I’ve moved out. This is going to be epic.”
I didn’t know about epic, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone this excited for an image to be put on them.
I also wasn’t expecting the thrill of excitement to race over me. Not because of tattooing her, but because there was another person who loved the same views I did. Why I would never leave this place. To have a newbie in town admit that, well, maybe that might shift my thoughts on her.
“Did you tattoo a lot of your stuff?”
I glanced over my arms and my legs. Most of mine I had done when I was young and stupid. But being a bit older, I tended to put a lot more thought into what I wanted.
“Some of it. Some I have my cousin do. Most, in fact, has been done by them. I let Kory try a few things on me from time to time, but he likes piercings far more than tattooing. But Kylie, she always has a blast inking me up.”
“I like that you kept this all in the family.”
I cleaned her back and then put the stencil down, letting it sit for a moment while I got the colors I needed. It was funny that I was even confessing as much as I had been, because I never did.
“It seemed like the best idea. And Storyville could use a shop. Kind of wish I had one growing up.”
I removed the paper and then adjusted the seat.
“Okay, try to keep as still as you can. And if you need to get up or move, just let me know.”
“Don’t mind me if I fall asleep,” she told me and I snorted. Because that would be a first. Well, that and not having someone bitch all the time.
But if she was real and honest, like she claimed to be, like her personality always seemed to be, then this tattoo was going to be a breeze, and her smile would only get brighter.
And why that made my heart burst, I wasn’t sure, I just knew it did, that I was able to give her something.
Personally, I didn’t think that was a good idea.