Chapter 3
“Areyou sure you want to do this?” I asked as Charlie parked her Mercedes AMG SL 63 in the parking lot of a tattoo shop.
“Damn sure,” she stated as she engaged the parking brake. “I’ve wanted a tattoo forever.”
“Yes, I know. But you’ve never known what tattoo to get. I don’t think walking into a tattoo shop and letting the wall of generic designs decide what to permanently ink on your body is the best idea.”
“They have tattoo removal lasers these days. If I regret the tattoo, I’ll get it blasted off.”
“That process is more painful than the tattoo.”
She looked at me with an amused grin on her face. “Hayden, I say this with all the love in my heart for you—stop being a stick in the mud. Let me have my rebellion.”
“Get something pierced instead,” I suggested.
“Already thinking about getting my hood pierced,” she said, shooting me a wink and climbing out of her nearly two-hundred-thousand-dollar car.
I scrambled from my seat and closed the passenger side door. I immediately lifted the collar of my jacket so I wouldn’t feel the late autumn chill on my skin. “You’re joking.”
“I can’t win with you, can I?” Charlie teased.
“I don’t know if you’re kidding or not.”
“I’m kidding. Maybe. Come on, I don’t want to be late.”
“Late?”
“I have an appointment with Roman.”
“Roman? Who’s Roman?”
“Only the hottest tattoo artist in town. He and his two brothers own Three KingsTattoo Parlor,” she replied as we trekked across the parking lot. “They do amazing work.”
“If you say so,” I muttered.
Charlie opened the front door and I walked in behind her. A redhead was at the counter on the phone, but she met us with a smile. While Charlie waited to speak to her, I ambled around the space.
It wasn’t at all what I expected. The walls weren’t covered with standard tattoo designs, but photographs of finished custom work. Each one of them looked like a true piece of art.
The young woman behind the counter hung up the phone. “Sorry about that. How can I help you?”
“Hi, I’m Charlie Beaufort and I have a one o’clock appointment with Roman.”
“Wonderful,” the redhead said with a smile. “He’s just finishing up with a client and he’ll be right out.”
Charlie wandered over to me. “Cool, right?”
I was staring at a photo that showed off a completed back piece. “Very cool.”
“I’m sure Roman could squeeze you in if you wanted something small, like a butterfly or a heart,” Charlie said.
“Roman’s booked solid for the next three months,” the redhead chimed in. “So you won’t be able to get your butterfly or heart tattoo today.”
“Tragic,” I said with a bite of snark.
The redhead grinned. “Not a fan of the butterfly or heart tattoos?”
“Not a fan of needles,” I said.
She shook her head. “Ah, same. I’m the only Jackson sibling not to have ink.”
“Oh!” Charlie exclaimed. “You’re Brielle!”
“I am,” the redhead confirmed.
“Roman mentioned you,” Charlie said. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Mentioned you,” I repeated. “Mentioned you when?”
“In one of our other appointments,” Charlie explained. “I’ve been meeting with Roman for a few months to finalize a tattoo. Today, I actually get it.”
“You’ve been thinking about this for months and you didn’t tell me? You tell me everything.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Charlie said. “And I didn’t want you to accidentally tell my mother.”
I opened my mouth, but Charlie turned her attention back to Brielle. “Why are you working reception? Roman said you work at a bakery.”
“Agnes got sick, so I’m filling in,” Brielle said. “And I decorate wedding cakes. But right now, that’s kind of on hold. My business partner—the one who actually bakes the cakes—just had a baby and is on maternity leave, so my schedule is pretty open right now.”
“Which bakery?” I asked.
“Pie in the Sky.”
Heavy boots clod across the floor, pulling my attention away from Charlie’s conversation with Brielle to the two men who appeared from the back hallway.
My mouth dropped open. “What are you doing here?”
Bones raised a brow. “I’m a biker and I’m in a tattoo shop. I think the answer is fairly obvious.”
“Biker,” I repeated quietly. “Now the leather vest makes sense.”
He grimaced. “It’s called a cut, sweetheart.”
Bones was better looking than I remembered. “Did you grow?” I blurted out. “You look…taller.”
A slow grin appeared on his lips. “All cats look the same in the dark, huh?”
I flushed.
“You two know each other?” the other man asked as he ran a hand across his jaw. He had brown hair and his army green T-shirt showed off his muscles and ink.
“We met at Chaos the other night,” Bones said. “Hayden had her way with me and then ran off.”
“Had my way with—you kissed me!”
“Glad you remember, Duchess. So, would you like to have your way with me?”
Bones winked and I was suddenly lightheaded.
“Hi,” Charlie interjected, holding out her hand to Bones. “I’m Charlie, Hayden’s best friend.”
Bones took Charlie’s small hand in his massive paw and shook it. “Nice to meet you.”
“So, you’re a biker,” Charlie said, dropping her hand. “Which club?”
“The Tarnished Angels,” Bones said. He slapped the man next to him on the back. “My club comes here to get our ink done. Roman and his brothers are the best.”
“Aww shucks, Pa, you’ll make me blush,” Roman joked.
“Roman,” Brielle called. “I spoke to Slash. I penciled him in for tonight.”
“That’s fine,” Roman said. “I told him I’d squeeze him in and I don’t mind staying late. Charlie, are you ready?”
“Hold on,” she said. “I want to see how this plays out.”
“How what plays out?” I asked.
She gestured between me and Bones. “I’m completely entranced.”
“I kind of am, too,” Brielle added.
“We’re standing right here,” I stated.
“Yes, there you are,” Charlie said with a grin.
Bones sauntered to the reception counter and picked up a black marker. He walked back over to me, and without a word, he took my hand, removed the marker cap with his mouth, and then wrote something on my palm.
He dropped my hand and then put the cap back on the marker. “You left Chaos in such a hurry I didn’t get a chance to give you my number.”
I glanced at my palm. “I’m not gonna call you.”
“You’ll call.”
“No. I’m really not going to,” I assured him.
“Hello, you’re so in love with me already. Of course you’re gonna call.”
“Okay, this charming arrogant thing isn’t going to work.”
Bones looked at Roman and grinned. “She called me charming.”
Roman smiled back. “I heard.”
“He’s definitely charming,” Charlie said.
“Again, I’m right here!” I snapped.
“We know,” Roman said.
I pointed at Bones. “You’re trouble. You’re a bad decision wrapped in trouble. You’re trouble cubed.”
“You’re not wrong,” Bones said lightly. “But I’m also a lot of fun. And I’m really good at removing sticks from asses. So, if you need help removing yours, give me a buzz.”
He chucked me under the chin and swaggered out of Three Kings, the door closing behind him.
I looked at my best friend. She opened her mouth to say something, but I quickly covered her lips with my non-numbered palm.
“You will not make an anal joke at a time like this,” I said in warning.
Brielle let out a wheeze of laughter and even Roman cracked a smile. Charlie’s green eyes sparkled with wicked humor.
“Will you be good and not say anything?”
She nodded.
I slowly removed my palm.
“Let’s get you in the chair,” Roman said to Charlie.
“Is it okay if Hayden holds my hand for moral support?” Charlie asked.
“Fine by me,” Roman said.
“I’ll hold your hand,” I said, “on one condition.”
“What?” Charlie asked.
“You don’t mention Bones or that conversation, ever again.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I think you should call him. That stick has been up there so long it’s bound to petrify.”
“And you say this as my best friend,” I remarked blandly.
“With all the love in my heart for you,” she replied.
Roman looked at his sister. “They remind me of you and Jazz.”
“Don’t they?” Brielle shook her head. “It’s like looking in a mirror.”
“Tell me it’s not gorgeous,” Charlie said as Roman slathered moisturizer on her new shoulder ink.
“It’s gorgeous,” I admitted truthfully.
“Gorgeous enough that it’s convinced you to a get one?” Charlie asked.
“Nope,” I said. “I’m good.”
I wouldn’t dare admit to Charlie that the incessant buzzing of the needle had given me a low-level headache or that watching Roman wipe away the blood had made me a touch queasy.
“You’re looking a little green,” Roman said to me.
“Oh come on now, I thought I was hiding it so well,” I said with a laugh.
Roman flashed me a grin. “Why don’t you head up front, ask Brielle for a bottle of water and sip on it while I cover Charlie’s tattoo and go over some things with her.”
Charlie released my fingers. “Thank you for your moral support.”
“My pleasure.”
I stood and headed to the front. Brielle was perched on her stool behind the reception counter. She was doodling on a blank page of an artist sketchbook.
She looked up. “They’re all finished?”
“Just about. Roman said to get a bottle of water.”
“Ah, yeah.” She hopped off her stool and crouched down below the counter. “We have a mini fridge back here. You want water or a soda?”
“Actually, a ginger ale would be great if you’ve got it.”
“The sight turned your stomach, huh?” Her smile was sympathetic as she rose and handed me the bottle of soda.
“Just a little bit,” I admitted. I unscrewed the top and took a sip of the carbonated drink. I gestured with my chin. “What are you working on there?”
“Nothing,” she said. “Just messing around. Trying not to go out of my mind with boredom. I prefer decorating in frosting over ink. But my brothers keep asking me if I want to learn the ropes and have my own chair. But I’m not into it. Plus, they’d have to change the name from Three Kings to Three Kings and a Queen. Doesn’t really have the same appeal.”
“Not really,” I agreed.
“So, you and Bones…”
I rolled my eyes. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about that.”
She shook her head. “You made Charlie promise. I do not abide by the same rules. So, you and Bones met the other night…”
“Yep.” I clamped my lips shut.
“You really had no idea he was a biker?” she pressed.
“The club was kind of dark,” I said in defense. “He stood out, like he clearly didn’t belong there. But I had no idea he was a biker.”
“And now that you know?”
“I have even more resolve to stay away from him.”
“More resolve than I’d have,” she said with a grin. “He’s hot.”
“Yeah, and he knows it.” I rolled my eyes.
Roman and Charlie came out from the back hallway and Charlie settled up with Brielle.
“Now that you’re a total badass,” Brielle said to Charlie, “make sure you hit Leather and Ink.”
“What’s Leather and Ink?” Charlie asked.
“A boutique with leather pants, body suits, killer boots,” Brielle explained. “And sexy-as-hell lingerie. I bought a bustier there last week.”
“Brother,” Roman grumbled as he pointed to himself.
“Sorry,” Brielle said with a wide grin.
“You’re not sorry at all,” Roman replied.
“Nope,” Brielle agreed.
“Thanks for the tip,” Charlie said. “I’ll check it out.”
We said our goodbyes and headed out to the parking lot.
“You wanna hit Leather and Ink?” Charlie asked as she put her key into the ignition.
“Can’t. I promised Mr. Clancy I’d visit. You want to come? He’s not in the hospital anymore. I know how you hate hospitals.”
“Who loves hospitals? I don’t know anyone who loves hospitals.”
“I think doctors love hospitals,” she said.
“Fair point.”
“Okay, I’ll visit Mr. Clancy with you.”
“We just have to make one stop first,” I said. “But we should probably take my car.”