Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Naomi walked down the street. The girls were over at Faith’s house, hanging out with her daughter and some of the other kids.
After the shortened drawing lesson on Sunday, Stone had done one on Monday evening. They’d finished the cat, and he’d shown them how to use a projector and a picture to trace. The girls had loved learning about tracing and figuring out the movements of their hands to get the right look.
Stone had used a picture from a card that Phoebe and Blake sold at Broken Hearts Brewing.
It was of a Monarch butterfly on a purple flower.
Naomi had loved the colors and the way it looked.
It had her thinking about maybe doing vines, flowers, and butterflies on the back of her thighs.
She wanted something pretty to replace the thing that made her feel ugly and small.
She stood at the door of Bluff Creek Ink. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. She wasn’t afraid of the pain of the tattoo gun, though she was sure it would hurt. She was worried about how she’d feel having Stone that close to her, touching her, even if it was with a tattoo gun.
She didn’t understand why she was so fascinated with him, but she was.
Everything about him intrigued her. Watching him teach the class last night, his hand holding the pencil as he showed the kids how to trace, had her mind drifting to his hands holding her, his fingers trailing down her arm.
She shouldn’t be having these thoughts about him.
She was newly divorced, and the last thing she should be thinking about was jumping into bed with Stone.
The only person she’d ever had sex with was Jared, and it had been disappointing every freaking time.
“Hey, Naomi, Stone will be right with you. He’s grabbing some supplies,” Emerson called from her station.
“Thanks,” Naomi replied.
She stared at the pictures on the wall of some of the tattoos that had been done. She loved the way the designs contained thicker lines and thinner ones, giving the tattoos depth.
“See anything you like?” Stone’s deep voice rumbled behind her. She fought a shiver. She told herself it was the coolness of the room, but she was lying to herself. She turned toward Stone. Even though she’d started wearing pants more since being divorced, she thought a skirt would be easier today.
“I like the way this one and this one have such depth,” she noted, pointing at the wall.
Stone nodded, his face showing his pleasure at her choices. “Those are both mine.”
“I loved when you were showing the kids the Monarch butterfly on the purple flowers, the way the butterfly looked against the green stalks and the purple flowers. I was wondering if you think something like that might look good,” she said.
“We can do whatever you want, but flowers and butterflies in those colors would look fantastic on your legs. How about we head over to my station and see how far down you want the tattoo to go?” Stone proposed.
Naomi nodded and walked in front of Stone toward his station.
“Our stations are designed for privacy. As long as you feel comfortable alone with me, I’ll slide these two dividers closed. No one will be able to see you,” Stone assured her.
“I’d like that,” she confessed. Stone pulled the dividers closed.
Naomi breathed a sigh of relief that her butt and panties wouldn’t be on display for everyone.
Not that she didn’t like her butt. It was nicely rounded from gaining weight while pregnant with the girls, and even though Jared had thought her boobs weren’t great, the plus was she didn’t have to wear a bra if she didn’t want to.
Her curves were small enough that they didn’t need support.
And now she was thinking about her breasts with Stone standing right there. She needed to think about cleaning the oven or something she hated because thinking about Stone had her nipples hardening.
“For this, I need to measure the space after we decide how far you want the tattoo to go down your thigh and how far to wrap around. You can either stand with your skirt pulled up or you can lie down—whichever is more comfortable to you,” Stone explained, sliding on gloves while he talked.
Naomi stared at him. She wasn’t sure she could lie down.
“I’ll stand. Where?” she asked.
“Let’s turn you this way. You’ll be able to look over your shoulder and decide how far down," he instructed, rolling his chair until his back was to the mirror. She grasped her skirt, raising it up her thighs.
“A little higher,” he said, leaning close enough to her thigh that she could feel his breath. She pulled the skirt higher.
“That’s perfect. Good girl,” Stone praised.
His gloved fingers slid across her thigh. “How high were you thinking? Are you wanting something that is just on your thighs, so it hides them when you wear shorts? Do you ever wear a swimsuit, and would that matter how high you want it?”
Naomi swallowed. Stone’s finger was tracing the marks.
“I think we can hide these for you, no problem,” Stone said, leaning back. He seemed to be waiting on her.
“Naomi?” he prompted.
“Yes?” she said.
“Do you need to think about how high you want it?” he urged softly.
She stared over her shoulder. She wasn’t sure if she wanted it higher up or ending on her thighs.
“Umm, I don’t know,” she admitted.
He nodded. “Okay, let me run upstairs and grab something. You can let your skirt down and have a seat.”
Before Naomi really comprehended his words, Stone was out of the room.
She let her skirt drop down, taking a seat on the tattoo chair.
If she was having this hard of a time and he hadn’t even put his hands on her yet, how was she going to handle it for the tattoo?
She was guessing it might take a while to tattoo the space she wanted done.
Stone walked back in, carrying a book. “I thought that Harry and Emerson had a couple clients that had their tattoo extend up onto their…” Stone said, pausing.
Naomi grinned at the light blush on his cheeks. “Their butt, their ass, their booty, butt cheeks, derriere, caboose. What exactly did you not want to say?”
Stone shook his head, chuckling. “Their butt cheeks, Ms. Smart Ass.”
Naomi looked at the pictures where the tattoos extended up onto their butt cheeks. She liked the look of the ones that were just on the back of the thighs.
“I want it to end before my butt cheeks,” she said, blushing over saying the words.
His hands were going to be all over her thighs, and if she chose to have it wrap around her legs, then he’d have his hands between her legs too.
She guessed that by the time they were done, she wouldn’t be blushing anymore.
“Perfect. Okay, let me show you what I was thinking roughly. It won’t have all the elements but would give you an idea of size,” Stone offered.
At her nod, he pulled out a piece of paper and quickly sketched a drawing with vines, flowers, and butterflies.
“This is what I was thinking as far as size and high concept. Then you can tell me yes, you like where it’s going, or no, that isn’t what you meant. If you like it, then I’ll measure and come up with a design for you to look at. What do you think?” Stone asked.
“I love it. I want to see more,” she beamed.
“Let’s get some measurements, and then I can get started on completely drawing it out for your approval. This size on both sides won’t be quick. Depending on how detailed you want it, we could be talking about anywhere from 20 to 35 hours per thigh,” he explained.
“If you don’t have time…”
“No, I’m not saying that at all. We’ll work at your pace. If you handle the pain well, I could always schedule you at the end of the day and go longer,” Stone promised.
Naomi nodded, turning her back to Stone and pulling up her skirt so he could measure. She fought a shiver as his gloved hands stretched the measuring tape, his fingers lightly touching her skin.
“Okay, all done,” Stone announced.
Naomi turned around. “Thank you, Stone,” she said. She wanted to kiss his cheek in thanks, but it was his workplace. She wasn’t sure how her action would be received.
“You’ve got that look on your face like you’re unsure of something.
Ask me anything,” Stone encouraged, his gruff face not giving her scary vibes anymore.
Instead, his face gave her peace, knowing he’d take care of anything coming through the door.
He was gruff, protective, and the first man she’d been attracted to.
She stood there staring at him, not saying anything.
She couldn’t just blurt it out, could she?
“Naomi, you can tell me anything,” Stone repeated softly.
She took a deep breath. This was Bluff Creek. She wasn’t going to be switched for talking out of turn.
“You’ve been so sweet. I wanted to kiss your cheek as a thank you but then worried that I shouldn’t do that in your place of business,” Naomi whispered, looking down out of habit.
Stone stood and stepped closer, his finger touching her chin and tilting it up.
“Don’t care where we are. If you want to kiss my cheek as a thank you, you never have to ask,” he grunted, leaning down closer, turning his head.
His cheek was centimeters from her lips.
C’mon, Naomi. Time to be brave.
She leaned up, her lips ghosting across his cheek in a fleeting kiss.
“Thank you,” she breathed close to his ear before stepping back.
“You’re welcome,” Stone said.
“I’ll go so you’re not behind for your next appointment,” she stammered, moving the panel to step out into the hall.
She waved and walked down the hall. Calling her goodbyes, she opened the door onto the street. She waited until she was inside her car before feeling her flushed cheeks. Oh my gosh, had she really done that? Kissed Stone?
She glanced at her phone. She needed to get gas in her car before she headed to Faith’s. She wasn’t sure if she’d share this with anyone. She’d only kissed his cheek, but for her, it was monumental. However, she wasn’t sure where to go from here.