Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
“Very good,” Baker praised her, their hands remaining joined.
“I will say you two have been very… comforting,” Madison commented with a light blush on her face.
My eyes shifted to the left to watch her legs press together for a brief moment, making something stir inside of me as I took a second to admire her smooth legs. Her shorts and tank top hugged her petite figure, showing off some curves that were hard to keep my eyes off of.
“Getting a tattoo is supposed to be a fun experience,” I replied once I tore my eyes away and started approaching the halfway mark of getting her tattoo done.
“It’s definitely not what I expected,” Madison said, tightening her grip on Baker’s hand when I started tattooing on a more sensitive area of her forearm.
“You don’t like surprises?” I teased her.
Madison laughed.
“Well, I do. Especially when…” Madison trailed off as she glanced away from either of us.
“When?” Baker coaxed her to finish.
“When… very attractive men are involved,” Madison finished as her eyes shifted back to his.
Baker chuckled and brushed his thumb over the side of his hand as he continued to hold it.
“Well, you’re definitely the most beautiful woman who’s walked in our shop before,” Baker replied, using his casual charm that he always relied on when talking to women. Then again, I couldn’t remember him saying something like that before.
“Your brother is quite the sweet talker,” Madison told me with that glowing, angelic smile of hers on her face.
“He’s also the most honest person I know,” I pointed out as I wiped away some excess ink on her skin. “And he’s right.”
Madison didn’t reply, but her smile remained on her face as Baker asked her about what she did for a living.
It took me another ten minutes to finish up, and once I wiped away the excess ink and checked my lines, I leaned back to fully admire my work. And my canvas.
“You’re done, sweetheart,” I said.
With an excited look on her face, Madison lifted her arm to take a look at her tattoo before I wrapped it up, her jaw dropping.
“It’s amazing!” she told me, turning her arm every which way so that she could admire every bit and angle of her piece.
It always felt good to complete a tattoo that a client loved, but something about seeing her happily freak out made a warm feeling erupt in my chest. Damn, today turned out to be a pretty good day. I shared a small grin with my brother before I stood up and grabbed my phone.
“I’ll post it to the shop’s Instagram page,” I said.
Madison held her arm out so that I could snap a quick picture, her hand shaking slightly.
Something prompted me to reach out and cover her hand with mine, giving it a comforting squeeze.
“You okay?” I asked.
Madison smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, I’m just really excited to show my daughter. You know… it was actually kind of therapeutic,” she admitted.
“Now, you’re going to get tattoo fever,” Baker said as he helped her off the table, both of us hovering close to her.
Madison didn’t seem to mind in the slightest, looking between us with bright eyes.
“Guess I’ll just have to come back and see you guys,” she replied, her eyebrow lifting in a playful manner.
I hoped her joke didn’t stay as just a joke.
I didn’t realize just how much she would affect my day when she first walked into the shop. Now, there was a chance she might walk out of here and never come back.
“I’m sure Marlo wouldn’t mind giving you a discount for your next piece,” I commented before I could even think about my words.
“Oh, that’s too kind,” Madison insisted. “You did such beautiful work. It’s worth the full price.”
A beautiful girl and a perfect client. Yeah, it would be a mistake to let her slip away, but the tattoo was finished. The session was over.
Or was it?
Chapter 5
Madison
With a lingering smile and flushed cheeks, I followed Baker and Bryce over to the front desk to pay for my tattoo and have all aftercare instructions explained to me.
I never expected my tattoo experience to be like this, and I hadn’t ever received so much attention and attraction from men before.
I had a guy or two flirt with me at a bar, but this was different.
This was so much more intense, and I was actually drawn to these guys, wanting them to admire me. Touch me. Flirt with me.
On the outside without any insight into who they were, they looked like big, scary, tattooed and pierced guys. Who were also ridiculously hot too. However, just from the three I had spoken to so far, I had come to find out that there were definitely more layers beneath the surface.
When I learned that they were ex-cons, I did feel a tinge of nervousness at first, but when I realized that they had given me no reason to feel scared, I quickly relaxed. Honestly, I felt pretty guilty about judging them so quickly when they had been nothing but kind and respectful to me. There was just such a stigma around people going to prison and wondering if they could truly change or not.