“I’ll always have time for you.” Daphne reached over and gave my leg a squeeze. “Seriously, Lexi, you’re my best friend, and I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’ll never get rid of me, not for a man, not for anything.”
“Shut up, bitch, you’re gonna make me cry.” We spent the rest of the night drinking, laughing, and reminiscing about good times. Meeting Daphne at work was truly the best thing that happened to me while working there.
The next day,I received a message from Brandon with some dates to start my tattoo. After checking my schedule, I made an appointment for a few days later. He kept the texts tattoo-related, and I appreciated that. The last thing I needed was for him to get all weird and clingy. Hopefully, we could keep things professional at least while he was working on my tattoo. I really wanted it, and the sketch he sent me looked amazing. But this would be the most outside of the bedroom interaction I’d had with someone that I was fucking, and I hoped that wouldn’t complicate things to much.
On the day of my appointment, I arrived at the shop a few minutes early. There was nothing I hated more than being late. I’d rather be ten minutes early than be late for something.
The bell chimed above the door, announcing my arrival. There was a cute girl with wavy pink hair and an undercut sitting at the front desk. She looked up as I entered and offered me a sweet smile. “Hey, welcome in. Do you have an appointment?” she asked.
“Hey, yeah. I have an appointment with Brandon,” I answered.
“Okay. You can have a seat, and I’ll let him know that you’re here.” I sat in one of the leather chairs in the waiting area and watched her go back to Brandon’s station. He was hunched over his table, facing away from the door, and appeared to be working on a sketch. Miss Pink Hair leanedover him and put her hand on his back. My skin felt a swift rush of heat, and my chest tightened. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so good.
When I thought I might actually throw up, Brandon turned his head and smiled at me. A big, dumb smile took over his entire face, and it must have been contagious or something because I beamed back at him like an idiot.Gross. I quickly fixed my face as Brandon waved me over. Miss Pink Hair returned to the front and told me I could go back as I was getting up, and I gave her my fakest smile as I breezed past her.
“Hey Lexi. How are you?” Brandon asked as I approached. When I was close enough, I paused. If Brandon were a friend, I’d hug him. If he were a stranger, I’d probably shake his hand. But he and I were something else entirely, and I didn’t know how to act while we both had our clothes on. As I was glitching out, Brandon solved my internal struggle by pulling me into a semi-awkward side hug. I closed my eyes and let his scent wash over me.Dammit, he smelled good.Like the shower gel from his apartment, warm and woodsy. The scent brought me immediately back to the other night.
I don’t know how long I stayed there in his embrace, but it must have been too long. Brandon cleared his throat, causing me to jump out of his arms. “You okay there, Sweetheart?” he asked with a smirk.
I growled under my breath, “I swear to God, Brandon, you’d better stop calling me that.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he laughed. “Come on. Let’s get to work.” He motioned for me to sit in his chair. “Let me show you what I’m thinking and then you can tell me if we need to tweak anything, okay?”
“Okay, sounds good.” I tried my best to relax. Brandon had an uncanny ability to set me on edge. ThisSweetheartshit was one of the many things he did that infuriated me. The others were mostly related to his ridiculous good looks and giant cock. Why would someone’s good looks and monster cock infuriate me, you ask? Because it made him practically irresistible, that’s why. And I wanted more than anything to be able to resist this man.
Brandon shuffled through some papers and then turned to show me a few sketches. My jaw dropped. They were so much more detailed and vibrant than the pictures he had sent me before. One sketch in particular caught my eye. It depicted a woman from the side, with the tattoo from the other sketches wrapped around her leg. The woman looked remarkably like me. Of course, it was only a sketch from the waist down, but I’d swear it was me. I absentmindedly traced my finger over the curve of her hip. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered.
Unaware of my state of awe, Brandon asked, “You really like it? We can change the colors or placement if you want. If you’d rather have it on the other side?—”
I interrupted, blurting out, “No, it’s perfect!” Looking into his eyes was a colossal mistake, as I said, “I love it.”
“Great.” He placed the sketchbook down and moved to retrieve something on the side of his desk. “Because of where it will be, you’ll have to remove your pants andprobably your underwear too. I have this screen for privacy, and I’ll keep you covered as much as possible. Is that okay with you?” He was being so professional that Ialmostforgot this man had been balls deep in me just days ago.Almost.
“Yeah, that’s fine. I’m not exactly shy,” I joked.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you were, but I still don’t want the whole shop staring at your ass,” he said through a clenched jaw, then set up the privacy screen to block his station from the rest of the shop. “Here’s a sheet to cover yourself. Wrap it around your lower half with the opening to the right. I’ll step out to give you some privacy.”
He gave me a small smile and then stepped around the screen, leaving me alone with my thoughts. This man had seen—and licked—just about every inch of me and was giving me privacy? I felt more at ease by the minute. I had been so worried about things being weird between us, but it appeared as though I was the only one feeling weird about any of this.
I quickly undressed from the waist down and wrapped the sheet around my lower half as instructed, and then hopped back up onto the table. After a few minutes, Brandon called from outside the screen, “Lexi, are you decent?”
“I don’t know if that’s a word I’d use to describe me,” I called back. “But yes, I’m ready.”
Brandon chuckled and came back into the space carrying a large sheet of thin paper with my tattoo blown up on it. “I need to check the sizing. Can you stand up for me?”
I did as he asked, and he squatted down next to me. “I’mgoing to have you open the sheet slightly for me to check the size.” Following his directions again, I parted the sheet just enough, keeping my intimate bits covered. He kept his eyes focused on his work. All the while, I was on freaking fire. Having him this close to me while I was practically naked from the waist down was proving to be extremely difficult for me. His breath caused goosebumps to pebble my skin, and a shiver ran through me.
Brandon reached out and placed his hand on mine. “Are you cold?”
I exhaled deeply. “No, I’m fine,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady and normal.
“I need to adjust this a bit. Have a seat, and I’ll be right back. Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee?”
“No thanks. I’m okay for now,” I answered and then hopped back up on the table.
“Okay. Be right back.” Brandon disappeared behind the screen.
Lexi, get your shit together. He’s just a man, and you are a strong, independent woman. Be cool, bitch.This was the point where I’d usually be texting or calling Daphne to talk me down. But nooo, I had to go and promise her I wouldn’t get involved with Brandon, and now I’d gone and fucked myself into a corner.Literally. Sure, I could message her about some fictitious guy, but I didn’t want to lie to her, and simply withholding the information somehow felt a little less dishonest.
