“She did it yesterday.”
“Yes, I did. What’s the problem?” Kat asked as she walked through the curtain with two styrofoam coffee cups in her hands.
There was a polite mask on her face when she looked at Ashlynn, and I bit back a chuckle. Kat didnotlike this girl.
“It’s nothing,” I answered before Ashlynn could. “Just a little normal color fade.”
Ashlynn turned around to face me, also moving closer. Her breasts were only inches from my chest. I took a small step backward, trying not to be too obvious about putting distance between us. The last thing I wanted was for Kat to get the wrong idea. Not that I should care about that. Hadn’t she just ridden off into the sunset with some guy right in front of me yesterday?
“Is this your first tattoo?” I asked Ashlynn.
“Yeah. Isn’t it great? It’s about how I try to live my life.”
You and about a billion other people.
“New tattoos will look slightly faded while they’re healing. It’s because the top layer of skin peels off. It’ll look better when it’s completely healed.”
“You’re sure?”
I nodded. “Absolutely. If it still looks faded in a couple of weeks, come back, and we can fix it.”
“Ican fix it,” Kat corrected. “It’s my work.”
“Of course.” I couldn’t help smiling. I liked it when she was worked up. Something about it made my skin feel tight.
“Okay, then,” Ashlynn said, somewhat reluctantly. She grabbed her shirt off the black chair and tugged it on. “I didn’t catch your name.”
“I’m Blade,” I said, holding my hand out for her to shake. Instead, she grabbed me by the wrist and picked up a pen from the counter beside me. I watched as she wrote down her phone number on the palm of my hand.
“Call me,” she said, giving me a wink before turning around and sauntering out through the curtain.
Wow.
She was bold, I’d give her that. Too bad that she wasn’t my type.
Kat made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat that drew my attention to her. Today, her shirt was a corset-style top that showed off her breasts so thoroughly that I couldn’t help but stare.
“You know, when a client takes off their clothing, we usually close the curtains around our workspace,” Kat said, pointing to the track that ran in a circle above my head.
“She ripped the shirt off without warning,” I shrugged. “I take it she’s not exactly the shy type.”
“Good news for you, I guess,” she muttered as she tucked her purse away in a cabinet and set the coffees on the counter.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“Nothing at all,” her polite smile was back, and I didn’t find it nearly as amusing when it was directed at me. “But here’s some friendly advice—don’t fuck the clients. It’s bad for business.”
I smirked. “What about the coworkers?”
Kat’s eyes widened, but before she could form a response, the curtain was opened once again. Piper had arrived. She paused as she entered, staring between the two of us.
“Am I interrupting something?”
“Nope,” Kat answered, a little too quickly.
I just smiled before pulling out an alcohol wipe from one of my drawers and deliberately wiping the phone number off my hand. I could see Kat watching me out of the corner of my eye.
“One of those coffees for me?” Piper asked, and Kat jolted.
