Unfamiliar nerves rolled around my insides. I knew it was a badass image, but what if she hated it?
She took my hand and got to her feet. Her eyes shined as she looked in the mirror, twisting her leg this way and that way.
“Seb,” she started. Her eyes misted, and she swallowed roughly, glancing at me standing behind her. “It’s a fucking lion.”
“It’s a lioness. They’re the ones that are really in charge. Their strength, their courage, their independence—they’re you. I thought it would be fitting. What do you think?”
She spun around and threw herself into my arms.
“I’m not going to cry because that would be dumb,” she said through a strained voice. I laughed, stroking her hair as she burrowed into my chest.
“You can cry. I’ll only tell everyone that I meet that I was able to make Lydia cry, and it wasn’t because she was overwhelmed with how much she hated me.”
Her small hand swatted at my chest. Before she could pull it away, I captured it, holding it to my heart, my other hand still holding her close to me.
“You’re not connected to him, Lydia. You’ll never have to look at that and be reminded of him again. Every time you look at that, I want you to think…”
“Of you?” she mumbled into my shirt with a laugh.
“Obviously,” I smirked. “But what I was going to say was that I want you think about how strong you are. You’re a lioness, little wild. Embrace it.”
Lydia pulled back. Desire swirled in her eyes as her gaze held me hostage. Her mouth parted, and her tongue wet her lips. I leaned down just as she pressed to her tiptoes. Before our lips could touch, she turned her head just slightly, connecting with my cheek instead.
“Thank you, Seb. That means more to me than you know.”
Sadness crept into her eyes. I never hated anyone as much as I hated whoever had caused that look in her.
17
Lydia
Excitement thrummed through my limbs. I was bouncing around like a kid in a candy store, and I could tell Seb was doing his damnedest to ignore me but was failing miserably. Luckily, Lisa was perfectly fine with her audience of one.
This was her third and final session for her mastectomy tattoo. It wasn’t overly large, and maybe some people could have finished it in two—or even one—session, but Lisa had no interest in dealing with pain for longer than necessary.
“I’ve been through hell and back, and I’d prefer not to revisit it, thank you very much,” she told Seb and me when she tapped out of her second session before he was done. To Seb’s credit, he had no qualms about scheduling her a third appointment, even though it was starting to get busier, and he could have used that time slot for a paying customer.
“Will you stop circling me like a vulture?” Seb grumbled, not bothering to lift his head from his work.
“I need to get the best shots,” I told him. “I stopped videoing it. I think that means I get carte blanche at photographing.”
“I believe she’s right, Sebastian. Rules are rules,” Lisa said.
“I don’t remember agreeing to those rules, but a smart man knows when he’s outnumbered.”
Lisa’s tattoo was a floral design, where it almost looked like the petals were holding her right breast up. It was so full of color and life, and it couldn’t be more perfect for her.
Her last session was relatively short, and Seb had her finished up in under thirty minutes.
Lisa wiped the tears from her eyes. She held Seb’s bicep but had to look away to collect herself. “Thank you so much. This is so beautiful. If there’s ever anything I can do to repay you, please let me know.”
“It was my pleasure, Lisa. You ever get the itch to add more ink, you know where to find me.” He winked.
Lisa turned to me, and we gently embraced, making sure not to put any pressure on her front. “When do you think I’ll be able to see some of the pictures that you took?” she asked.
“I can go through everything tomorrow and do my edits. Whenever you have time after that will work for me.”
“Come by my house on Friday. That will give you a couple of days to do whatever magic you do,” she said. She smiled brightly, looking between me and Seb. “I can’t wait to see them. You two make such a great team.” She gave me her address, and we picked a time in the afternoon three days from now.
