“Distract me,” he says with a wink.
“Your favorite kind of distraction might get in Jade’s way.”
The bald and bearded tattooist chuckles but keeps working.
“Talk to me, darlin’. How do you think things went with Sawyer today?”
And just like that, he distracts me from the art being forever inked onto his chest. The conversation flows about all the changes in my family, all while never mentioning Knox or the band by name. The last thing my brother and Mia need is Sawyer’s paternity details out in the world because of the two of us. You never know who is listening.
It’s an unspoken rule that I don’t have to remind Owen of. He’s careful because he loves my family as much as I do. He would do everything in his power to protect those most important to me. Mia is my best friend, but Owen is hot on her heels for the title.
He was there for me and my whole family when we lost Dad. Having lost his dad years prior, he knew what we were going through. He’s always offering a shoulder to cry on, or a joke to bring levity to any situation. His jokes may not always be appropriate, but they make me laugh. I can talk to him about absolutely anything. Years in law enforcement could have madehim jaded and prone to seeing only the worst in people, yet he is the least judgmental person I know.
He’s a good man.
As we chat about anything and everything, the realization that he might be my person hits me. It’s taken a lifetime, but slowly... surely... he’s not only someone I can count on, but someone I want to be around more than nearly anyone in my life.
My heart is on a roller coaster ride, dipping and diving with the fear that comes with this realization. It’s as though I’m in a perpetual spiral of needing him and preparing myself to lose him.
“All done.” Jade wipes a towel over the patch of green ink covering Owen’s heart. “I’ll meet you up front when you’re ready. Take your time.”
When he steps away and the design comes into view, I gasp, my breath freezing in my lungs.
Releasing his hand, I stand to get a closer look. Tattooed on his heart is an intricate four-leaf clover. In the center of the clover is a daisy.
It’s me.
He has tattooedmeonto his heart.
My heart, that had already been balancing at the top of another giant roller coaster dip of emotions finally tips and falls into its deepest dive yet. Plunging all the way to the depths of my soul. My stomach flips in unison as I stare at the declaration on Owen’s skin.
“There’s a proverb that says, a good friend is like a four-leaf clover.” Emotion thickens his tone. He clears his throat and continues, “Hard to find and lucky to have.”
My eyes finally look up to my favorite face.
My favorite person.
He is so beautiful. Inside and out.
Breathtaking.
When I don’t speak, his intense gaze locks me in place.
“Did you know each leaf represents a different virtue?”
I slowly shake my head no.
“Hope, faith, love, and luck.”
An unexpected tear falls from my eye, but he stops its journey down my face with his thumb.
“Don’t cry, baby. It’s okay.”
Is it though?
How can anything be the same again?
It’s one thing for him to tell me he wants to be with me. After all, his charisma, dimples, and pretty words have always served him well. It was easy to dismiss his claims, but now he’s taken action to prove his feelings. Ink is forever and I’m not sure what to do with that.
