I laugh. “Are you coming over for dinner? It’s the last night of Pip and Olivier’s holiday.”
He looks nervously around. “Where did Pip run off to?”
“Terrorising the old town, I suppose.”
“He uses innuendo like it’s an Olympic sport. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Is it about the broken cupboard in reception?”
His eyes narrow. “Is there one?”
“I have no idea,” I say airily.
His face creases into a smile. “I wanted to ask what you’re going to do once the apprenticeship is done?”
I shove the cleaning stuff into the cupboard. “We’re going back to Mull in September. The summer’s over, and Reuben wants to get back to work.”
“That idle bum.”
I laugh. “Make sure you call him that tonight at dinner.”
“Your wish is my command.”
“I wish that were true when it comes to my wage packet.”
He blows a raspberry. “You’ve got more money than me, pretty boy.”
“I really don’t think so, Monsieur Moneybags. So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
He scratches his neck almost awkwardly. “I wanted to know if you fancied a partnership?”
I stop dead. “What?Me?”
“No, Colin Firth.”
“Can he tattoo?”
“At least he’d spell the words properly.”
I snort, thinking of a fellow tattooist who, on his first job, spelt a Latin phrase wrong. I settle on the chair beside Rhys and put my feet up. “Why me?”
“I trust you. I don’t trust many people, so the ones I do, I tend to keep close.”
I wink. “Not too close, I hope. Reuben takes up all of my bed.”
He rolls his eyes. “I’d sooner remove my testicles with a melon baller. It would be less painful than Reuben when he gets jealous.”
I wave a careless hand. “He doesn’t do that.” He widens his eyes, and I amend it to, “Well, not very often.”
“I believe you, but thousands wouldn’t. What do you think?”
“Why me? I’m still so new at this.”
“You might be new, but you’ve got the gift,” he says simply.
“Is that like the force?” I’m probably hiding my pleasure very badly. His opinion really matters to me.
“If I had a lightsaber, I’d use it on you.”
