Page 4 of Saved By the Rogue

"People like me?" she shot back, defensively. "What’s that supposed to mean?”

"Nothing bad, trust me," I replied, flashing her a grin. Her cheeks, for a moment, flushed with a light pink.

"Good," she muttered, and I lined up the needle with the first line of the star.

"You ready?" I asked, and she nodded, gritting her teeth.

"I think so..."

I turned on the tattoo gun and held her arm steady as I traced out the first line. Her jaw dropped as soon as it touched her skin.

"Oh, fuck!” she exclaimed. "That really hurts!”

"I told you it was a tough place for your first tattoo," I reminded her. "But you’re in it now."

She looked down at her arm, where a thin line of black ink was already pushed beneath her skin. She clenched her jaw, closed her eyes, and twisted her head to the side.

"Okay, just keep going," she muttered. "Get this done as quickly as you can."

"I’m not going to rush it," I warned her, as I held her arm in place and continued to ink out the shape of the scar on her wrist. I could see the blood pulsing in her veins, her heart pounding as she tried to navigate the shock of this pain. But, to her credit, she didn’t let out so much as another whimper as I continued to work. She kept her arm steady as I finished filling out the rest of her star, and I glanced up at her every now and then. I could see that pink flush to her cheeks, but she had her lips pressed together to keep from making a sound.

After a few minutes, I turned off the tattoo gun, and she opened one eye, stealing a look at me.

"Is it done?" she asked, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"That’s it," I replied, grabbing a wipe so I could clean off the blood. "What do you think?"

She held it up in front of her face and stared at it for a long moment – just a small star, on her left wrist, nothing extreme. But the smile that spread across her face told me that this was way more than just a tattoo to her.

"I love it," she murmured. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome," I replied, straightening up and grabbing some clingfilm. "Here, let me wrap it, and then you can pay."

"Thanks," she replied, and she grinned at me, those blue eyes lighting up. Fuck, she was sexy. I was glad neither Chuck nor Lee had come out from the back to check on me because I knew they would have been shamelessly flirting with her the first chance they got.

As I wrapped up her arm, she glanced around again, like she was worried someone might have been watching her. She had seemed a little jumpy since the moment she stepped through the door, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. Was it anything to do with the reason she was getting this tattoo? Sure, it might have been her name, but the look on her face when she had seen it told me it was far more than just that.

"Crap!” She exclaimed, as she snatched her arm back from me and sprang to her feet.

"What is it?" I demanded, snapping upright. "Does it hurt...?”

"No, it’s not that," she replied, glancing towards the window that looked out onto the street beyond. "It’s that...fuck, those guys who just walked past, they’re...they’ve been following me the last few days..."

"You sure?" I replied, and she nodded, turning her back to the window. Sure enough, a pair of guys passed back outside the door, and one of them glanced inside. As soon as they saw her standing there, he turned to his companion and started to say something.

"Can I hide?" she begged me. "Just behind the counter – for a minute or two, I promise, just until they’re gone."

I hesitated. I could practically hear Chuck in my ear, telling me not to get involved with anyone else’s shit, that I knew better than to let myself get drawn into whatever mess this girl had found herself in. But the way she was looking at me, with those pleading eyes, that fear in her face, I knew there was no way I could just ignore her.

I sighed and jerked my head towards the counter.

"Just until they’re gone," I told her. "Keep your head down. And don’t make a sound. You hear me?”

"Thank you," she gasped, clasping her hands together and rushing towards the counter, dropping down into a crouch behind it. It looked practiced, as though it was far from the first time she had hidden out like this. Who the hell was this girl? And who were these people looking for her? None of this made sense to me...

But, before I had a chance to think better of it, the door opened, and the two men who had been standing in the street stepped inside. I rolled back my shoulders and looked them dead in the eye.

"Can I help you?” I asked, voice cold and controlled. I didn’t know who the hell they were – but I knew I wasn’t going to let them get to the girl hiding behind the counter. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt protective of her, and there was no way I’d allow them to take her.

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