“I really love it,” I assure her. “Are you always so self-conscious of your work?”

She points her finger at me. “Hey, my work is awesome. Just wanted to make sure you weren’t blowing smoke up my ass just to get some more booty.”

“Leah, as much as I’d love that, I wouldn’t bullshit about something permanent on my skin.”

She lets out a giggle. “Fair enough.”

After she covers my new ink, and I pay her, I ask, “Do you still want to get a drink?”

“Sure, sounds good. Where do you want to go?”

Small towns don’t provide an abundance of possibilities—at least not the ones around here. I sure as shit don’t want to go to my parents’ bar. I only know of one other place remotely close. “The Dells?” I ask.

While she puts all her equipment away, she replies, “As much as I’m usually in the mood for a crazy party like The Dells, I don’t know that I can handle the chaos tonight.”

“Do you know of anywhere else around here that we could get a quieter drink?”

She thinks for a moment while finishing her cleanup process. Once everything is back in the proper place, Leah looks at me. “Got any booze at your place?”

I grin. “I’ve always got booze.”

“Well then, let’s go.”

We each take our own cars back to my place. I assume Leah wants a quick getaway if she’s not having a good time. I don’t care. Whatever it takes to make her comfortable.

I really would have been fine with just going out for a drink, but fuck, I’m glad she offered to come back to my place. She’s sexy as hell—even when she’s piercing my skin with a needle over and over.

I have no clue what I’m doing. Leah’s said she isn’t looking for anything serious, and I’m supposed to be thinking about settling down.

Yet here I am. Going through leaps and bounds to jump back into bed with a woman who wants totally different things than I do.

What can I say?

Sometimes, my downstairs head wins the battle, and logic flies out the window. If last time was any indication, I know it’ll be worth it.

I make it to the house first since Leah said she needed to lock up the shop. When I’m inside, I do a quick once-over to make sure it’s decent. But honestly, it’s fine. I’m a fairly clean person. I try to keep up on things to make it easier on myself.

When I bend over to pick up something off the floor, my shirt rubs against my fresh ink. The sore skin sends pain shooting across my chest. Guessing that’s going to be tender the next few days.

I’ve been thinking about popping my tattoo cherry for a while now. I’m glad Leah was the one to do it. Her work is beautiful.

I see her headlights in the driveway, so I walk over to answer the door.

“Hey, gorgeous,” I greet as she walks inside.

“I see we are starting the flattery early,” she jokes.

“Just speaking the truth.”

“Man, I bet you do ridiculously well with the ladies.”

I laugh. “I do alright.”

We walk into the open kitchen, and she sets her wallet and keys on the counter.

I open up the cabinet that holds the liquor. “What’s your poison?”

She eyes the bottles. “Whiskey.”