Page 27 of Fallen Ink

A fucking kickass tattoo artist.

Damn it.

Today, she had a very brave client who wanted a full ribcage tattoo that went all around her back to the other side of her body. While Adrienne had ink on her ribcage that sloped under her breasts, hers didn’t reach around her back to become part of one large piece. Hers was mostly smaller pieces put together with the shading of Mace’s and Shep’s art over time. She still had a lot of open skin for a tattoo artist, but she was picky when it came to what would be on her body for the rest of her life, and only trusted her brother and Mace to get it right. She didn’t want tattoos just for the sake of having them, and she knew the old saying of never trusting a tattoo artist with no tattoos wasn’t always correct. She had her ink, but most was under her clothes. At least for now.

But for this particular client, her entire back and sides would be covered by the time Adrienne was done. It would take at least four sessions, five if either of them got too tired or the skin didn’t react well during a sitting, and she was honestly freaking excited about it—even if her body hated her at the moment. After this one, she might have to take a nice lower back or upper arm tattoo just to stretch out her sore muscles. God knew the desire for those particular tattoos was in abundance, and she actually loved doing them. Her job was to put her art on someone else’s body, permanently. They trusted her with their bodies and something they would wear for the rest of their lives, and that wasn’t something she took lightly. Hence why she had three of her favorite and most talented artists working at her shop. Shep, Ryan, and Mace were beyond gifted, and she was blessed to work with them—though, at some point, she’d like to hire another woman when she was able to afford a fifth artist because the testosterone was a little thick.

Her client winced for the fifth time in a row, and Adrienne knew they were done for the day. Jenn was past her endorphin high and was now feeling every stab of the needle on her sore and swollen skin. They’d gotten pretty far on day one and would get back to it soon. For now, though, Jenn would only have the outline of most of the work on one side and her back. There was no way Adrienne was going to do both sides in one day, not when Jenn was most comfortable lying down during a session. That was just asking for extra pain.

“Okay, hon, we’re done for the day. How do you feel?” She sat back and started cleaning off the area, prepping for the bandage Jenn would wear for a few hours.

Jenn didn’t stretch since it would probably hurt, but she did let out a relieved breath. “I’m okay. Glad it’s over for the day, though. I was doing good for a while, but I think I hit a wall.”

Glad she’d read the situation correctly, Adrienne went over aftercare instructions while helping Jenn sit up. Mace brought over some juice and a cookie just in case Jenn’s blood sugar was low, and the other woman took it gratefully, her eyes darkening just a bit as she took Mace in.

It took everything within Adrienne not to claim Mace right there, but she knew better than to be an idiot at work. Her best friend was fucking hot, and the idea that countless women constantly checked him out was just something she would have to deal with if she were going to be with him—however with him she was.

“Thank you,” Jenn purred, and Adrienne barely held in the urge to cross her eyes at the woman. She’d been in pain just a few moments ago, after hours’ worth of work, and now she was a sex kitten trying to woo Mace. Of course, she was. “Mace, right?”

Mace smiled his polite smile, not the one that made Adrienne’s panties go damp because she knew the dirty words and thoughts behind that expression, and this time, she was the one to hide her own grin. Yep, she had no idea what she was doing in the grand scheme, but Mace was all hers.

The internal alarm that sounded suspiciously like Star Trek’s red alert blared in her mind, and she did her best to ignore it. Just because she was calling Mace hers and wanting to lay claim to him didn’t mean she was falling for him or anything mistake-worthy like that. All it meant was that she was territorial when it came to those she casually slept with, knowing there were no real promises beyond making sure things didn’t get too serious.

And if she kept telling herself that with a straight face, she might actually believe it.

“That’s me. Addi’s doing fantastic work. Can’t wait to see the end result.”

Jenn smiled again, this time wiggling off the bench so she could stand next to him. Mace quickly moved forward to help her, and Jenn practically sighed into his hold.

Okay, so this was getting a little annoying, but it wasn’t as if Adrienne actually had any right to the jealousy currently swirling in her gut, and Mace wasn’t hitting on Jenn. In fact, he was being his normal, professional self, and Adrienne needed to get over herself. Quickly.

“I’d love to show you what it looks like when it’s done,” Jenn said, leaning into him.

“I’m sure Addi will make that happen. I love seeing her work.” Adrienne did her best not to preen at the disappointed look on Jenn’s face and went into her pure professional mode as she showed Jenn exactly what needed to happen next and then went to the front desk to schedule the next sitting.

By the time Jenn was gone, Adrienne’s headache hadn’t abated, and Ryan’s client was the only one left since she and Mace had a thirty-minute gap between appointments. She needed to clean up her station, work on the books a bit, and see what was coming up tomorrow since she knew they would only get busier.

Just as she was about to go back to her booth, Mace put his hand on her forearm, stalling her.

“What?” she asked, aware that they weren’t the only two in the room. Ryan might be working, but she knew he could turn in their direction at any moment.

“We need to talk.” He tugged on her arm, and she moved with him, her stomach clenching.

Nothing good ever came from those words, no matter who said them, and they both knew it. Well, it was good while it lasted, right? It wasn’t as if they were serious. She guessed that they would be stopping whatever it was they were doing, so at least she could get back to normal and stop feeling so damn jealous when someone else flirted with Mace. This whole keeping everything inside thing was hurting her brain and making her act so unlike herself. And she wasn’t sure she liked this new neurotic person who couldn’t stop thinking about how she felt rather than getting things done.

“Ryan, we’ll be in the back. Watch the front?” Mace’s deep voice brought her out of her thoughts, and her mouth sagged open. What the hell would Ryan think now that the two of them were scurrying off to the storage room? Together. With the door most likely shut.

“No problem,” Ryan said, his voice that low drawl of his that made women swoon. Not her, since she had never swooned in her life. But still. Of course, just thinking that, she figured she might just swoon if Mace got all growly and demanding with her, but she was not going to think about that right then. For many reasons, but also because she didn’t like how much she’d changed. Ryan gave them a curious look but didn’t say anything, and for that, she was grateful. She wasn’t sure what she could say anyway.

Adrienne let Mace lead her to the storage room because she knew pulling back and making a scene would only make things worse. But as soon as he had closed the door behind them, she tugged her arm away from his hold and shoved at his chest.

“You don’t get to go all caveman on me, dragging me around my shop. That’s not how any of this works. You get me, Knight?”

Mace folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. “I get you, Addi. And you came with me without complaint. If you had tugged on your arm even the slightest, I’d have let you go. You know I won’t hurt you.”

Did she? Because she wasn’t sure that was the case anymore. Oh, he might not hurt her physically. Or intentionally. But emotionally? She was afraid she’d already gone down the wrong path there, and she might not ever have any hope of finding her way back unscathed.

The thing was, though, she hadn’t tried to pull away from him. She’d gone freely, his touch comforting even as she was afraid of what the others would see and what was in store. He had her so tied up in knots, she was afraid she’d never untangle them.

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