Page 6 of Illicit Illustration

Charley was fighting dirty. I knew it was ridiculous, but I was very possessive of my friends’ skin. Not in a creepy, serial killer way. In a concerned tattooist way.

If they were making the commitment to permanently mark their skin, I wanted to make sure it was done correctly. With over a decade of experience, I knew my way around a tattoo gun and always ensured my clients were satisfied after it was done. Some werevery, verysatisfied.

“Her friend is looking for people to practice on for free.”

Which was how I’d started, too. But no one that inexperienced was touching Hazel’s flawless skin.

I might not have a fancy art degree in illustration, but I’d been winning regional art contests since I was ten years old. If my family had been able to afford tuition, I would’ve gone to somewhere like Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, like Hazel.

Unfortunately, most of the prestigious art schools were on either coast, and I’d barely been able to scrape enough money together to get my associates in business management at the community college.

Then I’d busted my ass while I apprenticed at a shop near Boulder before I came back home to open my studio in Sage Springs the year Hudson took over the bar for his old man.

“Come on, she’s coming back out soon, and she’ll freak if she knows I asked you.”

“Which is why this is a terrible idea.”

She eyed me, lifting a brow. “Or it’s an opportunity you shouldn’t squander. I’ve watched you two dancing around each other for months. You clearly need help seeing what’s right in front of you. So maybe not being able to see each other will help.”

“Hudson would kill me.” Especially since my thoughts about his little sister had not been innocent lately. Not since the night she’d nailed Hudson’s ex in the crotch with a bat like a fierce little angelic warrior—wearing a halo to boot.

“He’d only kill you if you took advantage of her. You’re not going to do that, are you?” Judging by the tone of her voice, I felt like I was being set up. “And if you take advantage of her, it will be because she asked for it.”

“What does that…”

She held up her hand, whispering the sentence that sealed my fate.

“Because he’d want someone he loves to treat his sister with respect. And who better to do that than his best friend? His best friend who hasn’t been able to keep his eyes off her for months.Who would make sure she enjoys her first time? You, or some inexperienced college boy who might not know what he’s doing?”

“Charley…” I growled, clenching my jaw and balling my fists at my sides.

“I’ll see you in a bit, then. Go wait outside until I text you.”

“Seriously?”

“Do you want to know her number, or are you going to guess?”

It wouldn’t take me much effort to guess. If Hazel wore a paper bag over her head, I’d still be able to pick her voice out of a crowd.

“She’s going to kill both of us.”

“Not if you’re as charming as you think you are. Then she will definitelynotbe killing you. Jumping you, maybe. But not killing.”

Before I could curse her for trying to drag me into this, she was turning on her heel and disappearing into the bathroom to retrieve her best friend.

Her best friend I had been imagining in a very inappropriate way for months.

Who was the little sister of my oldest friend.

And the last person I should have been touching.

But the thought of anyone else laying their hands on her had me escaping out the back door of the bar and waiting for a text I should have ignored.

Charley: It’s showtime.

Reid: I want it noted that I’m doing this under duress.

Charley: Noted. Now get in here and convince my best friend to give you her number.

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