Page 4 of Out for Blood

I pulled my arm out and showed him the spot I wanted it. He got to work on printing the stencil and prepping my arm as I relaxed into the chair and waited. Sometimes the most relaxing moments I had were in a tattoo chair. There was no one to bug me. No one to ask questions. No drama at the clubhouse.

Just…peace.

Once Rory was done, I said goodbye to Orla, who winked at me as she continued her phone call and headed back to my bike. I’d only been gone for an hour, but it was long enough for some kind of drama to erupt at the clubhouse. Usually because of Bear and Hawk arguing over something trivial, or one of the prospects. There was no rest for the wicked as they said, and being president, I definitely had no fucking rest.

As the doors opened to the sunny day outside, I all but collided with someone running inside.

“Fuck!” I heard her swear as she backed up. Slowly, she looked up at me and her eyes widened in recognition. My breath caught in my throat as I looked down into those bright green eyes that I so adored growing up.

“Sheridan.”

“Shit, Cooper, is that really you?” she asked, laughing a little in relief. “I didn’t know you were back.”

“Yeah, we got back a few months ago. We’ve been a little quiet here in the town, trying to get the feel for Kilkenny and clean up after my Dad made a mess of things.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I heard the clubhouse relocated to the outskirts.”

I nodded. “It’s better this way.”

“I get it,” she replied. “This town isn’t the same one we grew up in, that’s for sure.”

I wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but she looked past me and groaned. I turned my head to see someone come out of a shop and tap his fingers impatiently against his watch, as if he were reminding her she was late for something.

“Sorry,” she said. “I wish I could catch up, but I’m already late for my shift.”

“All good,” I told her. “Come out and see us at the clubhouse anytime. Drinks are on me.”

She smiled, that megawatt smile tearing down the walls I put up seventeen years ago when I left Kilkenny. “You never know, Cooper, I may just take you up on that.”

Fuck. Not many people called me Cooper anymore, but when she did, my entire body radiated with warmth. Softened even.

She moved inside and toward the man who was chewing her out for being late. My mood was lifted, more than the tattoo had done earlier. Now I could barely contain the excitement thrumming through my veins.

Sheridan was still a stone cold fox, and I had every intention of making my move this time.

SHERIDAN

Goddamn fucking Terry.

If I didn’t need the money the way I did, I would have left his sorry ass job. The nerve of him to stand there and point at his watch as if I didn’t know I was late. He fucking knew why I was late.

Asshole.

I pushed past the girls crowding the lunch room that were all talking about the cute boys at their school, grabbing my apron and nametag before I grabbed my till and headed out to the counter. There’d been nothing quite like having to take this job after giving it up when I’d married Neal all those years ago. Now I was back here, slaving over a register, dealing with idiots and even worse, a pervy boss who counted your time in the store by the second.

But it wasn’t forever. I knew that. I just had to grin and bear it for now.

My chest was still rolling with butterflies from seeing Cooper again. Cooper fucking Malone. God…I never thought I’d see him again, not since the day I watched him ride out of Kilkenny, never to return, breaking my heart in the process.

Sure, he’d been back for a week or two over the last decade but he never stayed. And he never visited me.

I’d been so close to losing my virginity to him, but he never made the move, no matter how much my best friend Orla had told me he was into me. Granted, it didn’t help that I was dating that asshole Paul at the time, but I would have broken it off with him if Cooper just told me he wanted me.

I wished it had been him who popped my cherry. Maybe my life would have turned out better if I’d gotten up the courage to approach him, and just planted one on him. We’d been close so many times and yet…he’d never taken the hint.

I shook my head to rid myself of the memories. It was useless playing thewhat ifgame. Nothing ever came of it other than misery, and I had enough of that to last me two lifetimes.

The doors opened to the store and I glanced up to see my best friend Orla walk in. Her legs were long, her tiny short shorts way too short to be considered decent for the daytime, making her legs look even longer as she strode up to my counter.

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