Page 12 of Gunner

Indigo chose that moment to come up front and interrupt.

“Hey, Haizley. I’m ready if you are.”

Haizley. That was different.

I watched the emotions flit over her face like a movie and caught the moment she changed her mind.

“I’m so sorry, Indigo. I just stopped in to let you know I need to cancel. Something came up, and I can’t get out of it. I hope you understand.”

She didn’t look at me again, keeping her attention on Indigo.

But Indigo did.

“No problem. You want to reschedule?”

“Um...” I followed Haizley’s stare out the window and wondered what she was looking at. When she turned back to Indie, ignoring me again, she asked, “Can I call you when I get home, once I’ve checked my calendar?”

“Of course.” Handing Haizley a card, Indigo offered, “Call me on my cell. You never know who will answer at the shop and fuck things up.”

I glared at my employee, and she just smiled.

“Thanks, I’ll be in touch.”

As soon as the door closed, Indie rounded on me, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

“What the fuck did you do?”

Indigo was a tiny woman. With her platinum hair and blue highlights, she still had the look of a child. In fact, she looked closer to sixteen than she did twenty-four.

I’d had Nav run an extensive background check on her before hiring her because I needed to make sure she was legal.

“Why do you assume I did something?”

She just shook her head and walked away, muttering something about asshole men not knowing their left nut from their right.

When I returned to my client, he was trying not to laugh.

“Man, what the fuck did you do?”

With a smirk I couldn’t contain, I answered, “I may have inadvertently accused her of being a whore at the Diamond last week.”

“Don’t let Indigo find out. You won’t have to worry if you can tell your left nut from your right ‘cuz you won’t have any.” Dave laughed, and despite my annoyance, I laughed alongside him.

Indie was not one to be messed with. I didn’t know her story. Nav couldn’t find anything beyond the basics. But something had definitely happened to that girl.

I got back to working on the tattoo, but my mind was on the beautiful woman whose name was Haizley.

It was different.

Original.

Like her.

I hadn’t been able to see the color of her eyes in the dim light at the bar, but today I could. They were the color of brown sugar. Warm and light at the same time.

The way they darkened in anger when she realized I was standing there, had my dick hard and uncomfortable. The same way it did the night at the bar, when she threw her drink in my face. Well, tried to anyway. She didn’t quite throw it high enough, considering I towered over her by a foot.

She was feisty. She had a fire I wanted to consume and contain. I didn’t want to put it out, but I did want to control it.

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