Page 72 of Exposed Ink

He waggles his brows, and I throw my head back with a laugh.

“Oh, we can still do that …afteryour tattoo.”

“Are you bribing me with pool-table sex?” he asks, lifting his sleeve up. “Because if you are, it’s totally working.”

* * *

“What are you doing this weekend?”Shane glances up from his phone as I turn the tattoo gun off and set it on the tray so I can clean it.

“Not sure yet. This guy promised to take me out on a real date, so maybe that will happen.”

I smirk, and he chuckles.

“I’m definitely taking you out on a real date,” he says. “But Sunday, the fire station is hosting a family barbecue. Naturally, I’ll be manning the grill. Any chance you want to go? Taylor will be there.”

I stumble back a bit. “You want me to go?”

“Of course I do.”

“But you said it’s for families,” I say dumbly.

Shane smiles and pulls me into him. “And one day, I hope we will be a family,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to my lips. “But it’s not just for families. Plenty of girlfriends and boyfriends will be there. The guys I work with are family. I’ve been working with some of them since before Taylor was born, and I would love to introduce you to them. They’ve heard a lot about you and?—”

“You talk about me?” I mumble against his mouth.

This has him chuckling. “Kins, I love you. I know you’re not on the same page yet, and I’m okay with waiting until you are. I meant what I said about taking it one day at a time. But do you really think guys who I consider family wouldn’t know about you? Besides the fact that they’ve watched me show up to work with new ink”—he smirks—“I talk about you constantly. And they can’t wait to meet you.”

My heart warms at his words. The truth is, aside from the family I grew up with, I’ve never been a part of anyone else’s family. Brandon’s parents sucked, and he was pretty much adopted into our family from the beginning.

The thought of meeting new people is scary, but it’s also kind of nice. If they’re anything like Shane, I know I’ll like them. And I want to be a part of his world.

“Okay,” I tell him, dragging my fingers through the back of his hair. “I’ll go to the family barbecue with you …”

His face lights up, and he’s about to pull back, but I keep him close for what I’m about to say next.

“And Shane …”

My heart pounds in my chest, not because I don’t mean the words I’m about to say, but because they haven’t been spoken in this context since my husband was alive.

“Yeah?” he asks.

“I love you too.”

A beautiful boyish grin spreads across his face. “Day fucking made, Sour Patch. Now, wrap my ink up, so I can eat your pussy on the pool table.”

I bark out a laugh. “Such a romantic.”

And that’s how we spend the rest of the day … with Shane and I showing each other how much we love each other, until we’re both sated, and we head home to meet Taylor for dinner.

And it doesn’t go over my head that, despite not living with Shane, I refer to his place as home. We agreed to one day at a time, and I thought that would mean taking things slow. But I’m falling for this man, and I have a feeling slow isn’t an option.

TWENTY-FOUR

Shane

“Nice addition.”Eric nods toward the tattoo Kinsley inked on me on Monday when we spent the day together.

“Thanks. The woman is talented. That’s for sure.”

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