Page 50 of Hale's Pawn
“Damn. She’s gorgeous, of course, but the blonde looks good on her. She looks like a sex bunny.”
“Thirty seconds left.”
Wyn widens his eyes. “What?” This makes him laugh harder. “Okay, I’m done. Won’t ever bring it up again.”
“You better not,” I warn him.
Instead of going homeafter work, I drive up to the lounge where Ainslee, Ajedi, Mikonos, Luci, Karessa, and Jagger are. I remove my suit jacket, leaving my dress shirt and waistcoat on. I roll the sleeves up on my midnight blue dress shirt and remove my tie, leaving it in the car. I’m on edge. My wife gave me blue balls. Does she know what it’s like for a man of my caliber to work with blue balls? Everyone suffers.
I walk in the lounge and go to the private area that’s closed off. I open the door and when I get in, my wife is dancing without her shoes. I shake my head, smiling. We’re so opposite, yet it works for us. I would never be caught dead dancing, but it's good that she’s dancing with Karessa and Luci.
I slip by them, going to sit with the guys, and I notice that Ainslee has a bandage on her back. I tilt my head, wondering what that’s about, but I’ll ask her once she settles down. The blonde looks even better in person. I take in her little-ass outfit. Her top is basically nonexistent; it covers her breasts, looping through her arms, as straps on her shoulders, then the back is just a thin strap holding it in place. The skirt reaches right below her knees, but it molds to her body.
Ainslee dances even more, mouthing the words to Dance to This by Troye Sivan. Karessa taps her and points to me. Ainslee turns around with the biggest smile on her face. I can’t help it as I smile back. She waves and I snicker, shaking my head, but I wave back. She gestures her head towards the door. She slips back into her heels and walks out of the room. “Public sex, huh? You kinky fucker,” Jagger says.
I roll my eyes, scoffing. “Order me a drink.” I get up and follow Ainslee. I join her in the private hall. “Hi,” I say to her.
“Hi. Now, before everything, I want to show you something. I didn’t want anyone else besides Mikonos to see it before you. He did it, so that’s why.”
I nod. “First, I love your hair. You look gorgeous. Second, okay. You want me to remove the bandage out here?”
“Thank you.” She smiles. “Mmhmm. They all know why I called you out here.” Ainslee turns around and unclips the bottom strap from the side.
“Is it ready for me to do this?” I ask her.
“Yeah, I took it off a while ago to wash it like I’m supposed to, but I put the bandage back on because I wanted you to see it first,” Ainslee says.
I slowly remove the bandage and when I get it off completely, I am in awe of her tattoo. From the bottom, where the memory of what her mother did to her was, she has a huge lotus flower with a little bit of fading red to match her scars. Then, coming out of the flower, a half lotus leaf morphs into some bird wings, like a bird is hiding. At first, you can’t see it, but the next tattoo that goes up and right, you see as it spreads its wings, and the final piece is a little over her shoulder. It's a hummingbird. I smile because it fits her so well. There’s a small quote there that saysBaby, you’re the best part of my day. “Wow…”
“What do you think?” Ainslee asks.
“ First, I’m in awe of it. It just fits you so much more than I could’ve imagined. It’s beautiful, baby. I love it. Who chose the bird?”
“Markos. He helped speed the process up. He said I remind him of a hummingbird. The fact that even though it’s a small bird, what is so special about it is that it can fly forward, backward, and even upside down and that a hummingbird is the only one capable of hovering for a period of time during flight. He wanted me to know that size doesn’t matter, it’s what I can do.”
I kiss her bare shoulder. “You are very special, Ains. What about the quote, what’s that about?”
“Something I’m keeping as a reminder of you,” she confesses.
I’m taken aback. “You know it’s permanent, right?” I say to her. “Not that I don’t love it or appreciate the shit out of it, but I’m just saying.”
“And we’re just as permanent, Oran. I’m not going anywhere. It’s just something for us. That’s all.”
I’m both shocked and grateful as hell. “ I’m not going anywhere, either. I—,” I catch myself.
“I know, baby, I know,” she says to me. I smile at her words.
“Good, you better.” Ainslee clips her tiny top back and turns around to kiss me. I lean in as she places her arms around my neck. She kisses me, letting me know she loves me through our kiss instead of speaking.
She lets me go and runs her fingers through my hair with one hand and then wipes lipstick off my lips with the other. “How many times did you run your fingers through your hair at work today?”
“I was frustrated. My midget wife gave me blue balls.”
“Aww, maybe I can make it all better later,” she teases.
I wiggle my brows. “Like you have a choice.”
Ainslee laughs. “You grump.”
