Page 23 of Show Me How
I try to sink into the corner of the booth. “Tell me when he is.”
“Maggie has the food. What do you think he ordered?”
“A guy like that? Beef, probably,” I mutter.
“I’ve always thought he’d be the type of guy to really toss a girl around. You know?”
I squeeze my eyes shut and cover my face with my hands. They’re wet, sweaty beyond belief, and I drop them right away. Lacey’s right. I have thought about that these last couple of days. Shade’s been a focus for my brain quite a few times, actually. And not one single thought has been innocent.
“I’m such a creep,” I groan.
Lacey sucks in a breath. “He’s leaving.”
“For sure?”
“Yeah, he’s crossing the street to the studio now.”
When I open my eyes, Lacey’s almost climbing onto the table to get a look out the window. I puff my cheeks out to hide a laugh.
“I’d consider getting a tattoo if he was the one doing it,” she adds.
“Because of how many he has?”
“Well, that, but also because of his talent. Have you seen his studio yet?”
I blink. “What studio?”
“Into The Shade. It’s right across the street. I’m surprised you didn’t see it when you came to my place earlier.”
“I wasn’t really in an exploring mood,” I say slowly, twisting to follow her gaze.
The brick building sticks out like a sore thumb, and the bright sign on the front makes me feel incredibly unaware. HowdidI not notice it before?
I relax my legs beneath the table. “That’s his studio? A tattoo studio? Here?”
“It’s out of the ordinary, for sure. But yeah, he’s that good. People come from all over the country to see him. He’s actually been looking for someone to work the front desk if you’reinterested. I could come in with you to pick up an application today if you wanted.”
“That’s not necessary. I don’t know if I’ll be staying that long. And I’m fine on funds,” I rush out, waving my hand.
My stomach drops.Am I?
Growing still, I run through the numbers in my mind, adding up everything I’ve spent in the last few days. The sum in my personal account was already low, but I couldn’t exactly use the cards attached to my father’s accounts without him learning where I am. All of the money I have is his, besides what I have with me here. Everything I’ve spent after getting here has been what I’ve slowly transferred from their accounts to mine over the last few months.
It was a spur-of-the-moment decision that I made once they announced the official wedding date for me and Chadwick. Maybe it was fear or a gut feeling that the future ahead of me was all wrong. I was so afraid that they’d notice and start asking questions I didn’t have answers to that I kept the transfers small.
Now, I wish I hadn’t cared if they’d seen.
Dread drips down my spine. I’m so underprepared for this. I’ve relied on my parents for too long, allowing them to convince me that working was unnecessary and that I wasn’t going to have time to find a career I’d enjoy. Shade was right to call me a princess. That’s exactly what I am, and now more than ever, I’m embarrassed by that.
I only have two options now, but only one looks appealing, and it involves the man I thought I’d never see again.
8
SHADE
I’ve been closedfor a few hours now. The buzz of the neon sign hung above me should be the perfect kind of white noise for what I’m doing.
The sketch in front of me is rough—beyond it, really. I haven’t set my pencil down for hours, and I’ve got a hand coated in graphite to prove it. Bryce has tried to get me onto the whole iPad thing, but I was shit at it the first time I tried. Paper and pencil are what I’m comfortable with.
