Page 3 of Molly

“Oh. My. God,” he chokes out between breaths.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Shut it, it was an accident.”

He nods, still laughing. “Yeah, okay, babe. You accidentally opened your camera, aimed it at me and took a photo.”

I roll my eyes and turn my head away from him, feeling my bottom lip wobble slightly.God, could this get any more embarrassing?

“Hey.” His voice lowers, losing the humour. “It’s alright, Molly. I’d want a photo of me on my phone too...if I was you.” He laughs again, and I huff, trying not to do the same. The look he has on his face makes it near impossible. “Alright, alright,” he says, taking a deep breath. “Now that we’re done with the photo shoot, let’s put your stencil on.”

I laugh at that, feeling the mood lighten. He winks at me, gesturing for me to put my wrist back on the armrest. After he’s transferred the design onto my skin and I’ve checked it in the mirror, I sit back down.

“Ready, babe?”

“Let’s do it.” I nod.

“Alright, I’m going to do the first line and then stop so you can see how it feels. Whatever you’ve got in your head is a lot worse than it’ll actually be, I promise.”

I nod for him to continue. Little does he know I’ve given birth, and the size of the tiny needle in his hand has nothing on the big bitch that went into my back when I had my epidural.

The gun buzzes to life, and he draws the first line. I flinch slightly as the needle makes contact with my skin. It burns, but it’s not a totally unpleasant feeling. He pauses and looks up at me, silently asking if I’m good. I smirk and raise one eyebrow in response.

He grins. “Good girl.”

Oh,Jesus.

???

RYAN

I stop after a few lines and pull back the gun from her wrist. I look up and catch her gorgeous, emerald green eyes staring back at me. Fuck, this girl is crazy beautiful. Her hair is the most incredible shade of chocolate brown, and it frames her heart-shaped face perfectly, falling around it in waves.

I gesture to the date I’m drawing on her skin. “So, what happened on the 1stof June 2019?”

Her plump, rose-coloured lips tilt up at the corners, making a dimple pop out on one side of her mouth. “Best day of my life so far.”

I wait for her to say more, but she looks away, making it obvious that’s all the explanation I’m getting. Her voice is so soft and sweet, and the blush she’s got going on from the photo mishap is adorable. Her classic peaches and cream complexion makes it even more prominent. The look on her face when I caught her was priceless. I probably should have asked why she did it, but I don’t care. My ego got a stroke, and I got to make her blush. That’s a win in my book.

I trace over the 6 on her wrist, letting the buzz of the gun fill the silence. After a few minutes, her phone vibrates. She quickly picks it up, bringing it closer to her face. I stop what I’m doing and use the opportunity to let my eyes roam over her body.

She’s petite, probably only a little over 5ft but curvy as fuck. The way her waist dips in and then curves out over those hips?Goddamn. For such a tiny thing, she has insanely long thick legs, too, and an ass that makes me want to bite my fist.

“How long do you think we’ll be?” she asks, making me snap back to reality.

I clear my throat. “Not long. I’m almost finished. Got somewhere you need to be?”

Honestly, I could have had this done by now, but I’m not ready for her to leave. I can tell she’s interested. The way she looks at me proves it. But she’s guarded. I can work with guarded. Just need more time.

“Oh, no. Sorry, just thinking about what I’ve got to get done at work.”

“What do you do? For work, I mean,” I ask. It’s normal to make small talk while you’re tattooing a client, but with this girl, I actually want to know.

“I own a plant cafe not far from here. Well, me and my best friend do. I love it. We’ve been open almost three years now. It does great in this area.”

Mawson Lakes is kind of like its own little town here in Adelaide. You don’t need to venture out far to get whatever you’re after, so the people that live here tend to support local businesses. It’s one of the main reasons I set up shop here, rather than in the city.

“Can't say I've ever been to aplant cafe. Tell me more?” I like that she’s a business owner. I don’t know shit about plants or cafes, but that’s cool. I can learn. She can teach me.

Molly talks me through the different varieties she sells, and it blows my mind. Who knew there were so many types of fucking plants? I love how passionate she is about her work, though. When I read through her consent form earlier, I realised I was over ten years older than her. I assumed because of that, we’d have nothing in common, which was a letdown because I knew as soon as I saw her, I wanted her.

---