Page 55 of Save Me

She blushed and turned back, pointing to the second monitor. “This one I’m not sure I love.”

“How come?”

“The background—even though it’s muted—should really be more personalized. I threw in this generic picture frame around the whole site and the picture of the pen and ink.” She shrugged. “I don’t know enough about the client to do something better, and I think I was just throwing stuff at the wall to see what would stick.”

“That makes sense,” he told her. “Even so, considering you don’t have a lot to work with, you put together something appealing.”

“I don’t know…”

Looking at the third one, Ryker instantly felt drawn to it. “Tell me about the third one.”

“All they told me was that they didn’t want something typical or that you can see on any other tattoo artist’s site. So the homepage has these glass doors and you can see behind it into what I thought a lobby or waiting area would look like. I’d put the logo on the doors—these are obviously just generic—and you click on them to enter.” She moved the mouse and made the screen come to life. “And then…”

Leaning forward, Ryker rested his hands on the back of her chair and watched in wonder as the visitor goes into a lobby where there are three doors behind an ornately detailed reception desk.

“Three doors?”

She nodded. “Could be more depending on the specific needs, but the first door will be for the artist owner.” She clicked on the door and there was a room with a large frame that matched the front desk and there was a generic picture in it. “If there are more artists on staff, we can either put them in a separate room or put them all in here. Either way, when you click on the picture, you’ll get their bio and their top three designs.”

“Why only top three?”

“Because I’m sure a tattoo artist’s portfolio is kind of vast. We want potential clients to click through the site and see everything. If you keep them locked on this one page, then what’s the point?”

“Interesting,” he murmured. “What’s behind the second door?”

“Second door will be client testimonials either set in the same kind of frames or maybe something a little simpler.”

“Okay…and last door?”

“Last door is where all the portfolios will go—either framed like that restaurant in New York City—Sardi’s? I think? Or I can set up the room so there are pedestals for each artist with a book people can click on to see their work.” Sighing, she leaned back in the chair and tilted her head back to look at him. “And it’s okay if you hate all of them.”

Reaching out, Ryker spun her chair around until she was facing him and braced his hands on the armrest. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what? The websites? It’s my job.”

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, he leveled her with a glare. “Not that. I mean, why do you put yourself down like that? Why would I hate any of them?”

With a small shrug, she averted her gaze. “I don’t know. I guess…I guess because compared to someone as artistic as you are, this is all kind of boring.”

Ryker immediately reached out and tucked a finger under her chin. “Let’s get one thing straight. There is nothing boring about you. Nothing. You are the most exciting woman I’ve ever met.”

“Ryker…”

“I’m serious,” he firmly interrupted. “And you want to know what bothers me the most about this entire conversation?”

She shook her head.

“Not once have you ever asked to look at my work,” he said, and wanted to kick himself. He’d been putting off this discussion out of fear of pushing her away and he had gone and done it anyway. “For all you know, I’m a shitty artist. You’ve never seen even one thing I’ve created.”

“Ryker, I…”

“It’s okay, Ryleigh. I get it. This is part of you keeping some distance between us,” he said as he pushed away from the chair. Muttering a curse, he walked back over to her wall of bookcases. “I’m a private person and I don’t offer any information about myself and after coming into your office, I see you’re the same way.”

Behind him, he heard her stand. “I grew up in this town. Everyone already knows everything about me. Or they think they do,” she amended. “The older I got, the more my hobbies and interests changed, the more I enjoyed keeping them to myself because…”

“Because it’s exhausting when everyone knows your business.” Turning his head, he looked at her and saw the sad smile on her face.

And understanding.

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