Page 92 of Save Me

“I didn’t ask you to the do the website back before we started fake dating because I figured you’d think I was using it to get closer to you. Then we became intimate and I thought it would be awkward if I outright told you I was the guy who sent you that inquiry.” He sighed. “But ultimately, I didn’t say anything because I had no idea where this was going with us. One minute I thought we were heading in the right direction and the next you were reminding me how this wasn’t real.”

“So…wait…” She shook her head. “Now I’m even more confused. I did a Google search for R. Moretti tattoo artist. Nothing came up. If your father was a famous artist like you, why didn’t that show up anywhere?”

“He never used his real name professionally,” he replied.

“Then that makes even less sense, Ryker!” Another little huff was out as she moved away from him. “If no one knew your father’s last name, why change yours?”

“Back when dad was at the top of his game, the internet wasn’t really that big of a thing. He used a pseudonym just because he thought it sounded cooler. Years later, when I started doing my thing, I was a little paranoid about being compared to him and I went to extremes.” Grinning, he added, “Sort of like someone kissing someone else in a parking lot and asking him to be her fake boyfriend.”

The quick glare told him he’d made his point.

“Come,” he said, holding out his hand to her. “I need to show you something.”

Luckily, she didn’t hesitate putting her hand in his as he led them back to his studio and office area. Opening the door, he let her go in first before motioning to the easel in the corner. It was facing away from them, so she couldn’t tell what exactly was on it. Then he stood back and waited for her reaction.

“What is this? Did you have a sign made?” she asked before turning to see it from the front. Her soft gasp and slow smile were the perfect reaction. “Tatuaggio Amore?” Looking over at him, her smile grew. “You took my advice and went with Italian!”

Nodding, he walked over to stand beside her. “Tatuaggio Amore—it means Tattoo Love in Italian. Your suggestion was the last piece of the puzzle. I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t connecting to the shop or why I wasn’t more excited about it. But then you mentioned the Italian angle and it was like everything fell into place.”

Taking her hand again, he then led her into his office and pointed to the poster board he had up on the wall.

“Are you re-doing the entire space?” she asked incredulously. “Ryker…that’s insane! It will take months to get that done!”

“Not when you know the right people,” he assured her. “I have a cousin who does a lot of faux finishing. He’s coming in this week with his crew to get started. We’re not moving walls or changing anything with the layout; this will all be cosmetic. Then I’m going to switch out the furniture in the waiting area and the lounge. After that, I’ll decide if we need to rip out cabinets or change anything else, but I think with these alterations, we should be ready to open. And, of course, having an actual name for the business helps.”

“I love it, Ryker! I seriously do!” Hugging him tightly, she placed a soft kiss on his jaw.

Then he felt her stiffen and knew they weren’t out of the woods yet.

“I can’t believe you kept all of this from me!” she said a moment later. “Why?”

“Ryleigh, I’m used to it just being me. I know I have Billie and Marc and Dax, but…. everything was on me. It’s my name on the business, my skills and creativity were where it all fell. It’s one thing to run ideas past them to gauge their reactions, but they’ve been in my life forever. You and I are still new and I wasn’t sure if you’d get it—the vision and what I was trying to create.”

“Even if I didn’t get it, I would still love to hear about it! You didn’t know what it was like to have a crazy meddling family, but you still listened to me. You didn’t know anything about web design, but you still looked at what I created.” Shaking her head, she glared at him. “And just so you know, we’re going to circle back to that point because I never show a client my work while it’s in the rough stage and you made me do that!”

“Ryleigh, I…”

“Not important right now. Your email said you picked which design you wanted for your site.”

“It did.”

“And?” she asked excitedly.

Ryker sat down behind his desk and booted up his laptop and the 32-inch desktop screen. He preferred using a larger screen for looking at designs, and right now he knew it would help them both to look at the links she’d sent him.

When he went to pull her into his lap, Ryleigh playfully slapped his hand away. “I’ll go grab a chair. Hang tight.”

He kept two of them in the office so all she had to do was drag it around to his side, and as soon as she was seated, he pulled up the design he wanted to her do for him.

“Ooh! You picked the one that looks like an actual shop! Yay! I was hoping that was the one!”

“The day you showed it to me, I knew it was the one. But I’d really love it if we can make it look like the actual shop.”

“Not a problem. We can either do it in an illustrated version or use an actual photograph and work from there.”

“Would I be a complete nightmare if I wanted to see both?” he asked cautiously.

“Not at all. I’d actually prefer it if you did so I know we got it right. Once your cousin is done with the painting and finishes, we’ll get Marissa in there to take the pictures.”

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