Page 1 of Wolf's Midlife Bite

1

“Brody,I could really use your help!”

Immediately, Brody dropped his pencil and shot to his feet. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, and his wolf was ready. “What’s up?”

Poppy smiled at him from the doorway of his booth. “I pulled you out of a sketch again, didn’t I?”

“Shit.” The last time Poppy had asked for help, the frat boy she’d been tattooing thought being alone in her booth meant he could get more than just artwork. She had plenty of bite and knew how to put just about any customer in their place, but her small stature tended to make men think they could take things further. That didn’t seem to be the case right now. “You’re good?”

“With that,” she said, knowing what he meant. “I’m just running behind. My next appointment just got here, but the shading on this sleeve is taking way longer than I thought it would.”

“Squirmer?” Brody had caught a glimpse of the muscled man when he’d come in a couple of hours ago, his head thrown back and his shoulders wide.

“Yup,” she confirmed quietly. “He’s asked me to take so many breaks, I’ll be lucky if I finish by the end of the week.”

That figured. It happened all the time in their shop, and Poppy tended to overbook herself. “What’s your next one getting?”

“Just a small coverup.” Poppy handed him her original drawing and the stencil, which she already had ready to go. “Can I send her in?”

It wasn’t anything particularly exciting, just a bird flying out of a cage, but he was more than capable. Brody took a wistful glance at the pencil drawing he’d been lost in before Poppy had asked for his help. He’d made a smudge when he’d dropped his pencil, but he could fix that later. The tattoos were what paid the bills, anyway. “Sure.”

He prepped his booth while Poppy explained the situation to her customer. Brody was filling a cap with black ink when he heard the shuffle of footsteps and looked up.

She made his breath catch in his throat. Her strawberry blonde hair fell in delicate waves to her jawline, and her bright green eyes easily picked up the intense light of the booth. She hung back a little, hugging an arm around her waist.

“Come on in,” he said, hoping he sounded casual even though he definitely didn’t feel that way inside. Brody saw all sorts of people in this line of work, and at this point, they were all just canvases for his artwork. But this one was making his wolf churn inside him. He realized he’d overfilled the ink cap and cursed quietly to himself.

“Um, I don’t know,” she hedged, taking only one step further toward the chair. “Maybe I should reschedule with Poppy for another time.”

“You’d probably have to wait a while before you could get back in with her,” Brody replied. “She’s usually booked out for a couple of months.”

His potential customer bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah, I guess I already knew that. Why aren’tyou?”

Brody found himself smiling at the sassy question. It caught him off-guard, but he liked it. “I am, actually, but I purposely schedule some free time to catch up on my artwork.”

“Oh.” Her eyes lifted to the paintings and sketches lining the walls of the booth. “I see.”

He was used to people checking out his work. It was his job, after all, and the more confidence people had in his skill, the more likely they were to come to him. It also meant they paid more. Now, though, he felt oddly exposed. He tipped his head toward the chair. “You can stay or reschedule with Poppy. It’s up to you.”

“Um. I guess so.” She moved slowly as though she were trying to force her feet forward. “I’m sorry for being so weird. It’s just that I was planning on having a female artist. No offense to you, it’s just…” She gestured toward her body.

Brody’s eyes landed on the spot she referred to, just inside her hipbone. People got tattoos all over their bodies, and it was his job to figure out how the planes of that canvas suited the artwork. It was all routine, yet he felt his heart jump into his throat.

“I’ve seeneverythingover the last few decades as a tattoo artist. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about,” he assured her as he closed the booth’s door for her privacy. “Why don’t you have a seat. I see you’ve got leggings on. Good choice. You can just roll down the top and show me what we’re covering up.” He washed up, snapped on a pair of gloves, and grabbed a paper towel.

“Okay.” Her breath became ragged as she tried to do as he asked. She wiggled in the chair as she fought with the waistband of her leggings, trying to show him her tattoo without exposing anything else.

Brody tried not to look, knowing that would only make things worse, but it was clear she wasn’t making any progress. “Can I help?” he asked.

She let out a frustrated sigh. “Don’t bother. It’s just not going to happen. I’m sorry.”

“Come on, don’t be so hard on yourself.” With expert hands, he pulled down one side of her leggings to expose the “Property of JC” tattoo just inside her right hipbone. To keep the stretchy fabric in place, he tugged it down on the left side as well so it wouldn’t just roll back up. Tucking the paper towel around the roll he’d created, he nodded at his own work. “There.”

“Um, isn’t that a little far?” Her face flushed as red as her hair as she reached down to cover herself.

He hadn’t meant to embarrass her, but he had a job to do. “I have to be able to get to the tattoo to cover it, you know.”

“Right.”

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