Page 95 of Dark, Forbidden, & Taboo

“You okay, Aunt Celeste? You look like you’re about to pass out,” Ava teases, and I give her a stern look.

“I would feel better if I could walk out of here without you being all marked up.”

Ava rolls her eyes, almost the same way that Rya just did as she crosses her arms loosely over her chest and leans back against the cushions again.

“Aunt Celeste, I told you that I wouldn’t get anything sacrilegious. I’m not going to embarrass you either if that’s what you’re worried about. I just really want to get a tattoo.”

“But, why?” I ask her louder than I mean to.

“Because.”

The reply is simple and final enough that Ishouldlet it go, but just as I’m about to open my mouth and tell her that she needs to come up with a better reason in the next five seconds or I’ll haul her out the front door, we’re interrupted.

“Unless you consider an anchor and a couple of small flying birds sacrilegious, I’m pretty sure we’ll be okay here,” comes the same voice that called Rya earlier.

I turn sharply to look at the young man when he comes over and perches himself on the arm of the couch, right next to me.

He gives me a warm smile, and I scoot a little further away from the end of the couch, bumping into Ava, who hasn’t budged.

But as his light amber eyes settle on me, as I take in the tattoos on his body, I find myself becoming slightly uneasy for some reason.

It’s not until the warm smile on his face falters slightly and he tilts his head, peering a little closer at me, that I have the feeling I know him from somewhere.

I just can’t put my finger on it yet.

Chapter 2

Finley

“Is everything good?” I ask Rya, glancing over my shoulder at her. She gives me a quick thumbs up before she picks up the ringing phone.

“So, where are we placing these, Ava?” I ask the young blonde girl with the hazel-green eyes. I do my best to keep my focus on her and not on the woman she brought with her, because I’m hoping that she isn’t who I think she is.

“I was thinking maybe here,” Ava says as she stands up and begins to roll up her cut-off jean shorts, and points to her inner thigh. Why she couldn’t have just done that to begin with is beyond me, but I’m not going to lecture this little girl. I’m here to do a job and then send her on her way.

“Cool. And you’re aware that I freehand everything, right?” I ask as I stand up and steal a glance at the woman again.There’s no way …

“Yes.”

“Alright, well follow me, I’m all set up,” I instruct her as I turn and head down the hallway.

I glance at Rya who catches the expression on my face, and I cut my eyes to the side quickly before I disappear down the hallway with Ava and the possibility of it beingherin tow.

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“Isn’t there a moreappropriate place you can put those, Ava?”

I sit down on my stool as I snap my gloves on, and glance up at the woman. She’s giving Ava a pleading look, but the young girl seems to have her heart set on the spot.

“Is this going to hurt?” Ava asks, ignoring her guardian.

“Nope. There’s a lot of meat in that area, so unless you’re a pussy, you should be fine,” I tell her with a grin as I turn my floor light on and scoot closer to the recliner she’s lying on. “You’re not a pussy, are you, Ava?”

Her face turns crimson, and when she giggles, I have to bite back a sigh. My personality is, and always has been, the exact same way.

I like to joke with people.

I like to smile and laugh at the corniest jokes in the world.

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