Chapter 11

 

Hollywood

 

 

I WAS IN the back of the clubhouse, enjoying my first beer of the night, when Devon walked in.

“Hey, babe,” said Brass, who was sitting across from me. “What’s up?”

“I’m here for Hollywood,” she replied and looked at me. “You free? I have a gal in front who’d like a dragon tat. Fresh canvas.”

I held up my beer. “Shit… I just sat down.”

I’d been working my ass off all day, helping Phoenix, the club prez, with some roof work. Between doing that part-time and prospecting, it didn’t leave me a lot of energy to do what I really enjoyed, which was being an ink-slinger. But club business was top priority, whether I liked it or not.

“I hear ya, but she wants a custom job and has decided on a dragon. I could do it, but you’re so much better. And… I think you’ll enjoy the job a lot more than I will,” she replied with a smirk.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Come up front and find out,” she replied, turning around.

Devon had my attention.

“Hey, babe,” Brass called out. “Who’s watching Wyatt?”

Wyatt was their infant son.

“Lily volunteered again,” she said over her shoulder before walking out.

Lily was Phoenix’s Old Lady. He said she was getting ‘baby fever’ and kept talking about having one of their own. I think it made him nervous. Hell, the idea of having kids made most guy anxious.

“Devon still pissed at you?” Len asked, one of the older club vets. He was pretty cool and didn’t demand much. Of course, he was always comfortably stoned.

“Probably,” he replied.

I stood up. “Why?”

“She wants a big wedding and I want to elope,” he replied. “Big weddings aren’t my thing.”

“Brother, you’d better marry her the way she wants to be married,” said Phoenix, listening in. “Take it from me, you don’t mess with a woman’s wedding plans. This isn’t like picking out a restaurant. This is something many of them have been planning on ever since they received their first Wedding Day Barbie. You don’t take that away from them and live happily-ever-after to tell about it. Especially with a woman like Devon.”

Dom, the V.P. also agreed. “He’s right on the nuts. Make her happy, Brass. You’ll regret trying to get out of it later.”

Brass groaned. “Fine. I guess if Tarot’s warning me, then I’m doing a big wedding.”

We called Dom Tarot because he had some kind of freakish psychic ability. He didn’t like to call himself a clairvoyant, but that’s exactly what he was.

I downed the rest of my beer and then went into the shop. Devon, who was seated next to a male client, looked up at me and winked. “Over there.”

A young woman was standing by the cash register, paging through my portfolio. At first, all I saw was a cute chick with big hair and a tank top that appeared to be filled out rather nicely.

I approached the counter. “Hey, how’s it going?”

She looked up and smiled.

I felt like someone knocked the wind out of me. She went from being just a pretty, young thing to being absolutely gorgeous.

“I’m doing good,” she said. “You must be Hollywood?”

I held out my hand. “That’s me. Nice to meet you. What was your name?”

She shook it. “I’m Candi.”

Fuck, she sure smelled sweet. If her big brown eyes and beautiful white smile wasn’t enough to get my blood boiling, she was also blessed with one hell of a body. Tan with long legs, a curvy ass, and the kind of tits that caused boners and fist fights.

“I’m Hollywood,” I repeated, without thinking.

Devon snorted loudly.

Candi looked amused. “Yeah. You mentioned that.”

Trying to hold onto a little dignity, I picked up the binder and asked her to follow me to my station. As we passed by Devon, I ignored the mocking smile she gave me.  

“So, let’s start from the beginning,” I said, when we were in the back of the parlor. “You’re looking for a dragon tattoo?”

“I think so,” she replied, looking unsure enough to warrant ‘the speech’, which I used to weed out what I called “Regretters.” People who weren’t as serious about getting inked as they should be. Those were usually the ones who complained the most about the needles, the time it took for the tat, and the price. Getting a tattoo shouldn’t ever be done on a whim. The only people I wanted wearing my ink were the serious ones.

“A tat is permanent, for the most part. It’s important to make sure you’re absolutely definite on why you’re doing it and determine if it’s something you really want to do. ” I said, sitting down on a stool. “So… why don’t you tell me what it is that really brought you in here tonight, Candi?”