Chapter Five

Lia

 

I lingered outside the tattoo studio. The sign declared it Ink Addicted, and open. Swallowing hard, I stared through doors, taking note of the art that lined the walls, the trophies on the shelf behind the front desk. A massive black chandelier hung from the ceiling and the chairs in the waiting area were tall, black winged-back armchairs. The kind I’d like to curl up in and read a book.

“Thinking of a tattoo?”

I jumped at the sound of the soft feminine voice and turned, meeting the eyes of the girl who hovered beside me. She had shoulder-length dark hair and a scattering of freckles over her nose. She was beautiful in a very angular, tough way, and when I looked into her eyes, I sensed a kind of haunting that made me shiver.

“Um, well…” Was I thinking of a tattoo? No. I was merely on my way to meet Anna and Ellis for dinner, but when I passed by the studio I knew Jacob worked at, I’d been distracted.

“I’m Gillian,” the woman said. “I work here. I’d be happy to show you some designs, if you like?”

“Um…” A tattoo? I’d always been interested in tattoos, but Declan had turned his nose up at them. And of course, my parents would be furious.

“Come on in. It’s a quiet day so I could use the company.”

Somehow, I found myself ushered into the studio and sat in one of those high wing-backed chairs I’d just been admiring. Gillian pulled up a stool and dropped an album on my lap.

“Do you have anything in particular in mind?” she asked, turning through the pages.

“Not really,” I replied vaguely, admiring the detail in the drawings. They were very good. “Did you do these?”

“Most of them. Some of them are Alex’s, Miranda’s, or Jacob’s.”

My heart did a little flip at hearing his name, and I felt heat creep up my throat. I ran my hands over the intricate detail in one sketch. A Mandela. It was like lace, the old-fashioned kind that reminded me of the doilies in my grandmother’s house she’d crocheted.

“That’s Jacob’s,” Gillian offered. “He’s very good at the fine lines that go into something like that.”

“A Mandela,” I murmured, “a very complicated one.”

“Hmmn. We could get something sketched for you like this. Jacob doesn’t work evenings but if you’d like to, you could come back in the morning.”

I stood up and placed the book on the seat. How had I even ended up in here? I wasn’t serious about getting a tattoo … was I? “I work in the mornings.”

“Oh. Well, if you’d like, I can ask him to sketch something for you. Something like this.” She gestured to the open page of the intricate lacework. “Where were you thinking of having it done?”

“On my stomach. Or my hip.” The words were out before I even thought them, and I blinked in surprise. I hadn’t even known that was where I would have a tattoo, much less decided on it.

“Nice. I can ask him to sketch something up and then you can come in when you’re able to get it done.”

“Does—would he be the one to do it?”

“Yes.” She paused, looking at me carefully before she continued, “Or if you are more comfortable with a female, Miranda or I could do it for you.”

I relaxed a little. The idea of Jacob tattooing me made me feel all hot and itchy. I wasn’t sure if it was because the idea thrilled me, or terrified me. Whatever the reason, it was probably best that Gillian did the tattoo.

“Okay.”

Gillian smiled and then took down my details even as my mind argued with itself. It wasn’t a commitment. I could always change my mind. Besides, the idea of a small Mandela, a dreamcatcher, on my stomach and hip was alluring.

I would decide later, when I saw it, if I would actually go ahead with it.

The design that Jacob was going to design for me.

****

“You’re crazy,” Anna announced over dinner after I explained my interaction with Gillian.

“I haven’t gotten it yet,” I repeated. “She’s just drawing up the design.”

“You’re still crazy. Your parents are going to go nuts if you get a tattoo. Honestly, Lia, I’m glad you broke up with Declan,” she said, “and I’m glad you’re here, but now is not the time to be making any drastic life choices.”

She was right. I knew she was right. But I wasn’t sure that getting a little tattoo could be considered a drastic life choice.

“I think tattoos are sexy,” Ellis said now.

Anna glanced at him. “You do?”

He shrugged. “Sure. And I mean if you are going to get a tattoo, Ink Addicted is the place to get one. Those guys are seriously talented.”

Anna turned her stare on me. “Some of them more than others, right, Lia?”

I flushed. “I spoke to Gillian. That’s all.”

“And are you sure you didn’t go in there to talk to someone else?” she prompted with a frown.

I threw a fry at her. “No. Besides, if I wanted to talk to him, I don’t need to stalk him at work. His daughter’s in my class.”

She choked on her drink. “No way.”

“Yes way.”

Suddenly, she started laughing. Ellis looked between the two of us. “I’m confused. What are we talking about?”

Anna turned to him. “I didn’t tell you, but Lia hooked up with Jacob McGaren the other night.”

“Anna!” I flushed crimson, embarrassed she’d shared my secret with Ellis. Not that I was ashamed of it, I was anything but, I was glad I’d done it. I’d had a one-night stand, my first, and it had been everything and more than I’d always imagined. Sex with a stranger. A sexy, dark, demanding stranger where I could relax and be myself. Where I could indulge in everything carnal that had somehow felt wrong when I was with Declan.

“Really?” Ellis didn’t seem surprised.

“It was just one night. Nothing more,” I assured him.

He snorted. “Of course. If it’s Jacob McGaren you’ll only get one night. And with someone like him, you only want one night.”

“What does that mean?” I frowned.

“It means that he’s a player. He doesn’t date women, he just screws them. Everyone knows that, although there are a few women in this town who are desperate to be the one to change him.”

My frown darkened as I thought back to that morning. Watching him leave after school drop off and seeing one of the other mothers fall into step beside him, almost running to catch up. I’d seen the way she’d looked at him, I’d seen the smiles and the flirty looks she shot him. He didn’t seem to reciprocate, but of course that didn’t mean he didn’t.

“But he’s not someone you should be interested in. He’s got too much shit in his life. Two kids. A sick mother. A psycho ex-wife. No money.”

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I didn’t like the way Ellis was talking about Jacob, like he was scum.

“Honestly, a girl like you shouldn’t be interested in someone like him. At least, not for more than a night.”

“I’m not,” I bristled, sipping my wine.

Anna stared at me. “Have you spoken to Declan?”

At the mention of Declan, I suddenly felt weary. “Yes.”

“And?”

“And I told him again it was over. But he doesn’t seem to hear me.”

“He’ll come around.”

I sighed again. “Yeah. I hope so.”