CHAPTER 27

FRECKLES

Charlie

I had just finished locking the door to the bakery, and I was dead on my feet. It was my third official day as a bakery owner, and I was pretty sure that I could fall asleep standing up if I stood still long enough.

The opening of the bakery had exceeded my expectations. Every day since then I expected it to slow down, but it hadn’t. My mom had been there almost every second of every day to help me, but I realized that if things stayed this busy, I was going to have to hire someone. That thought had never even occurred to me before.

I gripped the reward card in my hand and walked into Brandon’s shop. We had been together every spare second we had since the day the bakery opened. Brandon had forgiven me so easily and so fully, and I didn’t feel one hundred percent worthy of his forgiveness. He was too good for me.

He was cleaning up his station when I knocked on the door outside his room, and he smiled up at me just as he put his tattoo gun away in a drawer.

“You may need to get that back out.” I tossed the fully punched reward card down on his tattoo seat and his gaze jumped up to mine.

He picked up the card and stared at it for a moment. “You mean to tell me that you’ve already made all of these purchases at Cherry on Top?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I hear I’m their top customer.” I sat down on the chair and kissed his lips as I passed.

“That would be wrong. It’s a known fact that I’m their best costumer. Plus,” he raised his hand to whisper, “I hear that I’ve been sleeping with the boss.”

“Well, aren’t you a bad boy?” I crossed my legs and rested my elbow on my knees as I rubbed my chin.

“That’s what I hear.” He sat down on his stool and looked up at me.

“Are you telling me that I can’t use this reward card?” I flicked it back in forth in my hand.

“I’m not saying that at all.” He crossed his arms. “I just want to make sure that you are sure.”

“I’m sure.” I nodded my head. I had been thinking about it for days. I wanted a tattoo from him. I wanted him to ink my body.

“What are we doing then?” He tossed my reward card down on his table.

“That’s up to you.”

His gaze jumped back to mine. “Where are we doing it?”

“I may have a few objections, but that’s up to you as well.”

He rubbed his hand over the scruff on his chin. “You mean to tell me that I get to do any tattoo I want on any part of your body I want?”

He didn’t look like he believed me.

“That’s right.”

“What if I do a giant octopus that looks like its eating your belly button?” He grinned.

“You won’t.”

“But how do you know?” He leaned toward me, and the smell of his cologne made my stomach tighten.

“Because I trust you.” I touched my fingers to his cheek and pulled him close enough to me to press my mouth to his.

“Take your shirt off and lie on your stomach.” He stood from his stool and started pulling out supplies.

“You already know what you’re going to do?” I pulled my t-shirt over my head then laid on my stomach like he had instructed.

“Yup.” He grinned down at me.

“You don’t even need to like look at pictures of something?” I leaned up on my elbows.

“What? No.” He shook his head like I was crazy.

“You just thought of what to do? Just like that?” I snapped my fingers.

“Freckles, I have been thinking about what I’ve wanted to tattoo on you since the moment I met you.”

“Really?” That was incredibly sweet. Unless he thought about that with everyone he met. I guess it could have been a part of the job.

“Really.” He pulled out a pair of black gloves and snapped them onto his hands.

“Now lie down and don’t look back here.” He smiled, and God, I loved that smile.

“I don’t get to look at all?” I dropped my elbows and laid my head against the chair.

“Not until I’m done.” He was making all sorts of noises from behind me, and I realized that I had no idea what all actually went into doing a tattoo.

He pressed against the back of my neck and I jumped. He chuckled but pushed me back against the chair. “I’m only drawing on you right now. You can’t jump like that when I start. You’ll just have a big squiggly line for a tattoo.”

“I’m nervous.” I took a deep breath. “Are you tattooing my neck?”

“I thought you trusted me?” He leaned down to look me in the eye.

“I do. I do.” I took a deep breath. “Just tell me before you start tattooing.

He didn’t talk to me for several minutes after that. I tried to keep up with the lines that he drew at the base of my neck, but it was like that game where someone drew with their finger on your back. I was thinking it was a gargoyle, but it was probably a bunny.

“Are you ready?” The loud buzz of his tattoo gun filled the room, and I could feel that buzzing inside me. My nerves seem to be jumping at the same pace.

“Yeah.” I shook my head then took a deep breath.

His fingers pressed against my neck before the gun finally touched me. It was painful, sure, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I had thought.

But it still hurt.

“How are you doing?” Brandon continued to ask me over and over as he worked.

“I’m okay.” My voice was muffled against my arms.

“We’re almost done.” He promised and continued to work.

I don’t know how long it took for him to finish, but I knew that I could have fallen asleep in that chair if it wasn’t for the needles.

“Alright.” Brandon gently smacked my ass. “Are you ready to see if you made a mistake by trusting me?”

I nudged him out of my way and he laughed as I made my way in front of the full-length mirror. He held a handheld mirror out to me, and I turned. He was watching me so carefully as I lifted the mirror, and I realized that he was holding his breath.

My eyes fluttered to the mirror in my hand, and I took a step backward toward the big mirror as soon as I laid my eyes on the tattoo.

It was almost hard to see. The color of ink he used blended seamlessly with the freckles that covered my body. I didn’t know what I was expecting. I prayed that he didn’t just tattoo a giant donut on my neck. But what met my eyes was far more than I could have expected.

The tattoo itself was a series of paper-thin lines that connected from one freckle to the next. It was like it was always meant to be there. Like it had been there already, but Brandon was the only one who could see it.

I reached behind me and touched the edge of the delicate flower.

“Don’t touch it,” Brandon said softly, and I instantly dropped my fingers.

I just stared at this piece of art that belonged to me. Art that was a part of me.

“Do you like it?” He ran his fingers through his hair, and it was so odd to see him look so nervous.

This man. He was so talented, so beautifully talented, and he had managed to give me a tattoo that even I wouldn’t have been able to pick for myself. It was so perfectly me.

“I love you,” I blurted out as I dropped the mirror to my side.

“What?” He looked at me like I may quickly take back the words that I had just said, but I wouldn’t. I meant them. I meant them more than I had ever meant anything before.

“I love you.” I looked him in the eye. “I love you, and I love this tattoo. I don’t know how you—”

“I love you too,” he interrupted me before he took a step to me and gathered me in his arms.

His kiss was passionate and savage, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I pulled at his hair, and I clasped his shirt in my hand to pull him closer to me. I tried to push him against the chair, but he stopped me.

“I need to clean and cover your tattoo.” He murmured the words against my lips.

“Okay,” I said then sucked his bottom lip into my mouth.

He had to gently push me away to get me to stop.

“How much do I owe you anyway?” I looked over my shoulder at him as he wrapped some sort of plastic over my skin.

“Oh.” He grinned up at me. “You’re going to be paying this off for a very long time.”

“How long exactly?” I turned fully to face him.

“Until one of us gets tired of the other.” He leaned forward and gently kissed me.

“Forever then?” I said against his lips.

“Forever.”