Tuesday morning, Evie wasn’t quite sure what to expect when she came in to work. After the go around in the Jacuzzi, Antonio had surprised her two more times that night leaving her completely exhausted and super appreciative of the box of condoms they’d found in the mini bar. Given the choice, she’d gleefully chosen the ribbed ones…for her pleasure and oh boy was it. Granted that had more to do with Antonio than the condoms.

Pushing the door to Bloom open with her shoulder, she found Antonio behind the counter on the phone. Giving him an impish grin, she handed him one of the coffees she was carrying. Putting his hand over the phone’s mouthpiece, he whispered loudly. “What’s this?”

“Nitro cold brew coffee. Your brother, Luciano, raves about it on Instagram.”

Rolling his eyes, Antonio popped the lid off, raised the cup to her in toast, and took a sip. His eyes closed and he smacked his lips in appreciation making Evie grin even wider.

Nope, this wasn’t going to be awkward.

Walking into her tattoo bay, she set her stuff down and began to prep for her first client.

It wasn’t usual for someone to call Bloom Tattoo looking for Evie. Most of the time, Antonio handled her consultations and appointments. Whenever he got around to hiring someone to take his job at the front desk, Evie knew that such duties would be passed on.

So when Antonio walked into her work area and passed her the phone telling her it was for her, she narrowed her eyes and tried to figure it out. Who could be calling?

“Hello?” Evie asked.

“Hello, is this Evie Stuart?”

“This is,” Evie said. “May I ask who’s calling?”

She sat back on her stool and put an elbow on her desk. Whoever was calling, he’d called at a good time since they hadn’t opened for the day yet.

“This is Graham Smith, editor of Art Interactive magazine. We met at the Texas Hold ‘Em event.”

“Oh!” Evie’s eyes widened with recognition. He’d been talking to her about a potential spread in his magazine, which would be great for business. Antonio watched from the doorway, smiling. “Of course. It’s nice to speak to you again.”

“Likewise. I’m calling because I have a project I think you’d be perfectly suited for. We have a spread we’re looking to do with body paint. It would be great PR for Bloom Tattoo. Would you be interested?”

Evie froze. Antonio did say he wanted her to be more proactive but was this really what he had in mind? Spinning around in her chair, she opened her laptop and pulled Art Interactive’s website up while she continued to talk to Graham. She tapped through some of the pages. Nothing looked too out there although some of the gallery photos seemed a bit edgy.

“As I was saying, this would be good promo for both you and your shop. Are you in?”

Was she? Go with the gut, right?

“Of course!” Evie chirped. “We’re in. So cool.”

As Graham settled the dates and times and all the other small details, Evie kept glancing toward Antonio. His expression had changed. The sweetness on his face had disappeared, replaced instead with a cold, stern expression. His walls were back up.

She realized too late that she should have cleared the shoot by him first. Bloom Tattoo was his shop, and even though she was head artist, if she was going to represent the shop, any projects needed to be approved in advance.

Evie’s stomach sank like a stone through water.

The call wrapped up and Evie set the phone down. “I’m sorry. I got a little excited and said yes without even clearing it by you. I took down all the information, if you want to look through it. I think it’s just too good an opportunity to pass up.”

Antonio’s expression didn’t change. She delivered the information to him, and he looked through it quickly. At last, he sighed. “I appreciate that you’re giving it a try, but I was hoping that you might have a little more foresight. I know that body painting sounds interesting, but we’re trying to build a certain brand here at Bloom Tattoo, and I’m not sure if it fits.”

“Don’t worry,” Evie promised. Turning her laptop around so he could see. “While some of their photos are a bit out there, I didn’t see anything that wouldn’t be appropriate for a tattoo parlor.”

Antonio bowed his head. “I trust you,” he said. “But it’s just not the kind of behavior I’d expect from our head artist.”

“I know,” Evie murmured. She shoved her hands into her pockets and looked away. “I’ll just have to make it up to you at the shoot.”

* * *

The shoot was a disaster. Evie arrived on time and met up with Graham Smith, who was at least a decade or more too old to rock the hipster look he was sporting. She’d spent the better part of the last week brainstorming different artistic visions for the spread, and she’d come up with some incredible ideas she was excited to share—if only Graham was willing to listen.

“We’re going to need you stripped down entirely,” he said once she was on set. A few other women, nude save for a pair of modesty panties, were seated not all that far away, talking casually. Evie glanced toward them, then blinked and looked back at Graham.

“Uh, maybe you’re mistaken?” she asked. “I’m Evie from Bloom Tattoo.”

“Right. You’re going to be part of the body painting,” Graham said. “We’ll need you nude so the artist can paint you up, and then we’ll need you to go introduce yourself to the other girls so you start to build some chemistry. We’re looking for something so steamy, readers are going to feel dirty the second they open the spread.”

Evie’s mouth fell open. She looked back at Antonio who had come along with her for support, only to find Antonio’s expression unreadable and his arms crossed. To Evie, it was obvious he was disappointed. He’d been so warm lately that there was no other reason why he would shut down on her.

She’d made a mess.

“Um. Yeah, no. I’m supposed to be the artist coming to paint the models,” Evie said. “Why else would you call someone who works at a tattoo shop?”

“Pretty sure I made it clear on the phone that I wanted you to be a part of the shoot,” Graham insisted. “Why else would I ask you and not somebody more famous? If we get those tits on display….”

Evie’s cheeks heated and her body stiffened. Did he really just say that? It didn’t matter what Antonio thought of her, or what happened to the publicity Graham had promised, she was not putting up with this. “Excuse me?”

“Well, your ass is pretty good, too,” he said as an afterthought. “If it comes down to it, we could have you in profile, maybe leaning back so we enhance your curves. It really depends on how you fit with the other girls.”

“No. No, you aren’t hearing me.” Evie’s eyes sharpened. “There is no way in hell that I’m stripping down and taking part in this objectification of women. You think I would have agreed to this shoot if I knew all you wanted was for me to get naked so you could take pictures of me?”

“Sweetheart, cool it,” Graham said. He rolled his eyes. “It’s just a little skin. It’s getting slathered in body paint, anyway. You go to the beach? You ever wear bikinis? You’re going to be showing less skin than that, because it’s all going to be painted over.”

Evie’s temper ran hot. She clenched her fists. “Don’t even try to equate those things!”

“You want the gig or not?” Graham asked. “I don’t have all day to fight you, not when there are other chicks more open to playing ball.”

Gaining traction in the tattooing industry was hard. Evie had been building her reputation for years, trying to get a leg up. Was she really going to blow it for one shoot? There would undoubtedly be people who thought less of her for this.

She hated that she’d put herself in this situation.

“This is so fucking stupid!” Holding her hand up to stop Graham from saying anything, “Give me a minute.”

Turning, she grabbed Antonio’s hand and pulled him off to the side.

“So, exactly how bad would it be for Bloom if I kick this guy in the balls?” she asked him as Antonio snorted in response. As he was about to open his mouth to speak, she stopped him. “Can we just say you lectured me without me having to hear it right now because I know I screwed up. Not only should I have run this past you first, but I should have done more than look at the magazine’s landing page and initial photos before agreeing to this mess.”

“Well, you’re definitely not wrong there,” Antonio answered, his tone flat.

“Ouch. Point taken, boss. Okay let me think this through.”

Evie hesitated. The publicity would give them a leg up, and she knew that if she could just change the direction of the shoot, it would be fantastic for Bloom.

The problem was, she wanted to be the artist, not the canvas.

“Let me see if I can convince that pig to change the direction. I’m not going to pose with my tits and ass out to push magazines. If it’s artistic, I’m in. If it’s not, I’m out.”

Antonio’s eyes did not let on whether he was in agreement or not. Evie was alone in her decision.

She steeled herself for the confrontation to follow, turned back around, and strode right up to Graham. “I’ll do it on some conditions. And before you argue, I think you owe it to me to listen. I wasn’t told upfront about the nature of this shoot, and you weren’t transparent about what was expected of me. By all rights, I should walk out of here right now, but as an artist, I know what sells. I want to help you as much as I want to help myself.”

“Alright,” Graham said. “I’m listening. What do you propose?”

“Graphic photos aren’t necessary to sell copies of an art magazine,” Evie said. “Less is more. Do it right and you could have shoots like this regularly, teasing men wild without being filthy.”

Graham ran his tongue over his teeth, thinking it through. “Give me an example.”

Evie proposed her idea to use the body paint to paint designs on the women as if they were tattoos but instead of having them completely nude, they would use artful poses and props as cover.

“The power of suggestion is way more captivating than giving away the full show. We use that in art all the time.”

Graham sucked on his teeth, turning to look at the women and back to her. “How fast can you paint designs on these women?”

Evie looked them over, quickly coming up with potential designs that covered a lot of canvas without taking too long. “If it’s just me, it will take at least a couple hours maybe more depending on the amount of color and detail but with help, we should get through it much faster.”

Graham nodded. “Let me talk to the artist and see what he thinks, and we’ll take it from there, okay?”

“Sounds great.”

Evie didn’t feel great, though. This was her shoot, and she knew it was up to her to step up to the plate, especially after she’d made such a mistake by okaying it without Antonio’s consent.

She just hoped it would turn out for the best.