While reveling in the intensity of benign contact, I studied the contours of her face. The tiny diamond stud was artfully placed on the right side of her nose. Her full lips were slightly parted, eyes downcast, making her look particularly subdued. The rapid thud of her pulse told me otherwise.

I was being a dick. She was uncomfortable and I was the cause, but I didn’t want to stop touching her. It was fucking weird.

“She picked the one you liked,” Lisa said, elbowing me in the ribs.

It was a not-so-covert way of telling me to back off. I ignored her. I swept Tenley’s hair over her shoulder. It was as soft as her skin and silky as it slipped through my fingers. The kind of hair I’d like to bury my face in or wrap around my hand. I tucked it behind her ear, exposing a ladder of rings traveling the shell. A minor show of rebellion, which denoted a hidden predilection. Interesting. Maybe she was a closet deviant.

She met my curious stare with a timid one. The uncertainty there flared to life and she took a step back, severing our contact. A slight tremor passed through her. If I hadn’t been paying such close attention, I never would have caught it. Tenley brought her fingers to the place mine had been, confusion marring her otherwise flawless features. I’d made an impact. It made her all the more intriguing.

“I should probably get back.”

“Already?” That was a disappointment. I tapped the books sitting in a neat pile on the counter. “Tell Cassie I appreciate her letting you bring these by for me.”

I would personally thank Cassie the next time I saw her and dig for more information on this girl. There was something about her I liked, beyond the fact that she was gorgeous and clearly into steel.

“It’s not a problem.” Tenley edged toward the door and away from me. “What do I owe you?” she asked Lisa.

Before Lisa could reply, I cut in, “Don’t worry about it. This one’s on the house as long as you promise to come by again.”

Chris coughed.

“But it wasn’t just the—”

Lisa cut her off. “It’s cool. We can work it out next time. I’ll stop by Serendipity tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Tenley nodded, her face fiery as she looked anywhere but at me.

That sucked. Apparently I’d overstepped my boundaries more than usual. She said a hasty good-bye and rushed out of the shop, almost tripping on the curb when she crossed the street. We all stood there, staring at the door after she left. Well, I stood there staring at the door while everyone else stared at me.

Lisa was the first one to break the silence. She punched me in the shoulder.

“Ow. What was that for?”

“Are you serious? What the hell is wrong with you?”

I gave her my best bewildered look. I probably came off a little too . . . me. But Tenley was hot and I found her intriguing. Maybe it was because she seemed so damn uncomfortable around me and completely at ease with Chris and Lisa. Maybe it was the hint of rebellion hidden beneath that hair. I still planned to corner her again and attempt a real conversation. One that consisted of more than a couple of sentences.

“Dude. You have a problem.” Chris scoffed and hid a grin with his fist. I wanted to knock it off his face.

“What’s the deal?” I asked, looking back and forth between him and Lisa. I understood I might have breached the whole personal space continuum, but other than that I couldn’t see a horrific social faux pas.

Chris pointed at my crotch and snickered. I looked down. Huh. My brain wasn’t the only part of me that found Tenley enthralling. I seriously hoped she hadn’t noticed, because my shirt didn’t come close to camouflaging the issue.

“That’s just disturbing.” Lisa covered her eyes with her hands. “You need to get a handle on yourself.”

“It’s probably better if I wait until I get home.” The masturbation joke wasn’t appropriate, but I was deflecting.

Lisa ignored my attempt at juvenile humor. “She wants a tattoo, you know.”

“Oh? Where? What kind of design?” Chris was way too interested.

I pointed a finger right in his face. “You’re not touching her. So don’t even think about it.”

My territorialism was unwarranted. We took clients based on our skill sets. Chris specialized in lettering and tribal art, Jamie had a talent for portrait pieces, and I ran the gamut from dark and sinister to light and feminine. Whatever body art Tenley wanted could fit any one of our strengths.

“Have you seen the design?” I asked.

“No. But I almost convinced her to bring it by so you could have a look. Then you ruined it when you got all up in her space and tried to dry hump her.”

“I didn’t try to dry hump her.”

“You would have if there hadn’t been witnesses present.”

It was hard to argue, given my current issue. “I wasn’t intentionally a dick.”

“I’ll see Tenley tomorrow and do damage control. If I can get her to agree to bring the design over, you have to promise you’ll keep your hands to yourself.”

“You do realize that won’t be possible if I’m putting ink on her, right?”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

Lisa shook her head. “I don’t know why I even bother with you. It’s like herding a cat.”

I laughed. She wasn’t wrong. When it came to walking the line, I didn’t have much patience. People stuck to social codes because they worried about what other people might think. I didn’t give a shit. Mostly. There were a select few whose opinions impacted my decisions. Aunt Cassie’s was one, and Lisa’s was another. For that reason I would try to be on my best behavior where Tenley was concerned, but I couldn’t guarantee I’d be successful.

2

TENLEY


I pushed through the door to Serendipity, the bell above my head jingling. “Sorry I took so long. Hayden asked me to wait, and the jewelry Lisa ordered came in.” I touched the side of my nose, which had been a breeze in comparison to the other two. I made no mention of those.

“Oooh! Pretty!” Cassie said with genuine enthusiasm. “So you talked to Hayden?”

“A little.” I was still reeling. Hayden was dangerously beautiful. Every encounter with him affected me in a visceral way.

“And?” Cassie pressed.

“And what?”

“How’d it go?”

“He’s uh . . .” My cheeks puffed out and I expelled a long breath. I tried to think of an adjective to adequately describe him, but nothing that came to mind seemed suitable.

“He left that good of an impression?”

“It wasn’t . . . He’s not . . . It was interesting.” What else could I say about a tattoo artist who read the likes of Nietzsche in his spare time? Besides, I was afraid to verbalize the intensity of our interaction. If left unspoken, I could pretend I’d imagined his reaction to me and mine to him.

“ ‘Interesting’?” she said with disbelief.

“Mm-hm.”

“Really? That’s all you have to say?”

“Were you looking for a better descriptor?” I covered my unease with sarcasm.

“You read eleventh-century literature for fun, and the best you can do is ‘interesting’?” she teased.

I threw up my hands in exasperation. “You were right, okay? He’s completely overwhelming. And gorgeous, like off the charts, a raging inferno of hotness. Satisfied?”

Cassie burst into laughter. She even snorted. “Well that’s much more accurate than ‘interesting.’ ”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I said that. You’re his aunt.” Mortification made my face hot. “You can’t tell him.”

“Why not? I think he’d be flattered.” She smiled serenely.

“I highly doubt that.” Hayden didn’t strike me as the kind of man who responded to flattery.

She lifted one shoulder and let it fall, picking up the deposit bag. “You know he comes in here looking for you all the time.”

“He does not.”

“Oh yes he does,” she said. “Maybe he thinks you’re a ‘raging inferno of hotness.’ ”

“You’re not going to let that one go, are you?” I refused to entertain the idea that Hayden might find me attractive. It seemed ludicrous.

She shook her head and gave me a mischievous grin. “Probably not, no.”

The banter reminded me of high school days and fawning over cute boys with my girlfriends. I remembered the butterflies in my stomach, the hope I might be noticed, the excitement when I was. I longed for that innocence again; the simplicity of a schoolgirl crush. My life was so different now. Hayden had definitely noticed me. I just wasn’t sure if it was a good thing.

“Please don’t tell him. I don’t think I could deal with the embarrassment.”

Cassie surprised me when she pulled me into a tight hug. When she released me, she smoothed her hands over my hair. It made me miss my mother.

“I won’t say anything,” she said with sincerity.

“Thanks,” I replied, trying not to get caught up in the sudden rush of sadness.

* * *

After we locked the store, there was nothing to do but return to the prison of my apartment. I paced the worn hardwood floors, too wired to find comfort in the banality of TV. While I had grown accustomed to being alone, tonight the solitude proved a challenge.

Hayden was, in part, responsible for my inability to find solace. No matter how many times I spoke to him, the intensity of my reaction didn’t wane. From a single glance it was clear that he was fearless, unchained and unfettered by the confines of what society deemed acceptable; Hayden embodied everything I wasn’t but wanted to be. I spent my entire life trying to color inside the lines, only to wind up restrained by them. Hayden obliterated social constructs. His presence alone made a statement. I found him mesmerizing, which was why I attempted to keep a safe distance.