Page 5 of Grumpy Spring Sunshine
“You know this will be on you forever, right?”
She rolled her eyes at me and for some unknown reason, I wanted to wrap my hand around her throat and kiss the sassiness right out of her. Which is very much unlike me. I didn’t have those urges. At least I controlled them. And I didn’t have them around people I didn’t like.
“I’m not dumb. I have plenty. I just, I don’t know Keith, I wanted one. Do you do this with all your clients? Try to talk them out of it or something?”
I slapped my mouth closed and glared at her. No, I didn’t try to talk them out of it. In fact, I really wasn’t trying with her, either.
But most people who sat in my chair knew exactly what they wanted. And here she was, trying to get me to help her pick something. What if she didn’t like it? I didn’t want her pissed at me because she didn’t know and refused to help me out.
“What are you thinking?”
She flipped through a few more pages of my portfolio, then stopped. She eyed a photo before flipping back, looking at another one.
“This,” she said, pointing to a mountain scene. “And this. I want this mountain scene with this sunset.”
I took the book and looked between the two photos before glancing at her.
“Okay, where would you like that?”
“Oh, along my upper back. That would be okay, right? More than enough space.”
I eyed her for another second before nodding.
“Let me draw it up and see if you like it.”
“Sure.”
I just shook my head as I climbed off the stool and went to another room that had the drawing table and light I needed. The image was overly detailed, but the beauty of it came from the colors. After several moments, I walked back into the room, seeing that her shirt was off, and her bra straps were down. She was lying on her stomach, ready for this.
“Is this okay?” I showed her the sketch and her eyes opened wide.
“Yes! That is beautiful. Those are the Colorado mountains and it’s one of my favorite scenes ever since I’ve moved out. This is going to be epic.”
I didn’t know about epic, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone this excited for an image to be put on them.
I also wasn’t expecting the thrill of excitement to race over me. Not because of tattooing her, but because there was another person who loved the same views I did. Why I would never leave this place. To have a newbie in town admit that, well, maybe that might shift my thoughts on her.
“Did you tattoo a lot of your stuff?”
I glanced over my arms and my legs. Most of mine I had done when I was young and stupid. But being a bit older, I tended to put a lot more thought into what I wanted.
“Some of it. Some I have my cousin do. Most, in fact, has been done by them. I let Kory try a few things on me from time to time, but he likes piercings far more than tattooing. But Kylie, she always has a blast inking me up.”
“I like that you kept this all in the family.”
I cleaned her back and then put the stencil down, letting it sit for a moment while I got the colors I needed. It was funny that I was even confessing as much as I had been, because I never did.
“It seemed like the best idea. And Storyville could use a shop. Kind of wish I had one growing up.”
I removed the paper and then adjusted the seat.
“Okay, try to keep as still as you can. And if you need to get up or move, just let me know.”
“Don’t mind me if I fall asleep,” she told me and I snorted. Because that would be a first. Well, that and not having someone bitch all the time.
But if she was real and honest, like she claimed to be, like her personality always seemed to be, then this tattoo was going to be a breeze, and her smile would only get brighter.
And why that made my heart burst, I wasn’t sure, I just knew it did, that I was able to give her something.
